This week Dave's brother Rodney is posting it, so the pictures are probably not in the right place and etc. I am posting the previous 2 weeks that Dave emailed me. I don't have his complete email list, so sorry I couldn't email this many of you. Enjoy the reading. Rodney
ZIMBABWE - WEEK 2Day 122 Oct 30, 2005, Sunday: Yeah, I know I talk about food a lot, but we had a real, scrambled eggs and bacon and oatmeal and juice and toast breakfast this morning. It was insanely good. Then we all hopped in the back of Josephs pickup and headed to church. This church was in the Charlston hotel. It was a great service. The music was really loud, and a little off key, but it was great worship. It was really interesting because yesterday we had a time of prayer to try to figure out what kind of ministry to do here in the city. We all felt that God was leading us to do some giving to the poor type soup kitchen kind of stuff. Then todays message in church was about just that! It was really crazy because the pastor used some of the exact same verses we came up with yesterday.
After the service I talked with Roger and his wife, they are locals. I was just talking about the decline of Zimbabwe. He told me that in the early 80s a Zim dollar was about identical to a US dollar. You could buy a loaf of bread for 25 cents. Now, it takes Z$15,000 to buy a loaf of bread (even though it is still 25 cents US). Its just amazing to me. He was saying that in the last 6 months a typical wage hasnt changed at all, its about Z$900,000 per month. But now that is only about a dollar US per month. So this crazy economy is basically making wealthy people insanely wealthy because they happen to own the right shops or fell into the right market. But, the poor people can barely afford anything and some are starving. Its just hard to imagine. The economy is so far behind that the largest bill they make is a Z$20,000 bill, but that is worth only 25 cents US at the moment. At an ATM machine it limits you to Z$600,000 which is only just over $7 US.
Ruth and Rita went shopping today and spent Z$2.6 Million !!! It was a wad of cash about = an inch thick! All that bought us was food for dinner tonite and lunch tomorrow. Then I was talking with Joseph today and he said that the housing market here really hasnt changed. In fact, the house we are staying in is for sale for $500,000 US!!! So in Zim dollars thats 40 billion.
crazy
Day 123 Oct 31, 2005, Monday: The Great Fagade We really felt as a team that we were to go to some of the gates of this city and cover them with prayer, so today we went to the airport for a few hours and just prayed as we walked all around it. We hopped in the back of Josephs pickup and sang songs as we drove there, it was quite a spectacle, Im sure. On the way we saw the animal park in town, I saw my first giraffe.
The airport is this beautiful new structure. Statues everywhere, marble floors, just really decked out. The funny thing is that it is mostly empty. There are very few flights coming in and out. About half of the shops are closed. Its just very dead. We prayed Gods blessing over this gateway to the country. We spoke out many psalms about Gods glory. We prayed over the people, that the deception would end.
Its just so weird how every thing in Zimbabwe seems to be a great deception. Its all beautiful on the outside, but when you live here for a little while you realize that from 6am to 9pm you have NO water pressure. The stores are beautiful, but when you go into the nice coffee shop, all they can offer you is orange fanta (no coffee, not even water, the girl said that she would run to the grocery store to buy us a coke). The restroom at the nice restaurant has no water. Even though its beautifully tiled and looks great, it doesnt work. Its just so odd. This country used to have it all. Now, it still looks as though it has it, but its falling apart.
Day 124 Nov 1, 2005, Tuesday: Downtown Boy is it getting dry here. It seems that the lack of water is getting worse because last night Ruth stayed up late in the hopes to take a shower, but the water pressure never got high enough for a shower. We both took bucket showers in the morning because we can get water from a lower tap outside.
After praying this morning and having some devotion time we decided to head into downtown to check it out. We werent sure what it would be like getting there on the bus and cruising around downtown, so we sent out Rod, Rita and I on a sort of Joshua and Caleb mission. We had our new friend Joseph lead us there. He was reluctant to take the bus because he is spoiled with having a truck, but we didnt want to be dependant on his truck because fuel is tough to come by. So we walked the = mile to the bus stop and waited. After about 20 minutes the proper bus came and we paid $10,000 and were off (thats about 12 cents). Downtown was really cool. It was such a typical city. We were pretty much the only white people in the whole area, but it was very comfortable. I had sort of expected to feel like everyone was staring, or that we were very out of place, but it was fine. We first went to a fountain area downtown because we had felt in prayer several times that we had something to do with water. Some of us had pictures of fountains as well, so we went there. Its a beautiful little park in the center of town. The fountains arent running, but a few of them have dirty water in them. Then we looked across the street and saw the church that Karen and I had pictured way back in Kona. It was almost spooky. It is an old Anglican church with a little cross on top. It looks like a catholic cathedral from Europe. It was very exciting to see, because I have been able to picture it ever since Kona, and now it is right there in front of me.
