Philippians, Jinja, Nile, Braille, Guitar Chords, AFRICA!

“I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Philippians 3:13-14

I think this is probably one of the most prevalent Bible verses I’ve ever read- especially prevalent to my very life.

This past week was really good :)

We’re all back moved onto campus- which is bittersweet cuz I already miss my Ugandan family sooo much. But luckily I’m going home this weekend to stay the night with my family again :) It’s so crazy how much they really do feel like family :)

This past weekend we went to JINJA! Which was absolutely incredible. First of all- we stayed at a resort so it was beautiful. Second- HOT SHOWERS. Unfortunately my shower had NO water pressure so it took a good half hour to wash the soap out of my hair but whatever- hot showers are God’s gift to this earth. Thirdly- Gooooood food. Fourth- We played hours of euchre in the sunshine :) Fifth- We were at the NILE RIVER! Took a boat ride on the Nile and went to the source and wow- it was just so incredible. Everything about it. We saw some cobras, otters, a million kinds of birds, and the place where some of Ghandi’s ashes were spread. And I saw men fishing using fishing nets. It just reminded me soo much of all the Bible stories with the fishermen casting their nets out :) Needless to say- it was quite the experience :) I loved it! The Nile really is the main source of life- we saw people using the Nile to fish, bathe, wash clothes, get drinking water and some other things. I’m not sure why but I was just so fascinated by it all.

Sunday night Angela and I made some guacamole and it was DELICIOUS! :) We’ve become quite the cooks :) And we’re digging into the book of Exodus which is just really cool to read right now considering our location :)

And now it’s FRUIT WEEK! We’re totally loading up on fruits this week instead of the constant rice & beans. It’s great- fresh pineapple, mango, bananas, oranges, and apples :) It’s good!

Today I learned Braille & Medaline taught me how to play a few chords on the guitar! For my practicum I’m working at Salama- it’s a school for the blind so I’m learning the Braille so I can better interact with the kids and the guitar because those kids are so musically inclined and just looove music. & I’m hopefully gonna get to do some teaching and get really close to the kids- I’M SO EXCITED! :)

President Museveni is coming to town on Friday for some campaigning- could get interesting!- just pray for peaceful campaigning as well as elections- especially with everything going on in Egypt.

Everyone is getting soooo close. It’s so funny cuz we’ve all known each other for about a month- but I can’t imagine life without them. They’re all just so beautiful inside and out and it’s such an answer to prayer the people God has placed in my life this past month :)

The internet is being waaayy too slow to upload pictures so I'll try to do that later this week :)

Peace, Love…

and DEUCES! (that’s for you 106 ladies :))

Bethany Diane Joy

PS: Currently there’s a ban on all incoming and outgoing mail between Uganda and the US- soo :( Don’t send any letters until further notice :(