[I will update these blogs later with pictures, but our internet connection is extremely limited while here, so I am just writing for now]

What a full day and a half we have had here in Kaihura! I am so thankful that God has allowed me to come and experience His people on the other side of the world! It is still so surreal that I am sitting in a hotel in Uganda sharing these thoughts with you.

Yesterday, we arrived at the Grand Hotel in Kampala with enough time to take showers, eat breakfast, and board the bus for Kaihura. (You need to read the post entitled “Almost There", to get the skinny on that one. The trip here was interesting, to say the least) I thought I would sleep on the 5 hour trip from Kampala to Kaihura, but, alas, sleep did not find me in that bus. That's ok, though, because it was amazing to experience 5 hours of culture as we passed trading center after trading center along the highway.

We had lunch at a local cafe in Kaihura, then went to one of the local schools for a welcoming ceremony. Many local people: community leaders, teachers, pastors, and children from three different schools came to introduce themselves and make us feel welcomed. You would have thought that we were kings and queens. They sang for us, welcomed us, and let us know how important it was for them to have us visit.

This morning, our time in the community began with church. We split up into 3 different teams. Since I am a pastor, I was asked to give the message. This morning, at breakfast, I had in mind to preach a message that I preached recently at Westside. God laid on my heart, however, a different verse, so I preached from 1 Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." This same verse is written on the cement of the floor of my new office. I believe God used it to encourage the church.

I hope we were a blessing to the church we attended, but I can tell you with certainty that God blessed us incredibly through them. Their worship was uninhibited, loud (with no sound system), and beautiful. After a time of singing that lasted aprox. 35 minutes, they had 2 choirs come and do a couple special numbers each. Then several of them shared testimonies, followed by testimonies from our group, followed by me preaching.

After lunch, we met with the leadership council of the community to hear about the plan that they have developed for the advancement of their community. What a vision God has given them for their community, but the need is great, and will take God's continued hand to see their dreams come to fruition. Because of how they have seen God at work in other communities that they have visited, and because of the way they have already seen God work mightily in Kaihura to bring school books, and extend their supply of water, they have such hope of what He will do to meet the rest of their needs. It was so cool to be a part of that gathering.

In the afternoon, we broke into different groups and visited local homes for the purpose of building relationships and praying for the families that we visited. The lady that my team visited was Elizabeth. She is the mother of Kenneth (our guide), Faith (the founder of Bringing Hope to the Family, who you will hear about in a later post), and 5 other men and women who have grown up to serve God in some amazing ways. Now, Elizabeth has 6 children (ages 2 to about 15) living with her. She is also the senior pastor of Kaihura Full Gospel Church. To say that she is leaving a strong legacy would be a massive understatement. She was so hospitable to us, giving us tea and freshly roasted ground nuts (peanuts), and sending us with a sugar cane for each of us. You heard that right! Pictures to follow.

We have done so much in the past couple days, that I'm afraid the best I can do with a blog is just chronicle the events the best I can. There is so much more to every story, and I would love to share with you many of the awesome ways we have seen God at work, on this trip, but for now, this blog will have to do.

I'm tired, and my bed is calling out to me. Thank you for your prayers for me and for my team.

More to come...