Exchange

While I was in Kampala, I took the opportunity to exchange some US dollars for Ugandan shillings.  I had been holding on to them waiting for a good exchange rate.  The exchange rate has dropped in past years as Christmas approached.  I am told that is because people want to escape the cold in the north and see the wildlife (go on safari).  This year the rate has been going up (from the US perspective) in November.  The rate is better in areas that tourist frequent, like Kampala, than it is in rural Koboko.

The Forex was picky.  The currency being exchanged must be in near perfect condition, no marks, no tears, no matter how small.  However, they do not show the same concern for the local currency they give in exchange.  It is dirty, mangled, written on, and torn.

Kiko Aloro

Coming back north to Koboko, I was not looking forward to the kiko (road) between Karuma Falls and Arua.  That stretch is almost 250 km.  The 45 km immediately north of Karuma Falls is alobu (good).  The next 200 km is mixed, 50 km alobu (see an earlier post – road trip) and 150 km aloro (bad).  There are long stretches where they road crew has removed the pavement and started working on the shoulders.  The section left for driving is still riddled with holes, only now there is no room to the side to try and avoid them.  There is another section around Nebbe where they have finished two short sections and repaired the roadbed of a long section.  The long section is gravel with dirt speed bumps and holes where the lorries come off the speed bump too fast.  It has been left this way a long time so there are wheel ruts in the gravel and the rain has done its thing.  No idea why they did not just finish it with pavement when they finished laying out the gravel.  Now they will have to do it again.

The kiko aloro adds to the back pain of sitting in the back of a vehicle for hours, because of the bumps and because of the addition of 2 hours to navigate this section.  That is 2 hours more than what the trip took a few years ago in the same vehicle.  Likewise, when I had something sent to me via the bus, it arrived 2 hours later than the bus company estimated because of delays on the road.

Networking

The pastoral care team hosted a gathering for the CTEN (Commission to Every Nation) Missionaries serving in Uganda.  The other missionary in Koboko and I are the only CTEN Missionaries in northern Uganda.  The rest are within a few hours of Kampala.  It was my first time meeting the CTEN Missionaries in south central Uganda.  It was good to see them and their families and talk about what God is doing through each of us.  The family that lives in Bombo runs a retreat center that is used by various church groups and for Christian based training for university students.  The others focused on children’s programs.  One family has also added a health clinic to their school.

Prison Headquarters

Another objective of this trip to Kampala is to turn in the reports necessary to renew the letter granting us permission for prison ministry in Koboko.  Last year I met the chaplain for all Ugandan prisons.  He said if I need anything I should contact him, so I asked about the best way to submit our reports.  The answer was to meet him and turn them in to him and he would walk them through because he has a vested interest in our prison ministry.  Unfortunately, he was invited at the last moment for a workshop.  Last minute so he did not have the opportunity to reschedule with me and the cultural expectation is you will attend, so he really did not have an option of saying no.

When I arrived and called him to say I was outside the building ready to proceed through security, he told me he was at a workshop, and I should turn them into a clerk he works closely with. He will process them upon completion of the workshop (later in the week).  I was allowed through security to meet the clerk who gladly received the reports and provided me copies of the first pages, marked received.

Knowing who to visit helps with permission to enter past security.  Knowing a person who has interest in what you are doing means there is a better chance of the paperwork being processed in a reasonable time.  It will still require a separate visit to pick up the letter granting us permission to continue for another year; however, it did not require two visits a month apart to have it accepted this year.

Busoga

When we went to Kampala to meet the leader of Kairos Uganda, we also tried to accomplish some errands.  One errand the driver wanted to accomplish was a front-end alignment of his vehicle and he was not satisfied with the work of the shop in Arua, so he wanted to try the shop in Kampala.  We were almost there when we ran into closed roads.  It was a two-block section of the street and no sign of any emergency vehicles, just traffic police forcing traffic to turn away from the area.

In the evening our host in Entebbe heard on the news that the king of Busoga was married earlier that day.  Busoga is one of the tribes in Uganda and their area includes the part of Kampala that was closed to traffic.  The highest political official in Uganda is the President.  Some of the tribes still have kings, but their role is mostly within the tribe, not the national level.

Kairos Uganda

God is great.  The schedule for my brief visit to Kampala / Entebbe has been turned upside down; however, all the meetings are still in the schedule.  I was able to meet (for the first time) the leader of the new Kairos Uganda national team.  He is one of two that attended Kairos training earlier this year.  I gave him a copy of the Kairos Freedom Guide which he gladly received.  He received one during training and is seeking copies for the three team members who have not been to training yet.

He has visions of organizing Advisory Councils and conducting a Kairos weekend in six months.  I pray he is right; however, no hurry in Africa.  The wife of the other missionary told me afterwards that he seems to be focused only on the Kampala area and not Uganda as a whole.  I think he will include us in Koboko; however, his attention will be on what he can see and where he ministers, Kampala.

Road Trip

I rode with the other CTEN missionary in Koboko, and our pastoral care team, on the trip from Koboko to Kampala (area).  Why is it that road construction begins by making things worse?  The good news is there are more kilometers of completed road near Nebbe.  However, moving from a stretch of 1 km in one place and 2 km in another to triple that is not the huge improvement I am desiring.

The second section of bad road is in the approximately 120 km between Pakwach and Karuma Falls.  The southern 45 km are good, the rest went from pothole laden to torn up for roadwork.  I am looking forward to the completion of the roadwork.

Prison Ministry

The pastoral care couple joined the prison ministry team for the weekly ministry this week.  On the men’s side of the prison, we prayed and sang songs before I shared from the gospel of Mark.  After we discussed the scripture two inmates gave their life to Christ.  The entire team shared in praying for those giving their lives to Jesus.

The female members of the prison ministry team and the pastoral care couple did the same on the women’s side of the prison.   They did not report anyone coming forward to give their life to Jesus; however, they were visited by a couple of geckos.  They managed to discuss the scripture despite the distraction.

Bible Study

One of the things we do at our prison ministry team meetings is Bible study.  This week my pastoral care team is visiting from the US.  They enjoyed the Bible study and were impressed by the interaction of the team members.  They also mentioned other missionaries they care for, that are serving in India.  They said they need a Bible study like this.  The team developed this Bible study at the prompting of the Holy Spirit for the prison ministry we are called to.  We are currently sharing copies of our materials with five local secondary schools whose Scripture Unions have requested copies for their Bible studies.  Of course we will provide our visitors with a digital copy so they can help their missionaries in India.

Tea Party

The prison ministry met for its weekly team meeting yesterday.  During the meeting we discussed the tea party.  Locally, the organizing committee is expected to have one more meeting following their program, to evaluate it.

The evaluation revealed that some of the team members received comments about the food.  Our guests only expected tea, despite it being cultural to serve food at a program.  Some said we need to call it a food party instead of a tea party.  We stretched and worked to raise a budget and control that budget while providing food.  If we can avoid that by calling it a tea party, well …

One team member mentioned that some of our guests wanted to buy our t-shirt (uniform).  This is the same shirt that several of our team members are struggling to buy.  Many only bought theirs earlier that day.  We plan to have follow-up discussions about making the shirt available outside of the team and if we do, should it be the same color?