Path-taker

Hey every, I'm in Kampala.

I have been reading through the book of Psalms as I travel and I've come across some clutch verses. The other night I was reading Psalms 25:4-5:

"make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach my your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me."

As I've been traveling this verse has taken on a whole new, literal meaning; God is showing me what paths he wants me to take.

Here is one path I found today.

I got into Entebbe last night and read an email from my sister, Sarah, who has work with the NGO Invisible Children who do work in Northern Uganda. She emailed me and told me that her boss has a group of people who won the same contest she did a few years ago in Gulu. So as of this morning I was trying to make my way to Gulu. I decieded to go to a hostel called "backpackers" so I could get settled in Kampala before I head out. I get to reception and asked the girl at the desk to help me dial the number for Invisible Children's office in Gulu and she goes "oh, the Invisible Children will be here this afternoon".

So, I'm waiting for the IC group to return to ask if I can tag along north. How good is God?

In another God-path-guiding moment, my former youth pastor in church aka my boss, Steve and his family have FINALLY gotten the committal order to go ahead and adopt a little Zambian girl. I lived with Steve and co. for 2 months and watched them as they persevered through delay after delay after delay after delay (thats how it works here in Africa). The Zambian girl will be able to come home next week.

Praise God.

Air-(mini)bus

I always joke about how ridiculous transportation is around here. The mini-buses come and go when they please, they cram everyone in, and the passengers are at the mercy of the driver.

I always thought "what would happen if an airline ran like a mini-bus?" Well tonight I found out: not good. I had been in Dar Es Salaam for a week hanging out with 4 South Africans and it was vey fun so tonight I had to fly to Uganda (where I am currently writing this). We left Dar at 5pm, the flight was supposed to take 2 hours. I bought the ticket and on it said "Dar Es Salaam to Entebbe" but when I got on the plane they said "it will take an hour to get to Nairobi" and I thought "hey, hang on a sec, I paid to go to Entebbe". I thought we'd just have a stop off.

An hour later we land in Nairobi and they say announce "the plane terminates here, you'll have to get off"...we walk into the airport to the Air Uganda transfers desk and tthey have no idea who we are, what flight we were on, and where we were going. It was chaos. The people were pissed, especially the Africans - which suprised me since things like this is the norm here.

When I left Steve gave me some advice. He said, try living by 1 Thess 5:18: "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" and I was sitting in the middle of this pack of people demanding to be taken care out, holding their passports in the attendant's face and I wondered "why should I be thankful for this situation. I could be stranded in a country for a few days, who knows". Well, after a while of furious typing we all had our tickets on an Air Uganda flight from Nairobi to Entebbe and as I was walking to the gate I popped into a store to see what they had and what did I see???

My favorite candy in the whole, entire world: Mambas!!!!!! I smiled and said "thanks God."

I'm trying to head north to Gulu (aka my sister's spiritual homeland) to visit Invisible Children.

Take care.

Broken

Tonight was very a tough night. Maybe the hardest since I've been here. I interviewed 2 pastors for their support blogs and one of the questions was "What are some challenges you face?" I knew this could be a difficult one but I had no idea how hard it would hit me.

One of the pastors, Alfred, who I have gotten to know a bit more than the others, shared the challenges he faces. He talked about how tough it is trying to reach out to the community and share the gospel with people here when they are starving, homeless and jobless. He said "but at the end of the day, they are physical beings, they need food to eat, but due to financial constraints we are unable to meet their physical needs." As he was talking I could see the pain in his eyes about not being able to help the people in his community. It was as if he felt he was failing as a pastor for not being able to help those in need.

I felt the pain he had. I watched as his normally happy face fill with sadness and despair and it tore me apart.

It is in moments like these that I feel guilty for living the life I have had.
Guilty for have never gone to bed hungry when people around me are starving.
Guilty for spending more money on things that people here couldn't even begin to comprehend why I'd spend money on.
Guilty for having a wonderful family while kids here get abandoned everyday.
Guilty for having the means to walk away from this place while pretty much everyone here is trapped in poverty.
Guilty for never knowing how hard life really is.

Guilty for being me.

Still Here!

Sorry everyone for not updating this thing. I really don't feel like I'm traveling anymore, I am at home here. Over the last couple of weeks I have fallen in love with this place and these people. I know that sounds cliche, but pretty much my whole life has been slowley moving to this continent. I've been thinking a lot about my long-term future here. (don't worry Mom, I am coming home and finishing my degree!)

