August 20th - A day of the matatu

We woke just after 8am at Francis & Veronica Waswa's farm in Majengo.

For breakfast we enjoyed fresh mashed plantain bananas, avacados, tea,
and some serious corn on the cob that can fill a body up more than
anything else.

We spent a bit of time with the family there, encouraging and blessing them.

Lampstone and Scholastic, his oldest sister, took us around the
village. As we walked around, we greeted many friends of the Waswas
and saw the primary school, some churches, a soccer field, and
friends' houses.

We were already running later than we'd hoped, so we said goodbye to
most of the family and started walking towards the main road.

A man who had gone to school with Lampstone picked us up on our way
and dropped us off at the highway.

We said goodbye to Lampstone and his brother, and boarded a matatu
headed to the border town of Malaba at about 11am.

We sat in the front in this first matatu of the day, however, it was a
very slow ride, stopping at each small town.

We transferred to an express matatu in Bungoma which put us in Malaba at 1pm.

After meeting Bonny Onyango, a local missionary, we waited in line,
Kenya side, and received our exit stamps.

Then walked across the border into Uganda, but due to confusion
receiving our entry visas took nearly an hour.

After being processed by border security and finally receiving our
entry visas, we walked through the gate. We'd made it! Praise God!

We boarded another matatu to Mbale. This too was a slow ride, stopping
often to load/unload passengers. The fullest for this matatu was 18
adults and 5 small kids plus a large amount of luggage and containers
on top of the van. :-)

In Mbale, we purchased some snacks to go and boarded a matatu to
Soroti. Once full, this van was an express. Inside were 21 adults, a
good amount of luggage, and a gagged chicken which we didn't know
about until we arrived.

In Soroti, the three of us caught rides on motorcycles to a guest
house, arriving at about 11pm.

We were very dirty, but very thankful for the safe journey!


Notes & praises:

We're thanking God for the many ways he continues to bless this trip.

Yogurt has been a great snack to keep us going the past couple days.

People here can carry so much on their heads. Here are a few things
we've seen...
Without a hand to stabilize:
Sacks of produce or flour, buckets with dry contents, 20" wash basins
filled with random items, basket
With a hand:
Very large luggage items, brush for firewood, large buckets of water.


Prayer requests:

An effective ministry here in Uganda. Our main ministry day here is
planned for Wednesday.

Wisdom and guidance for decisions which may need to be made.

Continued health and travel safety.