Jolene’s turn

It has been an interesting past week for me.  Two days before we left for Iganga, we decided that it was time for us to ride the taxi system here.  When I say taxi what I really mean is a 14 passenger minibus that runs along a certain route.  You see them at least every 30 seconds along Ggaba Road, the main road that passes fairly close to our hotel.  Jim was going to the Lutheran Media Center to meet with Pastor Gillard.  I was going the opposite way to see Michelle and the girls at their home.   So off we went, each in our own direction.  I had gotten the info from Michelle and knew that I had to transfer taxis at one point.  Explaining in slow and careful English is very important especially when you do not know exactly where you are going.  I managed the transfer just fine, but unbeknownst to me overshot my stop, because either I was not clear or the taxi driver thought he would make an extra fare off of me.  To make a long story short, I eventually got off the taxi.  Imagine me, by myself, asking people for directions and hopefully walking in the direction I needed to go.  Eventually I called Michelle and she came on a boda boda (motorcycle with a hired driver) to rescue me.  Little did I know that life would get even more interesting as we experienced the events on the way to Iganga that Jim described in his last post.

Saturday, we were invited to the Gillard’s home to celebrate Evangeline Gillard’s 3^rd birthday.  Her grandparents, Greg and Kathy Gillard had flown in the night before so they were able to be there as well as Vicar Shauen Trump and his wife Krista.  Many other neighborhood children also came.  We celebrated Liney’s birthday much as people do in America.  There were games for the children such as pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs. We demolished pineapple/ham pizza lovingly made from scratch by Pastor Gillard, Michelle and her 2 helpers.  As in America there was birthday cake, decorated by Krista Trump.

Last night, we stayed up late to welcome the Missions Made Possible team that spent the night at the same hotel we are at.  This morning we got to spend some time with them as they visited a school here in Kampala and shared God’s love with a mini VBS for the 60 or so children gathered.  We sang songs with motions just as the children do in the USA.  Some of the team stayed at the Kampala church and handed out eyeglasses to people who needed them.  There are not many people in Uganda who wear glasses because of the cost.  After lunch, the team left for Masindi where they will also do these same activities along with some other things.  We hope to connect with them after Jim teaches his next session of TEE on Friday and Saturday.

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