Mom's Last E-mail from Uganda

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 11:22 AM

Hello all…..this is my last email to you (this is Sue).  Deb says she doesn’t have anything to say because I say it all!!!!

I wanted to tell you something the last time and forgot…..the wooden benches at the church are all pushed together….almost feels like you are sitting on a plane….knees touch, no leg or arm room.  And the first Sunday I thought, man, I wish I could spread these benches out, but of course didn’t do it…just thought it!   Then this past Sunday I mentioned it to Scott Zook, the missionary who has been in Uganda for 8 yrs with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  He said that westerners like their personal space, but Ugandans are used to lots of people in a very small space.  So if you are the only one sitting there, they will squeeze up beside you as if there wasn’t any other room on the bench.  Sooooo of course, I thought of OUR church and how everyone spreads out and we keep wishing people would move forward and not spread out quite so much!

Sunday Deb was teaching the 7 and 8 yr olds out on the veranda for SS and they were singing….Zacheaus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he….in their British accent….it sounded so cute.  I really could listen to their singing for hours.

Today I got to raft the Nile River.  We signed up for Class 3 and when we got there and got the instructions, I’m thinking…..he’s going to make us do Class 5, which is where they tip the raft (on purpose!).  I had seen pictures of Deb from previous years and you can tell the guides tip the raft because that’s what most people want. But not me.  So the man says….oh you’ll do fine.  And I said, oh no I won’t.  I don’t want to do Class 5.  So he said…ok you can go in the Safety raft….you do the same rapids but don’t tip because it carries the medical supplies and the food.  So that’s what Deb and I did.  I was the oldest in the group of three four rafts with about 4/5 in each and they called me the Mama!  They certainly catered to me and as some of you who know me…..I loved the attention!

We had to crouch down in the raft to do the rapids, and got soaked which was great. We would go first, then were able to watch every one else go down and do all the flipping in the falls.  It was lots of fun to watch but I realize that most of you would rather do the tipping over!  We did get in to swim for a while, so nice to be in warm water to swim!  Thought I’d head up to Cairo, but decided I didn’t have time!

To get to where we put in, and then to where we got out……we had to ride in this high open sided truck.  It was fun to be able to see out and not be hot.  It was very bumpy and jarring!  Then to get back to GSF we took a boda boda, so Deb finally got me on one.  It was just like riding on a motorcycle like Dick and I used to do before getting married, but the main difference here is the red dust from the road and condition of the roads.  But all in all was fun…..so I think I’ve experienced about every type of transportation except the public bus and taxi.  No thank you!

I don’t know why my preconceived idea of Africa was that it is barren, dry, flat, and certainly not pretty.  But the scenery is incredible.  On the Nile today, you could see how the people farm on the hillsides.  It makes it all so green and then a” fresh look” where they have been hoeing.

I also never thought that there would be so many nationalities here.  Today I would say that all of the rafters were in their mid 20s – mid 30s and all just traveling around Africa or working somewhere in Africa doing humanitarian work.  The conversations we listened in on (you couldn’t help it!) were very interesting…about water/health/agriculture……and how they were working on improvements to help the country. The people were from Holland, Belguim, Russia, Japan and Sweden.  We were the only Americans.

I read a few books from the missionary next door and one had this comment in it…..…”We should live more simply so that others may simply live.”!  That’s a great thought.   And I noticed that when we eat down at the girls place where Deb usually eats (the two nurses and one teacher) that twice when they pray they thanked God for the food and prayed for those who had none.  It’s something that I haven’t given much thought to until the last few months.  Our daughter and son in law who live in NC started a nonprofit feeding and educational program in a small town in Honduras.  It’s called Simple Matters…..look it up on the internet.   With them helping in Honduras and Deb in Africa, it has made me focus more on those who don’t have much of anything.

Once again thank you for all the things and for the money that Deb has been given to bring over to GSF.

Africa has certainly grown on me……I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity.  Dick gave me the trip for a Christmas present and I guess birthday and anniversary too! So a big thank you to him.

I leave tomorrow night, head to Amsterdam, Seattle, Anchorage and home Wed night.  When you think about it, pray for the 80 plus children here and all the adult Ugandans who so lovingly care for them and for the missionaries who oversee it all.

Sue

Oh for those who want to see the picture of the hands….I have it on my phone and won’t be able to get it off til I get to Seattle.  We kind of did a remake of it with Deb’s, but I’ll post the original!