Monday, June 22nd

Always Another Adventure...
Today is Monday and I have been left behind in Soroti! The rest of the team is now safely at home in Grand Rapids, ready to enjoy the rest of their Michigan summer. When you see them, make sure you ask LOTS of questions. It’s hard to answer, “How was your trip?” Try some specifics like: “Who was the most interesting person you met?” or “What was the hardest issue for you to leave behind in Soroti?” or “What are you going to follow up with and how can we help?”
Thank you all so much for praying for our trip! We couldn’t have done it without all of your prayers and with strength from our God.
Now for an update on our adventures!!!!
This weekend, we got to enjoy a trip to Murchison Falls, a National Park in NW Uganda. We left Thursday morning for a long trek to the park. Once inside, we drove two hours to Red Chilli Rest Camp, our home for the weekend. On the way we saw giraffes, elephants, baboons, antelope (or waterbuck??), tons of birds, water buffalo, and LOTS of warthogs. We spent the evening with a drive to the falls, admiring the mighty power of our awesome God.
On Friday we took a drive through the game park with a guide named Simon. He showed us around the park where we again saw TONS of giraffes, elephants, and more wildlife. We were REALLY excited when Simon received a call that a lioness was a couple kilometers down the road. We had been outside stretching, but rushed excitedly to the van when he yelled, “Lion!” Poor Avalien thought the yell meant there was a lion right outside the van, so she screamed and ran for mom... it was pretty cute!
We spent the afternoon on a water cruise to the falls. We had a private safari boat which took us two hours to the falls and an hour back. On the way we saw dozens of hippos, a bunch of elephants near the water, and a few crocodiles. Let me tell you, hippos are scary!!! On our way towards the falls, we accidently got a bit too close to one, driving over the camouflaged hippo. It was obviously unsettled, knocking our boat and scaring one our team members SO badly that she completely leaped over the seat into fetal position in the center aisle. It was funny!
The trip ended well with a debrief Friday night and a Saturday drive into Kampala. We stopped for a pizza and milkshake lunch for a little taste of home at “I Love NY”. We spent the afternoon at a Kampala craft market, picking up some homemade gifts. Before dropping off the team at the airport we had dinner at the Windsor Lake Victoria hotel. It was a beautiful place to sit and relax before heading out for some long flights!
The team is now home after three flights and only a little trouble. There were some delays and a missed flight, but everyone made it home safely!
Now that I’m still here, I want to keep updating the blog for you all! I’m starting to settle into a routine and will begin teaching preschool this week and working a couple of shifts at Amecet. I’ll let you know how everything works out.
Please continue praying for the team as they enter back into Western life. Pray for them to be patient, understanding, and a bit unsettled as they look at Western life with fresh eyes.
Please continue to pray for me as I settle into life in Soroti without the team. Pray for physical strength as I fight a little bug I’ve got and for mental, physical, and emotional strength as I continue to experience life here. Pray for spiritual strength as I struggle with the hardships I see every day and for a positive attitude as I continue searching for God’s place for me here!
Love,
Steph