The Bunyoro Kingdom

Last Wednesday, Jeff took me out to another village to meet with the people there. Kigadi is a village in the Bunyoro kingdom. We recieved a warm welcome and we had a good time worshiping with the people there. Ronald, Jeff and I were able to take some time to share with the people there. There were 9 students from a local highschool who came to the event. They had decided to come hear us preach instead of going to school that day. They were very grateful for our visit.


Kizito Ronald (a great Christian brother working with the Church in Fort Portal and the surrounding villages)

About one month ago, Jeff traveled to Hoima (the tribal center of the Bunyoro Kingdom), to meet with some Kingdom officials in order to work out a land dispute that was occuring. Jeff met with the prince and the king's main assistant to discuss the issues. During their conversations, the Kingdom officials told Jeff that they were very interested in the the New Testament Churches of Christ coming to Bunyoro to establish the Church there. They were very excited about the idea and they even stated that there may be land available for church buildings to be built and possibly even an airstrip that could be used to reach more people of the area.

This is another great opportunity for this area of Uganda to be reached. The kingdom officials said that the Bunyoro Kingdom is in a "spiritual vacuum", and that they would like our help. This is something that could use some prayers. Please be praying for the people of the Bunyoro Kingdom, that avenues will be opened for the gospel to reach those who live there. Also pray that the leaders of the Kingdom will realize their need for Christ as well.

Mweya Safari Adventure

Last Sunday we went to Mweya—a beautiful lodge in Queen Elizabeth game park, south of Fort Portal. It was so much fun! We arrived Sunday afternoon, and of course, on our way there we stopped at the EQUATOR to take pictures. We enjoyed a wonderful quiet dinner with the Cash’s (someone was watching the kids), and the food was excellent. We decided to get up at 6 am for our safari (they say it is best to go out when it is cool-early morning or late afternoon to see the animals). Well, we hit the jackpot! Jeff said we were very lucky-it was our first time there and we saw animals that he has only seen twice—and he has been there about 30 times!



We got to see hyenas, elephants, water buck, Ugandan kob, cape buffalo, a leopard, a male lion, and the warthogs were everywhere (even just outside our hotel room!) We were out driving for a about 3 hours and we were really wanting to hunt down a lion. We went all over the place until we were so hungry for breakfast that we started to head back to the lodge. We were going pretty fast, not really looking for anything and then as we got close to the lodge, Andrew spotted a dead animal, or so he thought. Jeff backed up a little and it was a lion just resting in the perfect picture spot. I think he was posing just for us! We got some good pictures of many of the animals.


Later on that afternoon, after swimming in the pool, eating a delicious pizza for lunch and resting on my nice bed (don’t you feel sorry for me that I’m “roughing it” out here?) we went on a boat launch. It lasted two hours and took us through the channel that runs through the game park.

From the boat, we saw lots of hippos

a crocodile

some beautiful birds

and more elephants.


It was truly amazing to see them in their natural habitat. The boat ride was really cool! Issac and I were having a good time on the boat.



On Tuesday, we had the lodge pack some lunches for us so that we could go on one last safari drive on the way home. We stopped at a camp site and ate lunch and we were pretty disappointed because we had not seen much on the drive. After finishing lunch we got back in the vehicles and began to head home when we spotted something emerging from the trees ahead of us. Here is a picture of what we saw.



We almost ran our truck into one of the elephants because they were shielded so well by the trees. We counted about 15 elephants in this one spot (not 200 yards from where we were just eating lunch). We had to slowly back up because the elephants had babies with them and they were getting a little agitated at us. We eventually made it past the herd of elephants and continued on our way. We had not gone more than 100 yards when we spotted another large herd of elephants on the other side of the road. We got a rough count of about 30 elephants in all that we saw up close and personal on our way home. It turned out to be a great safari weekend!

We were very blessed to be able to see this part of Uganda. The beauties of the landscape and all the wildlife was a great reminder of the glory of God the creator. Uganda is a beautiful place in need of the Gospel of Christ. Keep praying for us as well seek to discover what God has planned for our lives in Uganda.

Itali & Rwebesengo Visits

JAMBO! (Swahili for hello) We got to go visit 2 village churches this week, first Italli, then Rwebesengo. Since it was about a 2 hour drive, we stayed overnight at Italli in tents, which meant that we were introduced to the village bathroom facilities (cho). Below you will see the little toilet that Jeff set up for us Americans to use--thank the Lord! :)





Our day began with a long bumpy ride down the hill (above) into the valley, through tall grass, a stream, and then some off-roading. I was in the middle in the back of the truck, between Andrew and Besisa, so I felt very squished and secured. :) I kind of like the bumpy rides--I feel adventurous and it reminds me of the farm roads I used to go on when I was little. :) Thanks, Dad.



We set up tents, then praised with the Congolese refugees. They are so happy in spite of all the awful things that they have been through. The choir sang for us, although it was a bummer because we were facing their backs the whole time. Andrew and I were impressed with the little ones (5 & 6 year olds) that could remember all the words and choreography. Ronald gave a powerful sermon and I think many people were convicted.

