Reunited!

By: Brian Fleming

When plans for a trip are laid out and flights booked, we naturally expect them to go as planned with no issues or delays. For 4 of our team members this was the case. They made it from the US to Amsterdam to Uganda without a hiccup and arrived to the lodging in time to get a good-night's rest before visiting at 2 schools today. For the remaining 7 of us, flight delays turned our 19 hours of flights into a 2 day ordeal that left us tired and worn out physically from the lack of sleep. Not our idea of a perfect start to the trip, but once we stepped foot on the ground in Uganda, we knew our imperfect circumstance would soon be overpowered with the love of the kids we came to serve!

A few hours after landing (and after much needed showers for all of us) we finally met up with the rest of our team at New Kabaale Busega. It wasn't 2 seconds in to their welcome presentation before I was transformed from my tired, sleep-deprived self into a rejuvenated, upbeat human being who was doing everything he could to stay in his seat! I'm always amazed at the talent of the kids at our partner schools and the choir at New Kabaale Busega never disappoints. We missed worship this morning, but I am telling you that I had church this afternoon as I listened to them sing praises to God for all of their blessings and sing with such conviction and joy. And the welcome at our second partner school of the day was just as amazing. As you may have heard in other FoDU blogs, there is no welcome party like a Wakiso welcome party. They, too, sang beautifully and danced traditional dances as they welcomed us to their campus.

These 2 parts of the day were fantastic and brought so much joy to all of our team members! But the bittersweet part is always that these visits are too short. We got to spend a little time with the kids, and I got to reconnect with old friends from my trip last February, but before we knew it, it was time to head back to the lodging. So everyone said their goodbyes knowing that there were lifelong friendships made despite not seeing each other daily, monthly, yearly, or maybe ever. But we know it's true because we are connected by a God who loves ALL of us! And when one of these kids says they are praying, you can guarantee that you are being lifted up daily! And that was my hope today as we left Wakiso: that Cosmas, Devid, Kenneth, Eddy and all those others that I love dearly as friends would know that they are in my prayers EVERYday!

So has our trip been perfect? No. Would I change the way our flights worked if I could? Absolutely. But regardless of the struggles getting here, the few short hours I got to spend with my brothers and sisters today was worth every second on the plane and then some! 

I hope that you all will keep our team in prayer as we travel to Gulu tomorrow to begin INTEGRITY training with the young men. And I ask that you would keep all of our friends at all 9 partner schools in your prayers daily as well. Because I can guarantee that they are diligently praying for our friends and family daily.