August 9, 2011

  • Breaking the Mold

    I know you read that title and think about the mold that was broken after God made me.  It's OK, its totally natural to think that immediately! silly  Really, I am talking about a compliment we received lately. 

    This past Sunday, we hosted a dinner for a family that we have become quite close to.  The father, Rev. Martin, is my colleague at Worldwide Christian Schools - Uganda.  His sons and wife have become friends through repeated contact.  So we decided to invite them over for dinner after church on Sunday.  All said and done, there were 11 people that came over to enjoy some American food with our family.  Yes 11, 18 with our family!

    The menu:  Hamburgers, Empanadas (aka Meat Pies), Mac and Cheese, and Mashed Potatoes.  The preparation lasted roughly 5 hours!  We had to grind the meat up for the burgers and meat pies.  We had to make the tortillas for wrap the empanadas.  And all of this was accomplished with two charcoal stoves!  The hamburgers were the biggest hit.  I think I made a total of 24 burgers.  All but one of them were eaten (even though I could have eaten it... Fatty!).  There were over 30 meat pies (all but three were eaten).  And to our surprise these were the first Ugandans we have met that like spicy food like us.  So my homemade BBQ sauce was demolished!

    As the night progressed, you know us, it was just a ton of fun.  When they were all preparing to leave they stopped to tell us that we were the first social white people they have ever met.  They expressed how all of the missionaries and foreigners that come here want to stay in their comfort groups and not enjoy the local people and culture.  So we took that as a compliment... mold breakers!

    Of course, the day after they leave, we bought a refrigerator!  We had tried to get it the day before so we could make a refrigerated dessert but it did not work out.  So next time, we promised we would make them homemade chocolate pudding pie.

    Another connection we have with this family is that they are the proprietors of two start-up schools and one of their daughters is the Head Mistress for another well established school.  So we are excited to assist them in planning and hopefully building some classrooms for their schools.  They are extremely well situated.  The surrounding communities are ready and willing to contribute as much as they are able.  So these two schools require the least amount of assistance that we have encountered.  They can have bricks made, trees cut down and turned to timber, and sand and stone harvested from nearby properties.  The only commodities that are needed for construction are cement and metal components (roof sheets, windows, and doors).  That is AMAZING!  I am really hopeful to help them in some way.  They are busting their butts to get quality schools in places where there is not Christian schooling available.  Praise God for such devoted faith walkers!!!

    Quite honestly, I am proud to be friends with the Ssebugo family.  They are awesome!

    We had some more progress on another school too.  The Kingsway Primary school, which was most likely to receive teams first, has graded their property to make it ready for construction.  How sweet is that?!  So now, pending completion of the building plans, which are pretty close, we can start surveying the property to layout the footprint of the buildings.  Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!

    I tell you what, this is an exciting time to be here.  We are getting very close to construction.  We are up to our eyes in planning for other schools.  We can feel the Lord using us!

    Chad Neeley

    Construction Coordinator - WWCS Uganda/USA