Home Again!

We've all arrived by home safely.  

Here's one last photo that we took at the zoo.

Friday evening we got dinner at the hotel.  Then spent some time talking about what we all face once we get home and praying.  Then we hung out for a while until it was time to head to the airport. 

We had 14 bins of the Lohmann's stuff with us to take home.  We had purposefully only brought 1 bag to check so that we each could have 1 extra checked bag for free.  Well, apparently the policy has changed for British Airways, but their site still says that you get 2 free checked bags. We were able to get all the stuff home by paying some extra fees.  

The flights were pretty smooth.  Most of us were able to sleep on the first flight which makes it seem a lot faster.  Once we got to London we had breakfast together and then took the flight back to the US.   We met a group of folks at the airport who are from Chicago.  They were on their way to Uganda for a missions trip too! All of our stuff arrived fine (no lost luggage this time).  We were greeted in the International Hall by many of the families and then we all said our goodbyes.

I so enjoyed this trip.  There were so many highlights and great memories.  And the greatest thing is that we are all still members of Covenant Fellowship (except for Josh, but he's still close by) and will continue to have lots of time and opportunities to be together including most of us being involved in our CFC Youth Camp.

But it's great to be home!

Friday Morning

Our day started with sleeping in as late as we wanted. I thought that would mean as late as 9ish for the old man and 10 or later for everyone else (about half of us had stayed up til 1:00am to see the Lohmann's off to the airport). I was up at about 8:15 and was at least the 3rd one up.

Took a stroll down near the lake and joined Destin and Lindsay in a cup of coffee. Then breakfast with most of the team, check out of our rooms and then a visit to the Zoo (walking distance from the hotel and also right on the lake). The Mosquitos were outrageous. Then back to the hotel for pre-travel showers and dinner.

Funny story of the day. Jason was innocently sitting in the park at the hotel reading his Bible. Lindsay and Alysia were also close by. Apparently a group of monkeys were scampering around and fighting with each other. They finally kind of stopped very near Jason and realized he was "right there" and turned their aggression on him and started hissing and gathering in numbers. Sometime during this Lindsay saw what was happening and bolted. Alysia was warning Jason to "get out of there". Jason picked up his chair, lion tamer style, and tried to back away while weilding the chair. The monkeys also started to chase Alysia. She kept turning around and saying "Stop" because just running wasn't fast enough. But apparently they only understand commands in the local language and continued to pursue both of them. At this point a group of hotel staff came running out and chased off the monkeys by throwing stuff at them. The story obviously gets more interesting with each telling, but we've had a million laughs over it already. I do have photos of the monkeys playing in the park, but can't download them right now.

Traveling Home

Today we started our return journey. The Lohmann's will be traveling to Entebbe with us and then they leave Thursday night for a much needed respite before returning to the states. Please pray that their time away is refreshing and a great time to reconnect with family (whom they will be joining).

The bus drive was pleasant with nice sunshine, but a decent breeze. We stopped in Jinja (about half way) for lunch and shopping (I was diligent to spend all my money). There are many small vendors along one street that we visited. We had lunch at a great street cafe. Then we continued the ride to Entebbe.

We arrived safely at the Imperial Hotel in time for dinner. The hotel lies right on Lake Victoria. I'm told that monkeys roam the grounds so I'll be looking for a photo op and a Q & A (can monkeys really throw pots? - family joke). Dinner was fantastic with individually prepared lamb or chicken stir fry.

We had our last worship time with the Lohmann's before they leave. Tomorrow we get to sleep in and the do a little site seeing while we wait for our flight early Saturday morning.

Forgot a photo

Just a quick post from yesterday.  I forgot to say that we spotted a rainbow on the way to the hotel from Maundo.  It lasted for quite a while and at one point was resting right on Tororo Rock. 

Last Work Day in Uganda

Today we wrapped up all the final work at the Compound.  We took the Lohnmann's house by storm.  Counting supplies left behind, weighing bins for shipping, taking inventory of what is being sent home, cleaning, packing and moving them out of their Maundo home.  I'm so glad that we could be here for this transition.  It just feels right to be able to walk along side the Lohmann's for this goodbye. Here's the last photo I got on the site.

