Last month, in Uganda, we visited a little village for a couple of days. I thought for sure that was as far out in the middle of nowhere I�fd ever be, but I was wrong.
We spent five days, which actually turned into six, in a village somewhere in the middle of nowhere Tanzania. We went there with one of the choirs from the church in Mbeya to a five day crusade. We had church three times a day, two or three hours each service. Garrett figured out that we were in church for about 31 hours, and we understood about four hours, the times when one of us on my team was preaching.
Just getting to the village and back was an adventure in itself. We left Mbeya at 9:00am on the 17th. We were told that the village was very close and it would only take an hour to get there. Oh, by the way, we rode to the village in the back of a flat bed truck, which was quite the experience. We were told the only way to get to the village is by truck since no buses go out that far and the roads are too bad for cars to drive on. So on the way the truck got stuck a couple of times in the mud and we had to stop, some people got out and eventually got the truck out of the mud. That really didn�ft delay us too much though. So as we drive along a little farther, going no more than 20mph because the roads are so bumpy, we come head on with another flat bed truck on the one lane road we are on. There�fs no way we can pass them. So we all climb out and just wait as they try to come up with a way to pass each other. Eventually, after at least a half hour, they figure out some way to get around each other. We all hop back in and continue down the bumpy road, we did have an amazing view of the mountains and lots of green hills and trees as we rode along. So after almost four hours we finally arrive at the village.
The people in the village are wonderful! Most of them had never seen white people before. They were so welcoming and loving. They said, “Who are we that God enabled visitors from far away to come and see us?” It was so encouraging being able to meet them.
Rachael and I stayed at the village Pastor�fs house and Tom, Casey, and Garrett stayed at another man�fs house. We weren�ft the only visitors though. Each night we heard lots of little scurrying feet in the house that belonged to some little mice. It was great to live amongst them and see their way of life for a few days. They live in houses made of mud with thatched roofs, there�fs no electricity, and they take bucket showers. They grow their own food, lots of potatoes and corn. The women carry their babies on their backs and usually something on their heads at the same time, so their hands are free to use as well. If the ever need any supplies they have to walk three to four hours to get to the nearest town.
The first day and a half I was sick with some sort of flu or something; slight fever, chills, dizziness. Rachael had also been sick the past couple of days. When the Pastor and some of the people found out we were sick they all came and prayed for us. I�fm not sure exactly what they said but I could really tell they were so sincere and they really cared about us and wanted us to get well. It made me think about how much I really rely on God to take care of all my needs. What is the first thing I do when I find out someone is sick, even with just a little cold? Is the first thing I think of to pray for them? The village is very far from any sort of hospital or medicine. Sometimes the only thing they can rely on is God, and so they pray.
We were supposed to leave the village to head back to Mbeya Sunday afternoon (the 21st) right after lunch. During the morning church service the pastor got interrupted by the start of rain. People began leaving so they had time to walk home before the downpour came. Just as we got to the Pastor�fs house for lunch it started pouring, then came hail, and thunder and lightning. It rained for a couple of hours. So the flat bed truck was supposed to arrive to pick us up shortly after lunch, at 5:00pm he still wasn�ft there. They sent out a man to go looking for him to see if he was on his way or if he got stuck on the mud or what happened to him. While we were sitting around a camp fire to warm up the man came back. He had found the truck about an hour away, but the driver said he probably wouldn�ft make it to the village till around 2:00am. So 2:00am became our new leaving time. As we were finishing up eating dinner, around 10:30pm, we asked if 2:00am was still the leaving time. We were informed that the truck driver actually couldn�ft drive the rest of the way down the road so we would have to walk to him, about an hour away. Our new leaving time became 6:00am, packed and ready for a walk. Monday morning we were woken up at 7:50am and told it was now time to start walking. We grabbed our bags; some people from the village helped us as well, and began our trek through the hills and muddy roads to find the truck.
After a little over an hour of walking we saw the truck. Some men had arrived ahead of us and were negotiating with the truck driver we found out later. All of a sudden the truck driver turned around and just started driving away without us. He said he didn�ft actually want to drive us anymore; we�fre not really sure exactly why he just left after driving up there and waiting for us the whole night. On the side of the road we sat waiting to find out how we were going to get back to Mbeya. Soon after we were told that a different truck would come to pick us up in just 20 minutes. A half an hour later, still no truck in sight. We were told that he was very close, just a half an hour more. An hour later, still no truck. We were told that they had to find a new truck driver now because that one needed to run some errands before he would be able to come get us. So the new truck driver would be there in just one hour. Some of the people from the choir that was with us built a fire, so I went and took a nap by it and tried to warm up some. After I woke up two hours had gone by and still no truck. So we sat and waited some more. About an hour later we were told that there was a problem with the new truck and we would have to walk about 20 minutes to find it. We grabbed our bags once again and began our trek to find the new truck.
About 45 minutes later we hear the truck coming around the corner to pick us up. The driver waves to us as he drives right on past. Again we sit on the side of the road and wait. The driver was going right to where we had just come from to get the luggage and things people weren�ft able to carry. After about another half an hour we hear the truck once again coming around the corner. This time he actually stops and we all pile in. An hour or so later we reach our place in Mbeya about 24 hours after we were supposed to have gotten back to town.
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