"Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment."
"Life is like a flowing river of opportunities. It's up to us to stand up with a bucket or a spoon..."
"There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God..." Ps. 46:4
My thoughts have been going to "rivers" a lot. We spent part of last week living beside the Nile River in Uganda. It was a very lovely vacation spot and my mind kept going to different places in the Bible where it talks about happenings along the Nile. It was so neat to imagine Baby Moses in the basket along that very river... even though it was probably 4,000 miles away from where we were. Since we're home I've done a bit of a study of Scriptures that mention the Nile... and there are quite a few! I was surprised that there is even prophecy in Isa. 19 about Egypt's Nile drying up in the last days. The river is SO beautiful! I love the thought that God is a "flowing stream of water of life." How blessed we are to be able to partake of the water that gives life... and we need never thirst!
The school children did a great job with the Christmas program this year! The teacher's did so well in leading out! The favorite part of all was a shadow play that they did using the blue light of a projector. The scenes changed from a baby in the manger with Joseph and Mary beside it, to the camels, the star... etc. It was SO neat! Kaylita did a superb job when she drew the camels, manger scene, etc. on cardboard and then cut out the shapes. While the scenes were being displayed Shonda was reading Scriptures that corresponded with it. They did a great job singing as well... even though their numbers are few! We enjoyed some yummy food after the program! It's a special time when we get some extra special goodies!
The day after the program was Victor and Winnie's wedding in Oroba. Wayne and I left in good time to go to Kajulu to pick up a number of members there. The van was very loaded as usual! We will probably always remember their wedding day as starting very late!! I think it was at least 2 hours after the supposed starting time. The Bride wanted to be fashionably late but I think it was beyond fashion by then! :) But in spite of the late start it was a very nice wedding. Gerold shared a devotional, Joseph moderated, Bishop Eric preached, and Pastor Thomas married them. The Rabuor choir sang different times and we really enjoyed the day in spite of the heat! Whew! It's SO warm these days! How refreshing it would be have a good rain shower again! I think it's close to a month since it rained here in Kisumu. (Later) As I'm writing this the temp has actually cooled down a lot and it feels very pleasant outside. Thank you Lord!
On Sunday we headed to Kasongo where Wayne preached and gave the Pastor's there a break. We were surprised after church when Millicent told us to sit down again and then she proceeded to serve us lunch!! She had brought chicken with plenty of broth and chapatis, also soda's. And so our lunch that was waiting in our oven at home was eaten the next day. It was very kind of Tobias and Millicent to share with us like that!
Christmas Day was a relaxed day for the most part. Our family and Gerold's were invited to Joe and Glenda's for Brunch and we all helped with food. As it turned out I didn't feel well that morning and just stayed home to rest, but thankfully I was feeling better in the afternoon. The next day was spent getting ready for our vacation time in Uganda. On Tuesday eve. Tony's and Kore arrived in Kisumu and then spent the night here before we all headed out the next morning. We all piled into Jake and Jan's van since they had been to Uganda earlier in the year and the van still had valid Ugandan insurance. Driving time was close to 4 hours I think and we spent about an hour at the border. The border crossing went fairly well, no major hurdles, Pake Yesu! It was a lot of fun to see the differences between Kenya and Uganda. MANY things are the same but there are some interesting differences such as... no tuk tuks! The dirt is RED! Roadsides are cleaner. The scenery is GREAT! I love all the palm trees, and banana trees! They must be getting some rain because it was greener there. Life seemed calmer and more relaxed. People didn't drive as crazy. There seemed to be quite a few less people around but I suppose we didn't get a true picture of things because it was Holiday week so many people were in the villages instead of out and about. We had to get used to the money system. A thousand shillings in Kenya is around 35,000 shillings in Uganda. So it felt like we were paying AWFUL high prices for stuff when in reality the prices there were probably a bit better than Kenya. Our destination was Jinja. Wayne found a nice, reasonably priced, retreat online at a place called Mto. Moyoni. I think I'm correct that in Swahili that means "River in the heart". The lady who owns this place is from the Netherlands and she says God gave her the property. She was able to purchase it for several hundred dollars (USD) because no one around wanted the property. People said the spirits live beside the river and didn't want to live there. Ingrid ( the owner) believes in the the true God and wasn't afraid of such things. She had a cottage and a number of cute little round huts built on the hillside beside the Nile and it makes a LOVELY vacation spot. There are monkeys and beautiful birds in the many trees around there and I loved watching the boats on the river. Wayne and I, Kore and and Jamie and Bradlyn all had good places to sleep in the cottage overlooking a pool and the Nile and our girls slept in their own little round house, complete with kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom... also a loft. Tony's had their own "hut" as well. Our girls thought it was great to have their own house! :) Our children spent a lot of time in the pool. Our meals were served on a patio outside. We felt SO spoiled and pampered! No meals to make or even dishes to wash!!
On Thursday Wayne, Tony, and Kore had the experience of a lifetime. They went white water rafting on the Nile! They say it was amazing! After seeing the pictures all I can say is I'm extremely grateful to still have a husband! It looks frightful to me! They had some interesting talks with the rest of their rafting group. There were people there from Uganda, Australia, Ireland, France, Sweden, India and the U.S.. While the men were on the river Judith and I and our children got a taxi to take us to town where we shopped at the tourist market. It was great! :)
On Friday we drove 2 hours from Jinja to Kampala. We spent some time shopping at a store that is similar to Walmart. It was amazing to see! We were able to purchase some crockpots for a few of our compound ladies. We haven't been able to find such things in Kenya. While shopping we met up with Charlton and Natasha Sweazy. They took us to their home (we had arranged to meet them earlier) and we very much enjoyed meeting their family. Charlton's mother lives in a house very close to them and we were pleased to meet Charlton's children as well. They are in the process of adopting a sibling group of 5 children from Uganda. Have any of you read the book, "Kisses from Katie?" It's the amazing story of a young American lady who adopted 13 children from Uganda. I read the book recently and I think this group of 5 that Charlton's have is a group that Katie was trying to find a home for. One of the girls is named after Katie. I would've LOVED to see where Katie lives in Jinja. Ingrid told us that she lives close to where we were but we never found out for sure where the place is. Charlton and Natasha are missionaries with a group called "Followers of the Way." Their hospitality was wonderful and they served us a typical Ugandan meal for lunch... rice with egg soup, chapatis, and kachumbari. We also got to meet two of the CAM workers who are serving in Kampala... Glen Zimmerman from PA, and Marcus Troyer from OH. Time went so fast and on Sat. morning it was already time to head back to Kisumu! We were thankful for a safe trip and uneventful border crossing. God is good! This vacation was even better than we imagined it would be and feels like a gift from God! Now we are ready to dig into the work we've been called to once again!
Tony's, Kore, and us attended church at Rabuor yesterday. James Barkmans were also there and Janette Stoltzfus. James and Wayne both preached messages relating to the qualities of a Bishop. Rabuor is in the process of ordaining Thomas Amata as Bishop. William Ondeyo has asked to be released from consideration for this position for health reasons. There are still a few details to be worked out but it looks hopeful that all the members will be supportive of this new step. Our lunch consisted of the normal.. chicken, rice and beans, and Janette kindly made a great dessert! Tony's and Kore left for Nakuru after lunch. In the evening we compound families were invited for an informal activity at Jake and Jan's. They showed us slides of their lives back in America. Very interesting!
Clara, your vacation to Uganda looks great! That would be a dream for us!
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