TRAVEL JOURNAL

Day 1 & 2 - Tuesday/Wednesday (Air travel / Entebbe)

Arrrived LAX @ 4:30 AM for our 8 AM flight - left lots of time to chill before the journey begins!! Now that we are actually at the airport, the excitement and reality of the missions trip is finally setting in. Flight to Entebbe was long but easy, with good (2 1/2 hour or more) layovers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam (the 3-hour layovcr in Amsterdam was essential to allow time for the added security screening). Arrived Entebbe @ 9 PM the following day - Wed. Stayed the night at Entebbe Airport Guest House, and were met there by Danielle and Emma Hurley - the Guesthouse was very nice, quiet, friendly staff, and WiFi.  Had a great night's sleep, and a nice hot shower!

Day 3 - Thursday (Kampala to Mbale)

We had a great, full breakfast at the guesthouse, then Danielle drove us to Kampala to meet up with fellow SOS staff Paul.  Picked up some sandwiches to go at the New York Pizza shop at the Garden City Mall (the only mall in Kampala - lots of "Mizungu's" (white/european folks)).   Danielle dropped us off at the main bus depot in Kampala, and we bought tickets for me, Kaila and Paul for the 4-hour bus ride to Mbale to meet up with Shannon.  Shannon had been in the Mbale region all week "mobilizing" - meeting with church leaders in the eastern region to exhort and promote the upcoming Eastern Pastor's Conference being held in Soroti in January.  The Mbale bus ride (only $5 each!!) was very easy - packed full and no A/C, but comfortable and not too dusty.  Drove through Jinja near Lake Victoria (Nile headwaters), made a few pitstops for "essentials" and food, arriving in Mbale around 4:15 PM. 

Initial impression of Uganda - very hectic roads (and very rough!!), red dirt is pervasive, along with mopeds (called "Boda Boda's"), bikes and pedestrians, crossing randomly across streets.  People walk EVERYWHERE.  People are generally very friendly, lots of big smiles. 

Stayed at the "Mountain Moving Missions" guesthouse in Mbale, met up with Shannon and his SOS staff Dennis.  The three of us journeyed outside of Mbale to Cannon Christopher's home ("Cannon" is a title of prominence within the Anglican Church - C. Christopher handles all of the food for Shannon's conferences).  C. Christopher is an amazing individual - highly respected and prominent within the Mbale and Anglican Church community, yet so humble, spending the entire evening doting on us making sure we were enjoying the feast he prepared for us.  His wife showed Kaila how a lady greets Ugandan style - kneeling and extending the right hand in a show of respect and love.

Day 4 - Friday - Mbale to Bucwo to Luweero

Had an early start, leaving about 7:30 AM for the long drive to Bucwo, a small village in eastern Uganda almost at the Kenya border, in the mountains of Mt. Elgon National Park.  About 4 hours of the drive was off-road, on heavily potholed dirt roads with boulders, landslides, ravines and rocks.  The journey was well worth it, passing numerous small villages on the way, helping a local pull his tractor off the road, passing Sit River Falls, and finally arriving in Bucwo about 12:30.  Shannon met with a group of pastors from the region, gathering at Bucwo Baptist Church, then we had dinner at Noah's Ark Hotel.  One of the pastors, Joseph, is a big advocate of SOS Ministries (he invited us to return next year for a tour of Kenya's game reserves!).

Left Bucwo about 3:30, and drove back to Mbale, then all the way back to Kampala then north to Luweero, arriving at SOS Ministries around 2:30 AM!!

Day 5 and 6 - Saturday/Sunday - Kabamitwe Village, Luweero District (SOS Ministries Headquarters)

Enjoyed two days at SOS, meeting the entire Hurley family, and their extended "family" living at their home (4 students from the village that Shannon is supporting, serving as SOS staff, being discipled by Shannon, with some going to school on support from Shannon).  There are also two ladies living at the Hurley home, including Hope and a single mom Christine and her very fiesty but cute son Nathan("Natie").   It was a blessing and encouragement to talk with the SOS Team, and hear there hearts full of love for the Lord and appreciation for Shannon and SOS - Dennis, Anthony, Paul, Solomon, Ronald, Simon, Charles, John, Henry, Edward, Jotham and others.  We were privileged to attend the Sunday morning church service, held at the Hurley home, with about 80 from the local village and two other nearby villages.  The service went from 9 AM to about 12 noon, more of a community gathering of praise, worship, teaching and fellowship than what we would expect as a "church service".  Many stayed after to have lunch with the Hurley's, about 40 in total.  Danielle does all the cooking, from scratch.  One of the students is paid to prepare all the vegetables and cut/peel.  Shannon has such as huge heart - in addition to those living with him, he has built homes for his staff right next to their property, has built homes for two disabled young men - Ezra, and my buddy Mark, who has cerebral palsey (wears lots of UCLA shirts!!!), and rather than simply displacing locals that are squatting on his land, he has lovingly relocated them to land he purchased for them and built them homes.

