we are here!

warning...tired blogger! i kept asking myself yesterday “where did this day begin and has it ended yet?” we spent a day in london. we had a 12 hour layover. we took a bus tour and hit the higlights of the city. by the end of the day we were very tired. what a long trip to get here to kampala! We left Friday afternoon around 5:00 and just got here this morning around 7:30. we are exhuasted. our bodies and minds are expended. quite honestly, on that extremely long flight last night I got very frustrated. I could not let my mind settle and I couldn’t quiet my thoughts. I kept wondering am I really on a plane to Africa? The “my journey” on the screen in front of my seat constantly reminded me that yes, I was in fact on a plane to Africa. We were indeed crossing the English channel, then france, then rome, then Greece, then the Mediterranean sea…eventually the sahara desert (which also showed up very close to Kuwait(-a little freaky), then we entered air space over this continent. I could see where our plane was going to land way down south but golly gee the little plane on the monitor barely moved. Tick tock. We were on that plane for over 8 hours. I had not rested horizontally since early friday morning. My ankles were huge (big as cantelopes)and still are! I was sitting between Emily on my right and Abigail on my left, which by the way both were sleeping. Happy for them but…I really wanted to sleep. we were sitting in the middle section so we were surrounded by people! Lots of people. a little bit of claustrophobia was settling in. “get me off of here!” was resounding in my mind. I tried to watch a law and order episode but I couldn’t even follow it. I finally got up to walk around and just tried to make the time pass. FINALLY we started to see land get closer and closer and felt the plane start to descend. Thank you Lord! We went to baggage claim. All of our team’s luggage made it except for the 4 from Indiana. They have such a great attitude. We have all offered different items but they followed advice and at least had an extra outfit in their carry on bag. We gathered our stuff and got on the bus and headed to this “bed and breakfast” type place that is our home for the week. The people here are extraordinarily nice. We settled in and had lunch then headed to blessed hope orphanage. We had no idea what to expect. The bus ride is an hour and 10 minutes one way…on bumpy and windy roads and our driver is not scared of anything. he is the master of his universe on that road. Riding in the backseat of a car is not good for me. I was thinking much like last night “get me to the orphanage” and sooner than later please. But let me tell you after we turn the corner to head into that sweet place someone said "I hear music" but it was actually the voices of the kids. They start running and I mean running towards the bus. Happy little faces just so excited and we felt already loved unconditionally. They were just waiting for us to get off the bus and they all stuck their little hands out just wanting to touch us. They have been waiting for a long time for us. They have planned on our arrival. We were led to their shelter where they worship and we sat with team members said “I hear music” but it was really the sounds of 202 very happy little Ugandan children. This bumpy, bumpy road was lined with banana trees. I kept thinking where are the kids? All I see are these trees…and a roster here and there. We finally pull up to where they can see us and they our new little friends. We were then treated to their singing. Videos will follow. They sang to us accompanied by drums and danced and worshipped. As one team member said, “we had church”. We then took a tour of the campus…saw their minimal little classrooms and their mats on the floor. When the director announced we were there to make beds for them they all cheered. What reward! I connected with several little ones in particular (justin, maria,esther, barbara) as the Emily (jackie and shamil) and Abigail (Robert and dennis)! This is such a treat and an honor to experience this with them! I know the rest of my girls would be so moved as well. i have a little piece of all for you here with me. Thank you for praying for us!