Hello to you all, my dear friends!!
Another week has passed us since the last email and I hope this update finds you all well!! I can't believe that in three weeks we will be heading back to the States! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. Though, I know it will be no easy task to depart from such a wonderful place.
Here's what our week looked like:
Last Saturday (7/6), we had dinner with the Sisters. Unknown to Regina or myself, it was a celebration for St. Gorreti's Feast Day. That is, yesterday marked the death of Saint Maria Gorreti, who was only 12 years old and is who Sr. Gorreti is named after. In Uganda, Feast Day's are the big celebration, not birthdays. In fact, many people do not know their date of birth; the country has just recently begun to keep records of birthdates. It was a wonderful night of celebration and even included a cake! To have a cake is rare and a marks a very special event. We even got to help cut the cake!
On Sunday, we traveled to Luweero sub-parish. I'm not sure if there is a difference between a sub-parish and a mission. This place was very special in that the church building is not complete. There is a foundation and four walls, but the walls are not finished and there is no roof over the building. Like all of the missions we have been to, the Spirit was very much alive. I have been so delighted to see the joy and happiness in the people of Uganda's hearts no matter where we go. One thing I have noticed, especially in these mission churches, is that the children sit very close to the altar. With the exception of the priest, the catechist, and the choir, the children sit closest to the altar. Sometimes they get as close as they can without actually touching it. I'm not exactly sure why, but this makes me so happy!! In so many churches, we remove children from worship (not saying having children's church is a good or a bad tihng); but here, they are at the front of the building, watching and listening to the liturgy up close. I can't help but think of Jesus inviting the children to come to him as he blessed them. Watching them watch the priest bless the elements is probably my favorite part of the service; they are very attentive and seem to be eager to learn and participate as much as they can in the service.
Today we spent the morning preparing clay soil for this afternoon with P4. By this, I mean that we watched the kids prepare the clay soil! They used hoes to break through hard soil and then mixed it with water to make the clay soil! We then spent this afternoon molding the clay soil; I made a cross and a shallow bowl and Regina made a vase and a bowl. I really enjoyed seeing the kids' excitement as they showed us how to model with the clay soil and as they molded it into different objects. Of the objects were bowls, people, crosses, helicopters, and some even made a camera! Basically, we had a chance to get dirty and share some laughs with the kids! It was a fun and laughter filled afternoon!
I have to continue in my honesty. This week has been hard. I've been craving American food and am beginning to get antsy about returning home. No, it isn't the fact that I've been craving American food, whatever you consider to be "American food" that has made this week hard, but it's that I have been doing some reflecting on my time here; I am having a hard time seeing and really understanding why I'm here and what the purpose of the past seven weeks have been. It isn't that I haven't seen God working, but I just feel frustrated by it. Maybe I had some expectations that I wasn't aware of that haven't been met; maybe I'm closing my mind and heart to some of the possibilities; maybe I'm just frustrated and ready to be home. I'm not sure. I am still frustrated by the lack of opportunity I have had to work in the church. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed teaching and spending time with the children here, but it isn't as satisfying or fulfilling as I hoped it would be. Something is still missing. And I think it is the church. I feel disconnected from the church. Not disconnected from God necessarily, but from the community of the church. I HATE this feeling. I woke up several days crying, feeling angry, and yelling at God. This may be something that I won't have processed in my final weeks here, and in fact it may take several years to process it fully. But I can tell you that my frustrations, while they have brought about some joy and affirmation, are getting the best of me this week. Through it all, I believe I am maintaining an overall positive attitude and am working through my frustrations. And yes, I am even thankful for them.
When I was expressing some of my frustrations to Regina, she asked me what some of my joys have been here. So I'd also like to share some of those with you. I may have already mentioned some of them in previous emails. Here goes!
That's all I've got for you this week! Thank you all, again, for the continued support, love, prayers, and words of encouragement! I am so blessed to have you all in my life.
All my love,
Corey Namata
Another week has passed us since the last email and I hope this update finds you all well!! I can't believe that in three weeks we will be heading back to the States! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. Though, I know it will be no easy task to depart from such a wonderful place.
Here's what our week looked like:
Last Saturday (7/6), we had dinner with the Sisters. Unknown to Regina or myself, it was a celebration for St. Gorreti's Feast Day. That is, yesterday marked the death of Saint Maria Gorreti, who was only 12 years old and is who Sr. Gorreti is named after. In Uganda, Feast Day's are the big celebration, not birthdays. In fact, many people do not know their date of birth; the country has just recently begun to keep records of birthdates. It was a wonderful night of celebration and even included a cake! To have a cake is rare and a marks a very special event. We even got to help cut the cake!
