Greetings from the weary traveler… I am going to post a few days entries so here goes….

6/1/02
This morning I observed the English Institute taught by the missionary wives to those who are interested in learning. The classes are really designed to prepare people to be able to study the scriptures better. I even learned a bit about Grammar that I had forgotten… like what transitive and intransitive verbs are…

This afternoon we are off to see the village. A Ugandan village isn’t like what you would expect it to be. It is more like visiting the country. The huts are not all together in some kind of tight grouping, but spread out over large spaces of land.

On the way there, I found myself in the ‘Red Beast’, as Dr. Guimons 4×4 4.1 Liter Diesel Nissan Patrol is affectionately called. We are driving to the village of Dennis Pampas, an older gentleman who is in my class. The experience of driving over here is as close to off roading that I have ever come to.

We have arrived at the village, and Dennis introduced us to his mother. She is 90 years old, and is grateful that we have come to visit. She has to speak through a translator, but she says that she is looking forward to seeing her Heavenly Father, but that God has said that she should see another sunrise. She was saved a year or so ago. She has never seen a house, and has lived her whole life in a hut with mud walls, a floor of cow dung, and ceiling of straw thatch.

After she greeted us, pastor spoke to her and encouraged her. Pastor’s mother is 91, and has been experiencing health problems for the past few years. While we have been away, she has come close to death. She also looks forward to seeing her Heavenly Father, but He has told her that she must also see another sunrise. Dennis’ mother was honored by Pastor and took his hand and placed it on her forehead. The act was a blessing and an honor to receive.

On the way home we stopped to eat a pack lunch on the side of the road. Some of the locals from the area saw us and stopped to watch us eat. There were several small children with them, and we gave what we had left to them before we got back on the road again.

Riding in Uganda with Dr. Guimon, with no A/C is quite the experience. We are traveling on our way home from the village now, and the roads are typical of Uganda. Roads are not paved in most of the country, so every time we passed a vehicle we had to roll up our windows to avoid the dust kicked up by the passing vehicles. To add to the excitement, we would move all over the road, trying to avoid passing cars, pedestrians, and many numerous gaping holes that cover most of the Ugandan road system. It was a bumpy and exciting ride, traveling at 100 KPH.