Ministry Partners,
I had hoped to get a good night sleep last night but between the air conditioning going off , my room heating up followed by thunder claps that were so loud it sounded like a stick of dynamite going off just outside my door, 3am was too early to get up! I called the desk to see if they could fix it but no one was there. So, I had no problem being ready to load in the van and eat breakfast at 7:30. We will have a bit of a drive to get to Arua’s two prisons where we will be sharing the Gospel today.
Alfred bought bananas from her and I gave her a scarf and tract
It is hard to believe that I have been here 19 days already, that a third of my trip has been completed. The excessive heat and language barrier has created some issues but actually, that is when we have the opportunity to watch God’s faithfulness to us and see his miracles unfold. I cannot get the events of yesterday out of my mind and as my friend Kathy wrote after reading yesterday’s blog, “It sounds like you had a little taste of what the Day of Pentecost was all about, with the Holy Spirit giving languages and translations!” When we see/hear God work as He did yesterday it is hard to even find adequate words to try to explain it and all that remains is to stand in awe and give Him praise.
The drive to Arua today was awful to say the least. It should have taken an hour or close to it but because the road was in such bad shape it took us two hours as we went from pot-hole to pot-hole 9from small to th sixe of a bathtub or bigger) to stripes of missing pavement to speed bumps which Aaron calls slow bumps because there is no speeding possible. When we left the hotel this morning we saw the road we had traveled yesterday to the prison lined with 18-wheeler trucks that could not make it up due to the rained out road. What a blessing that we traveled it yesterday.
When we arrived at Arua women’s prison, we were greeted by the O.C. who told us she had worked for Uganda prison services for 31 years. It was cool today so she had us set up outside alongside busy road with no tree cover. Once again, we were faced with a language barrier but one inmate said she would translate from my English into their local language. We are working hard but the Holy Spirit is working harder as he caused then to hear what they needed to hear as they responded to all three invitations. There were 4 children there and one of the little boys came right up to me and held my hand, it is nice when they don’t cry or scream because it is their first time to see a white person.
The is was time to go to the men’s prison of 1,650 where we had to wait a bit to enter and then we had to walk a bit to the area they had selected for me to speak from. 1,300 prisoners were all around me and in a center area in front of me, most of them were in the sun, some sitting and some standing. A young inmate came forward to translate for me but after my very first words he said, “No,No, that's not my English.” and walked away. Whatever English he knew, it was not the English was speaking. Then a tall, older man came forward to translate into the local language, doing a good job. As they respond to all three invitations, it was another powerful example of the Holy Spirits amazing work in their hearts.
After finishing at the men’s prison, it was time to find a place to stay. We made a number of stops but Alfred was unable to find anything suitable but finally at the last stop Alfred came back to the van and said, “Mom, you prayed this morning that God would provide a safe, comfortable place for us to stay tonight, and I think this is it. We will have the last two rooms. There is your room and Aarons and my room has twin beds.” Even though it was over my budget price, we were out of options.
We got settled in, had dinner and now it is almost 8:30. Time to shower and go to bed, after last night I think I will sleep well.
Thanks for your continuing prayers for the prisoners and for us.
That none would be lost,
Arlene
I trust you slept well after that short night!
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