Monday came and Mark and I were now acclimated to being in Uganda.  Although it wasn’t like being at home, we were doing just fine and woke excited for the day.  Mark demonstrated his character and giving heart (once again) by making his first task of the day to give Ugandan Bibles to Livingston(e), our table servant at Emmaus House.  Livingston(e) had recently come to faith in Christ and was hosting a small house group Bible study and needed God’s word to share with those who also came.

We had a driver and free time before we had to report to our first church so we went to the closest thing we could find to a “tourist trap” in Kampala.

Actually the preferred delivery system in Kampala!

We wandered the often narrow alleyways and purchased items from those who made them as often as we could.

I purchased my only “Ugandan” shirt from a young lady who happened to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  It was so humbling to “buy direct.”  This woman, probably in her early twenties sat at her sewing machine in a closet-sized shop just waiting for folk to negotiate the labyrinth of passageways to “happen upon” her.  As a former retailer, I never stopped being amazed how folk could survive while breaking EVERY rule of basic retailing business.  The teacher in me wanted to cry out at the top of my lungs, “Hold on a minute, let’s talk business here!  If you want people to purchase your things…” But I kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed the experience.

The experience, by the way, included a trip down to Lake Victoria.  We traveled to the Port Bell, home of the famous “Port Bell” line of alcoholic beverages and entry point for fisherman coming off the lake.

A video would have shown the flies and heated argument over price

The lake was beautiful but the “fish market” a real USDA, OSHA, FDA, FBI, CIA etc. nightmare.  At least everyone was dressed nicely, including the woman wearing the sequined ballroom gown (no picture, we didn’t want to be that rude) while she cleaned this enormous fish.  Surreal is a major understatement.  We walked about a quarter mile to the clothing import/export shop and JC Penny.

Entrance to the local "JC Penny"

I have never seen so many clothes in one place in my life.  Clothing from Western countries is literally baled up into 6′ x 4′ cubes and shipped to Port Bell. There it is sorted, spread out on the ground, hung up on all sorts of structure and mixed with never-been-worn items.

During our travels this day we attempted to share the gospel with our driver, Richard.  He was a very nice man and actually had (we soon would discover) a very nice car by Ugandan standards, 1995 Toyota Corolla, with leather seats straight from Japan.  He spoke passable English and passable Ugandan.  The passable Ugandan ended up causing us to take an unscheduled trip to the Kasubi tombs where the former kings of Uganda are interred.  It is a long story; suffice it to say that Ugandans don’t always understand each other very well either.

Entrance to Kasubi Tombs

Definitely (the only?) major tourist trap in greater Kampala, we got to hear the history of Uganda from a “British” point of view at Kasubi Tombs.  The whole story is worth telling, but I will enter but one excerpt.  One of the former kings thought that his kingdom should be the only one in Uganda.  He actively persecuted Christians because they proclaimed the kingdom of God and his son Jesus.  When informed that the kingdom of God was in heaven and in the hearts of man, the king responded by killing Christians so that they could be part of the kingdom they proclaimed.  He said something to the effect of, “You can only have one king, since yours is in heaven, you can join him there.”  Truth may be found in many places…

After many hours, we finally reached our intended destination, a house church in a fairly nice neighborhood.  The home was upper middle class because it had walls and ceilings, doors and windows, a indoor toilet, and four rooms (including the toilet room).  We worshiped with abandon for about 45 minutes.  After that, Mark shared his testimony.  I taught again from Genesis how God remembers even those who have nothing, He does not forget them, even in their troubles.  This group was more familiar with the stories of the Bible and connected well with the theme of God’s remembrance as the story unfolded from Noah to the Exodus.  Before we left, Mark opened his bag of goodies and made friends with the many children in attendance.

The evening ended in a gourmet meal prepared by Anthony and Misti’s housekeeper.  Steamed chicken in banana leaf, sweet potato, white potato, matooke (crushed plantains), beans, rice, fresh mangos and pineapple.  It was way too much!  We talked well into the evening, learning more about the work Anthony and Misti were about.  They allowed us to email/text home and we ended our day back at Emmaus House.

The following picture is a good commentary on the industrial development of Uganda:

The only FedEx truck we saw all week!