I had quite the greeting when I returned:

I had my last cancer screening done the week after I got back and got the all clear! Thank God! We were even told we could start trying for another baby!

We are still in the process of making our decision of whether or not we will move our family to Africa. After our trip, we now know how much more there is to take into consideration. Now we have a better understanding about what is truly the reality there. The mission work is one thing. Trying to find where we fit in. What kind of work we are to do? How do our kids fit into the work? Do we fit in with a team? There are so many logistics with just trying to figure all that out it makes my head spin. Just the day to day living is another thing altogether. Take going to get groceries for example. Here, we jump in our minivan and head for Whole Foods, Publix, Target, we grab what we need and head home. Maybe stopping in for a meal on the way home because we are tired from shopping. In Jinja, the market trip would look a little more like jumping on the back of a Boda Boda or a Tikki (bike or motorcyle) heading to the market, wandering around to find what you need, (avoiding the stench of the fish monger aisle)  haggling the prices of literally everything you buy. Then finding yet another ride home. We most definitely will not be stopping at the Chic-Fil-A on the way home. Of course there would be very limited packaged foods, which is okay with me but sometimes its nice to just have a bowl of cereal. And how will our kids adjust? Thankfully we are fairly nomadic people and have uprooted our children several times in their short lives so it may be easier than we think.

What if we are blessed with another baby?

Another little yummy morsel of baby-ness like this:

with little bits that look like this:

and this:

Sorry, I got a little side tracked. Babies tend to do that to me. ahem

Really, I can’t see myself giving birth in Africa. I am totally down with the whole natural birth thing, been there, done that. I am even OK with no hospital. Done that too.. But its just the idea of giving birth in a third world country. I am a hypochondriac to a certain degree. For my mental health I think this would be a bad idea…Really, I even stopped Google-ing anything health related because it was so unhealthy.

Of course I would continue to homeschool there. What about the library!? How would I find all the reading resources for The Story of the World? How would I homeschool without that? Being able to order anything I want from Amazon, would be pretty much out of the question. I think. Field trip days might be a little more tricky there. But on the other hand field trip can also mean safari!

But honestly I can say, I can’t think of a single unselfish reason to not go. All my reasons for not moving would be selfish. I love my comfortable home with electricity ALL of the time. I like being able to brush my teeth with water from the tap without getting parasites and not worrying about getting mango worms from hanging my clothes outside to dry. The smokin’ fast internet connection is pretty great.  I love my car, the mall, satellite TV, the world’s most comfortable bed, and Twitter, knowing where I am even when I am lost because I have lived around here so long (well that and the GPS is pretty stinkin’ acurate).

Most importantly though, we would be leaving our good friends. People who we love and who love us. Our family is relatively small considering that both Brian and I are only children. Our friends are our family. They are who we share our joys and sorrows and problems and…birthdays with. They are helping to shape who we are, who our children become.

But then I think of what Africa could also shape us in to. The possibilities are endless. What kind of world view could my children have if we step out of our comfort zone and go? What kinds of things will they see that will inspire them and shape them? I believe my children have the power to change the world. Do I think we need to go to Africa to do it? No. Children change things all around them all of the time. They inspire people. They encourage help LOVE other people. I am a better person because of my children. I think that all of our children can change the world. And they will, like it or not. They will change it either for the good or for the bad. What we instill in them now will carry on for generations to come.

But why Africa? Why has God placed this idea in our head and longing in our hearts? Is it to help us to not be so selfish? Is it to help us to love other people more deeply?

To not judge because of someone’s physical appearance?

Or by the way they are dressed?

Or just to witness with our own eyes how devastating poverty is. Is it to give these people hope by sharing what God has done and can do and will for them?

Or even to witness the faith of fellow believers facing unthinkable circumstances that we cannot even imagine. Maybe it is to truly learn what it is to place every ounce of faith that we have in God and not on ourselves for once. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Corinth 3:5

I don’t know what lessons he has in store for us.  I wish I did.  I think only time can tell. And frankly, I can’t wait.

