Toto, We're not in Kansas Anymore

After what felt like days of flying and much anticipation, we have finally arrived safely in Kampala, Uganda. We are currently sitting here at the lovely Matoke Inn. The flights went smoothly with no glitches, and we got to meet some great people along the way. On our flight from Amsterdam to Entebee was another missionary group as well as a woman who is in Kampala to adopt two children. They are siblings and of the ages 1 and 4. It was neat to fellowship with these other people. Dawn and I made strong efforts to sleep on the plane, but we were quite unsuccessful. We ended up watching airplanes movies and laughing our way through them. No sleep was fine seeing that we bonded and now have many inside jokes to share. Needless to say, however, we are pretty worn out but finding it hard to sleep. We are seven hours ahead of Jackson time, which explains the crazy post times listed at the end of my blogs.

Reality certainly set in as we unloaded the plane. I pray that the girls with me have a better understanding of the dangers involved in being where we are. I certainly believe the Lord's hand was on us as we passed through customs. Our bags were the last ones on the loop, and we made it safely to our driver, Lawrence. Lawrence is a precious man with joy spreading across his face with each smile. He was very kind to us, and I felt safe with him as we passed Ugandans outside the airport with rifles in pockets and eyes focused on us. Once we were in the cab, Lawrence taught us some "Lugandan" which he says is the native language here though English is highly prevalent. The drive out of Entebee was a pathway to faith that we are safely in Christ's hands. People wander around the streets at night, and it is certainly no place for four young American girls. I do not doubt that the Lord will protect us. I pray though that the other girls will find wisdom in being on their guard. We passed a few slums and my heart was heavy to see the poverty of these people.

I have yet to see much of Kampala or Africa in general since we arrived here at night. I was bummed to find out that I could hardly see anything from my window seat in the plane. That didn't keep me from pressing my forehead against the window and cupping my hands around my face in hopes of seeing something interesting. I didn't find much though. What will be great find tomorrow is our final destination of housing for the next 5 weeks. We will leave Matoke Inn tomorrow at 1:30 and head to Dwelling Places for the first time. I cannot wait to finally see my living quarters, and meet the people we will be working with.

I am grateful we have made it here safely, and I am confident this is where the Lord has me for this time. Please pray for wisdom that my team would be smart about safety. Looking forward to sharing my Dwelling Places experience and living situation with you soon. Hopefully once we are adjusted, I'll have some comedic relief to share ;)