It was amazing to see God's care and provision for the Ugandan people in so many ways during our visit.
We prepared for the drive to our work site but we would not use the bus with the rest of the team, that first day we would be driven to our work site by Pastor Moses himself. What a privilege.
Friends of ours from a church in the Philadelphia area made contact with Moses several years ago. They saw his passion for God, his commitment to the people of his village and his personal integrity. As Moses told me “they were checking me out”. I think they wanted to make sure he was the real deal. He was!
Anyway we had the chance to talk with him a bit and get a better feel for that area of the country and the people. When we got to the widows house, where we would be spending the day, we were dropped off and told he would be back with lunch.
One thing we were warned about before hand was what they call “Uganda time”. That means that nothing starts when you think it will, but certainly nothing happens before it should. So we were okay. Lunch would arrive when lunch was supposed to.
My work crew was composed of several well-dressed older gentlemen (I found out most of them were teachers), and several really young guys in their early twenties. They were dressed in a variety of clothing from stuff that looked like J Crew to tattered t-shirts and cut offs.
Everyone seemed to know what to do, without anyone in particular “barking” orders. There was a rhythm, and harmony to the way the day was unfolding.
It was humbling to work alongside of such a grateful and joyful people. Despite such material poverty by western standards, it was clear to see that we Americans in many ways are much poorer than our Ugandan counterparts. I learned so much from them that day of their comparable wealth within.
Pepper and I were the only Mzungu men on site and we also had three ladies from our team. As we started the construction the ladies gathered the women & kids for games and stories. The kids were amazed and looked at all the Mzungu as if we just stepped off a spaceship.
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