On Sunday, we traveled to Luweero sub-parish. I'm not sure if there is a difference between a sub-parish and a mission. This place was very special in that the church building is not complete. There is a foundation and four walls, but the walls are not finished and there is no roof over the building. Like all of the missions we have been to, the Spirit was very much alive. I have been so delighted to see the joy and happiness in the people of Uganda's hearts no matter where we go. One thing I have noticed, especially in these mission churches, is that the children sit very close to the altar. With the exception of the priest, the catechist, and the choir, the children sit closest to the altar. Sometimes they get as close as they can without actually touching it. I'm not exactly sure why, but this makes me so happy!! In so many churches, we remove children from worship (not saying having children's church is a good or a bad tihng); but here, they are at the front of the building, watching and listening to the liturgy up close. I can't help but think of Jesus inviting the children to come to him as he blessed them. Watching them watch the priest bless the elements is probably my favorite part of the service; they are very attentive and seem to be eager to learn and participate as much as they can in the service.
Today we spent the morning preparing clay soil for this afternoon with P4. By this, I mean that we watched the kids prepare the clay soil! They used hoes to break through hard soil and then mixed it with water to make the clay soil! We then spent this afternoon molding the clay soil; I made a cross and a shallow bowl and Regina made a vase and a bowl. I really enjoyed seeing the kids' excitement as they showed us how to model with the clay soil and as they molded it into different objects. Of the objects were bowls, people, crosses, helicopters, and some even made a camera! Basically, we had a chance to get dirty and share some laughs with the kids! It was a fun and laughter filled afternoon!
I have to continue in my honesty. This week has been hard. I've been craving American food and am beginning to get antsy about returning home. No, it isn't the fact that I've been craving American food, whatever you consider to be "American food" that has made this week hard, but it's that I have been doing some reflecting on my time here; I am having a hard time seeing and really understanding why I'm here and what the purpose of the past seven weeks have been. It isn't that I haven't seen God working, but I just feel frustrated by it. Maybe I had some expectations that I wasn't aware of that haven't been met; maybe I'm closing my mind and heart to some of the possibilities; maybe I'm just frustrated and ready to be home. I'm not sure. I am still frustrated by the lack of opportunity I have had to work in the church. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed teaching and spending time with the children here, but it isn't as satisfying or fulfilling as I hoped it would be. Something is still missing. And I think it is the church. I feel disconnected from the church. Not disconnected from God necessarily, but from the community of the church. I HATE this feeling. I woke up several days crying, feeling angry, and yelling at God. This may be something that I won't have processed in my final weeks here, and in fact it may take several years to process it fully. But I can tell you that my frustrations, while they have brought about some joy and affirmation, are getting the best of me this week. Through it all, I believe I am maintaining an overall positive attitude and am working through my frustrations. And yes, I am even thankful for them.
When I was expressing some of my frustrations to Regina, she asked me what some of my joys have been here. So I'd also like to share some of those with you. I may have already mentioned some of them in previous emails. Here goes!
- I love spending time with the children, especially outside of the classroom. I feel like this is when we really get to know them and their personalities. It is also the time we have the most laughs, especially when I am attempting to speak Luganda!!
- I love when my Senior 1 class asks questions about the Bible. And sometimes very good, deeply theological questions. It is not only reaffirming that I am able to provide some answers (I will admit, I do not have an answer for everything!) but it is also very much life-giving. I was even asked a Trinitarian question this week; I hope I answered it in a way that would have made Dr. Smith proud. :) I also love it when they want to sing songs together; sometimes they are in Luganda, but most of the time they are in English and often they are praise/worship songs that I am familiar with. This brought me a great amount of joy this week when I needed my spirit to be uplifted.
- I love visiting the sub-parishes/mission churches. Even though we cannot understand the local language, the Spirit of these churches is very much alive and has become very precious to me. I have to admit that it can be uncomfortable at times, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Spirit is working in these churches.
- I love the conversations I have been able to have with the community of people I am staying with and working closely with. These conversations have also been life-giving and have been a true blessing. Some of them have been theological, some of them have been informative, and some of them have been completely silly. But I have cherished every moment I get to share stories, information, ideas, and beliefs.
- I've really enjoyed the slower pace of things. Well, sometimes. Normally, I like to keep busy with something even if it is a small task. Here, I have had the opportunity to rest a lot and to be pretty leisurely with my time. (This is both a frustration and a joy, depending on the day, haha)
- Even though I really miss my parents, siblings, and friends I have experienced a reliance on God that I don't know I would have experienced any other way. I no longer have access to the things I normally rely on such as the internet, facebook, phone/texts, face-to-face conversations with people I know, etc. And I think I needed to learn this lesson; I needed to learn to be fully dependable on God and not on other things or people. I am thankful for this.
- I love hearing "Bye, mzungu" every time we walk outside of the parish gates. On our way to and from St. Cyprian Secondary School we are always greeted this way by children we pass. I can hear the joy in their voices as they yell at us, trying to gain our attention. It means quite a lot to them that we take time to wave back, smile, and speak to them. But it brings me a great amount of joy to see them happy!
That's all I've got for you this week! Thank you all, again, for the continued support, love, prayers, and words of encouragement! I am so blessed to have you all in my life.
All my love,
Corey Namata
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