Our mission today was really just to check things out and make sure it was safe for the team to take the bus and cruise around town. Well, its safe. We thought the town was really cool, surprisingly modern. We definitely plan to take everyone there and at least pray, maybe more. On the way home we waited over an hour for the right bus. We stopped and picked up some chicken and French fries for dinner.
Day 125 Nov 2, 2005, Wednesday: Prayer walking downtown
The day started off with quite a bang. I did devotions and talked about Ezekiel and how he was told by God to tell Israel to repent. God told Ezekiel that Israel would not listen. For 22 years he obeyed God and told them what God said to say. No one listened. He had a ministry that seemed fruitless to man. But, he did what God told him to do. Sometimes Mans ways are not Gods ways. Sometimes God tells us to do crazy things like walk around town and pray and that is all he wants of us. Sometimes the fruit is unseen to man, but we are still doing Gods will. Then Rita (our leader) said how she really feels like God is telling us to go to Bullawayo. This is the city that we all prayed about when we arrived in Zimbabwe and decided not to go. She said that since then she has really felt unrest about our decision and she really feels like God is telling us to go there, even for a short time. That hit the team like a ton of bricks. We all thought that decision was behind us. We have seen how God is blessing our decision to stay. We are so excited about staying in Harare and helping the poor downtown. She was very humble and said she knows all of this, but she really feels that God wants us in Bullawayo for a time. It was hard for the team to take. It sort of makes us question if we heard God right when we decided as a team. We ultimately said that as our leader God has placed her in that position and we will submit to it. She truly feels it is from God. We know that God made her our leader. We have to submit, however hard we find it. I think its more of a lesson in submission for some of us. I know that it was really hard for Rita to bring up. Im totally behind her as our leader though.
After the meeting we headed downtown. It was awesome. We really felt like God had placed us there and given us so much confirmation. The Anglican church looks exactly like the pyramid with the cross we saw long ago. Across the street is a park with fountains. There are homeless kids around. While praying/walking around the fountain we saw a piece of paper at the bottom, by the drain that wasnt tarnished at all by the water, or falling apart. It said Salvation, healing, deliverance, breaking of curses crusade. It was so cool. Meagan had really felt that there were weird curses in the park and then we saw that. We have also gotten several verses in prayer about salvation, healing, deliverance and curses. We all prayed more. As we walked around separately two groups started singing songs, turns out they sang the exact same two songs open the eyes of my heart Lord and Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
It was so crazy. We felt like we were on a spiritual treasure hunt. Four days ago we got some verses about an Eastgate. We thought it meant something about a gate to the city on the east. It turns out, that right next to our bus stop, right next to the Anglican Church is a mall called Eastgate. We had lunch there. We also felt a few days ago that the parliament building is a gate to the city politically, so we should go pray there. Guess where its locatedsame block in the city. It was really fun cruising around seeing what God was going to reveal next.
At the church we met a leader there who said that everyday they feed the homeless kids at 9am and noon. We asked if we could come help and they said sure, so hopefully we will be able to. I also met a homeless guy named Derek. He was really cool. He was just plain destitute. The economy had basically made it impossible for him to afford to live. He sleeps in the African Unity park. He was clearly not a drunk, just homeless. So I prayed with him a bit and gave him $140,000 ($1.75us). I really felt like it was up to me to give and then between him and God what he decided to do with it. Hopefully well see him again because I want to give him some clothes as well.
What a cool day. It really brought our team together under God. Its crazy to think that we saw the church we pictured over a month ago in Kona. Eastgate, parliament, fountains, the church all right next to each other, homeless kids, opportunity to feed homeless, deliverance, healingall in one block.all received in prayer before we got here.
Day 126 Nov 3, 2005, Thursday: We should pray more This morning we decided that tomorrow morning we are driving to Bulawayo, so Ruth and the kids stayed around here to do laundry and pack up. The rest of us went back downtown to help feed homeless people and pray some more. Rita and I went to exchange some money. Its the most like a bank robber Ive ever felt. I had $40 million dollars in my backpack. We had so much because we had to buy the bus tickets to Bulawayo. The funny thing is that before we were told that it costs us $60US to go each way. We bought tickets for just under $20US each way. So it is worth a quick trip down there. I think we plan to stay for about 5 days.
