Arrival in Arua

Hello Blog Followers,

Lots has been happening since our last update.

Before leaving Jinja, we were able to make some purchases for an auction we will be hosting in the future, so please stayed tuned for updates about how you can obtain some authentic Ugandan art, pottery, carvings and more!

If you're into trivia, here's something that may interest you. On our travels from Jinja to Arua we not only came across some spectacular wildlife (giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, hippos), we also met up with a 1980's Christian musician. Here are some clues to help you figure out who we met.

1) This musician was specifically a female singer.

2) While she did sing Christian music at one point in her career, she also branched out to do a few secular albums - one of which contained the hit "Baby Baby".

If you think you've got the answer, or even if you're not too sure, read on to find out who we met!

After a number of hours on the road involving a few "interesting" adventures (including a "routine" pull over by the local authorities and a stalled van due to a dashboard that was smoldering) we arrived in Arua to be greeted by the Cassels. It is wonderful to see some members of our Grandview family in their African home. After visiting the church in which we will be working in the coming days, and taking a walking tour of the local market, we travelled to the Cassels' home where we met a woman named Pamela for tea ans snacks. She gave us a lesson in both language and cultural in addition to sharing some of her life story. She has led a life filled with struggles, but her joy and passion for Christ shone through as she spoke, and her words were a powerful testimony to the entire team. She was an outstanding teacher and the information and training she provided us with will be extremely useful in the coming days as we meet people in the community and deliver family kits.

It's hard to believe we've been here for 10 days already and will begin to travel back home to Canada at the end of the week. We look forward to seeing our Grandview friends and family again soon, but until then we will continue working on projects for, and building relationships with, the people of Uganda.

So, I know many of you have been waiting for the "big reveal" of which musician we met on our travels. If you guessed Amy Grant - you were right! For those who remain skeptical, both Steph and Monika had pictures taken with her so please feel free to check in with either of them for confirmation :)

A huge thank you to the Cassels for letting us use their computer and internet to update the blog. We hope this message finds all of you well and we're wishing each of you back home a wonderful start to the week!

Yours,

On behalf of the "Uganda - July 2009" team, Regan