Sorry I wrote this blog on Wednesday, but didn’t get a chance to post it until today – so the content is a few days late – we’re in Jinja now staying at a hostel with an amazing view overlooking the Nile and we’ll start the flight home on Monday. I’ll have some more thoughts about leaving to post later.
Today marks our last Wednesday in Uganda. We will be leaving from Lira early on Friday morning and heading to Jinja where we will relax and “debrief” for 2 days before heading to Entebbe and flying home. The past couple days we have been focusing on saying goodbye to everyone we’ve met over the past four months and trying to thank and encourage them before we leave.
Things have been moving at such a fast pace I feel like every spare moment we need to get together to plan some program that we’re supposed to be performing in the next hour- on Saturday we planned a song medley and another choreographed dance for a dual wedding (I was a groomsman this time) – I was wearing a borrowed suit with safety pins in the pants so they wouldn’t fall off of me and shoes that were 2 sizes to big – I suppose it was an honor and a good story…but boy was it HOT…nothing like wearing a full black suit in the Ugandan sunshine.
On Sunday we planned a special day for the workers at Alpha Hotel where we stay – we cooked them dinner, made a slip and slide out of laundry detergent and a strip of plastic – it was a big hit with their kids, with us, and we even convinced 2 of the ladies to try it out – it was hilarious seeing these African ladies acting like giddy 6 year olds. The dinner was great – we thanked them for all their work, had some special awards, shared some sentimental memories and sang some songs – and then tears were shed – they started crying thinking about us leaving which made a lot of people in our group cry and we aren’t even leaving until Friday…yeah…we will miss these people.
Then on Tuesday we planned another dinner and program – this time inviting friends we’ve made in the community over the past four months. We shared some songs, performed a skit for them, and shared some speeches/Bible verses to thank and encourage them. Then some of them gave speeches to thank us for the impact we’ve had on them. My favorite moment was a short speech that Jaspher gave. The pastor from a branch church of VOC where Jaspher lives (Pastor Thomas) was there and we introduced them to each other. Jaspher thanked us for the role we had played in changing his life and then said “I am so happy to meet the pastor from my community and now that I know him I will always be at that church.” That short phrase was so important to me because one of the things I’ve really been concerned about and praying about it the community these people will be left with once we leave. It was really reassuring to believe that Pastor Thomas (who is a great guy) will be leading and teaching Jaspher and others once we leave – they are in good hands. The night was just a lot of fun overall – it kind of had the feel of a graduation open house – invite all your friends, thank them, share memories, and eat some good food. The rugby guys came too and it was a blast just laughing and hanging out with them.
thanks for checking in with me – like I said I'll have more thoughts about our final goodbye in Lira and reflections on the trip coming soon.
thanks – God bless,
John
