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

I am leaving for Africa tomorrow. And I have just started packing, let me correct that I begin to get things together and organized and then I feel overwhelmed by it all and I get sidetracked by something else that I think really needs to be done before I go. Like blogging.. well, I don’t really need to blog, I just need to unload, so here I am unloading on you.

I am going to miss my kids. That is worrying me. I have never been so far away from them, or away for a long stretch of time. I am not worried about their care or anything like that, they will be in the best possible care. My very best friend from childhood has taken a week of vacation from work and is keeping them. (How many of you have friends like that? I am blessed!)  I am simply going to miss them. And I am sure they will be missing me too, and maybe that’s what is the hardest, knowing that they will want me and I wont be here, then mommy guilt kicks in. Right now, I am so thankful that I have so many kids, I am thankful that they love each other so deeply and will be able to give comfort to each other. There is nothing better than family!

Ok, thanks, I feel better now. I am better get back to packing….