Then we caught up with the rest of the group at the church. They had a really good time hanging out with people while they were given food at the church. There are so many that just cant figure out a decent way to make a living. Rod was able to catch up with Derek and give him some clothes and shoes. Derek proudly showed Rod his new bible and (this was the shocker for me) he told Rod how just after I prayed for him yesterday a lady came up to him and offered him a place to live for free! I just think its so awesome because that is a lot of what I prayed about for him. God didnt waste any time in answering. I was also really happy to hear that he bought the bible. I wish I was able to talk with him, but maybe next week when we get back.
One other thing worth mentioning. Weve been praying for rain ever since we got here. Its just so dry, even the reservoirs are low. Today on the way home it just poured down. Totally out of season. We actually got caught in it. It was just coming down and then Meagan prayed Lord, if you could send us a ride, thatd be great. Less than 30 seconds later a lady we didnt know pulled over and told us to jump in the back of her truck (it had a shell). We happily jumped in and it just poured down the whole way home. God provides! We just need to pray!
Day 127 Nov 4, 2005, Friday: Bus to Bulawayo We woke at 5:30 to have breakfast at 6:00 and leave in the truck by 7:00. We had a bus to catch! It was as usual, interesting for all 11 of us to fit in a pickup truck with our luggage. Luckily we are just going for less than a week, so we are leaving some bags here in Harare. The bus was called the Blue Arrow. Actually it was a really nice bus. It had airplane style seats, a bathroom, even a stuartess that brought us drinks and cookies. We were all expecting to be slammed into a tiny cramped bus, but this was living baby!
The bus trip was mostly uneventful. We stopped about half way to stretch our legs and buy a coke. Luckily we were smart enough to bring some sandwiches because its a 6 hour bus ride with no lunch. It was fun to see a little more of this land. Its so dry here. It is very much like the higher areas of Arizona, or New Mexico. High and dry.
After our coke stop the kids both slept and I dozed off for a while as well. When I woke up it was because the bus was pulling to the side of the road and filling with smoke! It was so hot in the bus that when we walked outside into the 40 C (104F) air it felt cool. Smoke was pouring out of the engine bay; it was quite a sight. We thought we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. In fact, we were. But, God provided a diesel mechanic as one of our passengers. He popped open the engine compartment and realized immediately that the air conditioner had seized up and had actually been pumping heat into the bus all this time. It got so hot that it was smoking. So we cut the belt to the AC with a pocket knife, fired up the engine and we were off. The irony is that the rest of the trip was much cooler now that the AC was disconnected.
Once in town we hooked up with our local YWAM guy, Nick. He took us to the base in his Kombi (taxi van). The base is really cool. Most of the roofs are made of this local grass stuff. The rooms are sort of like bungalows. The base is 23km in the middle of nowhere. Its so much like Arizona desert. They warned us to be wary of cobras and black mambas if we walk out of the base. I think well keep our wandering within the fences.
Jessie already skinner her arm today when she fell chasing a goat.
Day 128 Nov 5, 2005, Saturday: Hittin the streets Started with some pourage today (thats African speak for cream of wheat). They also have fresh bread herehmmmm. Then we had a sort of welcome meeting with Nick. He told us the ins and outs of the base. He informed us that power going out last night had caused the water not to work because they use an electric pump to get water from the well. This is the first time its happened in months. No showers, just buckets. Were ok with this. He told us that Zimbabwe means House of Stone. Bulawayo means place of slaughter. Then he graciously asked us to preach at two churches tomorrow and run a kids church at one as well. Uh oh, well see.
Then we hopped in the van (22 of us) to drive to town and pick up some necessities like water and toilet paper. Then we went to an area of town called Mpopomo. This is our mission field for the day. We drove to a local house and prayed and sang for a few minutes (they sing so awesome here). Then we split up into groups and hit the streets. This whole street evangelism thing is not my cup of tea. I wasnt real excited about it, but this is where God has me, so Im doing my best. Ruth and I and the kids went with Ernest and Peggy. They are both local, so the speak Ndebele (local language, its cool, lots of clicky sounds). We chose a street and walked up to the first house. After we knocked, they showed us around back to where 3 guys were welding and working hard. They immediately pulled up some chairs in the shade and sat down to talk (before we even said anything). The people here are so inviting and welcoming, its awesome. Ernest introduced us all and then said Dave, do you have anything to share?. I wasnt quite ready for this. My instinct was to say no. But I just started talking. I told them how we felt God called us to come to Zimbabwe. We just talked. It was fun. They were really interested because we came from so far. They all knew Christ already, but were so happy to know that God cared enough about them and about Zimbabwe that we would send us all this way.
