Boats and Bodas to Bethany

Lake Victoria seems to be everywhere you turn when you are here in Gaba, and sometimes the best mode of transport is to load up a little fishing boat and cross the lake.  Today, all of us except for Sue set out across Lake Victoria to visit Bethany Village, a ministry site of Africa Renewal Ministries.  There are two ways to get over to Bethany.  You can take the boat from the docks in Gaba straight to the docks in Bethany, but that is a rather long trek across the lake.  The other way is to cross in the boat at a narrower part of the lake, and then take motorcycles (boda bodas) out to Bethany.  It took a little coaxing because riding a motorcycle in Africa was way outside of some of our comfort zones, but we opted to take the boat & boda boda route.

I’m so glad we did… we had so much fun!

At Bethany, we were simply there to observe, learn, and become aware of this wonderful ministry model.  We listened as Pastor Denis Mutaka described the vision behind Bethany Village.

Bethany Village is made up of 11 Children’s Homes, a Child Development Program, a Clinic, a Farm, a Camping Area, and a thriving Church.  The Children’s Homes are built upon the model of a family.  Instead of housing dozens of children in one single room, Bethany places 15-17 children of mixed ages and genders in a home with a house mother.  They live and work together much like a big family.  The children attend school, church, work in their home’s garden, and help on the larger farm that operates to support the ministry.

The Farm grows crops to support the Children’s homes and to sell in the local markets, and the piggery raises piglets to sell as income for the ministry.

We could only spend half the day out at Bethany because we needed to get back for Mimi to leave for Oromia tonight, so we got back on our boda bodas and headed back to the beach to load the boat.

 

Moments Matter

As we’ve met for devotionals each morning, we been discussing how moments matter… how an interaction even as brief as a minute can make an unforgettable impact on a person’s life… how words, even briefly spoken, can either lift up a soul or tear it right down.

I can’t help but think about how many moments we often waste… how many times we have a chance to pour into a person’s life and we miss it.  Life in America is so fast, but here in Uganda we slow down.  Here we have time to sit and visit and get to know people.  We do not have regular access to Facebook and our phones are not ringing and beeping… and we are not distracted.  In the evenings we sit around talking and laughing and singing together.  We are not running to the next thing.

And we have time to take advantage of moments.

One of my favorite things about taking pictures is that each shot captures only a single moment.  Frozen on the screen is this little bit of time that once passed by so quickly, but has now been made permanent.

As a short-term ministry team, we have only moments here in these two weeks, and it is our prayer that in those brief moments God will infuse a glimpse of the hope that comes through Christ to those we meet.

Last night, we went around the room and asked this one question:  What is your most memorable moment of the trip so far?

Sue :: Hugging my sponsored children and when the mother of my sponsored child ran across the open yard to meet me.
Joshua :: Meeting a young boy named Mark who has a big personality, loves sugar cane, and reminds me of myself when I was a small African child
Angie :: Watching Milly (one of the Mercy Network beneficiaries) leap over corn stalks to greet us when we were bringing her food… or being peed on by little children all over Uganda.
Mimi :: Praying for the ladies and talking to them when we delivered the Mercy Network food
Cindy :: Chasing baby Ruth and the chickens all over the church grounds
Jennifer :: Playing beach ball keep away with the children… especially when I fell.  Then finding out one of them is the brother of my sponsored child.
Brian :: My surprise praise & worship debut in front of Mukono Community Church and when a dad in the Mercy Network agreed to start attending church after we delivered food to his family.
Colleen :: A real moment of sharing with Janna the deep down impact Jesus has had on our lives and praying with the Mother who just lost her baby.
Janna :: Capturing all of these moments on film and processing them every night to share with you!

So, our question for you, is this:  Tell us about a moment in your life when someone did or said something to you that changed the course of your life.

Food, Fun, and Furry Friends

One of the fun things about a trip like this is the way a team gets to know each other so well by the end of the trip.  As the weeks go on you end up building an internal language and sharing common experiences that make absolutely no sense to anyone else in the world.  Each team is a little different, but this team has been marked with laughter.  From the mispronunciation of words to random African dance parties to silly party games like “Nouns-in-a-Bucket, we have been in hysterics at least 4 times a day!

After several days of ministry in Mukono, we declared today our “rest” day, and we took off to explore a little bit of Uganda.  We drove out to Jinja, about 2 hours away from where we are staying, to see the source of the Nile.  We all loaded up into a little fishing-like boat and motored out to the point where the Nile River flows out of Lake Victoria.  It was a beautiful day, and we saw many birds, monkeys, and even a monitor lizard.

After our boat ride, we went over to a hotel in Jinja for lunch where Joshua was challenged by a South African man to let a monkey drink from his mouth… and of course, Joshua did it!

Our team’s contribution to this funny post is a list a phrases that have left us laughing this week.  You may not get these, but when our team gets home and finally reads through this blog, they will inevitably bust out laughing.

• I have “fallen” for Uganda just like I “fell” for Russia!
• Too bad the monkey’s name is not Katie.
• One word… Salad Dressing… One word… Tall man… One Word… That lady over there!
• Heepo-pa-thomas
• Watch out for the cows!
• I feel like Chicken Tonight!
• Obama Hair Clinic & Music Centre
• Do you know me?  Do you know me?  I don’t know you!
• This is not a petting zoo!
• Greetings from Obama-land!
• Knock, knock… come in!
• We are the worl-ed
• At the end of my trip, I’m coming home with one shoe, a pair of shorts, the handle from my backpack, and the blanket from the plane.
• Chipotle at 9:00 am
• Chips in the bag!  Chips in the bag!
• Matooke at 3, 6, 3, 6.
• Joshua, Kabaka wekeba
• How are you? Fine! Fine!
• Eddie Murphy
• I think I feel brave!
• Cannibal chicken… Twice eaten chicken.
• What is photo bombay?