Getting Closer

Mityana is where we are going in Uganda.  It's getting closer, so we wanted to check in with you with how the preparations are going for us personally.

We are both wanting to be respectful and in the flow with the culture of Uganda. Looking online I found a good reference.  Interesting … it sounded like something that we would want to have in our regular daily lives.  Here is what they said: (Our comments in brackets)

While serving overseas, remember four important things:

• Have no presuppositions or assumptions about people, places or assignment.  (always live in the freshness of now with no past or future)
• Everyone has flaws; (see “others” as a reflection of yourself and be gentle with “our” mistakes) 
• Places are not what they always seem in pictures (have no expectations)  
• The assignment will not indicate all that you are going to do (be open to what comes and give your best). 
• Have a sense of humor (laugh at yourself and with others).
• Be flexible (changes will come, be patient).

So, what is the major factor from all of this?  Patience … having the capacity to accept what comes, just as it is.  Dictionary definition: “The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.”

Remembering this may be helpful in our upcoming trip to Uganda.

Our trip is getting closer.  Two months from now we will be in Uganda.  This week we got all of our shots, sent away for our visas, and finished setting aside the money for this trip.

We are reading books to help us understand central African culture — a way of interacting which seems very different from North American culture.  Here, we are very task focused and value self sufficiency.  African and Latin American cultures are more based on interrelationship and prioritize connection over pragmatics.  Our goal oriented interactions, even in stores, would be considered rude.  We value time efficiency (time is money) while they are much more leisurely and conversational.

When I was 14 I got my first job — dishwasher at a summer camp.  I learned quickly that work efficiency was valued and I got good at it.  Over the years, with great arrogance, I have believed I knew the “right” way to get things done.  Crank it out.  Get the most done in the least time.  Every other way of approaching goals is inferior and needs correction.  Speed is everything.

So very much to learn.  So much to unlearn.  At a time in life where I expected to know most of what I needed to know, it feels like starting over.  As Bob Dylan says in “My Back Pages,”  — “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

Please pray for us both in our new growth and understanding.