Goat Roasts and Nebbi Friends

We had never been to a real goat roast. Like with the spit and a rotisserie and a full bodied goat. But then we had never been invited to the Arua Mayor's after Easter Cook Out either. We had gotten invited as a team so beginning of last week we all went together and it was quite an experience. The best part was the social interaction all five us had with a whole bunch of new and familiar faces. There was a whole assortment of missionaries and nationals, church leaders and government folks. We milled around like at a church picnic, feasting on goat and drinking cokes. The missionary community here is a unique assortment of people and families from literally all over but there is a familial bond that we are rapidly discovering. For example, one sweet lady working with the Catholic Radio graced us with her homemade ice cream which up until that point we had only heard delicious rumors about just such an "impossible to get" blessing. Needless to say, she has many friends:) We thank Jesus for continuing to order our relationships and interactions with the people/leadership of Arua. Thank you for praying with us for the mayor and his wife, Charles and Cathy Asiki (and Sherry, the ice cream lady:)

Jeannie, Pam Wafler (a dear friend), Erica & Joanna

We also returned to our friends in Nebbi; the senior pastor of the little church is Cosmas and his associate, Benson Omre. After taking some time to pray and process some of what we had presented on our last visit, they expressed a deep interest in beginning some form of pastoral training! We were elated and had an hour and half of just walking through expectations, timetables, and and the possibility of starting small but adding with time. The whole team was encouraged and then they invited us out to a small crusade one of their new church-plants was hosting. It was "only 12 kilometers" away but it was 12 kilometers into the BUSH. Sure enough though, there was a gathering of thirty adults and numberless kids praising Jesus under a huge African tree. The great part was the first song was in Swahili and so we were able to sing along!

Jesus is working and while some more planning will be necessary, we are looking at the first of June to begin. Hallelujah! Praise God Forever!