Let's Get a Few Things Out of the Way

There is a wonderful feeling that comes with waking up in Africa! I thankfully experienced this yesterday morning.  We arrived safely Saturday evening and had a wonderful surprise awaiting us at the airport.  Sylvia left Mbale at 3:00pm, took a taxi to Kampala, traffic was bad so around 7:00pm she hopped on a Boda-boda and finished her long journey to arrive at the airport around 10:00pm to surprise us!  Did you catch that . . . she traveled 7 hours just to surprise us by greeting us at the airport.  It was so wonderful to see her!  We woke up Sunday and had a lovely breakfast.  I was so pleased to see that our driver was using the Sole Hope van to cart us around in for a few days.  I literally walked out from breakfast and thought, "Great, we have a reliable van so this should be a smooth drive to Jinja."

We loaded up and hit the road.  About 30 minutes into the drive something happened and Paul could not shift the gears of the van.  He drove for a little while until the van stopped and wouldn't restart.  We were right in the middle of Kampala.  I felt in this moment that God was saying, "Hey Rob...that nice schedule you have that you spent hours on, yeah...you can forget about it.  Oh and Amy...you need to relax.  You do remember you are in Africa, right?"  Now I know he wasn't really saying this. But he was saying it, just a little more graciously. 

Rob, Paul and some kind Ugandans pushed the van onto the sidewalk in Kampala.  Paul talked to a mechanic.  Pause...I still haven't figured out how one of the guys that helped pushed the van was actually a mechanic.  Ok...back to the story.  They figured out what was wrong and started taking the van apart.  Yup, took it apart on the sidewalk.  I asked Paul how long this would take and he said, "40 minutes."  If you have been to Africa before you are already laughing because you know what this means.  We were NOT going to be back on the road in 40 minutes.  They were taking the van apart on the sidewalk remember.  4 hours later we were back in the car on our way to Jinja! 4 hours we just hung out on a corner in Kampala.  Let me clear something up for you...I didn't want to be anywhere near Kampala.  I didn't want to drive through Kampala.  Let alone spend 4 hours just sitting on the street corner.  God was making something very clear to Rob and I. 



Then last night we were laying in bed talking about our long day.  (After a fantastic visit with Kari and Jason and their family!)  And something hit me.  What if we missed the whole point of the breakdown.  What if I was so worried about being in Kampala and Rob was so worried about us being off schedule that we missed the blessing God had for us.  We saw street orphans and mothers with small children begging for food.  We had bags full of food that were donated to us to give out.  But we had a plan for them.  And my American mind said, if you start handing out food you will cause a big scene and many people will start coming.  Really!?  What did Jesus say to the disciples about feeding the crowd?  I am pretty sure he said feed them and then multiplied the food! 

Did God want us to do something and we didn't?  Could I have seen God multiply food?  Could I have helped save a child from starvation?  I have no clue, but I can tell you these questions have been reeling in my mind the last 24 hours. 

 

I have got to let this grip of fear on me loose, otherwise I will miss all God has planned.