In an effort to get caught up because I can’t stand being so
far behind I’m going to quickly tell you about what’s been happening in the
week since we returned from Karamoja.
Friday—November 14 We
left Matany, Karamoja at 10:00pm and arrived in Kampala at 1:00pm the following
day. It was a long brutal journey
back. Couldn't sleep because I was like
a double stuffed Oreo with Abdu on one side and another young Ugandan on the
other on a bench seat that was really designed for thin Ugandans not the double
stuffed Oreo! It was dark and when I say
dark I mean can hardly see your hand if you put it in front of your face. This
is when I realized that this was not going to be fun at all. Nothing to look at, can’t sleep, and worse of
all my knees were hitting the seat in front of me so every bump we hit (which
is at least a million) my knees would bang into the seat and I ended up swollen
and bruised by the time we got home. The
only thing that got me through it was I had my iPod and I was able to turn on
some praise and worship music and just pray and sing my way through the pain. Traveling during the day isn’t bad because as
least if you can’t sleep you can still stare out the window and admire God’s
beautiful creation. But it was a long 7 hours before daylight…
A couple times I don’t know if the driver fell asleep or
wasn’t paying attention but he hit these holes or something that absolutely
sent me and other flying up and hit our heads on the overhead compartment. The bus is like a Greyhound bus but the
Ugandan style. We were sitting in the back
of the bus…and as I posted on Facebook…do you remember when sitting in the back
of the bus was where all the cool kids sat?
Well, this was not the place to be…just saying. The back is the worst but when they go over
the bumps because there were several times when my bottom left the seat…not too
fun!
I kept thinking that I hope this is like what people say
child birth is like… you forget afterwards what the pain is like because then
you have another kid and know you have to do through it again. We are hoping to go to Karamoja every 4-6
weeks and at the time I was thinking….I don’t know about that now…
Saturday, November 15—Josephine is a youth from the church
and just a sweet girl. She’s 16 and
lives with her mother right outside the church.
Today she came to help us with cleaning the house and some cooking. Then in the evening we went to church for
dance team practice and choir practice.
I love Saturday nights! I was in
the church choir in high school and I like to sing. I would love for these kids to be the best
choir around that gets invited to sing at weddings and church events and other
things like that. Abdu also likes to
sing so we make a good pair. I’m always
pointing out songs that maybe they’ll try in time…
Sunday, November 16—We attended church service at our
church, Saved to Serve Worship Center.
Pastor Abdu preached about 10 steps to transformation. The third Sunday is also an anointing service. I will write more about this at another time.
Monday, November 17—Abdu and I had been discussing the
possibility of us buying a larger vehicle.
He transports children back and forth from church on Saturday for
practice and Sundays for service. On
Sunday, he put 11 children in our little Toyota Corolla! Yes 11 and yes a Corolla! I was not in the car or that wouldn't have
happened. We also have an idea for a
business for the Corolla and if the car is working each day then we would need
something to move us around in. Another
thought was if we got a vehicle with 4 wheel drive we could take it to Karamoja
instead of taking the bus. So, Abdu
contacted a broker and they took around to several different lots to show us
some LandCruisers. We saw many that were
ok and one that was good. They told us
the price, Abdu told them what we would pay and then we left because they said
no. We prayed that if it was God’s will
for us to have this vehicle that He would allow us to get it at the amount we
needed it to be.
Tuesday, November 18—The car broker called and agreed to
sell it to us at the price we wanted!
Praise God!!! It is an older
vehicle as almost all vehicles here are.
I think it’s over 15 years old but it has a solid engine and only minor
issues that needed to be addressed. It
was fun to watch Abdu get adjusted to driving it. It’s much bigger than the Corolla and I got
nervous a couple times because he is used to fitting into small spaces but that cannot happy with this thing…
Wednesday, November 19--Abdu and I went to the church that we want to
get married at. Here in Uganda you
cannot get married just anywhere. The
places have to be registered with the country to be able to issue marriage
licenses. So we had to pick a church
that had the license to marry. Abdu
picked a beautiful church and it was exactly what I was wanting but he didn't
know that. It’s called Full Gospel Church
of Makerere. We met with the secretary of the church and
she gave us all the requirements and forms that we needed to complete. We have to get labwork done and also they
require pre-marital counseling with someone from the church. Counseling will be 8 sessions of 2 hours each….whew that
is a lot of talking. The secretary was
pushing us to get everything done because we are only about 8 weeks from the
wedding and she said we are behind. In
the evening we went to church for evening service.
Thursday, November 20—We spent the day downtown
Kampala. We started with getting labwork
done. Then have to wait and hour for the
results. Instead of waiting we went to
get some other errands accomplished. I
didn't eat breakfast which was really stupid and ended up getting really weak
from the heat and all the walking. So,
Abdu put me in a restaurant and told them to give me anything I wanted. He went back to finish the errands and got
the car and came to pick me up. I felt
weak the rest of the day but I ate more and was fine by the evening. We picked up the lab results and gathered
everything else we needed for the wedding requirements and went back to the
church to deliver that and to pay for the wedding to reserve the date. Thankfully that was done.
Friday, November 21—Abdu and I spent the day going around to
look at places for the wedding reception.
We looked at several places and the one I really liked was booked for the
date we wanted so that was a bit disappointing.
The others were either not great or too expensive. So we will be looking at more. We then went to church for the bible study
they have each Friday night. I am always
amazed at what these youth say. They are
supposed to share a scripture that touched them that week and then preach about
it for 5 minutes. Some even ask for more
time to talk. The wisdom that some of
these kids have is amazing. I get up
there and can’t think of two words to say…they are awesome!
Saturday, November 22--Josephine came again today to help with washing clothes and cleaning. This girl is such a blessing to me! Not having a washing machine is really tough. Thankfully I have enough clothes to last for a while because it rained last week when she came and then it rained everyday this week. Hard to wash clothes and get them to dry outside when it rains at different times each day. I washed undergarments, swept and washed the walls and tables and everything else to get the dust off while she worked on the other clothes. Tonight we are going to our first session of pre-marital counseling. I'm a bit nervous because I don't know what to expect but I know it will be okay. Then after counseling we have dance/choir practice! WooHoo!!!
Almost every day this week it has rained and we have been
without power so it has been a challenge without being able to use the laptop
as much as I want so I can type. Thankfully
it has been on when I’ve been home today and yesterday. Praise God!
Well, I think that catches me up for the day to day
activities. I have more thoughts to
share on things but that will be another post.
Stay tuned…
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