A Weekend of Blessing

Our days are quickly coming to a close here and we are getting busier and busier. We have lots of adventures to tell you about but no time to stop and update you. Here is a quick tour of our weekend and the events that are yet to come.

On Friday night we went to Pizza Hut (yes they have Pizza Hut in Uganda) with Grace and Julianna. Grace is one of the original members of the team we worked with in 2013 and Julianna will be his bride in just a few short months (April 2018). We always love the time we have away from work when we can get to know people better. Grace visited our apartment quite frequently in 2013, but we had not yet had the opportunity to get to know Julianna. We had a nice visit and Grace told us today that she still plans to marry him- we didn’t scare her off, so that is always a good thing!

On Saturday we made a trek a little way out of the city to visit with Jackie and her family. When Greg and Mike were here in 2015, they had the opportunity to visit Jackie and her family, but I had not yet had this privilege.

Everywhere we go, our friends serve us pineapple because they all know how much we love it and how we are working hard to get our fill before we leave. This home was no exception. We were fed yummy, sweet, juicy pineapple and papaya while we visited with this wonderful family.

Jackie’s mom is a delightful, feisty woman who is very well educated and has worked in management positions with organizations in east Africa and globally.

It is very easy to see where Jackie got her strong work ethic, desire for knowledge and love for the Lord. She was raised by an amazing woman. Jackie’s father has been very ill recently and is now recovering, but we were very privileged to have him join us for a portion of the visit.

After we finished our appetizer of fruit, we moved on to the main course. I should have mentioned at the beginning about the amazing smell of meat grilling that greeted us as we arrived. What an amazing meal we had! Wonderfully seasoned pork and beef, pea curry, avocado, rice and matooke with the best taking g-nut sauce ever. And I can’t even begin to describe the fresh pineapple juice and fresh passion fruit/tangerine juice!

Visiting with Jackie’s parents after the meal was an absolute treat. One can read about a country’s past in history books, but sitting down with two amazing people who have spent most of their lives in Uganda was a lesson that no history book could ever teach! It was one of those moments that you wished would never end. We also learned that both Jackie’s parents come from Mount Elgin area in eastern Uganda, very near the Kenyan border.  The coffee we bring back to Canada is grown in this location.

And that started another learning session. We learned so much about coffee: how it is grown, when it is picked, how it is processed and so much more. I’m sure we could have sat there on that porch for the next ten years listening to this couple pour out their wisdom on us and we still wouldn’t have scratched the surface of the extensive knowledge and experience this amazing couple possesses.

After the dishes were done, us ladies and Greg sat around the table and enjoyed dessert and coffee together. I haven’t said anything about Jackie’s sister Stella yet. During dessert and the time visiting afterward, is when we got to know Stella. You know when you meet someone for the first time, yet you feel like you have known them for your whole life. That is how I felt when I met Jackie in 2013 and also when I met Stella on Saturday. It is probably a good thing that we live on two different continents, because I think we could get into a lot of trouble together! Stella has stated that we MUST visit the village (where the coffee is grown) on our next trip to Uganda. It doesn’t sound like it is optional so we are going to need God to multiply our time so we can get the work done and make the journey to the village on our next trip. That is one regret we have from 2013, we didn’t travel more and get to see more of this beautiful country. Please pray for God to multiply our time so we can travel to the village on our next visit.

To say that we came away with our tanks (and stomachs) full, would be an understatement! What an amazing, blessed day we had!

On Sunday it was our dear friend Albert’s birthday so we were invited for the party. Last year we showed you a picture of their little baby Darren who was 3 months old. He is now 15 months old and he is such a cutie! It took a while for him to warm up to us and our pasty complexions, but eventually Jajja got to enjoy a few cuddles.

We were treated to more pineapple- Albert asked “Do you want some pineapple?” We both just looked at him, he laughed and said, “Let me get you some pineapple.” It is kind of like asking us if we want to breathe! Diana had prepared a fantastic meal for us to enjoy and then came the birthday cake. Of course, the best part of all was visiting with our dear friends and enjoying every single minute we could with them. It was another day loaded with blessing!

Both Saturday and Sunday, we stayed out past dark. That seems like a strange thing to be telling you, but driving in the dark is a whole new experience here in Uganda. As we have said many times, the traffic is a challenge and could be described as chaos. There are many cars, taxis, bodas, bikes and pedestrians, everywhere. When you add in the darkness, it becomes a whole new challenge. In most areas, there are no street lights to illuminate the area and the glare from the headlights of the oncoming vehicles make driving very difficult. Prayer is a requirement before setting out and during the journey.  It takes two pairs of eyes to be on watch for vehicles, people, animals that may appear out of no where in front of you or beside you. Greg does an amazing job driving here and manages to get us back to our guesthouse safely everytime- even in the dark.

Our last few days are jam packed full! We have a supper with some of the Watoto Church leadership tonight and supper with Joanna tomorrow night. There are still meetings, more organizing to do during the day, and somewhere in there, we need to pack for the trip home. We would appreciate your prayers for our final couple of days here. We always want to finish well- each trip, each project, each thing that God calls us to do.

Thanks for partnering with us as we serve the Lord here in Uganda.