Thursday, July 26th, 7a.m. – ENTEBBE, UGANDA -
We’re here! Whoo hoo!!
I’m writing this from outside and in front of the airport.
London to Entebbe flight was another 9 hour flight and a smooth one. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep again. With that said, I’m done with flying for a bit. So are the others I imagine.
First impression…the smell. No sooner had I stepped out of the plane when I was overwhelmed by the pungent smell of smoke. I made a comment that it reminded me of camping and I think it was Jason who corrected my nasal sense. He was right. It wasn’t the smell of hickory or oak or even pine. It was more acrid…more sour. Jason said it was burning garbage.
Looking out beyond the airport, the land was relatively flat and there was water nearby. I think it’s Lake Victoria.
Inside the airport we waited for customs to check us through. As far as I can tell, the airport is under construction. The customs area was unadorned and lifeless…but then aren’t most? Around us are other missionaries, African Brits coming back home to visit or do business and not sure what else. We waited in two long lines until one of three customs agents walked toward us. He came straight to me and said I could come through his line. I told him we were a group of 13 and he asked if we had acquired our visas yet. No we hadn’t. He said it would be $50 each to which I responded, “We were told it would be $30″. I thought, hmm, our first challenge. It was then I became the first man on our trip to have his hand held by a Ugandan. We were told in advance to expect this. It was said to be a sign of affection and/or respect. Well, I certainly didn’t expect it from the customs agent. Nonetheless, he took my right hand and led me to the center custom desk where the sign read Visas – $50. We rounded everybody up and Neil collected the money from each of us. The agent said we could all go through and get our luggage while Neil paid for our visas. This was definitely different from any customs I’d been through before whether it be the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain or Bulgaria. And, you sure as heck wouldn’t get that response in the U.S.
All our bags made it! More travel mercies given. Prayers have been answered again!
Now…we wait for our transportation. The younger guys are playing hacky sack(sp?). A few others, like me, journal. Others talk and we share some of our comfort foods.
Bearing mention is meeting Neil’s sponsored son, Richard, a.k.a. Kyemba, a gregarious, affable, almost bubbly 21 year old. He kindly, deftly and patiently took 12 group photos with our various cameras. Neil says Richard is very quick to learn and after a few minutes of inspection was skillfully operating Neil’s camera the first time Neil let him use it. Kyemba is quite good with our cameras as well. He takes great care with each.
Our transport just arrived. It looks to be a small Japanese-made bus. The driver looks older…maybe late 50′s or even in his 60′s. He seems very serious. Gotta go load up now.
LATER ON – We’re on our way to see a variety of African Renewal Ministries’ facilities.
First view of the outskirts of Kampala: There are homes that, by our standards, could be middle income housing. This changes soon. We’re in Kampala and wow…this is absolutely Third World country. The smell is a combination of burning trash, cooking foods (done roadside on hibachi-style grills on stilts.), and the smell of exhaust fumes all over. Apparently, there are no emissions controls here. That seems obvious. People stare at our bus as we travel through the crowded streets. We are after all a bus full of whites. I get the sense of being a minority, at least in some small way.
The soil here is red and it seems to have permeated everything. It’s almost as if it has been blown or washed up onto everything. Motorcycle and mopeds are everywhere. I’m told these are “bora bora”; they are motorcycle taxis and they hang in packs along the road. They look like gangs. Crowds of people walk about. There are pockets where this changes but so far people all over.
Driving is thus far very interesting. English style and frenetic. Seems a bit like a free-for-all and aggressive at that.
Our first stop is a medical clinic sponsored by ARM. They provide all the basic medical care people need here. All major tests are given here: AIDS, Malaria, Typhoid, etc. We’re told 40-50 people a day come through here. The outside of the building is stucco and brick and is appealing. The inside is simple.
Ggaba Community Church is next.
To get to GCC we go off paved road onto red dirt and through a tightly packed and seemingly depressed area. The old church building is pointed out. We make a right hand turn and into GCC and it’s associated facilities, which sits right on Lake Victoria. The view toward the lake is expansive and pretty. We are met by several people. Children mill about in various pockets. They stare at us and smile. Some approach us and we approach them. They are adorable and such bright and genuine smiles.
None of the buildings can be considered impressive works of modern design by any stretch of the imagination but they are more than functional. Even the very crude structures are utilized for a variety of uses. One in particular is the woman’s ministry structure. In here, sewing, dollmaking and the like take place. Money is earned through the sales of these colorful creations. The ladies we met inside were very welcoming and again, bright, genuine smiles. In this place, self-worth, connection to other women and a kind of hands-on-therapy/healing seems to take place. God’s love is evident here. I’m humbled.
A child outside the sponsorship offices writes to his sponsor and we pass by the church’s “kitchen”, a space with five cooking areas with giant pots filled with a variety of foods. It is crude at best. Wow…truly unbelievable. This is radically different than our world.
