Update #14 - May 22-25, 2010

Uganda Children Update #14 – May 22nd – May 25th

Note from Eydie: We have been home now for a little over a week. We still wanted to post this last update to let you know about those last few days in Uganda. Thanks to everyone for your prayers & your support. We appreciate you taking the journey with us. Continue to pray for the team as they have all gone home for the summer. Pray as they continue to process all that God has revealed to them.

Our team is still doing amazing and ready to “Finish Well.” On our last day with the kids at the home, we had a covenant to be joyful and to point the kids to Christ. We were all sad to be leaving them, but we knew we had to be strong and courageous. We played games, handed out candy, and everyone got a soda (which is really a special treat). We also gave everyone a brightly-colored Hawaiian hat and they looked precious. Worship was energetic and fun as always. There was some sadness mixed in as this was our last devotion. We have each learned many lessons here. The Lord is speaking and we are praying that the life-changes we are making are permanent. God has changed our lives in Uganda. When it came time to say goodbye, we had 10 minutes to hug and say our last goodbyes. Then the kids and houseparents prayed for our team. After prayer, all the kids went outside and formed two lines all the way to our van. As we RAN through them, we gave high fives and they chanted, “Strong & Courageous!” This goodbye plan made it easier on all of us to leave with the joy of the Lord. Once in the van, some of us cried a little. But to keep our spirits up, we sang worship songs & some Disney tunes! Directly from the home, we had one last stop to make. The owners of the hotel we stayed at invited us to their home. We were welcomed with the usual Ugandan hospitality. We had cake and juice and encouraging conversation. We ended in a time of prayer together. It was a perfect way to end our last day of ministry.

As we start our journey home, we are debriefing everything that we learned. It is really important that we are ready for the reverse culture shock. It is also encouraging to hear what everyone has been learning and hopes to do about it at home. Sunday morning at 10:00 am we started our officially journey back to the states.

We were originally scheduled on British Airways. Because of a pending pilot strike, our flight from Entebbe had been cancelled. We were rescheduled on a Kenya Air flight to Nairobi which would connect in London to the British Air flight. Our first flight was only 45 minutes long and went smooth. We then had 7 hours to wait in Nairobi until our next flight to London. We did more debriefing, ate dinner, journaled & rested. We boarded the plane to leave at 11:45 pm. After 3 hours of sitting on the ground due to technical difficulties, we had to exit the plane. Our next flight was pushed back to 11:00 am the next day! After a long night and many “trusting God” moments, we finally got on a plane at 3:00 pm!

Because of the 23 unexpected hours in the Kenya Airport, we missed our connecting flight in London. God had already gone before us. After one night in London, we all got on an American Airlines plane at 11:00 am on Tuesday. Only a day late we finally arrived in Los Angeles! We have had countless unexpected turns the past few days, but God has been so good through it all. We are learning to trust Him. ISP’s theme of “Finishing Well” is perfectly appropriate. God has allowed us to “Finish Well” in His timing.

Thank you for your prayer and support the past 3 weeks (and 4 months of training). Things went even better than planned. God provided many experiences we will never forget.

Mukama Yebazibwe! (Praise the Lord!)

Written by Kristina Osborne