Thank you for your prayers thus far! Our travel has been pretty smooth. The blessing at Good Shepherd was splendid and Pastor James’s message was so applicable. “Hearts of Grace” seemed to be the key takeaway for the team. After the service, we had an hour to weigh our bags at the church and redistribute weight before loading them in. Brigette’s mother and her boyfriend graciously had a truck to carry all the bags and a 15-passenger van to take the entire team. We arrived at the airport w/ plenty of time and hearts at ease. Every bag made weight and I think it surprised the woman at the ticket counter (who didn’t seem to be in the best mood) – our check-in was near seamless.
The Heart of our Nation
Our flight to Chicago brought us ‘Chicago Dogs’ (hot dogs w/ all the fixins!) and our connection to D.C. arrived early. Once in, we had to check-out our bags and re-check them in (due to the 11 hour layover and Ethiopian Airlines not being open at 1 a.m.) but Rey’s friend had a truck that allowed us to keep the luggage in overnight, so it wasn’t much of a hassle. Most of the team checked into the hotel (which we got very inexpensively) and a few of us received a Hawaiian home-cooked dinner and breakfast and got a quick tour and pics in front of D.C.’s finest (Iwo Jima Memorial (we had 3 Marines present), Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, and Washington Monument) and got to see the city prepare for the 4th of July. What a blessing – To be in our Nation’s capital at the beginning of its Independence Day! In the future, it would be an honor to celebrate the 4th out here at least once. The fireworks are displayed from ‘the mall’ and people around the entire city can see them.
Sudanese Woman & Unclean Spirit…
As we were waiting to board our flight to Addis Ababba (Ethiopia), a couple of us had the opportunity to encounter a woman that had a severe spiritual attack. She was from the Sudan and got lost trying to find her gate. She had an infant in her arms. Both she and her child had a severe skin condition – it appeared to be the same condition for both. It looked like they both had scabs on all of their arms (and the infants tummy and legs) and bumps on their faces. The woman immediately opened up to us, in tears, and felt that she had been ‘cursed’ – that she had a ‘mental condition’ that has caused her to be unstable for the last year and a half. Linda asked her if she ‘believed that Jesus could cure her.” Her response was ‘no’ – We had an opportunity to lay hands on her and talk/pray and let her know of Jesus love for her…she didn’t seem too receptive to prayer, but did really want to share about what she had been through. The image of her still resides in my mind. I wish we could have done more – if you think about her, she could use a lot of prayer and it would appear that there is an unclean spirit that resides in her. I think she will be just the beginning of what we see on the mission. Her name is Emil and her child is Elizabeth. I ponder now – we administered her love, but her ‘spirit’s ‘ condition did not change during our time together. Was it lack of receptivity/faith on her part? Or not praying and fasting enough on our part? Or God simply choosing to work in a different way and time?
As we were walking away, Patricia Burris made one last call to send her love to the team and share a message, “The walls of Jericho fell when the leaders of Israel worshipped….” What a beautiful message – the war was won in worship. It definitely made my heart sing!
A brush with the President of Uganda, the mighty Nile river, and safely in our accommodations
Our flight was on a big, new 777 (the team wasn’t sure what to expect as we had been told that Ethiopian Airlines had some shady planes), so our flight had good meals and plenty of movies to keep us rested. The customs agent was very pleasant and loved our ‘American Women’ – his cordiality made it nice to go through this process. We received everyone of our bags and our driver was waiting for us (dressed nicely I might add) as soon as we exited with our luggage. On our way into Kampala, we actually had to pull over our shuttle because the President of Uganda’s police and military escort drove by us! What an experience – and then the Minister of Agriculture came by as well! We went to a nice marketplace w/ plenty of foreigners to exchange our money, get drinks, and use the restroom. We had a nice drive across the country – saw sugar cane & tea plantations, drove through the Marange’ (?) rain forest, crossed the mighty Nile river, and arrived at our lodging. Our accommodations are wonderful! Many of the teams’ hearts seemed to finally come to a place of rest when we arrived here. We met the gentleman that is launching the worldwide college ministry for Young Life – wow! His family is here and we had an opportunity to pray for one another. As his words ring in my heart, “God was here (at this guest home) before we were.” God’s spirit is alive in this ministry and we are looking forward to watching Him work powerfully at the babies’ home this week. We have a full agenda with both our construction project and medical research. Please pray for zero jet lag and strength for the team as we tackle the upcoming long days. Please pray that the children’s hearts open up to us quickly and we are able to minister and be ministered by these little ones.
Spirit’s Agenda
Previous to leaving and in assessing the trip and looking for improvements for our next (Lord willing), I told myself that I would book our flights early enough so we could miss the Washington, D.C. delay. But we would have missed the relationships and tour of the city and the Sudanese woman. God has affirmed to us that we need to look at this trip as not just a mission trip, but a ‘great adventure’ and truly allow the spirit to lead this trip and not ‘abide’ by a regimented agenda. Our Ugandan-Tanzania trip now has these great pics in the city of Jazz, our nation’s capital, and beautiful Uganda so far! I can’t wait to see what additional surprises God blesses us with!
Blessings!
Darnell
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