Uganda & Kenya Fact Finding Mission

Day  1 - As we depart Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport I was stricken with a cold I didn't think I could beat. It was a miserable night  being sick, feverish, and sitting next to a woman that was sucking the life right out of me on the plan.  So I did what any Christian would do; I prayed  that God would keep Gordon, Becky, and the rest of the Kalamazoo missionaries safe. I had too of course pray for the rude woman that was sitting next to me throughout the first leg of our flight to Amsterdam. Then I prayed for my family & our Lake Center Bible Church family, and how much we miss everyone. Well getting ready to grab our second leg of the flight to Rwanda. 

Day 2 - We departed Amsterdam a few hours ago, got some nice needed rest on the plane. All I can say is God works in mysterious ways sometimes. After seeing Gordon & Becky sleep the whole way on the flight(s) I figured they were smarter than me so, after a lite lunch I closed my eyes for it seemed like for 10 hours but, it was only for an hour or two. lol HOWEVER I feel a million times better. Ok going to try to get some more shut eye, big day tomorrow 

Uganda 

Day 3 - Well we arrived in Uganda last night with Solomon there to greet us. We couldn't see a whole lot due to it being so dark & close to 11pm. We saw enough to tell that the Ugandan people love to have fun.  Our house that we were originally supposed to  be staying at, they had given away our rooms. that was ok though, Solomon got us into another guest house where we had it all to ourselves so it seemed to work out. After getting a much deserved sleep we got to enjoy a great landscape driving into church. One thing I took notice is that the Ugandan people are lively at night, and workers during the day. When we tend to look at road construction worker on the street we see them utilizing their automatic tools, their front loader, backhoes, etc. In Uganda they are using shovels, picks, wheel barrows, and such items that we have on a much larger scale.

After reaching the church the locals picked us out like a sore thumb. Perhaps it was my white shirt & khaki pants looking like I was going on a African safari, compared to their colorful onsombles that made me think that I don't have one outfit dressed as cool as theirs. The children were very friendly & open to chat with us, as I showed a young boy how to use a camera. Not sure what is was but, usually I scare most children. However these kids wanted me to join them in playtime in which I did. The one thing I did realize is how many children there were but, did not see any of their parents with them at all. When I asked where their parents are, thats when I'm told they "have no parents". Saddened by children that have nothing but the shirt on their back, no shoes, and  lack of medicine.

Solomon's church on the other hand seems to be growing hand over fist. I always thought that my church got into worship, sorry LCBC they do what we began to call the P90x type of worship. Gospel in overdrive, and you lose 12 lbs per session. They incorporated dancing into their singing that I think I could only lasted 30 seconds if I was on that stage after dying from exhaustion. The way the voices were in sync, along with their dance movements.  Solomon expressed to us that he is short on space for his church, and they are currently in the process of expanding.  As I walked through the aisles of the church I captured the true essence of there belief in our God, from 3 years of age to 50 years of age. I was told by local that 90% of their church is made up of people under the age of 20. On one hand it's good to see so many Christian followers believing but, on the other hand you wonder; where are the other people (individuals over 21). 

Once again we drove through the city but, this time we got to actually see it with daylight & for once in my life I was speechless. Cars missing each other by inches, people walking everywhere, cars nearly hitting people walking on the streets, and motorcyclist with 2 or more people as passengers. However when you look at the shacks these people live in your heart just goes out to them. There homes consisting of red bricks (coming from the red clay like ground soil that can easily be broken down by a hard rain), then held together by a thick mortar type cement, then finally roofed with a couple sheets of tin. They couldn't of been any bigger than your average size American living room if that. 

Day 4 - Today was a day I will remember for the rest of my life. Our first visit this morning was to our friend  Pastor Solomon's school.  As we passed through the barbed wire fence our van was greeted by several smiling children. Then the reactions of their beautiful smiling faces. Finally after getting out of our van, the children wanted to greet us & shake our hands, and even give loving hugs. Dozen of children at once. 

As Solomon gave us the tour of his school, seeing the children & how engaged they were in learning. Then we were given the tour of the grounds of the church, and to say the least it was a bit disheartening. The restrooms were filled up so they were out of order (being filled up wiith human waste). The school was growing extremely fast so, a second level needed to be added to the school in a hurry so Solomon added the second story of the school which isn't as well built as the first story. As we continued to walk the grounds we could see Solomon's vision appearing but, it wasn't a cheap vision to say the least. We got to see the children get there lunch, as they all stand in line with their own special plate. The plates varying from bowls to a American frisbee. 

