So we left on August 1, and basically traveled for 3 days. We went to Hartsfield airport at about 4 pm, and went to our gate. A girl named Christina and I went on a different flight than the rest of our team. Our itinerary flew from Atlanta to Paris, Paris to Nairobi (Kenya), and Nairobi to Entebbe (Uganda). Our flight was a little bit delayed. So when we reached the Paris airport, we were a little bit rushed. And that is not a place to be rushed, because the Paris airport is very confusing.
So when we arrived in Paris, we had to travel on shuttles to get to our gate, which is very stupid if you ask me. Then we wanted to get coffee. Long story short, after exchanging money and language barriers, I paid $10 for sparkling water when I asked for coffee. At least I have an interesting story right? Haha.
So we finally reached the airport in Uganda, and our luggage was nowhere to be found. So we met up with our squad leaders to wait for the rest of our team. After 4-5 long hours, they arrived and half of them didn’t have their luggage. Haha.
We finally reached our hotel, at about 5 am of August 3rd. I got about an hour of sleep and woke up to have breakfast with the squad. It was such a wonderful way to meet everybody.
So then! We heard some kids shouting outside, and we went to see and there were around 20 children singing and chanting. Turns out they were part of a school at a church next door. So precious!!!
So later that night, we had worship with the whole entire squad, which is about 38 people plus my exposure team of 12. Basically it was a huge Jesus dance party and it was awesome. So after that, we were invited to go next door to the church to worship with them, and that was definitely an experience. They showed us their “dance teams” and it basically consisted of traditional Ugandan dancing, break dancing, and their form of hip-hop dancing. So cool! Then we had worship with them and they sang some African songs, and then some of the squad helped lead worship. And I was asked to get up and sing! So I did, and I got to worship with about 50 people of many different nationalities. It felt like a dream.
So the next morning we traveled to Rwanda on a charter bus. That was a guaranteed adventure. There were a couple of times I was praying for my life haha.
So we finally reached the border, and immigration took about an hour and a half. We had to wash our feet before entering Rwanda, which was interesting. And they also searched our luggage (which I got back that day finally!). It was very strenuous.
We finally arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, and the team of five, along with Sharel and I, met up with our contact. Pastor John drove us to Kabuga (a city outside of Kigali), and we finally arrived at our house for the month. We were greeted warmly with dinner and tea for after the meal. Our cook’s name is Bonifas, who I will share about later. And there is also a girl who works at the church who is staying at the house with us named Agnus. I already felt welcomed.
