Wednesday morning I woke up and prayed that God would protect my long journey to Abim. I knew the drive would be at least 3.5 hours, but it could worse if there was rain in the north. I have never driven all the way to Abim with my Subaru... I have usually travelled to that beautiful town on the edge of Karamoja with fida - an NGO with a big Land Cruiser. But I knew that God had called me to Abim to do a three day training on Children's Ministry and Evangelism, so I set out.
I made it with ease to Obalanga - the town where I helped to put in a mass grave for the former child soldiers. I think about those days every time I pass the sub-county head quarters. But about 3 km north there was a full lorry stuck deep in the mud. I hopped out of my vehicle to see if there was any possible was to pass this truck stocked with sacks of rice, posho, cabbages, and people. Many locals were surprised that I could greet them in the Ateso language and quickly showed me that if I backed up I would see a path that led up on to the embankment that cars could pass through. I was slightly concerned because it looked like sheer black mud, but I ventured out anyways and began the crossing. When I was almost finished going around the lorry, the driver stopped me and asked if I had booster or jumper cables. Why, yes I do!! So I then rearranged my vehicle to see if I could get close enough to boost the lorry... nope. Thankfully another NGO vehicle came along and they had some extra batteries so they could try boosting right next to the lorry. After about an hour of being delayed, they realized that the truck was not going to start, so they gave me my cables back. There were a few passengers on that lorry who had been stuck since 2 am, and they had small children, so I asked if they wanted a ride. I ended up filling my car with 4 suitcases, 3 adults and 4 kids and thankfully we made it the rest of the way to Abim with ease.
Arriving in Abim at 1 pm, I was quickly escorted over to the PAG (Pentecostal Assemblies of God) church so that I could begin teaching before lunch was served. Wow, nothing like being mentally prepared after a long journey. I jumped right into action... praying the Spirit would give me the words to say to start our few days together.
Abim is a special place in my hard. After driving on flat savanna land for over 3 hours, you pull into this place that is surrounded by hills. The hills make me sing praises to God each and every time. It was incredible to hear that even 10 years ago Abim was an evil town. The people could see and hear the demons celebrating on the mountain tops. Rebel groups would fear coming into Abim, because they didn't want to be caught in the devil's snare. But over the years, Christians have prayed for release in that town, and it is now a place of peace and freedom.
I continue to pray for Abim, and hope that the church there can be built up, encouraged and edified.
The journey back home to Soroti was much more exciting. Rains had come for two days and so what was once a road became a winding river bed. My white car became brown and I crossed through 3 rivers, about 40 meters long where I couldn't see the bottom. And a freshly grated road was the perfect place to pretend that I was driving on spring sludgy snow. Thankfully my 7 passengers trusted me as we made our way back to Soroti. Another successful training has happened in northern Uganda, and for that I praise God.
I made it with ease to Obalanga - the town where I helped to put in a mass grave for the former child soldiers. I think about those days every time I pass the sub-county head quarters. But about 3 km north there was a full lorry stuck deep in the mud. I hopped out of my vehicle to see if there was any possible was to pass this truck stocked with sacks of rice, posho, cabbages, and people. Many locals were surprised that I could greet them in the Ateso language and quickly showed me that if I backed up I would see a path that led up on to the embankment that cars could pass through. I was slightly concerned because it looked like sheer black mud, but I ventured out anyways and began the crossing. When I was almost finished going around the lorry, the driver stopped me and asked if I had booster or jumper cables. Why, yes I do!! So I then rearranged my vehicle to see if I could get close enough to boost the lorry... nope. Thankfully another NGO vehicle came along and they had some extra batteries so they could try boosting right next to the lorry. After about an hour of being delayed, they realized that the truck was not going to start, so they gave me my cables back. There were a few passengers on that lorry who had been stuck since 2 am, and they had small children, so I asked if they wanted a ride. I ended up filling my car with 4 suitcases, 3 adults and 4 kids and thankfully we made it the rest of the way to Abim with ease.
Arriving in Abim at 1 pm, I was quickly escorted over to the PAG (Pentecostal Assemblies of God) church so that I could begin teaching before lunch was served. Wow, nothing like being mentally prepared after a long journey. I jumped right into action... praying the Spirit would give me the words to say to start our few days together.
Abim is a special place in my hard. After driving on flat savanna land for over 3 hours, you pull into this place that is surrounded by hills. The hills make me sing praises to God each and every time. It was incredible to hear that even 10 years ago Abim was an evil town. The people could see and hear the demons celebrating on the mountain tops. Rebel groups would fear coming into Abim, because they didn't want to be caught in the devil's snare. But over the years, Christians have prayed for release in that town, and it is now a place of peace and freedom.
I continue to pray for Abim, and hope that the church there can be built up, encouraged and edified.
The journey back home to Soroti was much more exciting. Rains had come for two days and so what was once a road became a winding river bed. My white car became brown and I crossed through 3 rivers, about 40 meters long where I couldn't see the bottom. And a freshly grated road was the perfect place to pretend that I was driving on spring sludgy snow. Thankfully my 7 passengers trusted me as we made our way back to Soroti. Another successful training has happened in northern Uganda, and for that I praise God.
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