One Year Ago

One year ago, I made the first of many long road trips north through
Uganda. One year ago, I saw baboons, hippos, and crocodiles in the
wild for the first time. One year ago, I arrived in Arua, the small
African town that has been my home ever since.

I am amazed that I've lived in this place for a year already. That
I've somehow adapted to the oh-so-very-slow pace of life here. That I
haven't gone completely crazy yet. That my time here is running out.

I have nine months left in Arua. And I definitely have things I want
to see accomplished in those nine months. I want Jesca to meet Jesus
and choose to follow Him. I want our school groups to become student-led and continue functioning after we leave. I want to begin reaching out to HIV patients here and share Jesus' love with them. I want these final months to count.

I guess the bottom line is, even though I miss my family terribly and
am ready to go home, I don't want to be so focused on getting home
that I miss out on my last months here. I want to continue being here
for as long as I'm here. Which, surprisingly, is a lot harder than it
sounds.

Please pray for us here in Arua, for good transitions as new people
come in and others of us prepare to leave later this year, that we
will keep our focus and not lose sight of our true goal.

One year down, nine months to go!