Uganda: Nairobi to Entebbe to Kampala to Mbale

I give Judith a wake up call at 5:00 am, as we had arranged the night before. She is there by 5:20, but I still have had to wait to pay my bill. We get to Kenyatta airport by 5:35 and I am cleared through customs without any difficulty, leaving me time for a morning coffee at Java House – unfortunately, there is no wireless connection here. But I give Gini another quick call, and then I’m off to Entebbe, Uganda, where I have arranged to meet Philip Proctor, an OPC missionary in Mbale. He has come down to meet me and has arranged a meeting with Charles Kisembro, who has been in contact with Len Pine, the Field Representative for Presbyterian Missionary Union. He desires to start a Bible Presbyterian Church in Kampala. Phil drives me up to Mbale, a journey that takes about 3-4 hours. We cross the head waters of the Nile River at the northern tip of Lake Victoria. There is much to talk about, and he is eager to help us in our work to establish a gospel testimony in Uganda.

When we stop for Chinese food along the way, a fly lands in my Coke and I take a spoon to remove it. When I take a sip, Phil tells me I must be a second term missionary. He explains that when a first term missionary finds a fly in his soup, he throws the soup out. A second term missionary gets rid of the fly and eats the soup. A third term missionary just eats the fly with his soup. And a fourth term missionary, when he gets his soup calls over the waiter and demands, “Where’s my fly?”

We arrive at his compound in Mbale and I meet his wife Meredith, and their lovely children: Lydia, Naomi, Hannah, and John Knox. I am treated to a room of my own and even have my own bathroom. Very nice! I am told that this house belongs to a Supreme Court judge, so it is one of the better ones in town. Phil fires up the grill and soon the smell of roasting pork chops and chicken pieces fill the air. After supper I join the family worship time and we get ready for bed.