#130 - Thankful for Mountain Dew

Nov 9 - Nov 26, 2008
Picture of the Week

There are a number of things that you must give up when you live overseas. Some of them are quite easy and you actually look forward to them, such as the cold weather of winter or the fast paced life trying to "keep up with the Jones'". Some of them are much tougher to give up such as being with family during the holidays and the convince of high speed internet. Other things are nice to have, but you can certainly do without, such as your favorite soda or candy bar. A couple of weeks ago I (Chad) saw some people walking around town with what appeared to be Mountain Dew T-shirts on. This is nothing too spectacular since there are people walking around town with all sorts of foreign T-shirts on (some, like the Smith family reunion, Lubbock TX, 1996 always make me smile). A couple of days after seeing these Mountain Dew T-shirts however, I noticed a large bill board near our house advertising the new soda in town - Mountain Dew! This was my all time favorite soda before we moved to Uganda and I would take at least a couple lunch breaks a week to walk down to the 7-11 near the EMI office and get a super big gulp of Mountain Dew. There have been a few instances when a can or two would show up in Uganda and I would immediately buy it and savor the taste, but here was an advertisement that seemed to say that Mountain Dew was coming to Kampala permanently! I couldn't believe my eyes and quickly discounted it to keep my hopes from being raised. This past weekend though, as I went grocery shopping I saw sure proof, driving down the road was a flat bed pickup loaded with cases of Mountain Dew, a huge speaker system and banners all over it advertising for Mountain Dew. I immediately went to the local soda distributor and purchased a case of Mountain Dew and felt like I was in another world! Mountain Dew has arrived in Uganda - join with me in praising God for the many blessings in living overseas!

Family Update

• Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are not butchering a turkey! I was getting tired of all the work cleaning and plucking the turkey for a fork sized portion of meat, so we broke down and paid $6 per pound for an imported turkey that looks surprising like a Butterball! I can't wait to dig in! We will be having an all EMI potluck Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings.
• Not much longer in the first semester at Heritage. Shanthi and the kids have only 3 more weeks of school!
• Miriam's class was selected to host the weekly chapel service. They did a skit on Moses leading God's people out of Egypt, Miriam got to play the part of, you guessed it, Miriam!
• Chad took part in the annual MTN Kampala Marathon. He ran in the 10 km race and posted a personal best time of 1 hour 2 minutes!

EMI & Heritage Update

• Heritage no longer has any students in the hospital! There had been over 2 straight months of either teachers or students in the hospital, all with serious complications. The two students are mostly recovered and have even been seen at school part time.
• Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday and therefore not celebrated in other countries, it will be business as usual tomorrow as Shanthi and the kids will be at school on Thursday. Chad has closed the EMI office and will be home making the turkey and a fruit salad!
• The funds for the EMI golf marathon held in August have come in and boosted the office finances to be in the black! The projection is that we will end the year with a good surplus to carry us into 2009!
• The EMI NGO status was renewed! This is the permit that allows us to stay and work in Uganda. It has been renewed for 5 years!

Praise Reports

• Mountain Dew and Butterball turkey's! :)
• A secondary head teacher has been hired at Heritage! This will greatly reduce the administrative burden on Shanthi.
• In the midst of the trials, spiritual growth is happening at Heritage. Two students have recently accepted Christ.

Prayer Requests

• Continue to pray for Shanthi as she feels overwhelmed in the position of principal at Heritage.

Attached Picture

• A case of Dew (I couldn't help myself and drank some before this picture was snapped) and Miriam in her schools chapel service.