Karagutu and Rwebesengo

This is Jacob with his newfound friend Derek.



We went to visit two villages, yesterday we went to check out the building-in-progress at Karagutu. We only stayed a short while. We went out to where the posts for the church are up and then we headed over to where they currently meet. The church is made up of Congolese refugees, mostly women and children. The people there received us warmly and the choir sang songs for us. Jacob had a really great time playing with the children there. Jeff gave a short lesson, which had to be translated into 2 languages, then we prayed and departed for our next stop.

After a bumpy ride we arrived in Rwebesengo just after lunch time. We gave the women some food to be prepared for us and then we went into the church to have a service. We were introduced and the wonderful choir sang a few songs. We all sang together and then the guys in our party all gave a short lesson (this time only translated into one other language). During the service Jacob needed a diaper change and he received one outside while a crowd of children looked on in curiosity. When the service was ended we broke for evening meal and some ladies brought out three pots, two containing rice pilau and one containing potatoes while we set up camp. I found all of the food to be delicious and ate plenty. Jacob was getting tired, so while the fire was being built I took him into the tent and laid down with him until he fell asleep (which took a long time due to the energetic singing around the camp fire). The singing sounded really great and I was tired, but glad to join them. We sang and danced until about 11 and then the visitors turned in for the night. The village people stayed and sang until 3am. The church leader stayed up all night praying very loudly. Some in our party had a very difficult time sleeping, but I was so tired from the bumpy journey that I fell asleep and did not wake up until morning. After we all got up a few of the men went to bathe with water that was collected 3 miles away! We then met for another meal of rice pilau in the church building. Then there was a short lesson given by Jeff and Ronald. Ronald was last to speak and called us up to have the church lay hands on us to pray for us. It was a very different experience than in the states, everyone prayed very loudly at the same time. It was very overwhelming for Jacob and he had to be removed by Derek. It was so amazing to have all those people praying for us and asking guidance for our impending decision about moving to Uganda. The church was extremely warm and it was our pleasure to visit there. We left Rwebesengo right after the church prayed over us, we left the church in a large crowd, everyone shaking our hands and thanking us for coming. It was a wonderful experience that I wish I could share with all of you.

It was a long, tiring drive back to Fort Portal, but it was well worth the journey.