Africa: Day 15

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 15

Up at 5:30AM.  The power is out.  There is a storm on the lake.  There is strange chanting like noises coming from down the hall.  Lots of voices hollering and doing that high-pitched screaming thing.  Not sure what it is.  I poked my head out the door to see what was up…I can’t see anything, too dark.  I got up and put my clothes on and unlocked my back door in the event it is a bunch of weirdies looking for a pudgy sacrifice.  I have heard too many true Africa stories to just roll over and go back to sleep.

The sun is up now.  The noises have stopped.  The bats are returning home to the trees.

Visited the Jinja Children’s Hospital today.  I will never complain when I am taking Billy to the doctor again.

We are back at the Entebbe Flight Motel.  This is where it all started for us.  Tonight we go to the airport to catch our flight.  Not looking forward to the security at the airports but I am looking forward to getting it underway.  I am ready to be home.  I will be unpacking this trip for years.  So much happened, I saw so many things, I experienced so many things…it has been epic.

Africa: Day 10

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 10

Slept well last night.  Good recharge day.  Bit dreary out this morning.  Hope it doesn’t rain all the way to the mountain.

I have been drinking Stoney Tangawizi as if it were nectar from heaven.  It is the best ginger ale, and Buck agrees, that I have ever had.

The van battery is dead.  Now we go and sit and wait.  AWA—Africa Wins Again.

While sitting and waiting for a mechanic I have noticed that there is quite a bit of handholding here amongst the men.  I am talking interlocking digit handholding.  This is cultural and seems to be part of everyday life.  Buck and I might try it later.

We have met a great fella that took care of the battery and us.  He knew just where to take us and what to get.  I believe God put him in our path.  Africans are the sweetest, gentlest people I have ever been around.

There are lots of billboards and the majority of them are advertising:  Oil for cooking, Cell phones, Paint, Banks, Beer, Coke.  Just like home.

We are on our way to Mbale to meet a pastor named Roy Rogers.  His African name is too hard to say and sort of somewhat sounds like Roy Rogers so that is what everybody calls him.  Wonder what they think I am saying when I introduce myself?

People just throw their trash out the windows when they are finished.  It is mostly plastic water bottles.  I guess they don’t give a hoot.

We have made it to Siranko, a small village at the base of Mt. Elgon.  I am told that this is close to the Karamojong.  Let’s all hope we don’t see any of those guys.  They are warriors that kill for fun.

Finally made it to Tabagon Baptist Church.  They waited 5 hours for us to get here.  We are 30mi. from Karamojong.  The Gospel has no limits.  This is the furthest you can get from nowhere.

The poverty in the foothills is different from elsewhere.  In Sudan people are very poor but they seemed to have everything they need.  Here there is no doubt.  They are beyond poor.  I am talking walk around naked poor.  What can we do?

Tomorrow we climb Mt. Elgon.  We will see Sipi Falls, my favorite of all African branded bottled water.  I hope the falls look clean; I would hate to ruin that picture I have in my head.

My flashlight was stolen today.  I had just put fresh AAA batteries in it too.  This is a bit of a bummer but it has made me appreciate night stands that much more.  Now when I get done writing this I will unfurl my mosquito tent and traipse across the room to flick the light.  I have it bad, I know.

Quick reflect on the day

The Gospel is boundless.

Karamojong are fearless, yet met a born again Kara. at dinner who is planting churches there—see #1.

Don’t order pizza in Africa.

Bring 2^nd flashlight next time.

Africa TV is as bad as US.

100% deet was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Africa: Day 9

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 9

Up at 6AM.  Late.  Birds are noisy outside in the morning.  I like it.  Better than a rooster.

Stomach is settled this morning and we are ready to hit the road to the Mountain.  Not sure if it was the fish or the chocolate milkshake that tore me up yesterday.  I will eat neither again to be sure.

Looks like we will not be going to Mt. Elgon today.  Bro. Cathey is dehydrated and needs to stay here and rest.  We went into town and bought Oral Hydration Salt Packets.  I also got to drive for the first time.  Did well—I hit a taxi.  No big deal.

For lunch today Buck and I ventured back into town, more driving, and I had a BLT and potato salad.  Everybody in the place looked like us so we figured it was safe to eat the bacon.  I do, however, worry a bit about that mayo.  Even back home I hardly ever order mayo stuff in restaurants.  Why did I do that?

While at the café we ran into Liza Morgan.  She is here working with a non-prof.  It is neat to run into somebody you know 8k miles away from home.

What I thought were birds turns out to be bats—hundreds and hundreds of bats.  They live in the banana trees next to the lake.

There are no mud huts in Jinja.  People here live in houses or apartments or shack like things.  The town is very small, only about 5 streets crisscrossing.  It is not unlike the really crappy parts of Jersey City.  Motorbikes are everywhere, along with bicycles.  I don’t know how hundreds a day are not killed on these things.

The lake is beautiful but I find that I prefer the rustic beauty to the north.

Missing home a bit tonight.  Especially after talking with Jennifer.  I so badly want her to see these things.

