hhbcmissions

Now that I have been home from Uganda a few days I’m doing my best to get acclimated back to life in the states. I’m not yet over my jet lag which means my body clock has yet to adjust to Oklahoma time. I want to sleep when I should be awake and I find myself awake when I should be asleep. So needless to say I am struggling physically.

I’m not processing my time in Uganda very well either. The staff at my church comes in and talks to me about my time there and it helps me a lot to talk through the good and difficult times that come with any mission trip wherever I go. I love our staff; they are so good to me. I probably shouldn’t have gone to church on Sunday. It was a bit overwhelming, although it was so good to go eat with my flock and be somewhat normal for an hour.

My oldest son Joshua leaves for his two years in Rome on Friday and it seems as if Vanda and I are counting down the last 48 hours we have with him. As excited as we are for him, it will be difficult to take him to the airport and tell him goodbye. One thing I have come to understand living in the world of missions is that we’re always saying goodbye to someone. This time it happens to be my son. Josh will be joining the others that have left out of our church this past year, so as much as it hurts it’s nice to know we have other parents who know how we feel.

I really need to write which is my way of processing my time in Uganda, although right now I’m really struggling to do so. I had so many pleasant surprises last week. I made some great friends, although it took a bit for them to warm up to me. Once they did we had so much fun, and I am really missing them right now. I was able to learn a lot of Ugandan words and they enjoyed teaching me. Their language has the same sounds as Spanish so I picked it up rather quickly, so they got a big kick out of the white guy speaking their language.

The Nicaraguans that went with me did great as I expected. It was so rewarding to watch young men I led to Christ as boys then disciple through the years minister the way they did. Few things in my life were as rewarding as that was and I am even more convinced that we have to mobilize the Latin’s to places in the world where they will be so much more effective than us from the U.S. Right people, right place, right time.

My time in Uganda was amazing and I will write about my time there, however my mind is on my son. I don’t know how many people read my blog and have no desire to know, but I know some do. I’m asking for your prayers for Joshua and us as we make this transition in our lives. I wish I could be specific on how to pray for us but I really don’t know what that is. All I know is that we feel like a part of us is already missing, there’s a void, emptiness and a weird mixture of sadness and joy. We’re sad for him to leave us, but we’re joyful in what God will do through him, and the experiences he will have. I will say this though, after you work through the tears, emptiness and sadness, we’re left with a peace. A peace that there is no greater joy than giving your life to the gospel, the good news, the hope for the world, and even a dark, dark spiritual place like Rome.

Mike