Finally Here!

After a very long couple of days, I have finally arrived safely in Gulu!!

The journey began in Dallas and after almost 24 hours of travelling, I arrived at the Entebbe airport late Thursday night, exhausted and feeling sick. I was taken to my hotel where I probably slept 3 hours that night. I felt sick, I was overly tired, there was pouring rain on a tin roof, and I did not enjoy being by myself in a strange hotel in a new country. Not a good start to being in Uganda. Friday I was sick all day as well and wasn't able to eat anything. I had to go into Kampala that day to get a cell phone and pick up a couple things for the other missionary here in Gulu.

In Kampala, I experienced my first boda-boda ride (a motorcycle taxi). It was quite an interesting experience and I am very thankful to be alive today! There weren't any traffic laws that I could tell and the driver had no problems driving on the sidewalk, between moving vehicles, or on the wrong side of the road. I enjoyed it though and am glad that I had the experience!

Saturday morning began early again, as I had to take a 6 hour bus ride from Kampala to Gulu. Can I just say that my body was in no way prepared for the heat of that trip?? The Ugandans get cold with the windows open and the breeze, but I'm of course dying in the heat and sun with no air conditioning. That bus ride was seriously one of the longest 6 hours of my life!! BUT, the cool thing was that I got a lot of time to pray! Someone told me before I came to have an attitude of joy when things are tough. Having that attitude and mindset made the trip bearable!

It was awesome too because I started to feel better about an hour outside of Gulu. This was good because as soon as I got here, we went to two graduation parties. Culturally, it's very rude not to eat, so I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me a reprieve from my sickness so I could honor the families! The first Ugandan food I had was excellent as well. I stuck to potatoes and rice, but it tasted really good, especially after not eating for a couple of days!

This morning (Sunday) we went to church at the Watoto Church. It sounded so familiar to me, and I found out that it's because a song on Chris Tomlin's Hello Love CD features the Watoto Children's Choir! The time of worship was truly incredible. It was in English and I knew all the songs - including The Stand, one of my favorites! The doctrine seems to be sound from what I can tell and the people were all extremely welcoming and friendly, so I am really looking forward to going again next week.

We went to church with 14 little girls from the Zion Project, a ministry for girls of Congolese prostitutes. The girls were absolutely precious and I could not have enjoyed them more. Their home is only a five-minute walk from my house, so I am quite sure I will spend quite a bit of time there! :-)

I am loving being here. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here and can't wait to see what God has in store for my time in Gulu.

Here is my contact information while I'm here:

Mailing address: PO Box 116, Gulu, Uganda, East Africa (I will write you back if you write to me!)

Phone number: 0789 56 1799 (I would love for you to call, but please keep in mind I'm 9 hours ahead on Central time!)

Skype name: my first name, underscore, last name: first_last

I would love to hear from you and am so thankful for all of your prayers and support. I'll try to get pictures on here soon!