Welcome To Uganda

Hello, Gyebale ko, Bonjour,

Travels, traffic, furniture, shillings, people, culture and so much more where do I even begin. I officially hit week two and have finally found one hour to set aside to write. Unlike the culture here these days have been moving so quickly. I have experienced so much that I don’t even know what to include and what gets added to the cut list. But for starters God is so good. In everything I have been experiencing new, old, comfortable and uncomfortable He has provided me with peace and understanding in it all. My apartment is coming together piece by piece but, it has been a process. Let me just tell you it was nothing like furnishing my apartment in Rochester, Michigan. I had to go many different places to just find a simple desk. No, I did not Google places that sold desks. I drove down the road until I saw a desk out my window, sent an Ugandan to negotiate a price (the price is always at least double for Americans) then played telephone until we found a price I was comfortable with and a desk that was going to stand. Needless to say my experience furnishing apartments came to little help here in Uganda. But the good news is I have a desk in which I am using right now and not only does it stand but it also has two drawers!

Maintenance on the other hand was a little closer to my apartment in Rochester. Almost everything is leaking and well, I accidentally knocked my roommate’s window out the other night. Lucky for us Brian, our maintenance guy, is awesome and much better at communicating then other Ugandans we have worked with. Usually, when they say I will be there soon they wont show up until at least a day later but Brian, he (usually) shows up soon, as in a few hours. This is how I know it is Gods plans for me being here, not mine. The little I have talked to family and friends from home they always ask how can you deal with that and all I can answer is, it’s a God thing. Not a single thing has caused me any frustration or anger. Coming from America many of these issues I am facing wouldn’t last a minute but, God is good and He has called me to the mission field equip and ready for both the ups and the downs.

But on to the more exciting things, like travel. TRAFFIC. It’s a real thing. For all of you who think its bad coming from Detroit to Flint at 5pm that’s nothing compared to the traffic here. At least in America you are waiting in orderly lines, here not so much. At least in America there are signals and procedures put in place to help keep traffic moving, here not so much. To go a distance that was about 30mins took 2.5hours. Oddly enough I was completely content and enjoyed the wait, the people in the car with me not so much. Maybe when I am driving or have been here longer I wont enjoy it but right now I have accepted the traffic and slow pace of just about everything.

Last but MOST DEFINITELY NOT least I have been hard at work in the office preparing for the new year of events at Living Water Ministry. I am so excited to get to use the gifts and skills I have been given to serve this ministry. I have the amazing opportunity to use my HR degree to oversee the staff and put procedures in place to help develop this ministry as a whole. I will also be teaching a Leadership Academy program where I have been recruiting and planning the year long program where Ugandan students will get the chance to not only grow in their relationship with Christ, but also grow into world changing leaders. On top of all that I get the opportunity to work with all visitors or teams coming to Uganda. If you know me you know I LOVE missions and helping others learn to love community. I am so excited to greet the first guests NEXT WEEK! God has been so good and I have been having so much fun getting to know the office staff. I can’t wait to see the work God will provide through the staff this year.

The community and culture here is so different but I have enjoyed it so very much. Not a single day goes by you see or hear something new. Starting next week I will be taking Luganda lessons, which I am very excited about. After taking these lessons I will be able to better communicate with the people here. Even though they do speak English they sometimes have a very hard time understanding what I am saying because of my accent. Along with Luganda and English I have been able to speak French with our neighbors. Our neighbors are from Congo and the mom only speaks French but the kids speak both French and English so it has been exciting to see my French classes pay off. It is so amazing how God has been piecing my life together to get me to exactly where I am today.

These same neighbors noticed I had Uno and they have always wanted to play after seeing the game in movies so, we played. Not only did we play one game but we played about 28 games that night. Yes, twenty-eight games. The sad thing about this was neither myself or my roommate were the winner, the girl playing for the first time was the winner. We laughed, we yelled, we celebrated and we competed until we (my roommate and I) were done (20 games ago). Her only winning request was to be paraded around our apartment on my back so, that is what I did. These are the times I cherish, times spent interacting with and doing life directly with the community.

Out of all I have experienced the part that has touched my heart the most is from everyone at home who have been sending me an abundance of love, support, and prayer. I have such an amazing army of people around me that make being here so much easier. I have heard from people I haven’t talked to in years that are lifting me up and helping me touch the lives of so many people here in Uganda. I am blessed beyond belief. But that is the kind of God we serve, one who is faithful and strong. I miss my friends, family and sweet dog but I have peace knowing this is where I need to be right now. I can not thank you enough for the messages of encouragement that keep me going. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

P.S.

I now have WiFi, PRAISE JESUS! I hope to post more frequent updates in the future.

Fun Fact: I DROVE FOR THE FIRST TIME. Was I on the right side of the road? I do not know. Will Pastor let me drive again? I’ll pray about it.

With much love and many blessing,

Lexi Dingman