Children in their dark blue bottoms and light blue, striped tops meander, play games and chatter about as we continue our tour.
We enter a two-story building, a structure that, while only recently built looks quite old. A seemingly slapped-together, raw- wood-poled ladder rests against the side of the building. Upstairs is the IT center complete with 5-6 computers and a couple of personnel. Next to this room is a much larger and unfinished room that will become the libaray. Shelves are lines with new and used books and the floor around the shelves contains books of boxes. All seem to be God-centered in nature. I believe all books have been donated. What a blessing for these people. Some very good books are made available.
I could go on describing each place individually but the important thing I observe are many facilities built from donations of peopls who care about other people…people from the other side of the world they might not even know. It already seems apparent to me that people in this harsh environment just continually move forward, living their lives, and in the middle of all this…God moves. Just amazing…humbling and inspirational.
After Ggaba Church, we went to Pastor Deo’s church, which was across town. This is where a lot of children are sponsored by people in my church. The children were ecstatic to see us. They literally mobbed us on the way in and out. What an amazing feeling to experience such appreciation. I got so dizzy and tired from spinning children around giving them “helicopters”. I had to become firm at a couple of points to stop them from hurting each other to get to me. Crazy…but they sure had fun…and so did I.
On a more serious note: While walking from one location to another, Pastor Deo pointed out a nearby graveyard that contained a mass grave containing the bodies of victims of Idi Amin.
Nearby that was a large area with rolled and stacked hay for brick-making. Workers were finishing the construction of a giant brick kiln/oast for cooking the bricks. This was something new for me. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I really got a sense of what it must have been like thousands of years ago. The same techniques were being used today that were used then. Apparently, the men involved in this were particularly rough characters. Pastor Deo said they were the hardest to get through to with the message. Much infighting and even killing amongst them. He pointed out an area that had marijuana plants, which was theirs and Pastor Deo said the control of the crop was a big source of their violence.
Next stop…Bethany Village. We’ll travel by boat across a snippet of Lake Victoria to get there.
LATER ON – The boat ride to Bethany was about 20 minutes long. We launched from a dirty, trash-lined apocalyptic-feeling port. An open-air market place surrounded the launch area and a drunken and shirtless man followed us until we set off. The water along the edge of the launch was dark green and slimy. The further we got away from this, the more picturesque it became. At a couple of points we passed by what appeared to be from the distance, real hut-lined villages. Cool! At one point, we passed close by a beautiful Fishing Eagle resting on a log. It looks virtually identical to the American Bald Eagle but this bird is a little smaller…magnificent nonetheless?
Wow! What an impressive and beautifully surrounded place. Bethany Village is my favorite facility thus far. Just off the lake, amidst a cleared out portion of the jungle is this tucked-away facility that is home to at least 13 orphanages, a new school, new high school, new clinic, cafeteria and it serves over 670 children. Most of these kids are sponsored by someone in the states as is indicated by their uniforms. Some children that come to school here have their tuition paid for by their parents, but they are in the vast minority. Virtually all the children walk about 6 miles each way to get to Bethany Village. The education provided here is that coveted. Talk about desire and appreciation! Our kids should be exposed to this behavior, as should the parents. Again…unbelievable.
HOW IMPORTANT IS SPONSORING A CHILD? It will absolutely determine whether or not a child is doomed to a life of poverty or whether they will have a chance for something better.
HOW GRATEFUL ARE THEY? Unbelievably! I witnessed it first hand earlier this day. At Pastor Deo’s church, I met one of my contributor’s sponsored child; the child twice dropped to his knees, took my hand and thanked me in lieu of thanking his sponsor. It made me cry.
Housed orphan children sleep in bunk beds and about 6 children to a 10 x10 room. Each of the beds is covered in mosquito netting and within most are a variety of personal belongings. Their space is their individual homes. My heart goes out to these little ones but how blessed are they by sponsors and other donations. We are so humbled…again. I have a feeling this is going to be a recurring word throughout my journal.
This brings to mind Mathew 25:40, ” The King will say, “”I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
We returned from Bethany exhausted. Our bus was not waiting for us so we had to walk back to Ggaba Church in a muzungu(white person) train. The distance wasn’t all that long but the surroundings were pretty harsh. Pictures and video can’t do this justice. You must experience the harshness with all your senses to truly understand. And this is how much of the world lives…?
Back at Ggaba we are told we’ll need to walk to the guest house where we’ll stay. It is a walled-in, razor-wire lined large abode with many rooms. We’ll sleep 3-4 per room.
Shower felt great though the water pressure was virtually non-existent. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the shower. Dinner was served, a devotional was given and it’s off to bed. Looking forward to the rest. What a FULL day. It’s going to be an incredible journey. I know this already. Thank you God.
