source of chocolate

This interesting looking fruit is a cocoa pod, common in west Africa, but available from my local fruit stand.

Cut open the outside rind and find a mass of white coated pips. The locals eat only the white covering off and spit out the seeds.

However, the inside seed, while a bit bitter, is the source of chocolate.

I tried some of the seeds boiled in milk with sugar, just to see if hot chocolate can be made this way too.

It was OK, nothing to write home about (LOL). Learned later that the brown seeds are roasted and processed to make cocoa powder. Oh well, it was fun.

kids to the zoo

Dennis and Frances Anderson are great friends of ours. Frances has been volunteering at Florence's school for this past year and a half. She goes on Friday mornings to play with the kids, sing songs, show dvd movies, whatever is needed.

Recently she and Dennis sponsored a trip to the "zoo" in Entebbe for the entire school and all the teachers. Frances of course went along for the fun. The bus picked up about 40 of the kids and the 7 teachers about 9:30 in the morning. An hour or so later they were entering the Wildlife training center with many animals and birds to see.

This center rehabilitates animals taken from poachers. When possible the animals are released back into their habitat. When that isn't possible, the animal becomes part of the educational program offered to encourage conservation and appreciation for the wild creatures.

Kids were fascinated to see kobs, crocodiles, monkeys, chimpanzees, snakes, giraffe, and birds. Now some of the stories they read in class will make more sense. (No, we don't have such creatures wandering around our neighborhoods....well birds of course, the occasional snake and monkeys are usually heard not seen.)

After the tour there, the bus carried them to a resort on Lake Victoria with a wonderful kids playground where they all had lunch, and wore themselves out with playing. By 6 pm all were safely back at their homes with great stories to tell their families of the big adventure.

For some of these kids, they may be the only one in their family who has been to Entebbe, never mind the zoo and a fancy place to play.

Many thanks to Dennis and Frances for making it all possible.

family reunion

Estrangements between siblings can occur for many reasons, last various lengths of time. The question is: how do they reunite and come together?

I have been privileged to listen to the summaries of one such reunion. The healing between and among the 7 siblings and even their father was amazing evidence of God's love and care. The divisions occurred first over small things, misunderstandings, and then bigger issues, which then grew larger in the minds of the perceivers. When they finally were willing to submit to each other, and more importantly, allow the Holy Spirit to bring new ideas and healing to the group, these people were each blessed and healed from regrets, from bitterness and suspicion.

This process even led to their father asking for forgiveness for his actions when they were young and he refused to cover school fees or electric bills for the home. How many 80+ year old men are there who can admit errors and seek forgiveness from their kids?

This is an amazing family, full of life, energy, open-hearted and compassionate, Christ-centered and a blessing to their communities, families and churches. I wish that all families could experience the renewal that comes from reconciliation and letting go of the past.

Don't you just love surprises??! Andrew, a 20 year old Ugandan who blesses our house group and the church with his music, was blessed by God on Tues last, and I got to be present for the adventure.

He has been borrowing guitars from friends to play for us and for others. What stress.

But Anonymous, God's busiest angel, enlisted me to take Andrew by special hire (only the 3rd time in his life he'd been in a car) to go to pick out a new guitar. He tried out all the guitars that play both electric and acoustic, and selected the one for him.


His smile says it all.