Showers

The rest of my time in Africa was spent in Uganda this year. Though the rest of the team had gone separate ways when I went to Kenya, Hazel Bech rejoined me in Kampala, Uganda and we taught a class of pastors and leaders using the training program we'd been using the past few years in Tanzania. It was really well received, and I feel confident that a number of those leaders are going to apply what they learned to make a real difference in their communities.

I think the thing that really made the biggest impression upon me in Uganda was the running hot water. The event was held in a hotel, and we were given nice rooms that had hot running water. I took hot showers every morning and felt like I was close to heaven! It's amazing how many things we in the west take for granted, but then when we go without these conveniences for awhile we realise what a real blessing they are!

I've had lots of different kinds of showers out on the mission field. Sometimes I get the pleasure of running water, but it's ice-cold. In those cases, especially when the weather's already chilly outside, I just jump in under the water and try to keep myself from screaming. After I survive the initial shock without a heart-attack, my body adjusts somewhat to the chill and I get about my business...but I do it quickly.

Another common experience is the bucket and bar of soap. Sometimes I am sent to a small square room with a bucket of water and my soap and told to go at it. The first time I went into such a situation, I looked at the little bucket and asked myself, "Now how do they expect me to get inside that little bucket?" But then in time I realised the idea was that I was meant to pour the water over my head. In time I started carrying a small plastic cup with me on these travels so that I could pour small amo