. . . how much God can pack into a short period of time. It feels like we have been here for at least a week already we have done so much. I remember this from being here last year – time took on a whole different pace – I really have to check my calendar to see what day it is and count backwards. It’s hard to believe that we have only been here 3 full days.
So, what did we do today? Let’s see:
We woke up to a fine breakfast discussion with Eddie, Pastor Peter Kasiviru’s nephew, who is studying to be a pastor. It is so encouraging to hear young men like Eddie so wise and grounded in the word of God. We spoke of many things including love and marriage and felt like I learned a lot in the discussion!
After breakfast, we packed our suitcases, left the Kasiviru’s home and traveled to ARM headquarters. We spent most of the day with Abbe (the brilliant IT guy at ARM) and reviewed the strategy meeting from yesterday and also discussed a long list of specific items he wanted to discuss. It has been very different this trip because the nature of work we are doing is so different. We are doing some very high-level technology work and is not like the typical mission trip. We are finding that the need is tremendous, just as we thought. I think that just in the first couple of days, we have identified enough work to keep us busy for years!
Abbe took us to lunch at a little place called Café Bean. It was like any coffee shop you’d find in the states. The menu and coffee options were a little different than we’re used to, but it was like a little taste of home. It was actually quite refreshing!
After lunch, we went to the Wentz Clinic to meet with Dr. Martin. We received a brief tour of the renovated clinic and were pleased to see the improvements made, primarily on the 2nd floor ward. Last year, all of the rooms were open or just curtains, but they have constructed walls for all the rooms now and also constructed a new nurses stations. We discussed the plans and status for the clinic in the village of Kacungwa. There was a meeting today between Pastor Sylver and the local government officials to work out some final arrangements. I continue to be so impressed with Dr. Martin and the scope of work that he does and the quality of organization he has built. He, like the ARM head office, are experiencing many needs around computer automation – though Dr. Martin is a self-confessed technology laggard. Even so, he sees the need and the potential benefit that technology can bring the clinics.
While at Wentz Clinic, we were met by an old friend, Pastor Alex Mutagubya. It was so good to see 
his smiling face again! We loaded into a car with Alex and headed for his new church location in Luzira. Most of you familiar with Alex & Faith have seen pictures on Facebook for the new church location and it is beautiful. The picture to the right is Alex & Lloyd looking at the inside of the new church tent.
The view is just magnificent and Lloyd commented “I could feel the tangible presence of God at the church”. That is how it is here…as hard as the conditions may be, God is here in ways that is hard to describe until you experience it.
I was also blessed to see my spiritual son, Patrick! When we arrived, Patrick was working with the children’s dance/choir team to prepare them for Festival coming up next month. Listening to the drums, watching the children dance and hearing them sing was such a treat. The annual Festival is a time when all of the ARM projects send a trained choir to Ggaba Community Church to participate in a contest to see who is the best in Uganda. It is an amazing event and I’m sorry we won’t be there to see it this year!
The children are just beautiful! They have such joyful smiles and are so happy when we take their pictures and show them. Here are just a few of the children that will just make you smile yourself:
After a little time with the children, I wanted to see where Patrick lived, so went on an adventure
on Ugandan public transportation. If I thought traffic was bad of itself, traffic in a van packed with people weaving in and out, stopping seemingly randomly and packed full of people was truly an adventure! We finally got off and I prayed REALLY HARD as we had to cross the street. We finally got to a street where there wasn’t so much traffic and I could relax a bit as we walked. It was a blessing for me to sit in Patrick’s home and pray with him! I can’t quite describe the experience of praying with a Ugandan brother in Christ – again, it is something you really need to experience to understand.
While we were walking home along the streets near the church, we found some friends and stopped to talk a while.
OK…almost done with the day, but just one more thing. We are BLESSED to be staying with Alex & Faith Mutagubya. They are good friends of Canby Christian Church and me too. Alex will be back in the US next month visiting Oregon, Colorado and other places in the US. It is a house that feels so comfortable to be in and they served us a great Ugandan dinner complete with rice, beans, pork, matoke and posho. It was SO good! We enjoyed a meal around the table with stories and a lot of laughter. Their two daughters are so cute and you can’t help but fall in love. I’m learning more about Lloyd every day – something that is very obvious is that he loves children! He was sitting between the two girls and think they got the best of him a few times! :)
OK, it’s late and Alex says we will be waking up between 3 & 4 in the morning to pray and prepare for church. We will also take a prayer “drive” around the community before going to the church for worship and prayer. I’m excited to see what tomorrow has in store!
God bless you and may all we do glorify Him!
Dave
PS Ashley Davis – this is the room you will probably be staying in
Nice you were able to see Patrick! Great pics!
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