After the first house it was about 12:30 and Ruth and I informed our local hosts that we would need to stop for lunch soon so our kids dont get crazy. ok they said. On to the next house. No one home. The third house was really cool. There were 4 generations living under one roof. They went out of their way to make us comfortable and give us chairs while they pulled up a mat and sat on the ground. We talked about church, life, God. This time Ruth got put on the spot by Ernest (Its good that he did this or we both would have let them do all of the talking). It turns out that this lady had gone to church her whole life but had never had the opportunity to ask Jesus into her heart. So Ruth was able to lead her through what the bible says. It was awesome.
After this house it got steadily hotter and hotter and we got hungrier and hungrier. Luckily we brought 4 bottles of water, so that wasnt an issue. Every house we went to was so welcoming and such a blessing to spend time with. These people feel so unloved and neglected because of the economy and state of this country. It was a joy to share with them. By 2:30 we were spent. We had the kids eat at the last house we were at because they were getting cranky. We ate our soggy sandwiches so fast. It was a very new experience for us, but God blessed it.
We went back to our bungalow and crashed. The electricity is due to be fixed anytime. They had it on for a few hours todaythis never happens J.
After dinner we met as a team and Rod and I were unanimously voted as the ones to preach tomorrow. It turns out that the average sermon at these churches is 1 = hours long! I was hoping to come up with something new, but I think I just need to add on to my one existing sermon.
Day 129 Nov 6, 2005, Sunday: Preachin in the shed Rod and his family left right after breakfast because their church started early. We got to hang around until 9:30 because our service went from 10:00 until 1:00. Thats right baby! 3 hours. As we drove there, I realized that we were heading farther from town rather than closer. We ended up in the middle of nowhere. NOWHERE. We drove up to the only structure that could be seen. It was a metal shed about 20 feet wide, 40 feet long. This is church. Awesome. They were already inside singing away, so we walked on in. All the kids were in front, then the ladies on mats, then the men on chairs in the back. We sang some serious worship. After every song everyone just started talking out prayers to God. When the praying slowed another song started. After a while, the only other guy in a tie got up to speak (I was told to wear a tie as I was speaking (I had to teach myself how to tie one all over again.)) We were introduced and heartily welcomed. It was great, the translator was wearing a shirt that said San Francisco, California. I pointed to it and said this is where I am from! Then the kids were dismissed to go to kids church and I was invited up to speak. I think I am getting a little better at this. I added more to my message about the bible as our foundation this time. I really liked how the word Zimbabwe means house of stone. So, I talked about Christ being the cornerstone of this house. I was impressed that I had enough to say to last an hour and a half. Of course it helps to have a translator. It was really cool.
Ruth, Rita, Meagan and the kids went to kids church. They had a great time. They acted out The Good Samaritan. Then the local kids acted it out for them. Ruth was the main teacher. Ruth talked about Jesus and Jonny got up and said and Jesus died on the cross and rose again!. Then Ruth asked the kids if they wanted to know Jesus. Jonny interrupted again, pointed at one kid and said You need Jesus!. Apparently it was quite funny. Lots of kids prayed to have Jesus in their heart.
After church ended, the rain that we had been praying for showed up. It rained buckets. The people were so happy to see it. It hasnt rained in about 6 months. It rained most of the day. We went back to base and crashed for a few hours. Preaching is tiring. Then we had dinner and the power went out again. This never happens! the locals keep saying. So we went to our room and watched Shrek on the laptop. Then, right as our battery was dying the power came back on. Then about a half hour after the movie was over, power went off again. Only in Africa.
These pictures are not in the right place, but at least they are in here.
ZIMBABWE - WEEEK 1Day 116 Oct 24, 2005, Monday: Saying Goodbye to Amacet We started off the day with some devotions with the team. It was really good. We just got some issues out in the open and prayed together and it has really made a huge difference today. Its amazing how just getting things out in the open helps so much.
Then we cruised over to Amacet (the orphanage) to have our last morning with the kids. To our surprise the bigger kids were there all morning. Usually they are at school on the weekdays, but today was a holiday because the President of Uganda (Obote) died last week. So we played. I was mostly playing football (soccer). Jessika was playing on the swings today. Ruth was changing a lot of diapers and feeding babies. Jonny was playing with the legos.
