DATELINE: Entebbe, Uganda. 11:04 P.M. Gulu time. That’s 3:04 P.M. CST for those of you keeping score at home.
We made it to Africa! It’s been a full 24 hours since we left American soil. It’s hard to believe, but we’re actually HERE!!
We arrived in Amsterdam on time, around 7:30 A.M. there, which would have been about 12:30 A.M. at home. We had a little bit of turbulence on the descent but other than that the flight was fine. I didn’t get much sleep, unfortunately, and that, plus the turbulence on the descent, plus the “inconsiderate” odors floating by from the two boys behind Mindee and Robert, made me feel very nauseated.
Amsterdam from the air. Thanks to Renee’ for the pictures!
We had a few hours to kill before our next flight so we wandered around the airport. We went into one gift shop and bought a few things from this guy:
Yes, that’s his hair.
We found a Starbuck’s where we all hung out: Careenna arm-wrestled a really buff Dutch bodybuilder (she won) and Mindee and I received a British tongue-lashing for “blocking the path” and “disturbing the queue” with our luggage. The camaraderie of our team is simply amazing. I am really enjoying the people God picked to join together for this trip.
The flight to Entebbe was just as uneventful. In fact, most of our in-flight entertainment consisted of this:
There was one time when we hit some major turbulence and the pilot had to ask the crew to take their seats immediately. I was so tired that I spent a good 3-4 hours sleeping and after that felt much better.
We’ve been praying for divine appointments ever since our first meeting, and today was no exception. At Starbuck’s, Dave was able to engage a man in conversation who was a British professor traveling from South Africa to Britain.  Dave was able to share with him what we were doing with Village of Hope, and even though he wasn’t able to present the gospel, a connection was definitely made.
And then there were the “I am Second” shirts. Several members of our team were wearing them and were able to share “I am Second because Jesus is first” with several airport workers and passengers.
We arrived in Entebbe and went through immigration and customs with no trouble. All our luggage arrived safely, so we were definitely ALL happy about that!
It’s amazing how good we look after traveling for 24 hours!
Trace claims we were running amuck. Do we look amuck to you?
Hello, old friend. I’ve missed you so.
I’ve learned Uganda is also spelled H-O-M-E.
We arrived at the Sophie’s Motel and unloaded our luggage. I’m in the Ghana room with Mindee, this time, but the layout is exactly the same as the one I stayed in last November. Just put it on the bottom floor right next to the parking lot, and change the Burundi sign to the flag of Ghana and there you go.
We spent some time in fellowship in Renee & Careenna’s room where we laughed and shared a bite or two or five of Renee’s Godiva chocolate, all except for Dave who wasn’t there. But we enjoyed his piece for him anyway. We rearranged our luggage to organize the materials that would head directly to the land and the things we would need to keep with us in Gulu for the next three days. I spent some time on the computer, trying to get on Facebook and update my status and at least say “hi” to Matt, but the internet was incredibly slow and finally I gave up, 10 minutes and 10,000 Ugandan shillings later (about $5).
*sigh of contentment*
It’s so good to be here. I’m exhausted and I miss my family SO much, but I am excited to be a part of all God has for us in the next few days.