Tuesday, March 11

We woke after another restful night. Emmy said the governor had called him and he WANTS to meet with us around 5pm our time on Wednesday. (11 hours ahead) Hip Hip Hooray! We went for some breakfast of toast and watermelon and packed our bags for a long journey to Kanoni Pentecostal Church.

It's kinda like the Animal Kingdom safari ride, except it was real. I am not joking. Before we turned off the main road, we had to navigate the 53 million potholes in our van. We did get to see some wild zebras on the side of the road, but, of course I missed them with my camera. I have been too busy taking pictures of the Ugandan children. Thanks for the prayers because the van worked great today. We needed the prayer today as we turned off the paved road and onto a 4-foot dirt road. We saw many potholes there, but the only difference was that they were filled with water, and you couldn't tell how deep they were until you put the first tire in the water.

We navigated for about a mile, and I asked Emmy, "Where in the world are we going?". He said that we were on the road to his mother's house and were cutting through the back way to the church. Then, he told us of his daughter Faith's birth. He had to ride his wife on a bicycle for four miles on this road to the nearby clinic, while she was nine months pregnant. Then, he showed us some of the mud houses he used to live in after he became a Christian. He lived in basically a mud hut for FIVE YEARS. Oh my goodness, my daughters are concerned if they get mud on them for more than five minutes!!!!! They are starting to get the picture. Libby told me today, "Dad there are some people in my school that think our bathrooms are gross. They need to come see these people."

We made it to his mother's house and were so impressed with her. She is 58 years old and has a tiny little house. It's about 2.5 rooms, and I am ashamed to say that our closet at home is bigger than her living room. It didn't matter to her. She greeted us warmly and thanked us for blessing her son. I told her that the pleasure was ours. He has given more than we ever could think of doing for him. We prayed for her and then were back on the safari. :O) We didn't see anymore animals, but all of a sudden, there was a paved section of the road with some small stores. We pulled over, and I wasn't sure what Emmy was doing. The store next to us didn't look like it had anything we would want or need. Soon, Emmy returned with two handmade pillows for both of my daughters for the van, so they could lay down on his two daughter's laps. Unbelievable ... I love this man's heart. If only I could be so generous, I would be a better man. I am going to get him back ... don't worry ... when hecomes to Texas. I am already planning. We got back on the safari road and passed many small "homes", more like rooms, with kids out front. They would all wave to us and flash that ivory smile that is so beautiful. That has been my favorite thing to take pictures of.

We pulled up to Pastor Simon's church and just loved it. It was very colorful and well-decorated inside. This man is a humble servant with a lion's heart. He was saved in prison and has been a pastor for eight years. He brought us to his house, another 2.5 room special, but had laid out special seating for the four of us. Then, he served us all Pepsi's while his kids (Ivan being our favorite) managed to dance around in the kitchen with the chickens. Such warmth from a man of God who truly BELIEVES he is so blessed. He is.

Finally, after about a three-hour safari ride, we made it to the church. It was a Tuesday. It was not a big church day for us, but they had been going at it for hours before we got there praising and worshiping in that beautiful Ugandan tongue. We rested at the Pastor's house for a bit and then headed into the church, Emmy's first church. Wow ... we were blown away at what the Lord has grown in 12 years since Emmy left his first church-plant. There were around 200 people there, most of the men dressed in ties, some in suits. The ladies all had their best clothes on, of course, and looked beautiful. We were welcomed like royalty again, totally not deserving, but so grateful. There were about 10 pastors there sitting to my right. Eeek, another talk from Gilligan to the Skippers! :o) This time, my message was on "Being a Kid" and how if we don't enter the Kingdom like a child, we will not enter it. At the end, I passed out balloons and made them act like kids. They made the noise letting the air out of the balloons and loved that, and then I made them blow it up again and keep them in the air. Balloons were everywhere. The smiles were the biggest we had seen all week. Then, we saved the balloons for the kids who were learning scripture and string tricks from Bailey and Libby. Monica was next and shared her heart-felt story of meeting Emmy and how the Lord has changed her life through this relationship. It was awesome. Next, we heard from song, dance (with rhythm) and bongo drums. Unbelievable.

I then took the 10 pastors, and Monica took the pastors' wives, and we ministered to them outside the church for about 20 minutes. I listened to their stories. Some were new pastors, others had been doing it for 20 years. I shared a few things I had prepared especially for them and then asked them how we could help them. They said their congregations have no Bibles, but many of them could only read Ugandan language. I felt the Lord tell me what we should do is provide one teaching Bible (in English) for the 17 pastors that are from surrounding churches of this main church. If I have to do it myself, I am going to. They nearly started crying when I told them I promised I would do this and mail the Bibles to them. There was much Joy. I got their names and will engrave their names on the Bibles. If we can teach the teachers, we will reach many. The oldest pastor walked NINE miles to hear us. I couldn't believe that. They are so starved for help with the Word. I asked them how often someone "takes the safari" to come see them. They said hardly ever. They always come to the cities and not the villages. That hit home ... I am one of their only influences, and they each are sitting on literal gold mines for the Kingdom. Monica shared and prayed with the pastors' wives about singing to the Lord and supporting your spouse. It was a blessed time for her as well. We gathered in the church and all the pastors layed hands on our family for prayer. It was very powerful. They also prayed for the visa meeting for Friday. The Lord is going before us big time.

We left for the shorter 2-hour trip back home after another amazing day in the most remote Ugandan countryside. It's a beautful place with beautiful people. I am blessed to be here to see it!!! Pray tomorrow as our schedule has changed. The Lord has told me we will return to the orphanage with gifts (many soccer balls and special snacks for the kids), blessings for the teachers and a trip to see the governor. It should be an awesome day.

I better go. I need to pee. Haven't gone since 8 am, and I bettter eat something. Food is over-rated. You can go all day without even thinking about it when you are in the presence of the Lord. Goodnight.