We are BACK! After almost missing our 1:45 am plane in Entebbe, the Uganda team is home! The folks headed to St. Louis had a 30-minute delay in Detroit, but were back at Lambert before 5:00 pm on Saturday.
Friday was SUCH a full day! We got to Nakabango for the workship service and church dedication only to find out we were finishing building benches first! The guys completed at least 40 and it was a good thing because there had to be over 500 people in attendance. We gathered outside the new building and watched the chairman of the congregation cut the ceremonial ribbon. The choir began singing and we all processed in behind them. It was the most amazing, emotional processional I have ever been a part of.
Pastor Chuck baptized 2 babies and dedicated the 100 Bibles purchased by members of Messiah for the congregation last summer. It was a wonderful worship service; so much joy in that room. To God be the glory for the lives that will be changed because of this new building!
We presented many gifts to the people in Nakabango after the service - new soccer uniforms for the Nakabango team, fabric for the women, tools for the carpentry shop, the new banner made by kids at Messiah Lutheran School, and much more! We participated in our traditional feast and finally left mid-afternoon. Always a hard time....
From there it was off to see the newly-purchased land for a seminary. Unbeknownst to us, this included a walking tour of the perimeter - which was actually directly through a sugar cane field! Tough to navigate in a skirt, let me say!
We spent a short time shopping in Jinja before heading to Kampala. The normal 1 1/2 hour drive was almost 3 hours long and we drove into Charles' and Eve's home much later than expected. Eve had appetizers and drinks ready for us - even though it was HER birthday. We all changed clothes and headed to the airport. When we walked in at 11:30, we were told the plane (that was scheduled to leave at 1:45 am) was already boarding and we only had 10 minutes for all 22 of us to check our bags, clear customs, and pass through security. Not at all they way we had planned to spend our time at the airport that evening! Everyone made it and most slept a good part of the 8-hour trip to Amsterdam.
Many of us took a quick shower in Amsterdam and had a cheeseburger at the McDonald's there - tasted so good! Eight more hours to Detroit and the team parted ways to head to St. Louis and Dallas. Ideas were already forming on ways this team could make changes to improve the lives of the people we met in Uganda!
What a great group of people to work with. An amazing sense of unity - in a group made up of many who had never met each other! Thanks to all for the sacrifices made to allow this team to be together.
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