After visiting the Solomon's school we were heading out to visit Solomon's farm just a few kilometers away. Solomon's farm was absolutely breath taking built on the side of a hill, what some of us would call a small mountain. He had banana trees, various vegetables, and another large tree that was growing some kind of spiked fruit the size of a watermelon. He had a hen house that looked like the Taj Mahal of hen houses. Quite the idea as well. The hen house sat on stilts & below was reservoir to feed the fish below, utilizing the hen droppings. The farm was definitely headed in the right direction as far as Solomon being self sufficient. Later that day we were going to drive into deep town of Kampala to see an orphanage. This school was setup by our driver Charles mother. As we approached the slum like area as the locals called it, consisting of only metal shacks that looked as if they've been abandoned for years. We drove into the back of the tin city, we parked in front of a shack that was about the size of a garage. As we got out of the car our feet sank into the red clay drive, and we proceeded to enter the complex. We were greeted by a woman that spoke very little English but, had the heart of gold. She was a former Islamic follower that turned to our Lord Jesus Christ where she truly found salvation. As we spoke to the children & told the orphans about Gods love for them, as well as our love for them their smiles began to show on their faces. These are children whom most lost their parents to malaria & aids/HIV. The conditions in this orphanage/ school were to say the least a bit heart wrenching. As it started to pour down rain for the first time of us being in Africa, I have to say it was by far the worst downpour I've ever seen. However, this was normal for Africa. As Solomon told us "this is Africa" a quote that we became well familiar with. With the rain now coming down. The holes in the metal roof started to leak, and the clay for turning to mud in some parts. 

Day 5 - Today Gordon had us scheduled to meet with a couple pastors Micah & Sam. First on our list was Pastor Micah, at Makerere College. This was the first what us Americans would call a "mega church". This church was the largest we had seen since our visit to Uganda. They were in the process of having a new church built as we walked around the construction site. This final construction would be a mega church with stadium seating. They were also in the process of having a enormous outreach event hosting such a name as Chris Tomlin in just a couple days. Too bad we had too leave that would of been good to see. It seemed as if Pastor Micah's multitasking skills were hard at work, cutting our time short to prepare for his outreach event. However, we still got to see how God is influencing him ( as he reaches out to the local college students). Our next visit was to Nansana a village right outside Kampala. Pastor Sam was had a clear vision & goals in place. He had a Chrisitan School, orphanage, and a church. His church wasn't quite a mega church but it was still a very decent size. He seemed to be the first Pastor that wasn't trying to grow to big too fast. His vision was to maintain what he had, then when growth is needed to grow little by little so everything stays maintained. Pastor Sam built his housing, school, and orphanage on a large hill that was said to be haunted by the local villagers. However Pastor Sam knew he had his faith in our lord on his side so he didn't let that's distract him. So with that said, he got the said haunted land for cheap & started to build his dream. I felt very good after our time with with Pastor Sam. He had goals, he had plans that made sense, he had a clear vision, and he also was trying to be self sufficient so they wouldn't have to depend on funds from outside sources.

Day 6 - Leaving for Kenya; got up early to head to the Entebbe International Airport, otherwise known as the garbage airport due to the landfill that was brought in to build the runway. It was exciting knowing that we were going to start yet another journey while on this trip to Africa. 

Ok the stress is finally gone, were finally at the airport after our driver was running nearly 45 minutes late. Kinda freaked me out because Kampala is about an hour or so from the Entebbe airport but, we're here safely. 

Such an awesome flight to Nairobi, Kenya for a layover. I saw two giraffes just walking around, I guess we were flying over an animal protected park. Only one more flight then we will be in Kisumu. 

Well we finally landed in Kisumu, Kenya & now were just awaiting for Pastor Benard to pick us hope. Waiting............. Waiting ............. Looks like we had to take a taxi due to our ride not being there but wait...... Looks like our contact was there lol. 

Ok, we're finally with Pastor Benard. Lol  We are in a more country area less populated then what Kampala was. We are even seeing more heavy equipment for the first time being utilized to repair a road, something we didn't see while in Uganda. 

Our time in Kenya to say the least seemed like it went far too fast. Pastors Benard & Gordon kept us extremely busy throughout the duration of our trip. The first day of being in Ahero, Kenya was absolutely awesome as we visited Pastor Benards Vision School.