WELCOME TO AFRICA!

WELCOME TO AFRICA!

Need greating this time around worked out impossibly well again! Jehovah makes you trust Him more each and every time you put your self in his hands in a new and a little bit scary way. The unknown. It's like jumping without looking, knowing he'll catch you. He worked it out better than I could have planned it my self, as usual. Need greating in Guyana was wonderful for about 4 years, and I wanted to try a new country, Africa. But where to start? Jehovah would provide an international roommate, a job, and a place to stay while I was home. Things started falling into place one after the other.

an international roommate

A few weeks into my stay in Oregon I went with my dad when he gave a talk out in the Beaverton Hall about 45 minutes away from our home congregation. There are about 9o congregations in the Portland area. The WT was about how Jehovah cares for the needs of his people, so I gave a comment about how Jehovah has been taking care of my needs while need greating, thinking "Maybe someone that needs a roommate will come up to me afterward." Sure enough, a sister came up and asked "Do you know Jasmine Contreras?" I didn't. She then explains that she is a sister that had serious plans to go to Enlgish speaking Africa for a year, that she doesn't have a roommate and that she would be leaving the exact time I had planned to. I can't even. The timing and the place lined up perfectly. What kind of roommate would she be. She gave me Jasmine's number and I texted her right away and told her that I had the exact same plan as her. She texted back super excited. So we made plans up meet up over ice cream. Lavender ice cream to be exact, I had never had that, it was wonderful. She was wonderful, I could tell right away she would be a super awesome roommate. Very sweet and kind and laid back. So we started talking about options and the people in Africa we had networked to find and what we'd found out about different African countries, but at the end of the discussion one thing was sure, we were gonna do this thing! How is it that we found eachother? Happenstance? 

a job

I got home and my old place of work called me the following day and asked me to come in and work full time for the following Monday. That was only supposed to be only one week of full time work but another girl flaked that was supposed to be hired so I got to keep the position and it ended up being full time work for the whole 3 1/2 months I was home! Perfect amount of money to do another good stint need greating, one of the biggest stresses out of the way.

a place to stay

Thank you mom and dad for letting me crash in the RV! And let's be real, I didn't really spend any time in the RV but rather, spent my time inside, eating you out of house and home! Gaining 2olbs in the short time I was home. Frust! But I seriously appreciate you guys letting me bank every penny I earned while we ate gleaners food and shopped at the "free store" it was great seeing your beautiful faces! What a blessing it is to have supportive parents, and to worship Jehovah as a family! 

other details

The friends back home made generous contributions to the trip and besides getting fat (I blame my lack of self control and America's growth hormones) everying was working out to be way too good to be true! So we wrote our letter and sent it to a couple of English speaking branches. But we weren't hearing back from any of them and we only had a short period of time we were working with so we started getting a little anxious but then we got a response from Sierra Leone and a few weeks later Uganda. We decided to accept the invitation to serve in Uganda and started planning. Jasmine found plane tickets from London to Uganda for only $460.ooUSD and mine wasn't bad either from NY to Uganda was $67o.ooUSD. Now in order to travel I had needed a vaccination certificate to show that I had yellow fever to enter Uganda. I had figured that I left if in Guyana because I hadn't remembered seeing it for years and I think I only had it with me on my first trip there. So I had called the doctor that administered the shot and she was very helpful offering to collect the things from out of storage and get a new certificate ready for me. I had asked Jehovah that if the certificate was in the house if he could help me remember where it was. Then I went to look through an old box of letters that had some letters from my Grandmother that had passed away. I took a hand full and read them. I had gotten one when I was young from her and it had 2 Campbell soup girls on the cover. She said "Let's pretend these two little girls having a picnic are you and me, now these girls are chubby, and you and I arnt at all of course so we'll have to just pretend" it made me and mom cry. It was neat to think about me and gramma having a picnic together. It won't be long now, and we will! So after reading the letters I went back to put them away, I felt like I was close to finding the certificate. So I just shuffled through a few more things in the closet, then I opened a little plastic drawer to a little box, there were only a few papers in the drawer, and lo! The yellow fever certificate! Worth $18o.ooUSD. You would think the first emotion would be joy, but it was actually fear, a stroke of fear that Jehovah had heard my prayer and helped me to find the document that I needed to fly. Since I knew that was the last thing hangin me up, I went directly to buy my ticket to NY. It cost me 16 dollars. I had gotten bumped on another flight coming home from Guyana and had a 2oo dollar voucher. I love getting bumped. Tip: If you also like getting bumped try not choosing you seat and not checking in 24 hours in advance. That'll do it, it always worked for me! So any who, now I had a leaving from Oregon date, and just needed my Uganda plane tickets and to apply for a online VISA. Everthing went smoothly and a sister that always helps me with plane tickets found me a good deal on a flight. So then everything was a go! All the details had worked out impossibly well. Jehovah proves true to his promise every time, that if we seek the kingdom first, all these other things will be added to us. Matt 6:33. Praise Jehovah for giving us meaningful satisfying lives!