Moses’ wife Zapora was preparing lunch when we arrived

She is an amazing cook…

We had enough time before eating to visit the woman caring for all the orphans

Many of them were in need of medical attention. Some of the children had scabies. Many had coughs. One girl had been born with a spot on her nose which has just kept growing.

This little guy had been badly burned. It is very common for children to be burned because the meals are prepared on open fires.

Of course we were very concerned about this. We asked what she had been putting on his arm to help it to heal and she brought out a vial of some sort of white powder that I was afraid to even touch and a bottle of permethrin, a pesticide! We asked that she was him up with some soap that we had brought so we could get a better idea of what we were dealing with.

After he was cleaned up it looked so much better. I happened to have a little neosporin with me that I gave her to use. We explained to her that she just really needed to try to keep it very clean.

The boys I am holding are twins. They just melted my heart.

The reality here can be devestating. It is nothing I could have ever imagined. There is so much need. I feel overwhelmed. The reality is overwhelming. Ugandans with basic necessary needs are unable to have them met.

But these people are stong. Stronger than anyone I have ever met. And while they struggle and even suffer, they are warm and kind and welcoming. Some how they have learned to find joy even through the pain. They amaze and inspire me.

I want to share with you an image. I couldn’t help think of the huge beautiful church that we attend at home with all of the beautifully dressed people. All of the programs and activities we have for our children. The library with the books and movies. The kitchen from which we can serve meals. And even a baptistery.  But really, church is about the body. The people of the church.

Let us not forget.

We had arrived a little late and when we pulled up we could hear their singing. It was nothing like any American hymn I have ever heard, it was very beautiful and very African. We came in and they talked about how happy they were that we had come to visit and that God had brought us there safely. They were so welcoming to us. Although I didn’t understand much of what was being said, it was one of the more spiritual church experiences that I have had. This one room church with the poorest of the poor and the joy and happiness they have just to be there, to have a place to meet. What little they have they are so thankful to God for. They are content to come together to worship God. I am so glad to have been a part of it today.

(These are a couple of girls from the church)

Ben is the name one of the American missionaries working here and they asked him to speak to them. In the village they speak Lasoga and some speak a little broken English, there are even quite a few that speak English very well. Ben preached in Lasogan a story to try to help them understand the importance of being unified as a community. He talked about the 10 commandments.

(one of the boys)

When the service was over we went to one of the homes, which they call compounds, of a church member named Charles that lives there in the village. Charles invited us to sit in a mud hut that had built for receiving visitors.

Many of the children of the village started gathering around so I stepped out to take pictures. Some of the kids seem to be a little afraid and some really want to touch you but all of them are really checking you out. Imagine standing there being stared at by 20 or more kids.

But that was okay because I wanted to check them out as much as they were checking me out. My camera was a huge hit. I would take a picture and then show it to them. They thought that was really funny. I wondered how many of them have ever had a picture taken, or even seen themselves. McKensey brought bubbles, some of the kids were very frightened by them and others loved them.

Edith, the wife of Charles was cooking lunch with some of her friends helping her.

Lunch was a soup with a very similar taste as the American vegetable beef kind. Little chunks of beef had been cooked along with posho (say: poe show) which is staple here. Posho is a corn and water mixed that is cooked to the consistency of polenta or grits but the flour they use to make it is very fine. My favorite part of the meal was the chipate (chip pot tee). It is a flour mixture with maybe a slight amount of sugar then cooked like a tortilla.

On the way back to Jinja. I had the realization that I am so happy to be here. When I first got here I was in complete shock over what I was seeing. I mean, nothing can prepare you for this place. So, everything you have been told, it is so much more than that. I am so thankful that God has brought me here. Somehow, although I have nothing in common with these people or their way of life, I feel very at home. Please pray for the people of Wankonge church. Please pray for the spiritual growth there, the growth in their church and of the projects they are doing in the community. Please pray that God continue to guide the leaders in the church to other villages and to share His word and His love with them.

