The fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Dueteronomy 14:29


~ Silas and Naomi are HOME from Uganda ~

28 January 2011

Filtering Sounds of Another World

When the door to our plane was opened a different world greeted us…warmly…in every way. The people are kind and helpful and the weather is warm and damp. In the darkness we could not make out much of our surroundings and the drive to our hotel was short so the Africa we saw that first night was one of white pillow like tents (mosquito nets) hovering over our beds and bidding us come and sleep…which we did not do. Our beautiful daughter, being very confused as to when she should be tired, only cried and cried, that is until she threw up. Then Noah followed with an equal amount of vomiting and…well you get the point. The night passed slowly and painfully but about the time the light began to filter into our windows something else came in as well. Africa. It started with the loud chanting of Muslim prayers and the sounds of a people beginning to come alive. I emerged after some time to try to arrange a driver to the capitol, Kampala which is about 1 hour from our little haven of vomiting and African sounds (by the way I was under the impression that you get sick in Africa not the UK, where our 20 hour over-night layover had been and apparently where our children picked up this 12-hour bug). I had only one problem, no phone. Since Uganda has no land lines I set out across the street to find a place to get money and buy a phone. An ATM was simple enough to find. The guard outside the ATM station (complete with AK47) pointed me to a small shop across the street. It looked like a trailer with no wheels missing most of one side, and painted red.


“I need to buy a phone.”
“Yes,” removing one of four phones from her inventory she set it on the counter.
“Do I need to buy minutes?”
“minutes?”
“Yes.”
“Credit?”
“No, I will pay with cash”
Perplexed look and a smile of bewilderment from the other man at the counter.
Silence.
“um…I think I need to buy minutes”
“Credit?”
Silence. All three of us burst out laughing at the strangeness of what was going on and the gentlemen (he may or may not have been working there) took over.
“Buy credit.”
“Um…I need to buy credit.”
“How much?”
Silence.
The gentlemen at the counter answered for me “20,000”
I have no idea what that means. “Yes.”
The man still laughing took the phone and the card I had just purchased and loaded it for me.
With that I smiled and laughed with them for a moment and left…phone in hand.

After a few calls on my new phone I was in a car on the way to Kampala with a stranger named Mike. Jen and Alexa stayed in our haven of… with the kids to care for them while I went outside and began learning what it was they were only hearing. Motorcycles and cars jammed onto a too narrow road weaving in and out of people carrying everything from 12’ long poles to bananas to pieces of plywood. There was also the “taxi’s,” bikes with padded seats over the back tire carrying one or two people all weaving in and out in a dangerous dance which was sure to kill someone. Yet somehow it seemed perfectly safe, gentlemen talked nonchalantly on their cell phones while their drivers careened passed cars at high speeds with only inches to spare. “Are those bikes like taxi’s” I asked Mike. “Yes but that is too dangerous.” Breathing a sigh of relief that what I was seeing as insane actually may have been insane we arrived at the lawyer’s office. Our brief meeting was warm and encouraging. She is trying very hard to get us a court date on Feb 3! She had already informed the judge that we were in country and is hoping that it will be persuasive in his assignment of the date. After exchanging some paper work for beef jerky, and Chocolate we brought them as gifts. We said goodbyes through chocolate filled smiles, I bid the two young boys being dressed for their court dates a smile and a hug and re-entered the sea of humanity that was outside. I expected…I don’t know something else…but my expectation was not a crowded city bustling with commerce and a more “rural” area crowded with people coming and going buying and selling. To be sure it was nothing like America. Poverty was obvious but it was strangely mixed, shanty dwellings selling DVD’s and broken trailers selling Cell phones. I could not help but have a deep respect for the people and their businesses. Craftsmen were making beautiful furniture and placing it out by the road for purchase. Workers were moving and perhaps even mining slate alongside the road for building. The long poles I spoke of are used for scaffold and support for building purposes. They are working, building, farming, they are building a country and they clearly love it. My driver was proud to tell me about his country…proud to be Ugandan.

I arrived back in our room, where Jen and Alexa had been since I left, to find the children sleeping. It was the end, we think, of their terrible bout with…the UK. Evening came and Alexa and I ate a wonderful meal in our hotel and brought the leftovers up to everyone else. As they ate another African sound filtered into our haven of rest. Hymns. Beautiful Hymns being boisterously sung by a congregation of God’s people meeting in the restraunt section of our hotel. They sang, worshiped and listened to the preaching of God’s word. What joy…after a long and loud day of filtering sounds we heard lifted voices of worship and praise.

So we were cared for by God. The Children seem to be well. We are all rested from a half day of sleep and now as I sit writing, to my left is sleeping Meala, to my right is sleeping Noah, and I can hear the peaceful silence of Alexa and Jen resting. God has cared for the needs we refused to acknowledge and gave us an extra day of rest. Tomorrow we travel to Mbrara to see Niko and Abi. So we are in Africa, in a haven of rest. Sleeping peacefully.

Please Pray for our Health especially that of Noah and Maela.

Please pray that God would give the Judge a favorable attitude toward us and grant us the court date on the 3rd of Feb.

Thanks for your prayers.

11 comments:

  1. Oh friends...you are so right..God knew what you needed and gave you exactly that. What a fitting beginning to this amazing adventure. God knows and He cares...He will continue to show the way. Praying for that court date!! and of course for your sweet arrival in the distant land that you have been waiting so long for....we are praying for your precious uniting..May God continue to be glorified!

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  2. So good to see a post and that you made it there. Sounds like you are taking the different culture in stride and grace. I hope your night of rest is full and you are energized for your travels and plans. I will be praying for that court date AND for you to give your gifts out quick so you're still not carting around a truck and van full of luggage. :).
    Love,
    Kim Dickson

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  3. will be addicted to your blog. :)
    Waiting with Expectant HOPE for ALL God is going to do BEYOND your imagination!
    TO THE KING...the LOVER of the ORPHAN!
    L~

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  4. So glad to read your post! I have been checking daily. Thanks for sharing with us. = ) I think about you throughout the day and wonder what you are doing. So sorry to hear that your kids got sick. No fun. I'm so excited for you to meet your children. Can't wait to see pictures. Praying for you. God is so good He's so good to you!!!!

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  5. checking your blog about a million times a day...soooo wanting to hear how it is going:)

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  6. wow... this was SO beautifully written Craig! it was like i was with you as you traveled and discovered this new world. thanks for taking the time to share your story with us. praying.

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  7. Oh Jen I'm so excited for you! Praying for the Feb. 3rd date for you. Hopefully we will join you soon! Love and prayers ~ Kim VB

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  8. Praying you get a court date on Feb. 3 and can't wait to hear all about meeting your kids tomorrow!

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  9. My husband wanted to let you know that it is highly unlikely there are any bullets in the AK-47. Only the President and the King get guards with bullets in their guns. :)
    We're praying for your Feb. 3rd court date and that God continues to move every obstacle. Including bugs from the UK.

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  10. So thankful that you are in-country at last. Praying for the Lord to go before you each and every step of the way in this process and looking forward to hearing how He is working on your behalf. Such a joy I can only imagine, getting to see Nicolas and Abi soon.

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  11. Wow...so exciting to hear of your first moments in Uganda, but sad that they had to include sickness! Praying for the kids to recover soon so you can adjust well to all the new sights...most importantly your two new children!!!

    Blessings!

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