Reuniting

     I have been in Gulu for one week now. I spent much of the week cleaning, fixing, and settling into my new home. I am in the same house where I lived in 2009 - The same landlord, same local night-guard, and many of the same neighbors. It was nice to visit with friends and meet the new ones. Sarah is still in Gulu until November. She has introduced me to many new people and shown me the new places.

On Wednesday, I visited the ZION Project Girls' Home. I was met with hugs and excitement. It was so wonderful to see them again. I am so proud of how they have grown. The now are reading very well and speaking English! I spent some time listening to them recite the Scripture they were memorizing and reading with them.

     Saturday I visited the camp where the sponsored children were gathered. The staff had me hide in the van so that I could surprise them with my presence. I came in while they were seated and singing a song. They were excited. I said some words then the staff encouraged them to line up and give me a hug one by one. The funny thing, is that hugging is not really done in this culture. The younger ones who were familiar with us from our class in 2009 were eager to come up and greet me. There were some, the older boys and ones I had never met, who this was extremely awkward for. But that is what they had been instructed to do, so, one by one I gave (and sometimes received) a hug to the 70 sponsored kids. After that we had some more songs and I was overwhelmed with love for them. I knew once again that while it will be difficult to maintain everything I have plans for, this is where I am supposed to be. I have so much love for those kids. I cannot explain it – only that God has filled me with it for a purpose. It re-energized me for the work ahead. It's gonna be good.

Travelling Mercies

Day 1: Denver to Washington DC. 2: DC towards Africa 3: Arrive in Ethiopia then fly to Entebbe, Uganda take a hire to Kampala 4: A Day in Kampala 5: Post Bus to Gulu and the great reunion...

God met me in my travels in so many ways. Some wonderful friends helped me leave. My connections with the airline allowed me to travel for a fraction of what it would normally cost – this meant that I had to travel all the way Standby (a word that had begun to describe my whole life). I had no troubles getting on the flights – there was room all the way. On my longest flight I was seated in the middle of the center row, but I was in between a Kenyan pastor living in Atlanta and a government official from South Sudan. It made for some very interesting conversations. The 13 hour flight seemed to go by easily enough. I met a girl going to Kampala who I ended up sharing a ride with and staying with in Kampala. It was nice to have some company along the way and hear about her experiences with Ugandan adoption. I met a man in the hotel who took me to a church where I met some great missionaries and contacts in the educational field. The traveling went well, I got to visit some friends, and I made it safely along to Gulu. It seemed there were little miracles everyday.  

Naturally

Preparing to leave the states is a funny thing. So many mixed emotions. Getting rid of what you own; trying to pack up what you think you may need in the unknown future; excitement for where you are going; sadness for who you are leaving; mind in a million directions at once; closing accounts; unknowns. I wanted to leave well but was stuck with the fading time and practical tasks. I kept waiting for it to hit me that I was leaving. You know that feeling when you know in your head that you are going but sometimes it takes some time to believe. I figured it would hit me late and I would panic perhaps at the airport. I knew I was leaving but I could not shake that I would not be coming back in a few days. It just seemed I was unusually sad to be leaving people. The sadness was real, but otherwise I was going through the logical motions of leaving. Perhaps I have flown too much while working for the airline that I got too used to packing and going for short trips. I have waited for so long to come back to Uganda. I have poured out my passion time and time again; cried to God to let me end the waiting. Why was it that I could not grasp that it was finally here?

It did not hit me while I packed. It did not hit me at the airport; not as I waited in DC, in Ethiopia, nor during my 18 hours in the air. I simply arrived. Still I waited for some kind of natural response to having left everything I know to live indefinitely in another culture far away. I have now been here some time and I still feel as natural as any other day. I am sad and miss people in the US, but it seems so natural to be here. Of course I am here. Did God not tell me I would come back? I knew I would return and was waiting for it for so long. So here I am, finally, in the place God called me to years ago. It is time to begin. Here I am, somehow, naturally.