MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 3-25-2010

Greetings from Uganda! Our flight to this beautiful African country went well. We survived the 22 hour flight, which is every bit as tedious as it sounds. I managed to handle the fatigue pretty well. I used the strategy of staying awake nearly the whole time, except for short cat naps, and went to bed at night once we got in country. We all slept very well last night, and seem to be adjusting to the new time zone just fine. I personally feel great and not at all jet-lagged. All of our luggage made the trip (all 26 pieces), and seems to all be there with nothing broken or missing. Didn't have to stop at Customs, or pay any fees, other than the $50 a head you pay for 90-day visas once you get into the airport terminal in Entebbe.

We spent our first day in Uganda with Matt Stensaas and Tom Tracht running errands in Kampala. I got our American currency (carried into the country in a special law-enforcement shirt with pockets for pistols and worn under one of my Hawaiian shirts) converted to Ugandan currency. I immediately became a millionaire ($5,000 turns into a little over 10 million Ugandan shillings). The trip to Mbarara went well. We got here just before dark, and just in time for church to let out.

We all slept well, and seem to be adjusting to our new timezone well. Today, we looked at houses, and got one for only 700,000 Ush a month! That's just $350 a month for rent! What modifications are needed will be taken out of the first year's rent. When we get it all squared away, we will have 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, and room for an office for me. The yard has an elevated garden area with fruit trees (avocados, mangos), where we can plant strawberries and anything else we desire. We are walking distance from Bryan and Cheri Stensaas, up on a quiet hilltop neighborhood.

We are buying some of the super comfortable VitaFoam mattresses to use until our container arrives with our American beds, and will likely have to make a run into Kampala to buy appliances soon. It's so exciting!

I'll let you know more when I get some more time to sit and write. Keep praying about a car. We will need one eventually. Also pray that our Property Manager back in the States will find a buyer for our house in America. She seems to think that she can find a buyer, as opposed to just renting it. She is capable of both however, and we will do what is needful to deal with our former home.