Speaking of degrees, I am just 4 credits short of my BA but I've been considering going beyond that. I am considering doing a master's in microfinance -or at least exploring the option.

What got me started on the master's idea you ask. well, I was having a conversation with one of the Zambian pastors I know and he told me that an income generation project for his church would drastically improve their situation. He told me that if they could build a small farm and start selling chickens his church would be more likely to grow. So I started thinking, I've always wanted to help Africa but I don't agree with aid - see my next section, so I am going to see what I can do on the microfinance front.

Do you really want to know what's killing Africa? AIDS, no, not HIV/AIDS, AIDS: Acquired International Dependency Syndrome. Don't get mad at me, I heard a member of parliment say that last night at a discussion on aid led by Dr. Dambisa Moyo on her book "Dead Aid." For those who are interested in Africa READ THIS BOOK! It will greatly challenge your beliefs of foreign aid. She basically argues that government to government aid is bad for Africa and that if Africa is to develop it needs to do so without the assistance of foreign aid.

If you think Bono is the best thing to happen to Africa since the polio vaccine you will be quite shocked. I was a huge fan and supporter of the Live 8 campaign a few years ago and this book challenged my views. If anyone reads this book and has questions about it let me know, I'd love to talk about it.

Dambisa Moyo is nothing sort of a genius. She has a Master's from Harvard and a Doctorate from Oxford. She spent 2 years at the World Bank and 8 years with Goldman Sachs' Dept Capital Markets group. Oh yeah, she was born and raised here in Lusaka. So not only is she academically qualified to speak out on this topic she has a right to, because she is a "daughter of the soil".

Read it. "Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa"

I'd love to hear from you. Email me!

tyler.

When things go wrong here, they go WRONG

My day was a comedy errors. It was one thing after another.

I took the wrong bus yesterday morning. I told the conductor that I wanted to go into town. It was very eary so I wasn't that alert. I'm on the bus and I look around and don't recognize anything. The drivers sometimes do their own thing and drive where they want to so I figured he was taking a different route. Then we get this clearing, it was like a dirt road interection. And the bus stops.

By this time I knew I wasn't in the right area and I thought "is this it?" the driver looks at me and says "this is the last stop" and told him I wanted to go to the city. They laughed at me and I had quite a sheepish smile on. So I stayed on as we went back into the city.

Then in the afternoon as I took the bus back to Makeni (I have moved to a different area of Lusaka, on the outskirts) I sat in the conductors spot, right by the door. As we past people on the streets they looked and saw a "mzungu" in the conductor seat. They all thought it was hilarious and laughed at me some more. I had to laugh at the situation. Here I am in Zambia being made fun of by everyone around me and I can't understand any of it. I just knew they were laughing at me.

It was a relief to get home.

love much.

t.

I Love Africa because...

you see the craziest things. Today, I went into the bathroom to wash my hands and I looked down and there was a frog in the toilet. It was alive and must have gotten stuck in a pipe somewhere and gotten carried into the bowl.

I just had to laugh. TIA.

But on the other hand, Africa is exhausting. There is another acronym. AIE. I am absolutely drained and have just enough energy to get through the next class. I've also missplaced some seriously imporant documents from the office.

PRAY THAT GOD WILL HELP ME FIND THEM!!!!!

Love you all,

Tyler.

Hey Everybody!

I have officially been in Africa for one month! And what a month it has been! I am settling into the swing of things just nicely. This has truely been one of the most remarkable months of my live. I have learned and experienced so much it is amazing.

In one month I have:
Screen "The Passion of the Christ" outdoors in a compound and almost got stampeded.
Taught people who have never used a computer how to "double-click".
Seen elephants, giraffes, zebras, kudus, and lions.
Seen one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls.
Traveled to 4 countries.
Bungee Jumped 364 feet.
Met some of the most incredible people ever.
And so, so much more.

I am very excited for the next month or so. Steve wants me to document these pastors lives and put together a blog/site about each one. This means I'll be heading into these compounds (during the day mom, I'll be safe) to see how they live, how they pastor their churches etc, etc. I am so looking forward to this.

I miss you all,

Tyler.

PS. I'd love to hear from you. Email me tyler.dingman@gmail.com