I came back to Nile River Explorers with Erin last Thursday night. We were supposed to travel here with our team but we were held up at the hospital. Our team left ministry early to come here and celebrate Michelle’s birthday on Friday.
She wanted to go horseback riding on the Nile for her birthday – so we did. We had a ton of fun and the scenery was beautiful. We rode next to the Nile for a little while and then detoured to ride through a little Ugandan village (we realized this is probably really cool for most people, but it was pretty normal for us).
We came back and went in to Jinja for a wonderful birthday lunch. We played some cards and then headed back to camp. We made cookie dough (compliments of Laura) and she was able to open some presents.
Overall, I think she had a wonderful birthday – at least I enjoyed it!
On Saturday, I rested. The rest of the teams were coming on Sunday and debrief was going to start. Debriefs are crazy. However, this one was going to be a little more restful because it was designed as a debrief for rest! We decided that everyone just needed a bit of a break and we didn’t think there was a better place to do it. We only had one worship night/session planned.
People had the ability to sign up for bungee jumping over the Nile on Monday and all-day rafting on Tuesday. Only about 15 people jumped but almost everybody decided to raft. I was one of the ones who didn’t raft or jump. If you knew me before the Race, you’d know that rafting the Nile was on my list of expectations for the Race. I knew that Uganda was on my route and I wanted to raft, bad.
A week or so before debrief, I started feeling super convicted about spending a lot of money on the Race. I have prayed about it and I’m still not entirely sure of it’s root. I know that it could be that I feel guilty because of the poverty surrounding me, planning on expenditures after the Race, or the Holy Spirit convicting me for an entirely different reason. Regardless of the cause, I decided not to go.
My decision created some tension. My teammates were bummed out, especially because I couldn’t explain it. They wanted me to come rafting so we could share the memory of having fun on the Nile together. I did feel bad, but I had to stand by my decision. It was tough. I wasn’t happy on Tuesday morning when I was saying bye to all my squad mates that were about to go have fun on the Nile.
The day turned around and I ended up having a great day. I had some quality Jesus time, a guitar lesson, and played some games. I still don’t know why I felt so convicted about spending the money, but it’s ok.
Today is our last day here on the Nile. We’re leaving for Kampala this afternoon and our plane leaves tomorrow morning. Then we’re off to Swaziland. It’s been a wonderful month and “debrief” was a great time of rest and fellowship with everyone on the squad.
