Day 14: Blog Post by Donna and Pete

Day 14 - Monday, 20 July 2009 (Posted by Donna and Pete)

Praise the Lord! Can you believe it’s been 14 days we have been in Uganda? We have had 14 amazing days and we cannot believe it’s coming to an end. Not having any ministry duties today felt a little different. We even got to sleep in an hour later, though I don’t know how many people did since we were on such an early schedule almost every day. We started with our breakfast of little squares of bread, diced watermelon and papaya and a hard boiled egg. Burt was disappointed this morning because the coffee was finished. After breakfast Silver and Grace led our morning devotion. We sang a couple of songs and Grace read Psalms 136. After reading a verse we all responded with “His love endures forever.” Some of us shared how we saw God at work during our time here.

On to the bus we go for our day at Sipi Falls. Patrick told us we would be going at 9 dot, but he didn’t get here till 9:20. On our way we stopped at the construction site for the last time. We took photos, looked at the progress that was made since the last time we were there, but the most special thing was that Aeri got to lay her cornerstone brick to the applause of everyone. We said our good-byes again and got on the bus.



Richard from the North East Villa Resort joined us today. It was almost a two hour bumpy ride to Sipi Falls, but the scenery is almost too hard to describe. Fields of corn, millet, cassava and other vegetables passed by our windows. Grass huts and mud houses dotted the country side. Children at school in their uniforms of different colors according to the school they attend. We passed by two open markets that are only open on Mondays. One in Kumi and the other in the next town. Both were very large, selling everything and anything you need. There were a lot of cattle for sale. So we are riding along and the road is going up and we can see the beautiful mountains up ahead. We stopped on the side of the road to look down into the valley of everything green except for a few huts. We continued on our way up, up, up the mountain till we came to a sign that said, Sipi Falls Crow’s Nest. We turned onto the road and ended up at a little clearing that had a great view of the valley below.




We got our restroom break and then we each got a bamboo walking stick. A walking stick? We thought we were going to go look at the falls – not hike to them. The hike to the falls was 2 kilometers which took us an hour to reach. We had slippery gravel trails, steep rocky steps and narrow walkways. For some it was a piece of cake and for me it was very difficult. But when we got to the falls it was definitely worth the hike. The top of the falls to the bottom was 100 meters. The mist from the falls was a pleasant break from the heat. Our guide told us that people come to the falls to do rapelling and to do rock climbing. After much photo taking, water drinking and snacking back up the trail we go. I found the climb back up harder especially since there were women with a huge bundle of bean plants for harvesting on their back walking up the trail barefoot passing me by. Can I do it, I’m sweating. Can I do it, my heart is pounding. Can I do it, they are telling me we are almost there. I DID IT! So did everybody else in front of me. We went up to the veranda of the little café there, relaxed and ate our lunch.





After a much needed rest it was time to leave. On the way down to the main road we gave a couple from Holland a lift. They were headed to Mbale, but there wasn’t a taxi around so we gave them a ride to Mbale so that were able to catch a taxi to the place they would be staying at. After a nice nap in the bus we arrived at “home.” Dinner at 7:30 turned into a buffet dinner at 9:00. Before dinner we started a conversation with the YVCM team and continued through dinner and after. We learned the beginnings of the team and where the team is going. At the end we presented the team with gifts of YCVM t-shirts, food/snack items and other donated items. Uncle Emma ended with a powerful prayer that left us all spiritually and emotionally spent.




Questions for Day 14
1. Which person from YCVM used two walking sticks?
2. Who wore flip flops on the climb?
3. What was the gift we all received from YCVM?
4. Who was the one that was left speechless last night?

Answers for Day 13 Questions
1. Burt was called “Bolt” and Donna was called “Diana.”
2. Mugole means either the bride or the groom.
3. We didn’t have utensils, we ate with our thumb and two fingers.
4. Grace Among still volunteers with the Ugandan Red Cross Society.


Prayer needs:
1. That Silver’s father will truly commit his life to the Lord to be transformed.
2. YCVM single members find a life partner that will support their ministry.