Friday, April 13, 2012

            Its departure day! Up bright and early to head to the airport for our 9:30am flight. Everyone gathered together excitedly at the Alaskan Airline terminal and we were ready to go…well almost. One of our new travelers accidently forgot her passport at home (names will not be mentioned haha) and we were delayed about an hour until we could get it. Before our trip even began, our faith and patience was tested and we turned to God to find peace. THEN we were ready to go. The flights were long and tiresome but we made it through! After 27 hours of airtime, lay overs, and packaged peanuts, we arrived in Uganda. We were anxious to get some food, rest, and horizontal beds to sleep in. But, once again, God tested us. One of Ed’s bags, which contained all his clothing and malaria medicine, was missing from the baggage claim. And then our big baggage full of medical supplies was confiscated in customs because they were skeptical of the “drugs” and medical provisions. Our driver, Vincent, planned on returning back to the Entebbe airport the following day in hopes of retrieving our missing and withheld luggage. Although we couldn’t understand why we were running into such barriers, we once again put our trust in God and had no other choice but to continue on to Pastor James’ home where we were staying for the night in Kampala.

We were greeted there with wonderful accommodations and much needed food and water. Pastor James, his wife, Lillian, and their children made us feel comfortable and welcome. After such a long, stressful few days, it was very appreciated. We turned in for the night almost immediately after getting there in anticipation for a full day at the Kampala Community Church in the morning. Hard African rain lulled us to sleep and although we had some frustrating obstacles, we were grateful for every blessing so far.