We had lunch back at the base and then had a quick meeting about Zimbabwe. Apparently the prices of fuel have skyrocketed even more there, so it might be too expensive for us to take the bus from Harare to Bulawayo (we fly into Harare). So we prayed about our destination. At this point we are sort of leaning towards staying in Harare for the duration of our trip, but well see what Gods plans are.
The original plan for the afternoon was to go cruise town, but we couldnt handle leaving the kids that soon, so we all went back to Amacet. We had a great afternoon with them. They sang us a few songs and we sang them one. Then we all prayed for each other and celebrated with cokes, popcorn and Ugandan donuts (cake donuts with no frosting). It was really good and fun. Then we played a bit more and had to say our goodbyes because we leave for Jinja in the morning. We all talked about how we wished we could have stayed longer, but Im not sure we would have been able to say goodbye if we did. Even a week longer and we would have gotten too attached to these kids.
Day 117 Oct 25, 2005, Tuesday:
Taxi back to Jinja The day started off a little frustrating when we realized that the taxi driver (who brought us here) showed up with a taxi that didnt have a roof rack. We barely squeezed everything in this little van on the way here. Aghhh. So we loaded up lots of the big bags in the back seat and were all prepared to jump in when the driver returned to tell us that it is illegal to have bags in the back seat. We thought he was joking. This is a taxi driver, the same that squeezes 22 people in a taxi that legally carries 14. But no, he had us repack. Sigh. The journey begins. We prayed with everyone from the Soroti base. They are really great people. We have really enjoyed our short time with them. After saying goodbyes, we took off at about 10am.
Along the way the driver pulled over at a make shift farmers market. We tried to buy some ground nuts (peanuts) but they werent roasted, so we passed. He loaded up a huge bag of potatoes and brought them to the van hoping to squeeze them in. We tried to politely inform him that if we had a roof rack there might have been room, but the hundred pounds of potatoes isnt going inside the van. He was a little bummed, but we continued on. We had our chance to buy some freshly roasted (and still warm) peanuts later on in the trip. We also saw a gnarly accident along the way that really encouraged us all to pray as we drive because the driving in Uganda leaves very little room for error and they are quite speedy. The accident was a bus (huge bus) full of people that ran head on into a 30 foot truck. I am sure there were some fatalities. It looked like they were still trying to pry the trucks apart. The rest of our journey was uneventful except for when we ran out of gas. It just happened to be right as we rounded a corner of street salesmen that were very pushy. So while the driver went for gas we were bombarded with the pushiest sellers in Uganda. They actually were forcing our sliding windows open and one of them grabbed jonnys Thomas the train lunch box. They were actually quite disturbing they were so pushy. Luckily we bought a jerry can full of gas quickly and headed off.
Now we have been welcomed back in Jinja for a few days. It was nice to show up and know everyone and get hugs and greetings. We went over to the Kiwi couples (Paul and Karina) house for coffee after dinner. They have the two boys (Jack and Elliot) that our kids have been begging to see all week long. We had fun chatting about life in Africa. The kids had fun playing and watching Robots. Well miss everyone here as well when we leave. Ruth is actually making thank you cards for them now as I type.
One more thing for this week. Wendy, our team member, has prayed often about this and she is planning to stay in Uganda for the next portion of our outreach. Our team is behind her on this and we know that it is Gods will. We will miss her terribly though. She feels that Uganda is where her ministry is, and she is planning to help the TORCH ministry in their medical clinic. Then she will meet back up with us on our flight home. So pray for her as she will be without the team. Bless you Wendy! Well miss you.
Day 118 Oct 26, 2005, Wednesday: Last day in Jinja many blessings!
Our last day in Jinja was filled with washing and packing. I (Ruth) have a new appreciation for washing machines after this trip. I did 3 loads of laundry by hand I am starting to get callouses. The unfortunate part was that it started to rain, meaning no clothes line. Yikes! Dave zig zagged line across around room and it became a maze of wet clothes. After laundry we headed off to the preschool for one last day with the kidos. It has been such a blessing to help out there. About = of the kids wear a uniform and = dont. I asked teacher Susan why this is and she said that some of the kids cant afford the uniforms. The uniforms cost only 10,000 shillings (about $6 US dollars). Dave and I felt we wanted to pay for uniforms so that all the kids will have them. Today in class the teacher brought the made uniforms and we were able to hand them out to the children. It was awesome to see their faces! Some of them immediately stripped into their underwear to put their new clothes on. It was hilarious! I thank God for these moments of blessing that I will never forget!