For today Lori took me to get some American dollars exchanged for Ugandan money. That was pretty exciting because I got a bunch of bills that have 20000 on them! They are really neat. I still had am having time with the way people drive, walk, ride..and getting into the car on the drivers side and actually being a passenger is really bizarre, not to mention that we are driving on the *wrong side of the street.

The market was fun. We only went to the clothing section today, Lori was looking for some clothes to take with her when they return to the States this winter. It was funny that there were so many American brands there. I realized they are getting clothes from all over the world, there was even a Kelly Kitty Gymboree outfit from China. So strange! Lori, taught me the art of haggling with the vendors and that was quite fun..

The whole missionary team came over tonight for taco night. The food was great but I really love getting to know these people. They are all so kind and inviting, and fun to hang out with too. It is giving me a taste of what it will be feeling like if everything works out for us to move here.

I am exhausted because although I slept, I don’t think I have caught up. So I am heading to bed and looking forward to experiencing the village church tomorrow. I am sorry I am so boring, I am too tired to be witty.

Night

My favorite place of all was the Westminster Abbey.  It was the most breathtaking building I have ever laid eyes on. The history in the walls is completely overwhelming. Most of all you really can’t help but feel God’s presence in a very special way there. I even lit a candle at Westminster Abbey and said a quick prayer. And of course I had fish and chips at a pub near the river. At around 6:00 PM John helped me back to the Express because the tube workers were on strike. Okay, so John lived in the States before, this is how we met him, so he has a sort of American way of talking but for the most part I couldn’t understand a word the British said. Seriously, I felt like they were speaking a different language. I started to wonder if it was due to the fact that they enunciate a different syllable in a word than American’s and I then focus on that syllable and don’t hear the rest of the word. And I love being called madam, it just feels so prim and proper. The other thing I noticed was how well everyone dressed as compared to Americans. The British seem to dress a little more conservatively and classy. Americans are definitely more casual dressers. Not one pair of sweat-pants! Well except for mine..
And I did not see one single obese person. Not one! But I won’t get into that.

I departed London at 9PM and we arrived in Entebbe at about 7AM. I couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was all the British tea. We started to descend right as the sun had risen high enough to just see the landscape. It was so amazing and so beautiful. Believe it or not, all 7 of our trunks made it with everything intact. Our ride from the airport to Jinja (about 2 hours away) is a wonderful missionary family that lives in Rwanda that happened to be headed to visit their friends, who also happen to be the team we are meeting with here.

The drive from the airport to the town of Jinja. I don’t even know where to start. Well first, the traffic is crazy. Cars cutting each other off, mostly taxis, and the pot-holes! motorcycles pulling out without even looking to see if a car is coming with sometimes even up to three or four people crammed on one, bicyclists just barely avoiding catastrophe, and the pedestrians..there are millions of people, everywhere. It was nerve wracking to say the least. I really was worried about running someone over. Actually it was pretty scary. I am so thankful that I did not have to drive!

The poverty is indescribable. Even pictures can not fully portray how desperately poor this country is. You have to see it with your own eyes. But kilometer after kilometer this is what I saw.

There was not one single home that looked suitable for living. There were children walking home from school with no shoes on, some looked no older than three. Children begging in the city with an infant strapped to their back.

We met up with family I am staying with, the Manry family, a beautiful and welcoming family with four amazing kids. And the fifth was added just today! They are adopting a baby boy from here. We met up just a few minutes after they picked him up from the orphanage. They have lived here for close to 5 years and are getting ready to return to live in the States. What an amazing day!

My mind has melted into oblivion. I am going to try to get a good nights sleep in this wonderful and comfy bed. I can’t wait for what tomorrow will bring!
Blessings, Bonnie