oh to commute at Bethel

So went to spend the weekend with my brother Dusty. And we were having too much fun! Everyone was being very hospitable and I was encouraged to make commuting a goal since it's more possible to do now that there's been an influx of 3oo commuters in recent history. That would be such an honor to work at Bethel. I've had my app in ever since I was young and it would be cool to try all kinds of types of full time service that I can. So I'm considering coming back for that. But now I've been in Uganda for a few days and I'm loving it so much, I have to consider weather or not I can peel my self away. The plan my roomie and I had at first was she had her SKE app in and I had my Bethel App in so it was Africa until further notice. So I'm going to have to make a decision weather or not I want to stay in Africa long as possible or go back and try to commute at Bethel. After making a pros and cons list of staying longer here or leaving sooner for Bethel it was easy to see where my heart was. But my heart is in need greating also because it's familiar to me. I know Bethel would be in my heart just as easily if I had a taste of it. I thought if I stay longer, I could possible eventually accomplish both original goals, where as if I leave sooner, only one and the other would only be partially carried out. Bethel draws you in and by the time I left, I was 75% sure I was just going to do the 3 months here in Uganda and come right back to Bethel to try and commute, but now that I'm here, I'm loving it so so so much and I'm feeling like its home and wondering why I wouldn't try to accomplish both goals, plus, then I could rack up my hours too so that once I do get to NY I could focus on getting work and perhaps an assignment. Preferably two days commuting. What an absolute honor it would be to work in Jehovah's house, get to worship with the Bethel family and be around the influence of all the spiritual people there that love Jehovah so much! Bethel was calling out for me, as if materializing before me as a life I could possibly tangibly actually reach out for and grasp...

Africa

But then I got to Uganda, and my first day in the ministry was absolutely wonderful. The people are ultra humble and teachable and educated. One young teen age girl when asked before the study wether or not she believed God listened to all prayers, she thought for a long minute and then reasoned, "Well, the Bible says that Jesus is the way to God, so if people pray to God, but not through Jesus, theirs prayers would not be heard." What a bright and beautiful little mind, focusing and reasoning on the scriptures! Then another woman during her study when asked if she thought God causes suffering, she said "No, it's my understanding that God blesses us, but that when we go through hard times its because of sin that we inherited from Adam." This is a bran new study. Bright and beautiful people, reasoning out truths. With a little more direction, these ones will surely be able to understand the accurate knowledge of truth promptly! The people speak very good English and now it's getting to be that some of the younger generation is even speaking better English than the native tongues of Uganda. The sister I went with in the ministry this morning had one study after the next. The friends in the congregation are super zealous and friendly and artful teachers! There are 6 of us need greaters in the hall, the Albrechts: Anthoy and Melissa, they're French and also speak good English, then Rafael, he's from France as well and is learning English, there's Ben from northern England and me and Jasmin from Oregon. One exciting thing about this assignment is that is has just now opened up for foreign single pioneer sisters to serve here! Jasmine and I are the 1st two. How exciting to be coming in right as the congregation and the area was opening up for foreign sisters! It's a small KH with concrete block walls and wooden benches. We have around 45 publishers and many of them are young and supportive of the ministry! We are happy they are because with our tourist visas we are only allowed to accompany other local friends in the ministry, or to not go out in service at all.

Another very suprising thing about being here is that it is relatively cool in temperature! That was a wonderful welcome suprise. I do not have to have my hair up off me at all time and there is often a cool breeze. It is wonderful. I've already taken a motor cycle taxi (exciting!) and been able to experience a rickety bus with a dining room lamp and thread bear retro fabric reapholstered on a broken seat that slides you to the floor. I hear children calling me Muzungu! White! And see the sloping hills, palms and gentle smiling faces. I see wemon carrying loads upon their heads and I think 'I'm really in Africa!'

As soon as I landed in Uganda and smelt the damp humid air, an earthy scent, the rich dirt, rot of tropical vegetation, my eyes welled up with tears. I'm home, I thought. 

Psalms 40:5

ps:

grasshopper snack production

One thing that 'jumped' out at me as different was grasshopper snack production. At night they prop the corrugated sheet metal into the barrels and turn on a light to attract them. They slip to their doomful fate. Here they're having their legs and wings removed, they're to be fried packaged and sold. It was yuky but the one I had wasn't fresh. I'll have to try it. I was also reminded just before eating it, that what I was eating, had a face, that I was eating it's head and body in one chomp. Appetizing. 

Signing off, Cortny Muzungu Varnell