In Kakamega

Monday morning was supposed to being our lengthy road trip to Uganda. Along the way we had stops schedule in two other cities - Kakamega with pastor Zablon and pastor Harrison and in Sega with pastor Peter Sidonge, who is traveling with us. We were supposed to leave on Monday at 10:00 am but one of our drivers was delayed over 4 hours trying to obtain the necessary paperwork to travel into Uganda. As a result, we didn't pull out until 2:00 pm. With this came another issue, we didn't know that tour vans, like the one we are using, are unable to travel after 6:00 pm for security reasons - it's a national law.

This began as a major problem, as our drive to Kakamega was 8 hours through the Great Rift Valley and through the surrounding mountains. Because of this, on our first day we were only able to get to a town called Nakuru, which is about half way to Kakamega.

Luckily, I have an acquaintance name Molly there who runs an orphanage. She readily agreed to put us up for the night.

This stop, though not planned, ended up being a tremendous blessing. At the orphanage we met some wonderful new friends among the staff, not to mention the 27 orphans that call that place home, including 4 who are HIV positive.

I arrived there frustrated with our damaged plans and left refreshed and deeply touched by the hearts of these helpers and the children they serve.

From there, we left Tuesday morning, several of us having tears in our eyes. This drive took us even deeper into the mountains, reaching an altitude of over 9,000 feet at times, before finally descending into the Kakamega forest.

More on Kakamega to come.

- Lucas