Friday, April 9, 2010
Greetings from Kampala!
Wow! What an emotional time I'm having here! The friendly children, thankful adults, smiling faces - it's all quite overwhelming. We have been treated like royalty by all. Yesterday, we got a taste of the local cuisine for lunch. But I did have a Fanta Orange soda to go with it. Most of my family and I visited T.A.P.P. families. These were single women with children who are living with aids. They rent little 6' rooms by working odd jobs like doing laundry and making jewelry. They were so grateful for the little bags of goodies we brought them such as shirts, toothbrushes, colorbooks, candy, sugar, salt, etc. Molly and Charity, her Compassion friend, helped Cindy paint a beautiful mural on the wall of the church we were visiting. They did an awesome job and Charity enjoyed her day with us all. It was her first visit outside of her village. She doesn't speak only a few words of english, but her enterpreter helped keep the conversations flowing. Today, we are headed out to a village to work for 5 days. Out goes the luxury of the cabin and outdoor toilet and shower we were using here. Unsure of what exactly to expect makes me a bit anxious and excited too. I feel so blessed by God to have this experience. Praise God for his goodness! Love to all, Norma Jean
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Wow what an experience you are all having. Everyone you visit sounds so beautiful.I can just see their smiles from all your bloggs. Look forward to seeing some pictures of your mission. Stay safe and we will continue to pray for you and the people of Uganda. MaryBeth
ReplyDeleteAn email from Roy:
ReplyDelete"It's 7:30 am and most are still asleep. We are leaving in a few hours for the village. This will be the big test for many as our accomodations here have been pretty nice, but that will change big time beginning tonight. Norma Jean is pleased that Tim & Colleen are taking a toilet seat for the "squatty potty." :) Everyone is doing well. Though it has been exhausting, and lunch yesterday wasn't exciting to most, they all did well in eating anyway. They are learning to try everything, but to not feel obligated to "clean their plate" as that communicates we want more anyway. Even Anna ate some beans yesterday so as to not offend.
You probably won't hear from me until we get back from the village next Wednesday, and with our schedule when we get back, the blog may be all we have time to do. We are told we will get back late next Wed and then we leave at 6:30 am the next day for Murchison Falls Game Park the next day, so we will do the best we can in posting on the blog, but if others ask why we aren't posting, remind them that we don't have access to internet in the village."
Cindy posted this on her facebook:
"Hey, I am in Uganda!! It is the Pearl of Africa. I was humbled to get to speak at a church with some seminary students. Today they will be ordained!!! I love their worship, it makes me cry!!! We are all well and enjoying our adventure!!"
Joyce posted this on her facebook:
"Words cannot describe what we are experiencing! I am struggling to process so many new sights and experiences - great beauty and joy contrasted with great poverty and suffering. We are safe. The Ugandan people are very warm and welcoming. Tomorrow we are heading to the villiages which will be much more remote. Not sure when the next update will be. Love to all!
All - your prayers are being answered. Pray especially for Tim and Colleen Stevenson. They are such amazing leaders and visionaries with lots of dreams, compassion and energy! Pray for safe travel and calm in the midst of the unknown and unfamiliar."