Orientation And Some Time Travelling

Greetings from Kampala, Uganda!

Our team of interns arrived 3 days ago at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda after an amazing week of orientation in the mountains of Colorado Springs. So many great things happened, and so many great new relationships were formed. I really enjoyed meeting a wide variety of people, all of which were design professionals wanting to give their lives for the Kingdom. We learned a lot about each other, other cultures, the Gospel, and God's heart for the Nations. The one lecture session that was particularly interesting to me was about the other 2/3 of the gospel. We discussed how in the U.S. we tend to focus solely on the forgiveness of sins when sharing the gospel. Many cultures in the world are not as concerned with their own personal mistakes as we are. They can be more concerned with honor and shame, or power and fear. It was amazing to see how the gospel addresses these issues and how they can apply not only to other cultures but also to our own. I am hoping to apply all I learned in the next few months.

Honestly, It was difficult for me to leave Colorado. Everything about it was amazing, the mountains, the people, the late night dance session, my time in the Word and so much more. Nonetheless, I was also excited to embark on this crazy new journey and time of my life. So, we left Monday night and from Denver, and flew to Heathrow International Airport. After an 8 hour lay-over we departed for Entebbe in a surprisingly empty plane. Nine hours later we landed just of the edge of Lake Victoria. Quite an amazing sight I must say. Passing through customs was smooth, and all our luggage had arrived on time as well (with nothing stolen either!).  At this point in time in was 7 am, Wednesday. I have no idea where Tuesday went, so don't ask me. The next few days felt like a dream due to the severe jet lag our team was experiencing.

Our scavenger hunt team, in front of the new taxi Park

Downtown

Despite the jet lag, the past 3 days have been incredible. I cannot possibly begin to explain to you all the feelings, sights, and smells I have experienced. Yesterday we embarked on a scavenger hunt in downtown Kampala. We took a Mutatu (taxi bus) into the city for about 1000 Ugandan Shillings (that's 40 US cents).  It was unbelievably crowded, with the smell of diesel, burnt plastic and trash lingering in the air. Small shops were scattered on along the roads. Red dirt seemingly covered everything. I remember seeing 15 mattresses fly into the air as guy catches them on his head and casually walks onto the road, gracefully avoiding all the boda-boda's and Mutatus flying through the streets at seemingly random pasterns without ever touching. As we walked through the crowded open air market I tightly held to my bag in front of me to avoid becoming victim to the pickpockets. Ugandans at the stalls were yelling: "Mzugu! You want to buy?" There was laughter, bartering, shoving all around me. The objective I was given was to buy some fresh fruit, so I eagerly look around for some mangoes. After bypassing some remote controls and bags of stuff that looks like flour I find a lady sitting on the floor with mangoes neatly placed in front of her. Politely I ask: "Hi, how are you? Can I have 2 mangoes please?" She looks at me blankly and says: "two thousand." At this point I wonder if 80 cents is reasonable and decide not to barter with the woman, and just pay the said two thousand. She hands me a bag with three mangoes for some reason, and so I walk away happy. I look up and feel raindrops falling on my face as the first rain in two weeks starts to fall, washing away all the red dust. "Welcome to Kampala" I think with a smile on my face.

Its only been 3 days, and so much has happened. I realize that the first few weeks are always the most intense, but I am stoked about the next few months and all they entail. I would love to Skype with you sometime just send me an email at alexandermooney@gmail.com and we can setup a date and time. The internet here is slow, but it works. In a moment I'm going to head back to the house, get some lunch and then head down to the lake. We are going to play some football (soccer) and ultimate with the locals. The "rolex" I got for breakfast down the street should give me enough energy till lunch. I'll let you guess what that is.

But yeah, don't hesitate to email me, it means more than you think.

Love You All,
-Alex

The End of a Chapter.

I left Atlanta last Tuesday, and I have spent the last few days here in Savannah. I should be here until the 19th when I leave for Colorado Springs, and start a new crazy chapter of my life. The next week should be filled with good intentional time with my Kingdom family and some last minute preparations.
Honestly I am eager to leave, and I am getting a little impatient. But I want to make good use of my last few days here and not let them go to waste. Even though something big lies ahead of me I need to focus on today, for tomorrow has enough worries by itself.

Despite my eagerness, the last few weeks have been good and I feel like I left Atlanta on a good note. I was able to say goodbye to most of the people that mean a lot to me, and I had a lot of good intentional conversations with my co-workers at Jimmy Johns. In hindsight I really enjoyed my summer in Atlanta working an easy job with little hours. I got to meet a large variety of people, and I was reminded of Gods amazing love for people. His heart is for the broken people of this world, especially those who are running away from him. I was reminded that he revealed himself to me not because of anything I had done, but simply because he loves me. I believe he has pointed these things out to me, so that I will be able to better love the people of Uganda. I really don't want to arrive with a prideful agenda. Instead, I desire to live amongst the people of Uganda with a humble heart while allowing myself to be teachable. I have a lot to learn.

There have been a few passages that have really stuck out to me the past year as I have been going through the process of applying and preparing for this internship. A big one I would like to share with you is the parable of the talents. It shows up in Luke 19:12-27 and Matthew 25:14-30 in case you have not read it before. I felt convicted early this year about these verses because I believe that we are the servant that receives the most talents. Just by looking at my own life, I see how God has given me so much. Not only am I a US citizen, but he gave me a healthy body, an education and a strong biblical foundation in my faith. In addition, He has provided me with you: Godly brothers and sisters willing to pray for me and support me. It's only natural that I do this internship with EMI. There is nothing crazy about it. I really want to use these "talents" He has given me.

I wanted to mention how I have been blown away by the support God has provided for me. I am close to reaching my financial needs for this trip, and I love how people have been eager to give on their own accord. It truly has been the Spirit that has stirred up people into giving, not any type of fundraising that I did. This is a direct answer to prayer, which I prayed for with the Georgia Tech Navigators in the beginning of this summer. God is pretty awesome.

Thank you for you praying for me, and reading my blog. I should be posting more frequently now that I am getting closer to leaving. So don't forget to sign up for email notifications on the right.

I love you all,
Alex