Once all the packing was complete we were free to have some down time.  Some of us climbed the water tower (the highest structure on the site) and just marveled at the landscape.  It's my understanding that certain unnamed team members actually got some sleep up there.  Here's a view from atop the structure.  Somehow Tom is able to photo bomb almost all my photos!

The Staff gave the Lohmann's a wonderful send-off lunch and spent some time honoring them (this included a roasted goat that Alf had butchered just the day before).  This work of Covenant Mercies is in good hands. These folks really love the Lord and these children and are going to do fantastic work.

As we left we took time to get pictures on top of "Hippo Lip Rock".  Every morning we would pass this rock and there would be folks on top of it drying what I assume is corn or some sort of grain.  We stopped and got some team photos.  Here is one I took.

Now we begin the journey home which will take the next 3 days.  With all the work done we all just "want to be there". But tranporters haven't been invented yet so I guess we'll take conventional transportation. And no motorcycles this time.

Tuesday - What a treat!

One thing I forgot about yesterday was that we had a stowaway on the bus to the compound.  A small lizard had crawled into the space between the windows.

Sunday, I had a casual conversation I was having with one of the staff members I found out that he had rented a motorcycle to travel to the site for the weekend.  This interested me so I asked how much it cost to rent a motorcycle for the day in Uganda (see post from May 6 "Well We're Off").  The response was 15,000 which I quickly calculated to be $5 US dollars.  Ok. Is there any real discussion needed here? $5 to rent a bike for a day of riding? Seriously?  I knew we had at least 5 guys who would seriously be into riding bikes here.  Most of what we see are small bikes about 100cc which means they have a top speed of about 40 mph.  So we looked into seeing if we could get rentals for 6 of us.  Through one of the folks here we were able to arrange it.   We were able to ride to the compound from Tororo.  Arriving safely and without incident.  Then we found out, because of the heavy rain the night before, that the road would be very difficult to navigate with the bus or even the van ;-).  Well, wouldn't it be just like God to allow us to have motorcycles on this very day where we needed to get back to the village to work on the widows house.  So we used our bikes to get there and back again.

While we were at the building site we cleaned up all the remaining bricks. The masons had the walls about 90% done already.  Great progress.  Lindsay, our kid magnet, gathered a bunch of the kids together and was sharing the Gospel with them.  Then Destin did it too!  This is one of my favorite shots of the day.

Destin and Lindsay sharing the Gospel with the group of kids
who had come to see the house being built with the help of the Mzungu.

After that we did some clean up at the compound and then had a beautiful ride back to Tororo on our bikes.  This went mostly without incident.  The only real issue we had was a person just walking down the middle of the road in a very busy area and a couple of us came very close to him as we passed.   What a cool memory for the team to have - being able to see Africa this way.

Biking through Uganda.
That's Tororo Rock in the background which is just outside our hotel.

If it's Monday, this must be Uganda!

Monday we started in on our post Youth Camp activities and tasks.  We started the day by traveling to a very remote village to build a house for a widowed grandmother who has twin grandkids in the program.  They currently are living in a hut that is very in great need of replacement.

The brick houses here are made of homemade bricks which are wider and thicker than what we have in the states, but also very brittle.  When we arrived on the site most of the foundation had been laid with these bricks and the masons were hard at work finishing it up.  We got to work moving bricks around the foundation to have them ready to build into walls.  We shoveled and mixed sand, water and cement for the mortar and generally helped (though we wouldn't be able to do any of the brick laying).  The site was visited by many of those in the village and area.  There were tons of kids and some desperately wanting to help us.

In the afternoon most of the team went into the pineapple field to weed while I worked with the Office staff on some computer issues and solutions.  

For the evening the ladies decided they wanted a "girls" night. So our three ladies stayed over at the compound with Ruth and her 4 girls and Alf came to Tororo to have the reverse "guys" night.   The ladies partaking of funnel cakes and bacon while the guys partook of some CS Lewis style treats. Much wonderful fellowship and fun was had at both sites.

