April in Uganda 4-08

On the 8th of April I returned from a lengthy stay in Uganda. Since landing back on the Africa soil in October I had yet to take any break from the ministries and work… Sometimes I become so absorbed in my present ministries that leaving is an after thought. I left Torit before the Easter weekend for a short “time out” and traveled by road through the South Sudan country spending one evening in Gulu, Uganda. This was my first encounter with the area of Northern Uganda which had until recently been engulfed in civil war. A war lead by the Lord’s Resistance Army and armed by child soldiers stolen from the Northern Acholi Ugandan tribes. Gulu, Uganda is now a prospering, developing East African town, comparable to any place in Kenya or Uganda. Sorry, but the Sudan isn’t quite there yet. When Torit has a gas station with apples and Diet Coke, then we’ve arrived! After an evening in Gulu, I hitched a ride on a large bus at around four thirty a.m. and arrived the same day into the heart of bustling Kampala town.

Thankfully, the time away from the Sudan in Uganda was refreshing and of course busy. I have earned the nickname “ Motor” from my beloved Aim colleagues at the Kampala, Uganda Central region offices. Never slowing down. So true. Absorbing and treasuring the time in Africa, whether Sudan, or Uganda, or Kenya makes my life blessed. How I desire to share this time with all of you. I have become close friends with another AIM’er named Gene Tan who works in AIDS research at a well-established Kampala, Uganda health clinic named MildMay. Together Gene and I shared a flat in Kampala alongside other AIM co-workers

The few weeks in Kampala were filled with various activities. Had the opportunity to volunteer at a local street children’s shelter named Dwelling Places. Gene and I were even able to take a few of these young men out to a movie…“ The Spiderwick Chronicles?” Does that ring any bells…anyway. The boys loved it. I also found new ways, even in a foreign city, to integrate into the very large, and visible, M. community. During one day a local M. Sheik took me to his Arab/M. training school located outside the Kampala area. I then spent an afternoon at the Mosque as a “guest” and visited his extended family and home. Hopefully, as time goes I will have further opportunities to reach into the M. community that is very open, and populous in the capitol of Uganda.