Jet Setting

The traveling has begun.... and I am exhausted but exhilarated by what God is doing in Africa and how he is using his people to spread the Gospel! 

So I am going to fill you in based on each trip..... 

Adi, DR Congo October 17th - 24th:

On the 17th my boss, Megan, and I hoped on a plane to Arua, Uganda. In Arua we were met by Akuma, the head surgeon/mokonzi (head of the town basically, most important guy) at the Airport and from there we "danced" - bounced through the biggest pot holes you have ever seen, seriously, ducks swim in them when it rains - for three hours over the Congo/Uganda border. 

When we arrived in Congo, I was just expecting to get there and have dinner with Rachel and Lisa, two short termers from Canada that we were there to check up on. But that was not the case. Apparently, Rachel and Lisa had told Akuma that Megan is in charge of sending short termers to different areas in the Central Region. Akuma took this to mean that Megan was a mokonzi bigger than him. So, of course, he had to honor her. And honor he did. 

We got out of the car to the sight of students lining both sides of the road leading to Rachel and Lisa's house. The were singing and dancing and ushering us out of the car. We stood with the children lining both sides and saw three women walking very slowly towards us holding a hoop of flowers for Megan and a bouquet of flowers for the both of us. The women walked towards us slowly in a wedding march style, and then from behind them two girls came dancing up and then chucked, and I mean chucked, handful of flowers at us. This continued for about twenty minutes until we had walked the length of the road. At the end of the road there were about fifteen chairs set up and two chairs for us at the front. We then were greeted with about five different speeches and a few songs by the youth choir. It was nuts. Traveling with Megan sure has some perks. 

Rachel and Lisa are working at the hospital in Adi. So on Monday we went to do consultations with them. Then, on Tuesday we did surgeries. And I got to be in the room, taking vitals and holding flashlights. Word of advice, do not have surgery in North East Congo if you don't have to. Adi is one of the best hospitals in that region, but it lacks a basic thing for surgery. Anesthesia. So we gave each person an epidural which lasted about an hour, but surgeries went about an hour and a half. Oh and when you have an epidural, you are awake. So I spent the day taking vitals, but also watching the meds wear down on people, having to hold them down so they don't make things unsterile, and holding their hands trying to get them through the pain. Rachel and Lisa do this every tuesday and friday and just by being there, holding peoples hands when the other doctors and nurses don't, they have been a testimony to both the patients and the doctors. 

Gulu, Uganda October 27 - 29th: 

On Monday, Megan and I hopped on the post bus up to Gulu. Five hours, one book, and a dead ipod later, we arrived. There is something about Gulu that I love. The minute I arrived I was happy. We were visiting Jeremy and Cori Sinclair, to short termers working with Favour of God Ministries doing counseling and youth work. Cori and Jeremy met us at the bakery (Laur and Jess the same one we went to often when we were there) and had a quick lunch of Somasas and soda then headed out to explore Gulu. 

We were only in Gulu for a short trip, but it was still good. Jeremy and Cori showed us all the different ministries of Favour of God, but my favorite part was going to football (soccer) practice with Jeremy and Cori's teams. I spent the time practicing with Cori's girl's team. The girls are mostly net ball players so seeing them learn was both exciting and funny. But what was more was watching them interact with Cori showed me that even through fun things like football you can show the gospel and do God's work and have an effect on people's lives. 

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These barely scratch the surface of what I have seen in the past few weeks, it is so difficult to cram it all cohesively into a blog. But God is at work in Africa, I am confident of that. 

I am so sad... less than six weeks left here. I am in Kampala until the 20th, and then Megan and I head out to Sudan and then after that I hopefully go to Tanzania, then back to the States on the 18th of December. 

Miss y'all and hope things are well state side!