I had no idea how much SOS is doing in their local village and in Uganda.  From observations and conversations with Shannon and staff, Shannon and/or SOS:

* provides biblical training for Uganda pastors, including 1,500+ Baptist Union pastors nationwide and 400+ Anglican Church pastors from the local Luweero Diocese
* holds an Annual Youth Conference with 600+ kids from across the country
* holds an Annual Womens' Conference of 400+ women from across the country
(these conferences are free to attendees, with transportation partially offset by Shannon, and with attendees receiving a conference notebook, three meals a day, and amazing Christ-centered teaching)
* master plan for the 150 acres to include a Biblical Training Institute, primary school, secondary school, housing and conference center
* Community Services (for the three local villages, totalling around 500 people or so), including:
- Dental Day
- Emergency Medical assistance (driving to the Kampala hospital when needed, 2 hours away)
- Health education (sanitation)
- Monthly movie night
- Christmas gift of rice, flour and soap
* Discipling and support of local youth and women

We took a one-hour walk through the local village.  The "village" is spread throughout the "bush" (jungle), along a foot path (about 4' wide), with residences singly or in clusters every few hundred yards.  The residences varied from crude stick/thatch huts to wood/stucco to brick, with most of the locals subsisting off the land by clearing areas for corn, potatoes and/or livestock grazing.  The village has a small public school - as we walked by, they were celebrating an end of school year party.  The other strong impression left by Uganda is how content and simply the villagers live, and yet the adults, women in particular, dress so elaborately even for normal daily activities.

 

Day 7 - 10 - Monday to Thursday (Kampala, National Womens' Conference)

Well, we were totally spoiled at the Hurley home, eating well, with nice hot showers, and a relatively relaxing pace.  I had some late nights, keeping Shannon company on two trecks to Entebbe airport, which is about 3 hours each way (once to pick up Jada and Dawn [Jada came in as a conference speaker, and Dawn led a small group) and once to pick up the Calvary Bible Church team from Forth Worth [the guys stayed behind to build a home, and the ladies joined Shannon and Danielle at the Conference]).   Attempted to blog from the Hurley home, but internet connections in Uganda are challening (slow speed, with frequent disconnections - there are high speed connection locations in Kampala, and air cards provide enough connection to allow emailing but not OK for file upload/download).

Left Monday late morning to head to Saint Lawrence Crown City School outside of Kampala, with some errands on the way.  The conference facility was huge - recently acquired by the school.  The dorm rooms were simple but functional.  Mosquito nets were essential, even for locals - Anthony Basaba had to go to the hospital while we were there due to a malaria episode (most of the locals actually have malaria, and some level of immunity, but it periodically recurs, like a severe flu).  The day mosquitos are less frequent, and apparently less likely to carry malaria, but 100% DEET is essential for dusk to dawn unless you are in a well-secured home like the Hurley's.

This is the first National Womens' Conference held by SOS, in association with the Baptist Union of Uganda.  The women came from all across Uganda, by taxi, Boda Boda, bus, truck, or on foot, sometimes traveling a day or more to reach Kampala.  Although the event is free, just the cost of transportation can be prohibitive due to villagers not having much cash.  This conference focused on the holiness of God, the wrath of God, the love of God, and the sufficiency of the Bible (there is pervasive false teaching in Uganda - faith healers, prosperity preachers, which confuse the people and defame the name of Christ).  This was a serious 3-day event, with very rich, passionate teaching, morning prayer and devotion meetings at 6:30 AM, 3 teaching sessions a day, "seminar" sessions in the afternoon, and with very sweet praise and worship (led by Pastor Bosco).  The people of Uganda, those that are seeking Christ and open to the Truth, are so very appreciative of the Bible-centered teaching from Shannon, and have sacrificed so much to be here.

We met lots of wonderful people at the Conference.  In addition to fellow mizungu Dawn, Jada and the team from Forth Worth, we met Juliet and daughter Dorah (was stuck to Kaila most of the Conference), Winnifred (gave her my reading glasses, and she was in tears as she was finally able to read her Bible), Robert and his beautiful wife Rose and children Don and Vera (pastor/translator), Alfred (pastor/translator), Sara (conference organizer), among others. 

Lots of late nights and early mornings (the ladies would wake at 4 AM to wash their clothes by hand so they could be clean - dressing in beautiful attire, many with elaborate hair arrangements).  The attendees used tubs to shower and a pit toilet, but the mizungu used the "staff toilet", which had two sinks with running water and flush toilets - a rare treat and privilege.

I spent a good part of wednesday and thursday helping Shannon with finishing the powerpoint for next week's Pastors' Conference to be held in Luweero, along with the quizzes (started the quizzes on Shannon's Mac laptop on the long drive from Bucwo to Luweero).

We were very safe at the Conference - there were guards with AK-47's or rifles stationed around the complex, and a guard at the facility entrance.

While I helped Shannon, Kaila was mostly on baby care, to free up moms to focus on the Conference.  Most of the time Kaila had Natie, Christine's son.  Kaila was also occupied with Dorah, who spent most of the days by her side (fascinated with our long hair, and our pink skin, and how it turns white when pressed!!).  Dorah (about 7 years old) writes very well, and was actually "correcting" Kaila's writing (neatening up the d's and b's and checking that t's were crossed...).  Amy, from Calvary Bible Church, also helped with Nate.  Natie slept with Shannon, me and Robert the last three nights after a long, noisy disastrous first night in the girls' room (Natie slept VERY well with us!!!).

  

Day 11 - Friday - Kampala to Entebbe

Packed up, said our goodbyes to our Uganda friends, and headed off with Shannon, Dawn, Jada and Robert to the Rainforest Lodge, located near Jinja.  This was a special treat - a very unique, remote lodge and restaurant at the top of a mountain in a rain forest.  The lodge is  beautiful - open, wood beams, huge open view windows, balconies and patios overlooking the forest.  We enjoyed a delicious meal - Nile perch, beef, pineapple pie and other yummies.  Shannon dropped us off at Entebbe around 10:30 PM for our 1:45 AM flight to Amsterdam.   We arrived back in LA the same day at about 1:30 PM!

Reflections on the flight home:
* beautiful people living very simply
* resourceful with scarce resources
* Christian brothers and sisters
* a blessing to see God work in people

It's been an amazing adventure!!  The people of Uganda, and SOS Ministries, have deeply touched my heart.  Lord willing, we will be heading back next Summer!