Monday Morning in Jinja

It's Monday morning and we're getting ready to leave Jinja. Pastor Chuck and I have a meeting with Nakabango's church council here at the hotel at 9:00. Everyone else is packing up and checking out. We plan to leave around 11:00.

Yesterday was a wonderful day of worship in Nakabango! The 3-hour service included 19 baptisms and confirmation of around 25 kids. We also had the chance to commune with the members of Nakabango and listen to a sermon by Pastor Chuck. Our group even got asked to sing an anthem - no rehearsal! We went with our stand-by song - "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High". I asked Charles last night how we did and I got a "so-so"; guess that's the best we could hope for! The only thing missing from the service was a new member welcome at the end!!!

After church, we got to participate in a feast of rice, meat and soda. We felt confident that all bellies were full before we left. Most of the village was served bags of rice and then one small piece of meat and soup were added. Our lunch also included cooked cabbage, matooke, greens, & fried "cow meat". Yummy!

We also got to present 10 goats that we had purchased. We also bought bedding kits, but rain prevented us from making an "official" presentation to individuals yesterday. all the kids who will receive them are school-age kids. Having a mattress, sheets, and mosquito net is a major luxury for them.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear my name as I got off the bus yesterday. My family's sponsored child, Rachel Nakawala, had come home from boarding school to see me!! She is such a doll. She asked about everyone in the family and loved the pink cowboy hat I had brought for her. She is 16 and is studying to be a doctor. I asked about her favorite music and she told me "gospel". I pushed a little further and found out she loves Beyonce and Rihanna! She thinks it's funny that I could sing along with her on some of their songs. (My kids would tell you that I can sing along - I just don't sing the right words!)

We collected almost all 100 of the disposable cameras that we had handed out on Friday. I can't wait to see the results!

We enjoyed our final dinner at the Sunset last night. It rained in the late afternoon and was actually very cool sitting outside. Everyone I have polled this morning says they could stay longer.

Hope to post again later today or tomorrow. That will be our last. We leave Tuesday night at 10:20 pm - around 2:20 pm St. Louis time. We are heading to the village of Kateete for awhile this afternoon and we'll be back at the Mosa Courts apartments this evening.