We were served a wonderful meal of rice pilau with fried potatoes, and beef (this was at about 6:00 pm). It was yummy and since most of us had not eaten since breakfast, we loaded up. Well, at about 7:30, the church leader told us that they were preparing dinner for us as well! At least we didn't eat it until 11:00pm -- that made it a little easier to shove some down. But for those of you who know me well, you know that it wasn't all that hard for me--I love to eat! We were up late eating maize (corn on the cob cooked by the fire) and singing with everyone around a campfire. The Congolise stayed up really late shouting and drumming and singing; luckily we still got some rest.



The next morning, we headed down to the river where Jeff baptized 6 people. YEA! Then, we were off to Rwebesengo. We ended up just driving through a creek in order to cut down on time and we arrived in Rwebesengo earlier than planned.
The day in Rwebesengo is kind of a blur to me, as I did not sleep very well in the tent the night before. We were very welcomed there and the choir sang many songs for us. They have some amazingly talented musicians. Even the littlest ones have rhythm. We enjoyed their upbeat singing and all of the smiles. After Jeff spoke, we were offered another meal-and guess what it was? You got it--rice and meat! Gotta love the rice here.



We were finally headed home about 5:00. It took about 2 hours to get home and it was so good to come back to see Cheryl and the kids. And speaking of the Cash family...we are enjoying them so much! We have had many late nights playing Text Twist, watching movies or just chatting. We love the kids too! I actually helped them with baths and getting ready for bed tonight, which was fun for me to do. Right now, Jeff & Andrew are playing with Jeff's flight simulator, and Andrew has already blown up the plane (literally) while trying to pull off some crazy stunt. Boys will be boys... I am never stepping into a plane with him if he's the pilot!

We are having a wonderful time. God is good... all the time!

Picture Time!

I apologize for not posting more pictures before now. We have had a very difficult time getting online over the past week. Well, we think that we have solved the problem (hopefully) and are now able to keep you more informed. The picture above is an updated version the picture posted by Allan of Kampala Road. They have been doing some construction and felt the need to put in some speed bumps for some unknown reason. At last count on the trip from Kampala to Fort Portal, there were 361 speed bumps. Talk about annoying.

However, having to drive 10 kph does have its benefits.



We saw this guy and some of his friends on the way from Kampala. They were just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine.



And here we are! We really are still alive and well, and we have the picture to prove it. This is a picture of us in our room at the American Club. We had some time to recover from our jetlag and we were feeling fine in only a few days.



And here's Aimee with the Cash kids. We have had a great time with the Cash family and they have made us feel right at home.

We will be updating the website more frequently in the future (Lord willing). So keep checking the site and please post comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We'll be in touch.

Fort Portal Happenings

Hey everyone! We took so many great pictures this week, while visiting village churches and we were so excited to load them on our blogspot for you to see...but, Jeff's computer is not accepting our card reader thingy so I am sorry to say that there are no pics to update at this time. But, I do have stories for you and we'll upload pics as soon as we can!
First of all, one thing we didn't get a picture of...we were driving back from a village church on the main road to Fort Portal, when all of a sudden, we spot two chimps crossing the road! It was so amazing to see them just crossing from one side to the other. They disappeared quickly into the grass-oh, I wish we would have had the camera loaded and ready!
We had some interesting experiences visiting churches this week. Wednesday, we drove to the Karagutu village-and they were a lively bunch. One man played a drum (he was great!) and everyone else (including us) danced around and praised Jesus. It was fun-we heard the word "Hallelujah" so many times! :) And one of the kids was really into it-he looked like Elvis the way he was shakin' himself around. We have video of him-it is so funny!
Thursday was much different...we were inside a building, instead of outside and things were much more calm. A choir sang for us and they took the time to memorize english songs, just for us. They did a great job and it was refreshing to hear something that I actually understood.
At both churches, we were treated like royalty. We sit in the front and everyone claps for us, wants to shake our hands, etc. They feed us lunch/dinner and pray over us and thank us so many times. I wish they knew how much of a blessing they are to us, but I think they don't even realize.
Tonight, we were with some refugees from the Congo and one of the daughters had actually just arrived today. We worked on our Swahilee and I think I may be able to count to 5 now! We sang songs with them (I recognize most of the tunes) and they fed us a wonderful meal--rice, meat, fruit, and potatoes.
I need to go-I am about to be cut off by the internet connection. I'll write more later. We love you all-have a wonderful day! -Aimee Jo & Andrew

Hello from Kampala!

It's true! We safely arrived in Entebbe early Wednesday morning and are staying in Kampala until tomorrow morning. Everything about our traveling was good, except for the lack of sleep! We are caught up on our sleep and dealing well with the jet lag. I slept for 16 hours the first night (it was great! And you all know how much I enjoy my sleep!) We are doing well and enjoying our time here. I'm so sorry that it took a long time to hear from us...especially to our parents-we are safe, so don't worry!
It's wonderful here...completley different than America, but wonderful. I got to go shopping and run errands with Cheryl yesterday, and Ike, I will never say that you drive too fast or aggressive again--the drivers here are NUTS. But, I haven't been scared yet, because for the most part, it seems like people know what they are doing. :)It is a trip though, to drive on the left hand side of the road.
Let's see, what else? We feel like we have learned so much about the people and culture after being here for only a few days. Jeff and Cheryl are so great about answering questions and sharing important details with us. We are so much enjoying their family--Isaac is hilarious!
Well, I'll sign off for now. We love all of you so much. Thanks for praying for us; we are praying for you too. God Bless you on this day-Aimee Jo (and Andrew)