Greetings Dear Reader
Its one of those beautiful days here in Holland. The sun's out and has been for the last few days (since the snow on Friday afternoon). I'm so grateful, even though its cold and there's a slight bite when I go outside. There's been a lot of snow over the last few weeks, which has made biking risky (due to black ice and large patches of refrozen snow). Its really weird that we had such warm weather over Christmas (I was leaving my jacket at my sister's apartment when I was with her) and now I'm freezing cold every time I stick my nose outside.
Much to the amusement of my friends, I have a thing with the cold and the snow. Growing up in Africa meant that I never saw snow. Christmas almost always happened over the dry season (there are only two seasons in the tropics, rainy and dry season, which would happen in a cycle of three months per season; they're self explanatory). So being in Europe and having to wrap up during the winter months is still an alien concept to me, even though I've lived in Europe almost two years now. I do miss Uganda when the weather's like this. Given I miss Uganda a lot more than I give on. There's something special about always carrying Uganda with me, its the land I was born in (and its written in my travel documents) and its my unofficial third nationality. I have been questioned on entering different countries as to why I was born in Kampala... but that's a story for another time.
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| Ita (from the hospitality department), Carl and Bas |
GO Teams News
Things have been going really well in the office. We've had some great moments together, like the Mission Market. The idea of the Mission Market is to recruit the Discipleship Training School DTS. The Classic and Football DTS finished last Friday, so we had the Mission Market on Wednesday last. The different departments put up tables with information about what they're all about.
Just to make a point now, the guys I work with, Carl and Bas (in the photo on the right) are full of crazy ideas on making sure people don't forget GO Teams. So we got Buffalo worms and fried them into a taco mix and we also got grasshoppers, and had a bowl of melted chocolate for the brave to try. A lot of the girls were jumped at it and dipped grasshoppers in chocolate, which caused the guys to try it, because they didn't want to to loose face in front of the girls. I think we definitely left our mark on the memories of the DTS students. I'm not sure how many will sign up for the GO Teams, but they'll definitely remember who we are. The crazy department... with the crazy food.
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| Bas |
We've also had a number of applications come in already. If you're interested in doing something for a couple of weeks this summer, why don't you think about joining us on an outreach? Four weeks of your summer holidays, going to another country to serve the Lord by serving those who need it. Why not check out us out by clicking here?
Since The Move
Things have been going really well since I moved. I'm still adjusting to being in a new location but I'm really enjoying being at the Herdershof. It looks like an old Dutch farm house and is on the edge of one of the oldest forests in Holland (from what I've heard). I took myself there yesterday for a walk. I needed the fresh air, and thus took full advantage of the beautifully clear, dry weather that we've had over the last couple of days. I must apolagize about going on about the weather so much, I'm just so happy that its not snowing or raining at the moment. I can't tell you how happy I am that the sun's shining.
Photography
Over the last two years I've been posting a photo a day on this platform called Blipfoto. It's a photographic documentary of the journey of my life, of sorts, over the last two years (well 776 days, to be exact). I'd highly recommend you check out my profile. I've been using my phone camera on the most part, as that's always with me and it always works... if you're into photography, like I am, you want to better your photography skills, or you just want to document your life in photos, I recommend opening an account with Blipfoto. I stumbled across it two years ago and haven't regretting this decision. I have had to deal with a lot of crossfire about it because people don't understand why I must take a photo very day. I don't have to, I want to, its a choice I've made and I really enjoy doing it. Its the legacy that I'm choosing to leave behind, like the multitude of journals that I have got (most of my old ones are in England or Uganda) and my five year memory book (which I just started this year). I guess it all comes down to how we want to be remembered when we die. I don't mean to be such a pessimist about this. If there's something you love doing, that describes who you are, then go for it. Life is too short to be boxed by what others say you can't do. If photography and coffee make me happy then I'll keep at it.
Talking of coffee, its coffee break now, so I'm going to sign off now and post again soon.