Final Day of Youth Camp Uganda 2015

Wow, that went fast.  Today was the final day of Youth Camp Uganda.  The kids were really starting to gel with some team spirit and seemed to be having more and more fun.  

Some Highlights:

• Morning Session teaching was outstanding.
• Ed's luggage finally arrived (he's considering starting a new line of clothing called "Cheaper by the Dozen" because it can go 12 day without changing).
• Team Uganda beat Team USA 6 to 5 in Soccer (their best against our team leaders).  The crowd was really into it - especially after Jay's first score celebrations.
• Being mobbed by kids when I took out my PC to do some map work for the staff.
• A very meaningful conversation with Alex.
• My first look ever at a Black Widow spider.
• Seeing the piglets escape from their pen during the afternoon session and wondering what "disturbances" might be in store (nothing ended up happening).

Joel pulling together the final Formation

After camp was finished and the kids were either having Tea or starting to head home (they seemed much more reluctant to leave today) I had a very meaningful conversation with Alex.  As I stated earlier, we've been sponsoring Alex since the first wave of kids were signed up through Covenant Mercies.  He just graduated from the program this spring and will now be going on to University.  He told me the story of him finding out, via social media, that he had finished first in his class at school.  He didn't believe it at first, but then saw the results when he was at school the next time.  He was very surprised.  He very articulately expressed his gratefulness to God for His care.  And that he had "no hope", before sponsorship, of being able to achieve what he has.  I'm humbled by how God has used such small effort on our part to do such good things for Alex.

Alex, purple shirt closest to the Stand goal

Well, that's it for today.  Tomorrow we had back to help build a house for a local widowed grandmother who has a couple of kids in the program.  Very much looking forward to that.

Youth Camp East - Day 2

Today was another great day.  Off to Maundo for our second day of Youth Camp.  The kids are really enjoying it from what I can tell.  More smiles from them today than yesterday.

The typical day so far is:

• Breakfast as a team
• Ride in the bus to Maundo to the Compound for our day
• Spend some time in worship and prayer with the Lohmann's
• As Joel says, Love on the Lohmann's (which is very easy)
• Kids are arriving during this time as well
• Youth Camp starts about 9:30
• Morning Session at the Tent for Worship, Teaching, Greetings from local officials and any "special" presentations (does anyone have a song or a testimony)
• Games til lunch
• Lunch as teams
• Games
• Afternoon Session
• Dismiss to Afternoon Tea and for the day (afternoon Tea really needs to make it to the states)
• Bus ride back to the Hotel
• Dinner
• Worship and Prayer
• Fellowship and/or off to Scrub the day's grime away
• Bedtime (various and sundry times)

Today's highlights were...

• Ruth gathering a bunch of the younger girls and boys (but mostly girls) and singing and videoing themselves singing.  I got a short video of them doing this which included Eunice (she's the one facing the camera and she looks like she's waving).  I finally saw her smile! They were all laughing and scrunching up close to Ruth and giggling.  It was fun just to sit and watch them.
• During the morning session apparently it was time to send some of the pigs off to the butcher.  But they weren't cooperating much (who would?) and the squeals were deafening.  You couldn't help but laugh.  When was the last time a Youth Camp session was interrupted by loud pig squeals?!!
• I got to spend some time with the Covenant Mercies staff reviewing their computer network and office technology.  What a wonderful group of folks who truly care for these kids and their families and want God glorified through it all. So grateful to God that we have some quality folks here on the ground.  
• A little back ground on this one.  Whenever it's time to have a formation Joel blows his whistle (no bullhorns here - battery operated I mean) and yells "PeeOhPeeOh" which I believe means hurry.  All the kids think this is funny and start yelling it themselves when it's time for formation.  Well, as we were riding home in the van we pass tons of people walking on the roads and working in the fields.  They love to wave at the Mzungu (white folks is my understanding).  Well, we had gotten almost a mile away from the compound and the kids on the road were yelling PeeOh PeeOh at the van as we drove by.  I know that many of them were not participants, but were probably those gathered outside the fence watching the day's events.

I can't say enough about this team.  I'm so enjoying being here with them, having fellowship, spending our days together and working. So grateful for the opportunity to experience this trip and be able to serve is some small way here.

