August 14, 2012

Our Brother From Another Mother

We are home (as most of you know by now!) Sorry for my lack in writing during our trip.  Our wifi was down most nights at our hotel so I wasn't able to get online to blog.  Then when we headed for Chris's work trip, I was processing all that I had seen and experienced and lost my motivation to write.

Thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers while we were traveling!  We absolutely LOVED Africa!!! And coming home has been really hard... not going to lie!!

I've been wrestling internally with both the good and the bad that we experienced firsthand, which I'll share at another time.

There are so many beautiful and exciting things about Africa - especially Uganda!  As we begin to unpack all our emotions, and sort through our photos - we will share some of the highlights of our trip. 

We fell in LOVE with Uganda!!  Both Chris and I wanted to embrace the culture while being there, and in doing so, we needed to embrace the Ugandan people.  At every chance we got, we would jump feet first into conversation with various people around us - even if they didn't speak English.  I would try my best to speak "Luganda" - saying "Oli otya?" (How are you?) - often making a fool of myself, but I tried!  We would smile and wave, and almost always, would receive a HUGE smile in return!  Ugandans are some of the warmest and friendliest people that we have ever met. 

One person that touched us (more than he knows) is our driver Brian!  It's funny how God places people into your life at just the "right" time.

From the moment that we met Brian at the airport, we felt an instant connection to him.  It was as if we had known him our entire life - "our brother from another mother".  

He opened up his life to us, and if he allows us, we will share his heartbreaking, yet moving story with you. We had the special privilege of visiting his home - meeting his lovely wife and two foster daughters - April & Joyce!!!!  We were honored to be the FIRST Americans that he has ever brought to his house!  This visit was one of the MOST special moments of our life! Brian is a special man - and we are grateful to call him a friend.

Brian, Jennifer, April, Joyce

Sweet April
Adorable Joyce

The neighborhood kids sharing some laughs











My mini-me!




the barber shop Brian just recently sold

The view from Brian's neighborhood

More pictures and stories to come later...



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