We made a quick trip to the “mall” in Kampala.  We have never been there.  You could see the excitement on Libby’s face. She could relate to this place. It is a multi level structure and just kinda a walking ramp like you would find at any big NFL stadium.  We made our way to the top of the structure and then entered Woolworth’s.  Three items later we had a bill of $350. Higher than in the US is what we thought for some average products at best.  We soon discovered that this was not the place to be and left without a purchase.   Emmy and Sarah had thought we would not like their market…….but we were up for the challenge.

We traveled through the hustle and bustle of Kampala and immediately began to wonder…….where in the world were we going to park this Miracle Van.  Driver Emmy proceeded with much confidence to a nearby lot just off the market area.  The only problem was this lot was entirely full. How would we park here?  Ahhh…..we proceeded to meet up with “the guy” who runs the lot,  another friend of our awesome driver.  We let this man park the man behind the locked fence and we were soon off.  It pays to have a driver who knows people.  One by one we channeled our way past all the vendors yelling “hey boss”  ”muzungu”  ”come and see”.   We were all hanging on to each other literally.

Finally we met the street and were going to need to cross. Problem is there was about a foot between each of the vehicles and most were moving.  So we followed the lead of our driver and made it successfullly to the other side. Whew.  Soon we were in a clothing area and were able to find 2 nice outfits for Reuben, Hallen and Mary.

They were so excited.  Pastor Reuben otherwise known as “Air Time” also got an upgrade on a nice shirt tie combo.  We spent quite a bit of time waiting on the ladies to complete their outfits with shoes and a purse that we started talking to the cell phone man.  You see Pastor “Air time ” has to walk 3 km to charge his cell phone and that will just last him 3 days at the most.  He would need a new cell phone, one with 2 batteries that would last him 6 days.  Wahoooo for “Air Time.”  Pastor Emmy had left us for some other business in Kampala earlier in the day.  We asked if we could buy him a new shirt and tie for the UK trip.  His answer would stun me.  He said, just use the money you will give to me for food for my family this month.  Wow………ok…….that is what we indeed did.

Next up was the craft area.  You see Bailey and Libby sat so very patiently waiting on the ladies now it was their turn. The craft area was in another busy area but not quite as busy. Still there was no parking. No worries……Driver Emmy tells the police woman he has a van full of shoppers and they escort the Miracle Van to inside the craft area where no other cars are parked. Amazing. We collected several neat gifts and were on our way back to the hotel. We all took a quick shower, packed our bags, and made it to dinner for our last meal together with Driver Emmy/ Mary and Reuben /Hallen. It was another great meal. We all loaded in the van and headed toward Entebbe airport. First though we had to make a stop. You see Supermom had on flip flops. This wasn’t going to work in for the freezing temps in London or Wales for 3 weeks. So we pulled over at a nearby shop near the gas station, parked next to the guys siphoning gas for their motorcycles and Supermom came out with some brand new white high tops. ;o)

We said our goodbyes to the rest of the van and made it inside the airport. So different this time for Emmy and Supermom to be “inside the glass” going with us. What a blessing. There we made it to the security line and eventually in the airplane. It was about 1230am. We had been given three of our six seats upgraded to business class: we would send Monica up with Emmy and Supermom. Soon, Supermom was in the air………..It was a good flight…..not too bumpy. Supermom had made her first flight. She was now in a new land. Culture shock would be an understatement. Once we got in Heathrow there would be another first…….her first escalator. Monica said when they went up the escalator Supermom was grabbing her hand quite tight. ;o) We got in a taxi and were off to the hotel. There Supermom would experience another first….a revolving door. She had never seen one of those. Supermom had heard us talk about the Christmas trees we have in American and asked if everyone had one like this giant one at their homes in America? We rested in the lounge till our room was ready hearing from them, “if this is what London is like, what will America be like?” Hopefully we will soon know. They were so blessed to be sitting with us in London. They said more than once…….”God is so good to have blessed us to come here with you. You are treating us like a king and queen.”

Once in London, we would soon meet up with a few of our PCM board members: Jay Ferguson and Karla Foreman.

We had a beautiful board room and Jay led our group as we spent much of the next two days planning the next 3 years of PCM. Way to go “Mr Ja.” You are so gifted at leading meetings like this. Thank you Karla for your wisdom and great questions. You always have some good ones for us on any continent.

It was so great to have Jay and Karla join us. Much was accomplished for sure. It wasn’t all business though. On the side, Karla played social director as she had plans for Emmy and Sarah to see their first London show, “A Christmas Carol.” For New Year’s Eve we had some great reservations near the river as we ushered in the new decade together. It was very crowded in the city and not easy to get there as they had shut down the city to taxis and subway traffic but we made it. Yeah!!! We couldn’t quite see the fireworks on the Thames but we heard them! We even got split up trying to find a better view but all of us enjoyed the walk back to hotel as we passed all forms of humanity. Quite an interesting walk for sure.

We all slept in and woke up for some London shopping.

We found some nice shoes for Supermom and enjoyed taking some final pictures together in the city. It was hard to believe but our time was coming to an end with Emmy and Supermom.

Their hosts from Wales for the next 3 weeks had arrived at our hotel. More on them with our next blog. We exchanged some hugs and tears. God is so good.

We are so thankful for these past two weeks with Emmy and Supermom. Thank you all for your prayers, support and messages of encouragement. We appreciate so much everyone going with us on this journey.

We have successfully made it home and the Nnyanzis are now in Wales speaking and raising support for the ministry. Thank you for your continued prayers for them during this time.

Blessing to you all our faithful supporters and Happy New Year.

Mark, Monica, Bailey and Libby Barret and the rest of the PCM Board

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 12:10 am and is filed under Trips to Uganda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.