We Made it!

Have you ever watched the movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"? Two men are trying to get home for Thanksgiving and they have some adventures that felt similar to what we encountered over the weekend. Part of the movie even occurs in Wichita. We felt like we were part of this movie as we waited in the airport on Saturday and had some similar experiences throughout the weekend.

As most of you probably know, we arrived at the airport on Saturday with our bags, totes and more bags, ready for our adventure. The first thing we saw when we walked into the airport was that our flight was canceled! After a long three hour wait we were told that nothing could be done and that we would be leaving on Sunday. We were disappointed but knew that God was in control and figured there was a reason.

Sunday arrived and during church we learned that PART of our team would be going but the rest wouldn't. To make a LONG story short, six people left Sunday afternoon with some interesting stops (Dubai and Addis Ababa) and the rest of us (10 in all) left on our original day, Monday. So, I said all that to say, that we finally did make it and all 16 of us are now at the Stevensons' home! Praise God!

We have been told that we will be leaving this morning to spend two days in a village but more details will be coming later this morning. As we hear more, we will post that. This is just to let you know that we are here and are safe. Thank you for your prayers!

From Uganda for team 2, Valerie.

As Valerie has already told you, to say this has been an adventure already is a huge understatement. With each of the flights, we were exposed to an increasing amount of diversity, something that can get us out of our comfort bubble. I promised my FaceBook friends an update, so here it is!

We touched down in Entebbe about 8pm local time. ( We are 9 hours ahead of you if you are keeping track). From the time we stepped off the plane, we could tell this wasn't home. The sounds and the feel was just different. We got through customs (the first time I have ever been an immigrant), and continued out of the airport. Retrieve our luggage, and we are moving again.

We met our driver, David, at the front entrance. David is a great guy, with a great smile. He showed us to our bus, a large van really, and we loaded up.

Now I have heard about the driving conditions in Uganda, so I had to make sure I got the full exposure. Since no one was riding "shotgun", I took that role. What an experience. If you like roller coasters, I would definitely reccommend this. By this time, it is quite dark, and the drive was like nothing I had ever seen before. The smell of charcoal from the roadside grills, mixed with a large amount of deisel fumes, created quite a sensory experience.

There are people everywhere. Walking down the side of the road, standing in groups around grills, gathered in groups around their scooters - everywhere you look, even the side roads, there are people. I looked up information about Kampala, the city we are staying in, last year, and it is about 2 million strong. Most of them were on the streets. Our missionary, Tim, tells us that Kampala never really sleeps, but it is more accurate to say it rests. There are times when the amount of people and traffic are less, but by no means are the streets ever empty.

The posted speed limit is 50 kph. I know we were on the healthy side of that. Driving in Kampala can best be descibed as a cross between a good game of chicken, and a ballet. Many times, there looked to be no where to go, and suddenly the hole would open up, allowing us to move on.

Did I tell you about the people on the streets? Pedestrians just "go for it". I tend to think I have pretty good distance vision, as well as night vision, but a lot of times, I really couldn't tell who or what was just outside our headlights. Just like the cars, the people, just start moving towards a hole in the traffic, and go. This reminded me of the game Frogger. You couldn't really figure out how you got there, but somehow you did.

The most difficult time of the trip came when we stopped. By best counts, there were only two stoplights during the hour long drive from Entebee to our quarters. We stopped at the red light, and a young boy (8), came to the window with hands out. I couldn't tell what he was saying, but the motive was clear, he was asking for help. He was soon joined by a young mother (his?) carrying a small baby. I had heard from the groups last year, that this is common, and you have to ignore it. This was the hardest thing I have had to do. I am sure there will be other moments like that in the coming days.

Stay tuned for more! Fred

(Valerie again) We are going to wrap this up for now. Breakfast is in an hour although to me I should still be sleeping. I know from experience that I will soon get used to the new time but right now I'm still experiencing some jet lag and am a little foggy. We will be writing when we can. God is good and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in Kampala, Uganda!