Sunday, June 14th

Sunday, June 14, 2009
We started our day thankful for a good night of rest and good health. We anticipated a day of worship with the people of Apeitolim (a village about 60 miles away). The trip out there was very long and bumpy, worse than the bumpiest street in Grand Rapids. We passed through the town of Amuria, where there is no running water or electricity. It is where Tim stayed when he ran a Freedom Camp for IDP refugee soldiers. While traveling through the middle of nowhere (it seemed) we asked if there was phone reception. Tim said there was. Amazing that there is reception there and not in Pentwater. We arrived at the church thinking that there were about 30 members. Really there were about 150 people there. Many were extra people just looking at Muzungus (foreigners). They got to hear the message too! We had a good worship service, and a dust storm during Pastor Carolyn’s sermon. After church we toured the IDP camp there. It was very hot out. We were having a really hard time seeing how they lived. We then went a little way to a small body of water and witnessed about 30 baptisms – that was a real blessing. It was only the second time of baptism for that church. We finally left at around 3:45. Then it rained. We stopped in Obalanga (where Tim ran a Freedom Camp) and saw the mass graves of the Teso people murdered by the LRA and by tribal warfare. We did eat snacks and hard-boiled eggs in the van, having lifesavers for dessert. Home looked really good to all of us. This was the hardest day we’ve had so far. It was good to talk about our day and our feelings, and to take a shower.