Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Best Slumber Party Ever













Yesterday we got the best surprise ever when Choir 31 rolled up at the school we're staying at. They are on their way from Texas back to North Carolina and decided to make a pitstop here. The last 24 hours have been full of much rejoicing, singing, dancing, playing, and catching up with old friends and fellow ACC members. Yesterday found the boys having a very serious soccer scrimage, and the girls dressing up the Aunties in African garb, found amidst the rummage sale goods in the school gym. Keep an eye out on facebook for a video of out Uptown Girls fashion show (I'm still trying to figure out how to get it uploaded). 48 Ugandan children and 18 aunties and uncles in one gym= the best slumber party ever! This kind of thing rarely happens, so we are feeling quite blessed and excited to have gotten the choirs together twice in 4 months. After lifting our voices to the Lord in praise, the kids went to bed and the aunties and uncles set up a projector for our own private movie night. It's been awhile since I actually sat down and watched a movie...I almost forgot what it feels like. This morning I sat up in my sleeping bag to be greeted by a jumble of airplane, hello kitty, and superman jammy clad children. The kids are now practicing to put on a little talent show for each other, before we both take off in our seperate directions.

Monday, November 24, 2008

And then there was the time.....

You know those memories that don't seem super funny at the time, but you laugh about for years to come? Last night was one of those. The story goes something like this.....remember the time when we were sleeping on a big gym floor and the fire alarm (including a bright strobe light) went off at 2am? I still can't believe the kids didn't wake up (don't know if I was more happy or disturbed), after it had been going off for nearly a half hour. And then, because of the downpour of rain, the cockroaches decided to come in and make themselves at home by our sleeping bags. Glad we can laugh at it now. I really should write a book someday :)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Contrasts

Life is interesting and with each new day comes a new adventure. Tonight I am marveling at the contrasts. A few days ago we were in Boston, being treated like royalty and the kids sang for
30, 000 + people. Tonight we are in Roland, Arkansas at First Baptist Church of the Natural Steps and sleeping on a gym floor the next 3 nights. When it was time for the concert to start, 19 people had showed up. There are 32 of us......it was a little humurous. Despite the few bodies, there was lots of energy. The congregation was completely African American and one of our kids, with a confused face, asked if we were back in Uganda! O, how their world is expanding :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Singing with Bishop Tutu

After our delay in Little Rock and a short layover in Dallas, the choir arrived safely in Boston yesterday. We checked into the fancy Westin Hotel at the Boston Convention Center and had a quick snack of chocolate cake before heading to sound check. There were many “wah wahs” at the sight of the giant room the kids would sing in.
We all enjoyed a fancy catered meal, including teddy bear shaped gellato, before heading to bed. This morning we were escorted to the Greenbuild convention where the children sang before and after the keynote speaker, Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 30,000 people were present at the convention and the program was broadcast on television to 80 different countries, we were told! The kids did excellent and we are happy to report that the people at the convention said the kids have made the organization proud. Following the program, the kids had a photo session with Bishop Tutu and he handed out high fives to every child. This was an incredible once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us and we are quite excited to be here. In a few hours we will board a plane back to Little Rock and enjoy a few days off at a church before resuming tour on Friday. Thanks to all of you who help make these kinds of opportunities possible for these kids, in so many ways.



Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Chillin in the Little Rock Airport

3am this morning found 22 bleary eyed children and 10 spunky (just kidding) adults boarding a bus for the Little Rock, Arkansas national airport. After clearing security, a breakfast of blueberry muffins, and 10 starbucks drinks, we are currently playing a game of telephone, while we wait to board our delayed flight. It is always encouraging when your plane is delayed because the aircraft is damaged. The good news is we have just been cleared...I'll write from Boston!!!!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from recently...

Girls night out!


Gunny sack race...



Have you ever seen a two level slide in a church? I have!



My favorite room yet :)


Rachael's muscles...














Questions of the day

So I told one of my oldest boys the other day to make me a list of things he wants to know. He has been flying through his schoolwork and so he needed something to do and I wanted to give him an alternative to being bored. The following is a list of the questions he wrote down for me. I thought I would share it with you because it is quite interesting.

1. What is fertilization?
2. What is sanitation?
3. Why do we wash our hands after using the toilet?
4. What is it called when liquid changes into ice?
5. What is HIV/AIDS in full?
6. What is your favorite season?
7. Give 100 reasons why whites are different from blacks?
8. What is living things?
9. Who was the first king of America?
10. What is a climate?
11. List down the road signs.
12. What is the use of road signs?