After preschool we headed for lunch. The base threw us an appreciation party for lunch. It was such a treat! Each table was decorated with a large banana leaf in the middle, flowers, banana cake slices and soda bottles. I have to admit that I have found a new addiction in drinking Coke here. I never drink it at home, but Coke is sweeter and less carbonated here and so cheap (about $0.30 a bottle). Before eating lunch we had a time of sharing. It was heart warming to hear the appreciation of the staff at the base. It was hard to hold back the tears at times. Once again another blessing!
The rest of the day was spent packing and saying goodbye to friends we have made here. We had time with our neighbors to share and pray and take a group photo. Gerald came over too for a last visit together. We have been so blessed by the warmth and friendship of the people here. At dinner, Catherine (neighbor) taught me to make Chipate and we squeezed the rest of my oranges and made some juice. Our friend Thomas made us a huge heaping bowl of popcorn after dinner and we sat around and talked. It will be hard to leave this place tomorrow.
Day 119 Oct 27, 2005, Thursday: Travel to EntebbeDay 120 Oct 28, 2005, Friday: Off to Zimbabwe!2am the day started. Whew, I can feel the tired creeping up on me. We had breakfast at the Motel at 2:30. It was a good start, toast, coffee, papaya. We somehow jammed into a taxi van and made it to the airport. Our flight left Uganda at 5am. We flew from there to Nairobi, Kenya; the flight was about 1 = hours long. Most of us slept. I heard that the sunrise was very nice, but I missed it. We then hopped on another plane for the 2 = hour flight to Harare. This flight was on a nice 767 so we had a nice movie selection. Unfortunately all of the kids movies werent available, so they ended up watching bits and pieces of X-men 2. It was on this flight that the tiredness started to really settle in. We arrived at about 11am and the kids were so tired that they were nutty; bouncing, running, they were actually very good looking back on it.
We were quite nervous about customs in Harare. We had heard stories of things being stolen and the guards being tough. But it all went very smoothly (thank you Lord). We met up with our guide for the day and were immediately impressed by the niceness of this city. The roads are nicely paved. Our taxi bus was very nice and new. The air here actually smells like flowers. There are flowers everywhere, streets crowded with Jackoranda trees. Its very nice. It is the dry season, so the grass is all brown or nearly brown. It was very refreshing to be out of the craziness of the Ugandan driving. We went to the store and bought some food and things as we are cooking for ourselves here. We got 1.6 million Zim Dollars. This was my first time holding a million dollars in my hand. It was a stack of 20,000 Z$ bills about a < 3 = weeks
Day 121 Oct 29, 2005, Saturday: New Digs Last night it got COLD! I was sleeping on a couch with only a sheet. Brrrrrrr. Ruth had only a sheet as well and she woke up several times to put on a sweatshirt, socks etc.. We arent used to cold anymore. In Uganda and Hawaii we never used more than a sheet. Here in Zimbabwe we are at about 5000 feet elevation and even though it is the hottest season it still seems to cool down a lot at night.
At 7:30 this morning our bus/taxi came to pick us up and bring us to our new place of residence. Wow, this place is unbelievable. Apparently it is used for missionaries that are coming and going, usually just for a few days. It is really nice. Very African looking from how westerners think of Africa. Pictures and statues of lions, elephants, and zebras. Leopard print cushions on benches. Water buffalo book ends. Then you look in the kitchen and see unusual amenities like a stove! A microwave! A fridge! Then the really big surprise (get ready) A washing machine!!! This place is loaded. The contrast from Uganda is so extreme I cant even find the words. There are 4 bedrooms for all of us to split. There is a huge yard in the front that looks like it would be grassy if there were more rain, but the kids already played some soccer out there today. The back yard is devoted to the dogs during the day time (two Rottweilers); At night they roam the whole property to protect from intruders. Remember yesterday how I mentioned that God provided this place for us while we took naps in the afternoon? Well, our host Joseph told us how just yesterday a group of 11 people left this place and they were needing someone to come stay. Yeah God.
Later in the day Rita, Meagan, Karen and I went with Joseph to the closest grocery store. It turns out it is only about a kilometer away. There is a full on grocery store, several restaraunts, and a few random shops. We are so excited to be able to buy vegetables and eat at a restaurant and have real milk (among other things). We brought back meat pies and yogurt for lunch. For dinner we all walked back there and had pizza. We fed all 11 of us pizza for about $10. I think we flew to heaven.
Ahhh...Our last Hawaiian sunset....for NOW :)
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