Dec.26

Ministry Partners,

Good morning from Fortportal, Uganda.

I was up early this morning and had the opportunity to go over the blog that I posted yesterday. Yikes, so many grammar errors and sentences that did not quite make sense. All I can say is its just evidence of how really tired I was last night. For the last couple of days I have been using a speak program called DragonBar. So instead of having to type (I am really slow) I just speak into the computer microphone and it prints out everything I say. Problem is sometimes it prints words I did not say so I need to go back and check what was actually typed. Last night I did not do that so please give me grace, I will continue to the best they can.

Staying where we are makes me think of the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. This is a bit of India for sure. I had a rice dish with chicken for dinner and it was about as spicy as I could handle. It seems every place here has a bar and club attached on the side or upstairs, this one is upstairs but the socializing noise is very clear in my room. But it did not last long and ended about 10 PM the rest of the night was fairly quiet except for an occasional man hollering.

They said that breakfast would be provided but after loading the van the girl came and asked us what we wanted for breakfast but when we asked for omelets, she said, “we do not have those.” When we asked for pineapple she said, “We do not have any.” When we asked if they had any bananas she said again, “We do not have any.” Finally, I asked if she would just tell me what they did have and the response was bread so I told her that we would just take the bread and take it with us. So today we had our PB&J sandwich for breakfast.

 

 After a rain that causes ditches to form alongside the road it's business as usual.

The men and women’s prisons were we worked today were on the same property but separate. The men’s prison was fairly large with 1,700 men and we were greeted by guards as neither the Deputy OC for the OC were in. The center courtyard was huge with low long buildings surrounding it. It was interesting to see that the men had their blankets on the ground and then had washed their clothing and they were laying it on top of the blankets to dry.

As usual they are so curious of me, this Musugnu, but their curiosity turned to huge smiles as the senior prisoners put some music on and some of the prisoners and I begin to dance. It did not take long until more prisoners joined in, then in many of the doorways of the buildings more men appeared. All of a sudden I was surrounded by about 1,500 of them with some of them sitting on the ground and others standing. The building was at my back and they were in a semi-circle in front of me. I shook hands with many of them as they came to sit down. There is something about doing that that just seems to be an icebreaker for them.

When we were ready to start the men began to sing and I have to tell you as I did them how much I enjoy their powerful voices singing worship songs to the King. It was another powerful day watching them make good choices for themselves. And it was so nice having all the time we needed to present our full program and also have time for a couple of the prisoners to give a testimony about how God had spoken to their hearts during our time there. One prisoner said that he had been a long time afflicted with guilt for not wanting to forgive ever but when he listened to what I had to say and watched the object lessons he forgave the person who sued him. 

We were out at the van and getting ready to go to the other side of the prison to the women’s area when the OC appeared. I was glad he came before we left so we had an opportunity to meet each other. 

When we arrived at the women’s side we were greeted by the OC and I had the opportunity to chat with her for a bit as Aaron was setting up the equipment in the adjacent room. About 90 women were in that tiny room and I seem to be even more of an oddity to them and the men. They are just not quite sure about my intentions. As we got to the discipleship portion of our program, the OC appeared and took a seat behind me. It was very interesting that at one point while I was teaching about how it affects us in our relationship with Jesus can we do the wrong thing after we are Christian’s I saw her put her head down and it stayed there for quite some time.

There really are no words to express what you see in the faces of these men and women as they make good choices for themselves by receiving Jesus as their Savior, praying forgiveness over someone else or themselves and then watch them apologize with laughter and smiles finally breaking out. We asked a few women to give us a testimony of how the Holy Spirit had worked in their lives while we were there. 

One woman said that since 2016 she had not wanted to forgive her father. He would come to visit her but she did not want to visit with him even three minutes. But she saw him in her dreams and she would chase him away every time she saw him. She said after listening to the message she wished that he would come one more time so she could say words of forgiveness to him. She was crying so hard she could hardly get these words out as I stood there with my arm around her.

There were others who shared but I think it best not to write it here, you will have to talk with me in person.

The things I hear cause my heart to be impacted more and more for these dear souls that Jesus loves.

Today MY HEART HURT for them. 

Although we finished early today for us at 2:30 Pastor Aaron decided we should find a place to stay here and then proceed on our travel day tomorrow. We checked out one hotel that we saw but it would not work and they suggested another and actually did something very unusual. The man called another hotel close by and asked that friend to come and show us the way to his hotel, which he did. I really like the owners wife, Martha, and the place was nice but there are lots of steps and with my back that is not the best choice for me. So Martha said that they would make a special exception and bring our dinner to us so that I did not have to navigate all the steps to the restaurant. Outside my room is like a tiny garden and they set up a table to have dinner on with an umbrella and chairs.

A very nice young man came and said that he was the cook and we had a fun conversation with him. He agreed to try to make some coleslaw for me by adding tiny chopped pieces of pineapple to the cabbage and carrots slaw that was already on the menu and I asked him to use some mayonnaise instead of the vinegar dressing the menu. So tonight, I will have a whole tilapia fish with chips and pineapple coleslaw. It was so funny I asked him,” What about the ribs.” meaning the ones that were on the menu that he patted his side and said, “My ribs?” We all started laughing. It will be interesting to get our dinner tonight.

I am not quite sure what to do but the people in the room across from me have a tiny baby and twice since the time I have been here writing this blog the baby has been crying and then he cries even louder when you hear him being hit three or four times. I am alone but the cook came to ask me a question and I told him of my concerns for the baby. He went and talked to the woman and came back and said they were only playing. I know what I heard and it was not playing. After some time, the lady came out with her two little girls and holding the baby in her arms. I had a good opportunity to chat with her and she admitted the child had been hit, I ended our conversation telling her the God had given her a job and that was to care for and protect her children.

The cook came with our dinner and it was far too much to eat, the fish was huge and he had forgotten to put the pineapple in the coleslaw, oh well.

It is 8:50 and I am going to shower and go to bed EARLY tonight for tomorrow we travel to Kasese.

Thank you for your continued prayer support and for our comments, they are really an encouragement.

That none would be lost,

Arlene