The end of a long week

Hey everybody! Sorry for the lack of communication, we have not had any access to the internet since last saturday. Last Sunday, our combined teams left for a village outside of Jinja called Masese. We went on a cramped two hour bus ride through Ugandan villages and some countryside to get to our hotel, The Victoria Panorama hotel. Our hotel was lovely, Katie, Abby and Niki had their own room. Dan and Scott shared a room with two of our friends from South Carolina, and Nate and Cale shared a room. Our first experience in the village was a church service with Dave Eby preaching, translated into three other languages. The church is pastored by Henry Kimera. The church is open, there is a tin roof and a dirt floor, and no walls. We sat on wooden benches and plastic chairs. We were warmly welcomed.

Monday morning was the first day of the clinic, we had breakfast at 8 am and got to work immediately. Most of us had a lot of problems sleeping, so we were excited but tired. The 5 am call to prayer is really loud in the village, and there were quite a few roosters who decided not to wait for daylight. But we walked to the village and started setting up the clinic. We had to use sheets and tarps and chairs and tables and duct tape to create a makeshift clinic. It was pretty hard to figure it all out the first day, but we perfected it by the end of the week. The boys became experts, and Dan ended up with the nickname "Duct-tape Dan." They worked really hard every morning to get it set up and quickly as possible.

Every morning, our team began the day with evangelism. It was during this time that we really got a feel for the village, and we were all struck with the poverty. Masese is a fishing village next to lake victoria, and it is very, very poor. Homes are made of dirt and sticks, kids play with pieces of glass and metal. Farm animals walk around everywhere, it was not uncommon to be sharing the gospel at someones home and be brushed by chickens, goats or cows. Families live in one dark room, with mats for beds. It was as if we had stepped into a completely different world.

I dont have any more time now, but I will finish the update when I get back tonight. Miss you all!