Nebbi - Days 1 and 2

Nebbi District (more info here) is in the Northwest part of Uganda and borders the Democratic Republic of Congo on the west and Lake Albert and the Albert Nile River is on the south. The district and produces coffee, tea, cotton, potatoes, sorghum, corn, rice, mangoes, sunflower, cabbage, nuts, pineapples, and so much more. The population is over 535,000 in a district that's just a little larger than our own county of Sedgwick.

It took a long time to drive there - over eight hours - and much of it was in the attempt to get out of Kampala. Once we did get out of Kampala, the landscape was beautiful. Rolling hills, lush trees, and good roads. Once we got to the Nile River, we began seeing monkeys and baboons along the road - we even saw a group of giraffes as we drove through part of the game park that is on the way to Nebbi.


Our guest house offered rooms of either one double bed or two twin beds. Toilet and bathing facilities were primitive but the water was clean...and usually cold, er, I mean, refreshing. :) Our food was good and timely. The local fare of rice, beans, kasabe, millet, potato, meat (beef, chicken, fish), greens, and fresh fruit was a daily staple for us. The coffee and tea were very good.

On our first and second days, we split into 4 primary roles: children, women, pastors/men, and the church building project. There were so many children and, while they were more than a handful, they received our group with great excitement. This was also true for the women and the pastors. Enthusiastic reception from the church as a whole was something we could always count upon. All the hard work put in by the team before we came was well worth it as each team had options available so that we could be as flexible as possible to deal with each situation as they presented themselves. And, on these missions trips, the name of the game is: flexibility!

We would arrive at the church site after breakfast about 9:30am, break for lunch around 1pm and return about 2:30pm. "About" a time is another cultural difference. Time is relevant and rarely exact. Our day would end between 5pm and 6pm, when we would return to the guest house for bathing, relaxing, and dinner. After dinner, and on every night while we are on this trip, we gather together for a time when a team member shares a devotion with the team. This is also the time when we worship in song and share what we observed in the lives of the people we are serving and what we observed about ourselves. It is in these moments that we experience the moments of this journey as a team and learn from one another a larger picture of what God is doing in all of our lives.


The people are kind, loving, and so very thankful for what God is doing in their lives and in ours. They are family - the family of the Most High God.