I have heard people talk about being culture-shocked when they returned to their own countries after being away for a while but i didn't know what that meant; somethings are better experienced first hand. As most of you already know, i am ready to return back home and couldn't wait to be back; in fact sometimes i felt like the plane was being slow. We briefly got delayed in London and this was not going down well with me, i did not want my dear friend to wait for us longer than he was expecting at the airport since we were arriving late.
Finally we touched down at Entebbe and we were all happy to have made it. However, the moment i stepped out of the plane, things started changing. When we left Michigan, i had almost three layers of clothing (these included a heavy sweater and a winter coat!). It felt normal in London to have these layers but now hear, i couldn't bear the heat! I was profusely sweating one could even wonder whether i was a nervous drug smuggler or terrorist! Entebbe is supposed to be one of the cool places in Uganda but it felt like desert. The layers had to come off one after the other. After an hour's drive, we arrived at our friend's house. Even though it was a few minutes to 1am, his wife still had food for us which she warmed up and served (bless her); she had prepared chicken and boiled potatoes. The food was so delicious that i kept eating until i could almost not walk! But we couldn't sleep because it was too hot; we had to take very cold showers in the wee hours of 2am in order to catch some sleep. And even after this, we couldn't cover ourselves. It seemed as though we were being baked in a low heat oven!
The next day we started off for Jinja and i had to wear the lightest clothes possible. It felt strange driving on the "right side of the road" again. However, everything seemed strange. From the dust, to crazy traffic, to meat hanging in the Butchers; everything seemed strange. It dawned on me that slowly and surely, the American life was starting to take its toll on me; my body (without my knowledge) was adjusting to the cold and the comfort there. I was getting used to everything being organized and now here, everyone has to look through their shoulders and be alert all the time because the unexpected always suddenly happen. My wife had to adjust driving in these roads and on a few instances, we had some little scary moments. Somehow, as i thought everything through, i came to appreciate and realize that as Christians, we called into this kind of life; a life of looking though your shoulders and being alert at all times, lest you will drift away and be left behind. Sometimes we need comfort, but we also need these kind of reality checks, moments like these keep us alive and awake all the time to keep praying and be thankful. The drive to Jinja was one of the strangest days i have ever felt. Young people taking every opportunity to sell something to you in slow traffic, to someone knocking on your car window begging for alms was touching.
I did not want to eat anything until we arrived at our new house in Jinja; our home. Our teammates and "parents" had also just made it back from the States and Australia a bout 5 days before we arrived and so, they had done a lot of work preparing the place for us. We made it to a very happy welcome. The hugs were longer and the smiles affectionate. The beds were all ready and the house looked great (hopefully we will be able to furnish you with some pictures once we get everything organized and in place). It felt so good to be in our own house! This is the first time we are living just the two of us in our house since we got married. We have always had people living with us and we hope to keep it this way for sometime so that we can enjoy each other more than before. Of course we welcome short term visitors. And the privacy did help with the heat in that we have had to sometimes barely had clothes on while in our house just to stay cool a little bit from the 100 degrees heat. Imagine transitioning from below 30 to 100 and above degree whether!
Unpacking and organizing the house isn't an easy task. Beckie has been doing most of the arranging of things in places she wants them to be (i am not good at this) and slowly, we are almost there. Our team mates have been a very huge blessing to us, in fact we don't know how we could have been without them. We have been out for dinner a few times already and we all agree that we missed this place and are happy to be back.
Tomorrow we have a class of about 36 rural pastors and church leaders and we have been busy putting things up and organizing for these guys. Buying food, setting the classes and dormitories, preparing training manuals, etc. And this week, i will be teaching two classes and i could do with your prayers for wisdom and ability to do a good job, that i will teach exactly what Father wants me to pass on to His beloved children. Beckie is busy helping with organizing stuff and shopping and helping with some administrative duties. We still feel a little bit jet lagged and are in need of His freshness and grace to accomplish the task ahead.
Hopefully on Saturday after classes, we will head to Soroti to see and do some ministry there as well as see some members of our family there.
One thing i have enjoyed since coming back is being able to have longer conversations. People are always available to talk longer, even though sometimes this is at a big cost. And oh, telephone calls are not that cheap, you have to pay by the minutes you use. I particularly had a very long conversation on phone with my former Pastor (he is the only person who can make laugh until my ribs pain and usually my wife knows straight away that it's him i am talking to). The first 5-10 minutes were just laughing sessions and then the next 20-30 were laughing and talking! He is a great man of God and i look forward to seeing him next week. Now we have to plan our phone calls carefully, otherwise, we could easily end up incurring huge expenses on calls since everyone is eager to talk to us and they usually just hijack our calls and turn them into theirs.
Going to church on Sunday seemed strange too after being away from the routine for 5 months. We had to adjust to 30 minutes of standing prayer sessions and 30 more of praise and worship. It was good to see that our small church in Jinja was growing with a few new faces including a new Pastor. (The old one was transferred) and the current Pastor comes from Soroti. In fact his parents and sister were members of my Fellowship Group in Soroti. It was good to see old friends and we cant't wait for the scenes that await us in Soroti next week!
Finally, i think it's a good thing to visit other cultures, to step out of your comfort zone and venture out, there are lots of things to learn and lots of things to appreciate. I am happy i got the opportunity to go to the States. Now, i look at my own country with new eyes, i see opportunities more than obstacles and i hope, i can help a few people to change their mindset and appreciate this country more and not to want to run away from it.
Keep us in your prayers, we will share the pictures with you soon once we get everything organized. We love you, God bless you.
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