Uganda Mission Trip 2016
Hey everybody! This is Jared and I’m in Uganda, Africa! 24 brave souls have crossed 4,000 miles of ocean, 5,000 miles of land, 6 times zones, and over 8 different airports to finally arrive here in Uganda. At least, most of us have; more about that later. I’m at Namirembe Guesthouse in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
Where in the world is Uganda?
Fun facts:
Uganda is home to the source of the Nile River that flows up to Egypt: Lake Victoria. The lake was named by British explorer David Livingstone in honor of the Queen of England at the time.
Uganda is known as the youngest nation in the world as over 75% of the population are under 16 years old!
Uganda is one of the last homes of wild lowland gorillas.
Despite it being in Africa, Uganda is more tropical than it is desert.
After much trouble and several missed and nearly missed flights, we have all arrived in the country safe.
Yeah… I wish I could say that. The first part of that sentence was true: several missed flights and nearly missed flights. However, to get the full effect of this you need to know the details. Nearly half of the team was to fly from Atlanta and meet up with the other half in Washington D.C. Well, their flight to DC was delayed but they made it, however they didn’t have enough time to get from arrivals to departures for the connection onto Brussels. So, they were kept in D.C. while our group was in Brussels.
Now, they weren’t the only ones with difficulty. Caleb, my older brother didn’t even make his flight for reasons beyond his control, and Viki Cheramie completely missed hers; unfortunately, Viki will not make the trip at all this year. We are heartbroken and confused at why everything is happening the way it is. Several people are routing around different ways and through different countries to arrive different days: it couldn’t be helped. Satan has his sights set on this trip and these people this year. I would ask you all to pray that we be not shaken in our resolve and we would ensure the hardship for the great calling of Christ and the prize of His glory and majesty!
I’m not sure what day it is, but we left on the 13th of July and won’t return until the 28th. Pray for us as we minister here in the country of Uganda, that our work would impact the whole of Africa!
The picture was taken right before the team members with us boarded the flight from Brussels to Entebbe. We all arrived safely of the ones of us that we’re not delayed. Caleb should be arriving late tonight, which is the 14th of July and the others will follow after him. I heard from Wes Yarber at 6pm that they were just then boarding the flight to Brussels, so we should expect them late tomorrow or early Saturday.
It’s late here and tonight is a catch up time for the team. The time zones and long flights take some recovering from; tomorrow will be a day to acclimate our team to their new surroundings and we will travel to Soroti, our main mission point. We won’t official hit the ground running hard until the day after tomorrow, but then it’s full speed ahead for the glory of God. Be keeping up with the trip by following this blog and the Hope Missions International page on Facebook!
–Jared Allen