Africa: Day 8

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 8

Up at 5AM.  Took a warm shower/shaved.  Cold showers are better.  Now I will never cool down.  Uganda is always humid; it was the opposite in Sudan.

Kampala is a big city.  There were people out all night.  My room was right next to the party room so all night people knocked on my door wanting to party.  This was no big deal at first, but around 4AM I became an angry American.  I am easily 100lbs heavier and 6 inches taller than everyone that knocked on the door so seeing them scurry down the hall was a bit fun.

When Buck knocked on the door this morning I had trouble with the locks as I had been, somehow, sleeping on my hands.  I felt like a penguin trying to sign an autograph.  Needless to say, Buck thought this was very amusing.

Ate an egg omelet for breakfast this morning at the hotel.  That is my first and last omelet in Africa.

We have made it to Jinja and are staying on the banks of Lake Victoria.  Nice place.  We are eating outside overlooking the lake.  I have been served, though I did not order, a whole Tilapia.  By whole I mean whole—head, eyes, everything.

Jinja is very nice.  Not at all like Kajo Keji.  I really like Sudan.

Well, the fish gave me a terrible stomach ache.  As a result I got to use my first African toilet because we were away from the hotel when this happened.  I would need to do some serious quad workouts if I were to use these regularly.

Talked with Jennifer for 20 minutes tonight.  That was nice.  Really miss her and Billy.

Tomorrow, Mt. Elgon with Gandalf and the rest of the gang.

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Africa: Day 6

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 6

Up at 7AM—Praise the Lord.  Finally got some sleep last night.  Only woke up a few times.  The roosters start their thing around 5AM; I don’t ever want a rooster.

Back home Jennifer has Laryngitis.  She is in KY this weekend.  I am missing her and Billy.

Every morning I wake up with the most intense dry mouth—Zyrtec, Afrin help a bit.  Everything is dusty.  Looking forward to a good shower at some point in the next week.  You never seem to get clean here, just sort of knock off the stink.

At First Baptist Kajo Keji this morning.  Bro. Cathey  preached Revelation 20. Many came to the church I would estimate 1000.  Saw 11 people saved and a woman who was demon possessed.  You don’t see that every day back home—though I have my suspicion.

David has started 32 churches, those churches have all started a church and then so on.  I bet there are over 200 churches planting churches in South Sudan.  Kajo Keji is primed to grow and David is here at the best time.

There is a guy here from Lexington, KY.  His name is Thomas Bell—his dad is Bruce Bell who played at Duke ’78—Thomas went to Duke and has lived all over the world working for The Seed Project.  They do micro financing in places like Kajo Keji.  I go halfway around the world and meet a Duke fan.  You just can’t get away from them.

Preached Ephesians 2:1-10 at a church in Pamoju today.  Went well.  Had a drunk lady walk up and talk to me in the middle of the sermon.  This was, apparently, hilarious to David and Edward.  Lotsa ruckus, I don’t mind though, I love to preach over here.

On every vehicle Reaching the Unreached is written across the windshield.  There is no hiding who you are when you ride around with these guys.

When we preach here it goes something like this:  Song, Sermon, Song, Sermon, Song, Choir, Song, Sermon, Song—we leave—they keep going.

Today while walking down the road with Moses he saw that I was getting ready to take a picture of a goat.  He said, “Don’t take a picture of that goat, he is sick.”  Good call Moses.

Leaving Sudan tomorrow.

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Africa: Day 4

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 4

Up at 5AM—chickens, dogs, and something else making all sorts of racket outside my door.  Loud birds?  (I later discovered it was bats)  Called Jennifer this morning, that was nice.

We are in the southern part of a mountain range in northern Uganda.  We are approximately 7 miles from Sudan’s border.  The landscape is very different and I am noticing more square huts as opposed to the round huts we saw in southern Uganda.

Took a very cold shower this morning.  Not too bad.

9AM—we have finally entered Sudan.  Long journey.  They are holding our passports until we get some paperwork issues resolved.  That is always fun especially since everything I ever read about traveling in Africa stated:  never get separated from your passport.

We will be staying in the village of Kajo Keji, South Sudan.  Not much here, that I can see.  Lots of goats and little huts.  People walking everywhere.

Met with David Kaya and Edward Dima today.  They have built a city on a hill.  David started with two trees as a church and now trains dozens upon dozens of pastors from all over the area.  Bro. Cathey trained David and Edward about 13 years ago.  It is difficult for me to put into words the work those guys have been able to accomplish for the Lord.  David is clearly gifted in leadership and organization and most importantly loves Jesus.  Edward is gifted in teaching and has an extreme love for these people.  The school/seminary David runs is as New Testament as one can get.

As we were driving into a village a group of women/girls met us on the path singing.  They waved flags and escorted us into the area where we would be preaching.  That was really cool.

Listening to Bro. Cathey preach and just caught myself staring at the folks listening and wondering why they are all staring at me.  Funny.

