back in sd

i'm back.

today for some reason has been the toughest day.
not because of jet lag and not because of culture shock.
simply because i'm alone.

this is a good thing,
but still a tough issue to chew on.
i'm alone in the roadie house.

a house that involved so many conversations,
so many laughs, prayers, and tears.
so many life-altering relationships.
and now it is empty.
ready and willing for the next community of people,
but never will it inhabit the same.

i don't know why this has hit me all of a sudden...
maybe this is my culture shock.
to go from all of us being together to a few of us in Uganda...
to me.

its good to be back. to continue to be at the mercy of God.
to be blessed.
to be loved.
to be challenged. financially. spiritually. physically.

i'm crying to God today for contentment and joy.
for a void to be filled that still has yet to be filled.
for direction and certainty (but i know certainty in my life is rare).
for obedience.
to feel unconditional love.

day 5

internet is a sparse thing here in Gulu. well...power is rare period so the opportunity to sit down and update you all has not come to me until now. trust me, once i get back to the states i will post my written journal entries for each day before this.

so much has happened within these 5 days that it seems so much longer. where to start? i'm not sure...so i'm just gonna type:

we stayed in an IDP Camp last night (Koro Camp). we were privelidged to be hosted by the bracelet makers of Koro. Sean and I stayed with Martin and his family. This evening very well was the most awkward but beautiful experience. The most surreal aspect of the night was when Martin and ourselves were sitting around chewing on some sugar cane listening to the radio in the moonlight. I was startled when I heard the words LRA and Joseph Kony on the announcement. It was basically an announcement about the state of the peace process and the fact that Kony again refused to show and sign the final peace agreement. Martin's face was just perplexed but definitely not stunned. If you can imagine the picture of kids screaming and crying, smoke billowing in the air, the moonlight and lightning in the distance, and us...sitting around each other in silence listening to the news. Erie.

but, needless to say...we were taken care of...so much Acholi food and so much attention to just us, the kids who travel around America telling the stories of the Acholi tribe. kids doing what we are supposed to in life. know. live. tell.

more updates will follow but for now this is enough.

day one

you can consider it day one, i suppose even though we traveled for nearly two days to reach Kampala, Uganda. Yea...Uganda. I cannot believe that I am finally here. A lot of emotion has been building up to this moment. This moment of actually being in Africa. I am siting at an internet cafe in the heart of Kampala at Garden City Mall. I just converted my dollars to shillings and am ready to go. In a few short minutes, we are headed to the US Embassy for a meeting with the ambassadors. Crazy, right? They wanted to meet with the Americans that work for Invisible Children. Easy enough.

Its beautiful so far. The people, the land, the heart of this place. After the Embassy, we are traveling north to our actual destination of Gulu where the IC offices are. Its about a 6 hour van ride on crazy bumpy roads. Looking forward to it. The unknown.