Luggage

I just got an e-mail from Chrissie saying that Amanda arrived in Karamoja safely...but her luggage didn't.

Please pray that her three bags would come soon. Not only do they contain all her personal stuff, but they are packed with stuff for the folks at the mission.

Please pray for Martha, as she's hurt her back and is on bedrest for the next few days. It doesn't sound very fun...

Chippa, I still see you...

It's here!

My passport (with a big purple Ugandan visa stamped inside) came back yesterday. I guess because it was sent express mail, it was delivered separately from the rest of the mail. So I was taking deep breaths, telling myself that it's okay if it didn't come yet, but all needlessly. It came like half an hour later. :)

Katie posted recently about some things that have been going on at the clinic. Or rather, haven't been; due to to staffing problems, the clinic has had to close down. Sagal was the only clinical officer left, and it was too much for him, so he's quit and the clinic closed its doors - not sure if it will be temporary, until replacements can be found, or if it will be until God really shows them whether it needs to continue. That was quite a shock to find out about, but perhaps it will be a good thing in the long run; there was a lot of quarrels going on because of it, and the mission can continue without it, I hope. But poor Kris - she's not an administrator anymore. Also, Katie had been looking forward to seeing Mama Chipa and the kids during the school break, but with Sagal gone, there's no reason for them to come. I'm very disappointed, too!

Providence & Visas

Today has had a lot of ups and downs, but I just feel very thankful right now for how good God is to us. This morning I called the Ugandan Embassy because I hadn't gotten my passport back yet with my visa. Usually I talk to the consular secretary (or her secretary?) about such things, but today there was a recording saying she'll be out of the office until the 21st. She gave an extension for someone else to contact; I left a message with him but didn't have high hopes. The Ugandan Embassy has many fine qualities, but returning messages doesn't seem to be one of them.

Then I called the embassy operator, a nice woman who spent five minutes checking into it and confirmed that my passport had been mailed off yesterday, although she couldn't find any paperwork with tracking info. So I'm praying (and have much hope) that I'll get it tomorrow or the next day...it doesn't matter when, just so long as I have that passport (hopefully stamped with a Ugandan visa) on Monday morning! It's just a huge relief to know that my application isn't lost in a pile of paperwork, or that it couldn't be completed without the consular secretary's signature, or something terrible like that. And considering that i sent the application in rather late, it wouldn't be too surprising to have a disaster on my hands.

Then I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some mosquito coils, and got a parking spot just two spaces from the front entrance. Now that is a blessing! ;-) It just really struck me today how graciously God takes pity on me, even when i've had a pretty rotten attitude (not just pessimism about the visa thing).

In actual Karamoja news, Chrissie says that the Nakaale mission school is having a fine arts festival while I'm there, so how would I like to play Starvling in their production of one act of A Midsummer Night's Dream, starring Rachel, Emily, Katie, Amy, and Chrissie? I'd only have one line and I'd get to spend most of the scene sitting on a Karamojong stool and then doze off, so I hope I can handle it. Martha also requested some calligraphy markers for some manuscript-writing for the festival, so it should be quite an exciting time!

If you think of it this weekend, would you please pray that all the final details would go well? I'm not feeling stressed out right now, but there's just a lot to accomplish in the next few days before I go, and I don't want to let myself get anxious about things. So anyway, I would appreciate any prayer support. :)

Rain

It sounds like there has been much rain in Karamoja this month, which is very good news! All of East Africa (and Eritrea and Ethopia and probably many more countries) are suffering from drought, but to see a good harvest in Karamoja would be encouraging...