(** note that because of length and pics our Arua posts are split up into several parts!**)
Mercy and I had a great few days with the Taylor family. I thought about it that some of you may not know them or know how I know them. We met them when we lived in Mississippi. Doug was a youth pastor at a sister church, and so he and Cody worked together on many events. They also went to seminary together where they got to be great friends and also formed a very important Fantasy Football league. I give my husband a hard time about Fantasy Football, but in all honestly I am very grateful for his Fantasy Football league and the great, lifelong friendships that have formed from it. Doug and Kathryn have three children, Kylie (8), Karis (6), and Caleb (4). They moved to Uganda in January to be Southern Baptist Missionaries. I love how God has moved some very important people to my family to a country that is very important to me.
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| The Taylors, Me and Mercy at the airport in Arua |
Mercy did great on her first flight. We had to get up really early Thursday morning to get to the airport. She slept pretty much the whole hour there and part of the time we were waiting to board. So by the time we boarded she was ready to play. So she was a bit restless, but all in all we did well. The plane seated 17, but only had about 10 on board. They used the back seats to hold cargo. We even had snacks. A man jumped on the plane with a cooler just before takeoff. He yelled out, “Anyone want snacks? I have juice, water, and cakes here so help yourself.” Then he went to the front of the plane and gave us our safety speech… “Buckle your seatbelts, turn off your phones, and have a nice flight.” Then he jumped into the co-pilot seat. Love it. The plane ride was noisy, but not nearly as bumpy as I had anticipated. However when we landed, we touched down on the dirt runway and mud splattered up on the windows. It was very loud and Mercy and I both jumped. She was scared and ready to get off after that. We landed and pulled up to a little tiny building and parking lot. We jumped off, grabbed our bags, and that was it.
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| My plane in the background and a giant man, ha! |
Thursday evening we went over to an American woman’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Sherry invited all of the Americans in town. She works with the Catholic Diocese in running a local radio station. She has an amazing house that she had built with the purpose of entertaining. All day long I’d been thinking that it did not seem like Thanksgiving to me. Then I walked in and smelled turkey and dressing. Then I walked into the dining room and saw the formal table settings all decorated for the holiday. Then it felt like Thanksgiving! There were about 20 of us there for dinner. Several of the other Americans in town were out of town for vacation. Kathryn told the Thanksgiving story to the children and helped them make handprint turkeys. The adults worked on our Thanksgiving tree, writing down things we were thankful for on the leaves. Then it was time to eat. That’s the most food I’ve had in a long, long time. There was turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, fruit salad, carrots, and pumpkin and apple pie topped with homemade ice cream. This all may sound normal to you, but it was such a treat to have it all in Africa. Mercy even loved all of the food, which there really are very few things she does not like, but I was surprised how much of these new foods she enjoyed. I was very grateful for a great night with old and new friends.
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| Our beautiful Thanksgiving table |
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| Kathryn telling the Thanksgiving story |
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| Our Gratitude Tree |
You can read more about our Thanksgiving feast on Kathryn’s blog here. She also has lots of really interesting stories on life as a missionary in Uganda. I think you would really enjoy reading about it.
