Arrived

Well, we made it...dad and Perez are happy! The flights were good. In the Minneapolis airport we met a man and his young daughter from Chad, though they now live in Cedar Rapids. We talked for sometime about living in Africa and moving to the states. In the Amsterdam airport, we met a man from Kampala, Uganda. Though he has lived in Boston for 6 years, he returns to Uganda frequently. He is returning this time for his sisters wedding. He was impressed with Perez and his american accent (a comment that nearly everyone has made). On the leg between Amsterdam and Uganda, we sat in front of a couple from Albequerque who is hoping to adopt a 5 year old girl from Kampala. As I listened to their story, it echoed of everything we went through just 11 months ago with Perez.

After 30 hours of travel, we landed in Entebbe, purchased our visas and were quickly greeted by our Ugandan friends, pastor Stephen and pastor Gabriel. We were exhausted, but thrilled to be back in our "second home" as they call it (and we agree).

Much of Saturday was used to rest. Steve took 3 naps! Besides Steve's naps, the best part of the day was meeting with Perez's Ugandan mom. She was so happy to see Perez and to see how much he's grown. She believes he is doing well, and we agree.

But days of rest are rare here.


On Sunday, Steve spoke to True Vine church and presented them with our financial gift from Citywalk in support of their new sanctuary construction project. Steve also gave a dedication to the P7 graduates (they take exams this coming week is hopes of graduating and moving on to secondary school). During the service, both Ali and Perez were spontaneously called upon to come up front and speak. If there's one thing I've learned here, one must always be prepared to talk.

Tomorrow, Monday, Steve will meet with a group of village pastors for the first of a number of pastor conferences. Ali will begin taking what will amount to a few hundred sponsor update photos and in the afternoon she begins the first of 10 photo classes that she is teaching.

Perez.

Perez is very happy to be home, but it took a bit. He has been experiencing some reverse culture shock of sorts. It's as if he remembers things kind of, but is processing a "did I really live here" thing. For about an hour, all of the kids just sort of stared at him and he stared back. There was no interaction (reminiscent of his first day of school in San Diego). I could almost read the brainwaves..."I know you and we are like you, but you are now different." I think both sides were a bit scared. But as kids are, that lasted a short time. They quickly got over the "different" thing and the language barrier and Perez and company are having a great time being together again. I think Perez is especially happy to spend the bulk of his day in the dirt, putting thing in his mouth that no human should ever ingest and de-winging and playing with the many bugs. Home sweet home!

Well, we had better sign off for now...much to do before we retire for the night. Have a blessed Sunday, from Uganda with love!