There are goats everywhere.  There are more goats here than cats back home.  I guess if I ever live here I will have to get a goat.  How does one raise a goat?

Today in review

Preached 1 Cor. 16 this afternoon—Stand firm.  Felt a bit silly telling people from Darfur to stand firm.  They could clinic me on that.

After preaching we take questions from the audience here.  Most of the questions involve polygamy—that’s different.

David continually challenges the churches to plant new churches.  Why can’t we do that?

How can I challenge my church?

Dinner:  Rice, French Fries, Chicken—all excellent.  Can’t get enough water.

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Africa: Day 3

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 3

Woke up 4:40AM.  That is all I could get out of the Ambien and the fact that my sleep cycle thinks it’s time to start watching prime time TV.

We had a big mosquito net hanging over us last night as well as a large fan blowing.  I like the noise the fan creates but dislike the now dried up nose.  Shower and breakfast soon.

For breakfast this morning we had:  pineapple, watermelon, toast, finger banana, and mango juice.

I would recommend the pineapple and banana in the future.

We are getting ready to head up north to Moyo—long trip, 10 hours.  I am hoping to head into Sudan following that.  Keep waiting to call Jennifer.  It is difficult not being able to keep in touch with her.

Driving on the left side is  weird.  But Moses, that is our driver, said that once we hit Gulu it would not matter what side you drive on—I suppose that is good.

Stopped for lunch, definitely interesting.  I had pinto beans, chapatti, rice, and this heavenly ginger ale called Stoney Tangawizi.  I eat like this at home.

North of Gulu is a dirt road.  This is about half way.  We have dirt roads the rest of the way to Moyo and I guess Sudan.  This is without a doubt the most dangerous car ride I have ever been on in my life.

As we drive we see random fires along the side of the road.  They are preparing for the rainy season by burning back all the brush.  This would never fly back home.  We have driven by fires so hot you could feel them in the coaster.

I love listening to Bro. Cathey talk about his time/trips in Africa—I believe that he has had a hand in planting a church in every town here.

Finally in Moyo.  We will have to spend the night here before heading into Sudan tomorrow.  This is a nice place. I am pretty sure I broke the toilet a few moments ago but now I have my mosquito net in place and I am ready for sleep.

Today in review

Drove 11 hours—Entebbe-Moyo//Kampala is a death trap.  Moses should drive Formula 1 racecars.

Passed through Gulu today.  Until recently all the children came into the town at night to sleep on the sidewalks to avoid being captured by Joseph Kony.  He would come at night and kidnap them, forcing them to kill immediately or be killed.  Hard to think about that.  He is still in Africa doing this.

As we approached Moyo a little boy fired a slingshot hitting the back of our coaster with a rock—Direct hit.  He was so happy.

It must have been bath time as we were entering town—7PM—saw lots of little boys getting washed out in the front yard in these little tubs.  This makes me miss Billy.

I have some great travel partners.  Buck is solid, a new Christian of 2-3 years best I can tell.  I suspect Buck and I are going to be good friends.  Don is a retired Landmark Baptist preacher who fought in Nam (for real).  He has some great stories.  Bro. Cathey is like traveling with Gandalf the Grey.  He knows everything and everybody and they all know him.  He is a good man who God dearly loves.

Tomorrow Sudan.  4 days?  I don’t know.  Sleep 10PM.

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Africa: Day 1 & 2

[The following is a rough typed version of my journal from Africa.  I have about 15 days worth of notes and some of them only mean something to me, however, I believe you will be blessed to read through these.  The trip was epic in every way and this will help me to remember things and for you to get a glimpse of the things I saw.  Enjoy.]

Day 1 & 2

After 24 hours in the air and lounging around different airports we have arrived in Entebbe, Uganda.  I have not slept.  This is strange as I took an Ambien somewhere over the Atlantic.  I am very tired as I write this.  Tomorrow we have more traveling to do.  If my calculations are right, and I hope they are not, we have a 10-12 hour car ride up to Sudan.

Tonight I met a pastor named Blazio.  He pastors churches in Western Uganda.  I was able, through the help of our church, to give him $1000.  Rob and Jonda gave him another $1000 from Unity Baptist Church.  We then find out that Blazio had been praying that God would somehow provide him with that exact amount.  He had recently been robbed while traveling on a taxi.  They took all his possessions, money, even his clothes.  He needed money to send his children to college and did not know how it would be worked out but trusted that God would take care of him.  He had traveled from his home to welcome his friend Harold Cathey back to Africa when our team gave him the exact amount he had asked God.

Bro. Cathey told us later that meeting Blazio is meeting one of God’s choice servants.  On the ground in Africa less than 2 hours and seeing God work providential miracles through us.  This is why you come here.

First Impressions of Africa

Saw a man peeing in the parking lot at the Entebbe airport.

It is very humid.

This is much better than the Africa wing at the zoo.

There is lots of snow in NC/MI and the Netherlands and right now it is humid and 73 degrees here in Uganda.

Finally got to call Jennifer.  Good to hear her voice.

This hotel is legit.  By legit I mean authentic.