We have arrived!

Blessings from Uganda! We arrived here in Soroti last night around 8pm. The travel from Kampala to Soroti was interesting. Trucks, bicycles and motor scooters ladened with absolutely everything are everywhere. At one point we passed a motor scooter with tons of water jugs hooked on the back of it. I could see the driver and the water jugs, but upon looking closer, I saw a second pair of knees, ankles and feet. That is literally all you could see of the second person. I still don't know how the passenger was able to get on the scooter...before or after the jugs? Either way...it didn't look like a way I would enjoy traveling, especially on the roads we were on. They hook livestock to the side, front and back of vehicles. We saw vehicles go past with bunches of live chickens hanging upside down off the side. Josh says he has seen a bicycle with 100 chickens on it.

The roads are/were paved, but they make Michigan roads after a long, hard winter look perfect! And don't forget the speed bumps...they are continuous. There is no way our vehicles back home could withstand these roads. Our tires would blow left and right. We hit some potholes so hard I literally thought we had to have broken something, but we made it here to Soroti just fine other than overheating the van. We had 22 boxes weighing 50 lbs a piece plus 10 people, plus we were running the air conditioning...it's no wonder it overheated. We stopped on the side of the road and Tim went over to a hut across the street to get water. When Angie and I went to return the water jugs, we thanked the woman and paid her 2,000 shillings, the equivalent of $1.00. She was so overjoyed and made us stop and wait while she went into her hut, returning with 2 large Jack fruits. Tim had just shown us Jack fruit earlier in the day hanging on a tree and told us it wasn't very good, so it was actually quite funny when she returned with them for us. We graciously accepted and giggled all the way back to the van. We will give them away to someone here in Soroti.

Stopping alongside the road to buy produce was amazing. The children all want you to buy from them and they surround you all talking at once. I wish I could buy from each one of them.

We slept well last night and woke up to go to church this morning. The service was awesome. It was long, but so incredible to worship with fellow believers. The preaching was incredibly animated and passionate, as well as funny in spots...never a dull moment. The singing was incredible although sometimes in Ateso, a language also spoken in Uganda. It took me awhile to realize that some of what they were singing was in English, but it was good to be able to join in some of the time. It is awesome to experience the love of Jesus among believers...it doesn't matter what language you are worshipping in, the love is universal and absolutely amazing.

This afternoon we went back to the church's "sports field". Josh, Bob, Drew and Jake all played football (soccer) with a bunch of kids. I laid out a mat on the side of the field and motioned some of the girls and younger boys over to sit with me. They all had to make sure they shook my hand. They were so sweet! I asked if I could take their photo and you should have seen them clamor to be in the pictures. Then I showed them on the LCD display and they just laughed and laughed. Once they had all calmed down and sat around me, we started talking. I asked their names, told them mine and spent about 1/2 hour just talking and having fun together. Then one of the girls asked if I would like to go to church with them. We walked over to the church and they started singing "Shine on Me". I was so excited that I knew the song they were singing. There was a young man playing the keyboard and could these kids sing!! It was so much fun. They asked me to teach them a song. Imagine coming up with a tune in your head while someone is "going to town" on the keyboard on a different song. The only one I could come up with was "This little light of mine" and thankfully one 10 year old little girl named Avelien knew it. We sang together and the other kids joined in. I wish you could have heard these ids sing. There were absolutely amazing. I had so much fun and was so blessed to be a part of it! I was sad to have to leave. I hope I will be able to go back again. I can't begin to explain how much love I felt from and for these little kids. Like I said before, it doesn't matter where in the world you are worshipping, giving praise to God with people of another nation is absolutely amazing. The God we serve is the God of all nations! How blessed we are to be able to be a part of it!!

Tonight we had a team meeting which was so special. We had dinner together and then had a time of singing. Afterwards they had our family sit together in a circle of chairs and the team surrounded us and prayed for our family, asking for blessings on our time here, open hearts, safety and God's plans to be accomplished. It was incredibly special and made me weep. We have already experienced such love and blessings from the team and we couldn't be more blessed!

Watching Josh interact with the team, the people of Uganda and the children here has been amazing. He is SO GOOD with all of them! The kids absolutely love him and you can see he loves them. I never knew how good he was with little kids. It is so much fun to watch!

Tomorrow Josh is taking us to town to the market to shop for groceries. We need food as bringing 4 more people has put a strain on his limited amount of groceries. He will bring us to the bank, the farmers market and them to dinner at one of the team's homes. This week will be a week of visiting all the different ministries the team is involved in. Hopefully I'll be able to keep you posted on what we see and experience.

Please pray for the team. Tomorrow is a big day for Tim and Angie as they head to court to finalize the adoption of Moses and sign papers relating to the adoption of Zulea. Also please pray for Stephanie. She is from Germany and has been in the process of adopting 2 children from Uganda. The process has been long and drawn out due to many issues with the Ugandan government, officials not showing up for court, asking for bribes, etc. Josh has been staying in the guest house with her and her two children for the past 4 months. She is scheduled to leave for Germany this Weds so pray that all goes well.

Please pray that our hearts will be open to all God has to teach us. There is much opportunity to show the love of Jesus here. Pray that we will see the opportuntities and be used in whatever way God has planned for us. I have been asked to share my testimony as it regards to my life in foster care and my adoption story. There are so many older children in Uganda who need to be adopted and maybe sharing my story of adoption at an older age will be part of how God will use us here. I pray that I can do this effectively and share the words God lays on my heart. I have been blessed to be adopted... maybe I can bless another child through my story.

Thank you for all who have sent their prayers and well wishes over the past few days. It is such a blessing to know that you are praying for us. The team here has been absolutely amazing and we feel blessed beyond words.

I hope to upload some pictures tonight. We'll see if I can get it figured out.

Blessings,
Julie