The Mission Trip – An Epic Adoption Story
I had been on other trips to help build physical buildings for churches in Jamaica and Costa Rica, do Vacation Bible School for for hundreds of kids – some who swam through the sewer to reach us in Jamaica, repair homes in an old gold mining town in South Dakota, but Africa was always a dream.
[singlepic id=65 w=320 h=240 float=left]In 2007 a vision was shared to use soccer to help disciple kids in Uganda, and off I went for an entire month.
There were many encounters, lots of emotions, and a ton of memories.
Memories include driving most of the way from Mbale to Busia in the pitch black dark in a Toyota Corona that had electrical problems. So, we either tried to stay with vehicles that passed us on the road or we used flashlights as headlights. However, this seemed more safe than stopping somewhere with two Mzungus who had large sums of money on their person. Blaine and I actually made a video in the back seat just in case we didn’t make it home.
We held the soccer camp next to the school run by the mosque on the other side of the field. We walked passed the mosque every day as we traveled between our hotel and camp. We didn’t realize this until the second week of camp. The mean looks we kept getting from the people at the mosque then began to make some sense. We think they may actually own the field too.
Prossy made pizza in a solar oven only because I talked about it. And it was incredible. I was constantly amazed at how much she got done using a solar oven and a charcoal stove.
[singlepic id=64 w=320 h=240 float=right]And then there was my first encounter with the Oktoberfest Ugandan Style
And the list could go on.
The highlight; however, was my return home. There is no place like home. And at home a surprise awaited…
A Big Day’s Adventure! February 16th Update – An Epic Adoption Story
So, I brought a book entitled Sacred Waiting by David Timms. I finished the introduction today and now I am afraid to go any further.
“We will only wait on Him with joy if we have deep confidence in His love for us.”
There has been a lot of waiting in 3 1/2 years. Sadly, not much of it was with joy, but instead felt like a wrestling match.
I’ve done quite a bit of waiting since being in Uganda, but the speed of life has been anything but African in nature as we rush from one appointment to the next.
Even yesterday I waited on our ruling to be released and family to arrive to once again sign amended releases. I was here from 6:45 am until 4:30pm, made the same request of God over and over again, and yet, as I write these words, I am in the lawyers office once again awaiting the release of our signed ruling by our judge, and our Embassy appointment was moved from 2pm to 10:30 am today. It’s now 10am, and my chest is beginning to tighten and heart rate is beginning to climb as adrenaline begins to course through my veins because of the expectation I have of leaving Uganda before elections on Friday.
Far from Sacred Waiting…
Even our trip to Busia seemed whirlwind. I tried to stuff in as much as possible as if I was trying to make up for lost time. I spent little time having tea and chatting with friends, which had made my last trip so fulfilling. And so, while I feel like I did much, it is empty of any sense of a rich and satisfying use of my time.
Only until dinner last night with a new friend did life seem to slow to a meaningful pace.
[singlepic id=61 w=320 h=240 float=left]Yet I still acknowledge that God will provide a way, and it will be the best way. I admit that while I may not like it God may want us
here through the elections for reasons that will not be revealed until we are far removed from our current circumstances and hindsight is
20/20.
Father, help me to wait joyfully, increase the depth and breadth of my confidence in Your care for us.
It’s now 10:45am and still no ruling. Kristi is heading to Embassy anyway in order to finish paperwork and begin answering questions.
Father, help me to wait joyfully, increase the depth and breadth of my confidence in Your care for us.
11:03am Agnes has called and she has one signed copy of the ruling in her hands. I am not clear but it seems she had to take it somewhere before returning here. Kristi and the kids are on their way to the Embassy. We’ll be an hour late at least, but hopefully it receives purpose.
Father, help me wait joyfully, increase my confidence in Your care for me.
12:00 and rulings have yet to arrive. Kristi should have been at Embassy for 45 minutes by now. We cannot raise Agnes on the phone for an update so we have no way of preparing for my swift departure.
Father, help me wait joyfully, increase my confidence in Your care for me.
12:18 Prossy just called me wanting to brief me before I go to Embassy. She is waiting for me there. I still await Agnes and the ever absent ruling. I wonder of what I need to be briefed.
Father, help me wait joyfully, increase my confidence in Your care for me.
12:25 Everyone in the office is trying to reach Agnes on her cell. I’ve been asked to participate. No luck with voice, but sent txt and she replied. She’s in court, but I’m unsure as to why. It seems she is still waiting on my judge for something.
1:00 pm Agnes arrives with rulings. She is now nicknamed “The Victor” by her office mates. Now I am on my way to the embassy.
1:15 pm I’ve arrived at the Embassy and get briefed by by Prossy before giving up my phone.
1:25 pm I’ve entered the waiting room and Kristi hasn’t been seen yet, nor has Tim received his visas.
4:30 pm We are informed our visas will be ready on Thursday at 4:00 pm, I have paid lots more money, sent emails to book flights, called parents, and Kristi rides her first boda boda, now we wait once again.
Father, help me wait joyfully, increase my confidence in Your care for me.
A Big Day – February 16th Update – An Epic Adoption Story
So, here is where we stand today. We have an Embassy appointment at 2:00 pm, which would be 6:00am Eastern. Which means we’ll likely be done by the time you read this. I also hope to get the signed ruling from the judge today.
What has transpired over the last two days is a testimony to how things typically work in Uganda. I spent two whole days either in my lawyer’s office or at the Embassy. On Moday, the Thompsons had their Embassy interview. Their judge was rather quick in getting them the signed ruling, while ours has been less than accommodating.
I’ll need to wait and reveal details of the Embassy interview for the Thompsons, but I can say that it resulted in us having to arrange for every family member to return to Kampala in order to sign another irrevocable release yesterday. Most travelled through the night to arrive using public transportation. The experience of public transportation is beyond my ability to describe, but my sole experience ranks as one of the most uncomfortable four hours of my life, and many of the family came from further than I did. I also waited until 4:30 pm for our ruling to be released only to have our lawyer return being told to “come back tomorrow.”
I’ll tell more of that story later, but for now I will leave in 15 minutes to go back to my lawyer’s office to await the release of the signed ruling. I then will attempt to get that ruling to the Embassy before 10am. If I fail to do so it could jeopardize our receiving visas by tomorrow. We’ll then return to the Embassy for our 2:00pm interview where we hope to hear that our visas will be ready on Thursday. We have initially booked a return flight, but I won’t reveal details until I have visas in hand.