The Bane of My African Existence

Bake them
Mash them
Boil them
Nuke them
Freeze them
Scorch them
Drown them - at this point you might have realized I'm not talking about a food item.
Bleach them
Poison them
Dryer them...and yes, I'm making this a verb for this post, especially since this is what motivated me to write today. I was taking down a kitchen drying mat from the line outside because it's getting ready to rain. With chagrin I noticed it had an ant colony growing on it. (In my defense, this is the mat that sits under the dish rack liner, so it doesn't get much attention.)

Inspiration struck! I was going to put these laundry items in the dryer, a highly unusual appliance out here, when I realized I might just find a new method for killing my tormentors! And will the lint collector thingy scoop them up too? You can't imagine how exciting this is - I can't wait to go get the stuff out of the dryer to see if I'm successful.

Yes, killing the ever-present columns of ants is a sick hobby of mine. Hopefully it's the only sick hobby I have. I don't know anyone here who loathes them any less than I do, but I might be the only one keeping a list of my termination techniques. Nuking them in the microwave doesn't actually work; I guess ants are up there with cockroaches. And so far, my favorite technique is scorching them. When they're crawling on a pan, I like to turn on the gas stove and they just shrivel up and fall off when I knock the pan. It's very rewarding; I suggest you try it.

Ant annihilation is much more satisfying than ant prevention, which is also a full-time job. You will recognize my kitchen as it's the one with:
-peanut butter, the sugar jar, honey, etc in (imported) Ziplock bags
-shortening, cereal, margarine, baked goods, etc in plastic lidded ice cream containers (yes, we reuse them here)
-cooking oil sealed in used water bottles
-butter and bread in the refrigerator
-bananas hanging from the pantry door in a mesh bag
-raisins and peanuts in lidded jars
-the trash bag hanging from the outside kitchen window (to keep it away from the dogs)
-the dirty dishes stacked precariously in a tower within a basin with a moat of water at the base to keep the ants from crossing

But don't be fooled: the ants do not limit themselves to the kitchen. They are marching out from behind the mirrors and toilets in the bathrooms. They are filing from the air vent to the window. They are on the highway between the power socket and the back of the hutch. And if you would like to know how I deal with them outside the kitchen (when I'm consumed with both anger and energy, a rare combination), let's just say two words: glue gun.

And the verdict is out: the dryer kills them and the lint screen, as you can see, collects them!

Conference Celebrations for Completed Translations

In March, we had our conference for all our staff in Uganda. This is an event which happens every other year, and people travel in from their village translation centers to join us. This was an especially joyful year as we celebrated the completions of translations of four New Testaments. Although we still have quite a lot of work to do before the books head to the printers (namely final checks and typesetting), a huge amount of work is now complete!

The back of our conference shirts

I had lunch with one of the translators for the Aringa New Testament, Barnabas. He told a friend and me that working on Scripture is like a woman in labor - it is so difficult but then she rejoices as new life enters the world. After we finished eating, my friend looked up at the wall in the dining room and saw this batik, which seems to sum it up well.

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the worship. There's just something amazing about singing to the Lord with people from several countries and languages. It always gives me a taste of heaven, worshiping God with believers from many places in several languages.

In Joshua 4:2,3 God commanded Joshua to, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So we had four stones with the names of each language which has recently finished the translation of the New Testament.

At the end of the day, a translator from each of the languages then carried the stone on his shoulder while everyone cheered and praised the Lord for the work He is doing. These men and women have spent many years working for God to carry His words to their people.

Joshua told the people, "Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. (Joshua 4:5-7) I'm not sure what will become of these stones, but I know people throughout Uganda, Tanzania, and all over the world will be telling their children about how the Word of God came to them in their languages by His power and to His glory!

It's an exciting time for us here in Uganda, and we're so thankful the Lord has blessed us with seeing this work coming to fruition. Around 1,900 languages are still waiting for a Bible translation project to start. Let's not forget to pray for them. As Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Luke 10:2)