First Day of Youth Camp East!

As you know our Youth Camp motto has informally been "It's no ordinary Youth Camp!" Never more true than in Uganda.

Started the day with laughing so hard that tears came.  We call it "DQ" fever in my family because of fond memories laughing with our friends in Indiana.  Of course I cracked myself up.

Then off to the Compound for our first day of Youth Camp. But wait, Everett forgot his passport and wallet at the hotel so we have to go back and get it.  Fortunately I realized it when we were only about 10 minutes into the 45 minute trip.

We got so see some much more rural Uganda on this commute.  Here is a typical scene as people greeted the bus full of White Folks driving by.  The kids will run along side of the bus yelling greetings.

The day went great.  It started hot, but then cooled down later in the day and the rain clouds were good to us.

Main highlights - First, I got to meet Alex whom we have been a sponsor for since Covenant Mercies started in Uganda. Alex just graduated from the program and will be going on to University.  What a privilege to see what Alex has been able to accomplish.  He tested the very highest on his exams and we are so glad to have had a small part to play in helping him get there.  I also was able to meet our new sponsored child Eunice and her mother.  Neither could speak English (at least that these American ears could understand), but Eunice's mother was visibly moved at the meeting. Again, what a privilege to participate in helping these beautiful folks.

Second main highlight - it's hard to describe.  I obviously was able to greet Alf when he met us at the airport.  Then we all greeted Ruth and the girls when we arrived at the compound.  But when we all went into their house I was just overwhelmed, to the point of tears, at how good God is to provide folks like the Lohmann's who have been serving so heroically here and doing so with such Christlike joy and love.  

Here is a picture as Joel was preaching the first session.

We had Soccer, Volleyball and our own CFC Stand games.  The kids went away tired (well, us too!), but I believe they had a rare great day of fun.

First Full Day in Uganda

Sorry for the delay in an update.  It's been busy.  But here is my first day in Tororo and transit there.

The trip from Entebbe to Tororo was a blast.  Alf met us at the airport with a big van and driver as well as his family van to transport us all and our luggage.  We all piled into his van and made the trip.  It was a little cramped, but it was great fellowship and lots of laughs. Here are the highlights of that 7.5 hour drive.

Alf has definitely converted to "African Time".  He swears it only takes 4 hours to drive from Entebbe to Tororo :-).  The subject of many banters during the trip. I do have to say that Alf has mastered driving in Uganda.  Many of what we would describe as "close calls" in the states, but are just normal driving here.  I actually thought it was fun watching him navigate the 14 passenger, 4 cylinder van over the Ugandan roads. 

Some things we saw along the way:

• A monkey sitting on the side of the road watching traffic.
• The Nile (as you know, "the source is Abyssinia")
• Vast Rice paddies in the process of being planted
• The smell of charcoal fires

We arrived at the Prime Hotel in Tororo around 4:00ish and had time to get settled before dinner.  Then some games in the lobby and early to bed - which meant 10 pm.

First "Day" on the ground in Uganda

Just about to call it a "Day" here in Entebbe. It's 2:49 am local time and we've had a long, but good day. Arrived safely in Entebbe. Only missing luggage for one team member (we'll be stopping to shop a little tomorrow). Dinner was waiting for us at the hotel and then we headed to our rooms for a short night of sleep. So great to be here serving with this wonderful group of folks!

Well We're Off

It was an exciting start to the trip. Our flight from Philly, scheduled to depart about 10:00 pm was first delayed and then cancelled. We were able, with our group of 11, to switch to an earlier flight to Heathrow so that we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to Entebbe. That flight only takes place 3 times a week so missing it would be a big deal.

As we were waiting to see if we could get on the earlier flight I started imagining what we would do if we couldn't all get on the flight. Who was the most expendable and could arrive late? Probably me. So I pictured myself riding a motorcycle across Uganda trying to catch up to the team. Overlook the fact that I would have 2 checked bags and a back pack to transport - that's what daydreams are for.

We are currently sitting at Heathrow waiting for our connecting flight. I was able to get a much anticipated Americano at the Starbucks here.