So there ya go...these are the questions I get to answer. A pretty random assortment if you ask me..coming from a very curious and intelligent boy. I'm gonna have to think on a few of these for awhile.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Prayer Request

I received a call today from my brother who lives in Southern California. Last night a fire swept through the campus of Westmont College, where he goes to school. 9 buildings were burned up as well as 15 faculty homes, leaving many homeless and devastated. Despite the devastation, Toby said they are praising the Lord that the main buildings of the school survived and nobody was killed or seriously injured. Would you please take a few minutes to pray for the families and students who lost so much today. Please pray also for my brother and those who are working hard to clean up the mess and take care of the homeless.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Christmas Already???

Has anybody else noticed that the Christmas hullabaloo comes earlier and earlier every year? This year I even noticed Christmas music and a few decorations in early October...but as soon as Halloween was over it's like people forgot about a holiday called Thanksgiving and went straight to preparing for Christmas..which was nearly two months away! As much as I love Christmas, I fear the specialness of it wears off by the time it gets here, when we prepare this early. Every store I have walked into this week was playing Christmas music, several radio stations are playing the music already, and yesterday when we pulled into the church in Springfield, MO, there were poeple busily setting up an elaborate Christmas lights show, complete with a funhouse and dozens of Christmas trees, right on the church property. As I sit here enjoying an eggnog chai latte, the kids are learning a few new Christmas songs to add to the concert program. There is no putting it off any longer...the Christmas season is coming full speed ahead. With that...I wish everyone a very special THANKSGIVING!

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to share with you a moment from school today. I was explaining to my p4's what the word generally means and I used the following example: "Generally you children are good, but sometimes you make mistakes. Generally I am good, but sometimes I make mistakes." Nelson raised his hand and said, "Auntie, I have never seen you make a mistake." It took me several minutes to convince the kids that Auntie Angela (though her name looks like angel and the kids think she looks like one) is not perfect. Yikes! This led to a good discussion about sin nature, which I think they understood when we finished. I am still not sure what to think though about the kids assumption that I am perfect. If only they knew!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Today at lunch, Nelson asked me what my favorite word in English is and I told him...
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! The boys spent the rest of lunch trying to say it and busting out in laughs. It came out sounding more like supercalifornialotion. I took a video, but for some reason it will not upload here...sorry.

Hannington and Geofrey are sitting here now marveling at how fast I can type. They don't understand how I can look at the screen and my fingers just know where to go. Julius says hello (though it sounds more like hallo).

It is time to load the bus now...toodles!

Angela

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

a night on the town...

It's the third night in a row that I have been up past midnight...but I just can't seem to make it to bed before then. Tonight is historic for America (whether your an Obama supporter or not), there is no denying it. I am anxious to see what happens, but at peace knowing God is on the throne and in control. I'm happy to say I spent the evening out with fellow chaperones, rather than in front of the television. The girls went out to celebrate Laura's birthday and it was the first time we've been out on tour. It felt good to laugh and relax with no kids around and no host families (even though I love them both). We chuckled at ourselves as we were driving down the road worried about getting home and checking on the kids. We sounded just like mothers! The brain power is waning, but I am going to bed tonight feeling blessed and thankful for generous host families, good friends, and a night out :).

Monday, November 3, 2008

12:04am

It's 12:04am and I'm not sure why I'm still awake. I should have been in bed long ago, but alas I have been on the phone catching up with friends and family. When I get a chance to talk (with free minutes) I can't pass it up (even though I'm not much for phone conversations). Two of my boys came in a bit ago to inform me that Christopher was not sleeping "properly." I'm still a bit bewilder at what exactly he meant, after hearing his explanation. He was making funny faces with his eyes and telling me that he sleeps sometimes with his eyes open and for some reason he couldn't sleep with his eyes closed. Whatever the case it made me roll MY eyes at him and send him back to bed. O, the random things of get to deal with as a "parent" to these kids. Thank you to those of you who faithfully read my thoughts on this blog. Some of it is trivial, but I hope you are encouraged when you walk away and inspired to live life abundantly in Christ.



I am currently listening to the newly released song by Michael W. Smith that he recorded live with the African Children's Choir (#31) that I trained with in August. The album is called A New Hallelujah and you should go get it! I remember talking to Michael back in March when I was living in Nashville. I went to his church and chatted with him after the service about the African Children's Choir. He told me he wanted them on his next album and sure enough he invited Choir 31 to record with him this past summer. It's so fun to be listening to it now and see the kids on the back of the album!




Tonight we got to visit the St. Louis Arch. It's HUGE and pretty remarkable and beautiful at night. My boys loved it and asked lots of questions. Next to the arch is the Famous Eads bridge, which might not mean much to anybody else, but I just happened to have taught my 6th graders at Hew Hope Academy this past spring, about the bridge, while we were learning about the Industrial Era (I'm pretty sure that is a terrible run on sentence, but I'm too tired to fix it :). I had forgotten about it until someone told me the name of the bridge I was staring at. So cool!




It's 12:16 now and Im determined to go to bed earlier than I did last night, so adios and goodnight friends!