Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It may be long..but its worth reading :)

Greeting blog people. Amanda here..and brace yourself for a long update. We have had some pretty epic adventures the past few days. So sunday, we finally got the van fixed after trying to leave the day before, breaking down, sending someone to Gulu to get the new part, then coming back to fix it. We headed to Paraa lodge for our safari. We decided to do the boat ride because we were told we would see most of the animals there. Riding into the park we saw antalope, impala, elephants, giraffes, and so on. So we get the boat and set off. The weather looked pretty nice. We saw a ton of hippos and crocs and some elephants along the way.Then we see this huge rainbow and we can see rain on the other side of it,so our guide pulls the boat up by a bank and we wait it out. Well pretty soon we get hit by a huge storm. It was crazy intense. And if you thought that Africa lacked the capability to produce ice-you my friend are mistaken. Thats right...it started hailing, on the nile. We were all abosutely soaked and the rain hurt pretty bad because it was coming down hard. THEN the canvas roof of our boat tore off and the metal bar came crashing down. It wasn't that funny but at that point none of us could believe what was happening so hysterical laughter came about for a good 10 minutes. Then our boat starts drifting so our guide pulls it up on the shore (with about 15 or so hippos fairly close by). After quite a while the storm calms down and we try to leave- minor problem, our boat is stuck. Sooooo we had to get out of the boat, on the bank of the nile with the hippos near by and push off. A hippo may have "roared" and there may have been some screaming haha. Finally we got to the falls-absolutely gorgeous. We took our pictures and headed back, soaked and cold. We get about 5 minutes from the dock and our boat runs out of gas..what are the odds?!?! Luckily our guide had extra, it was just funny. We got back to the lodge, they were pretty nice..let us use rooms to change, then we decided to eat dinner there (SO GOOD!) Then it was getting late and the lodge was threatening to not let us leave (something about it not being the safest idea, considering the lions and whatnot are out in the evenings) but eventually they let us out. Minor problem- our car got stuck in a small ditch on the side of the road heading out, so we had to get out- in the dark, with lions potentially close by, and push the car. Mission accomplished there and then about 10 minutes up the road we spotted 2 lions off in the distance..had we seen those before we had to get out, I am pretty sure we would sleep in the car for the evening. But we made it out of the park safe and sound-ran out of gas so we had to stop by in the local town-which was an experience all in itself. Then we almost ran into a hippo-yes, a huge, jogging hippo. I mean, I thought hitting a deer in jersey, or anywhere for that matter was bad..but a hippo would cause some damage-luckily they are big enough for you to spot before a collision happens. So that was our safari adventure-quite entertaining. We arrived back in gulu around 2 am monday. Cindy from VOH arrived with her team and stopped by to say hello. It was really good talking to her and just learning more about village of hope and what God is doing there. We have some AWESOME news (for all of you who have been keeping up with this) WOJAY GOT SAVED!!!!! Our muslim friend from across the street accepted Christ and wants to share it with his whole family and all his friends! Thank you to all who have been praying for him and continue to pray that God will provide a disciple for him and that he would have the courage to tell others. We were all so excited when it happened so we had to share with you. Last night we had the opportunity to visit Abili IDP camp where the beads of hope are made. Really amazing process. All the kids were excited to see us and we saw some familiar faces. So- we have one week left here and its going to be amazing. God is moving in ways that we cant even realize yet- just pray that we have direction with how to use our time the best what possible and pray that God opens doors for ministry. Thanks for everything...see you all soon! God Bless

3 comments:

  1. WOW---What an amazing story--The Safari sounded really exciting but the news of Wojay's salvation is the true miracle--well maybe it was all a miracle--God protecting you and God's raising a dead man to life. I hope you guys have lots of pictures of such an adventure--one most of us will never experience in a life time. We will continue to pray for your safety and can't wait to see your smiling face in person Lindz. We Love you and are sooooo pround of each one of you for your willingness to be used in such and an incredible and eternal way!

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  2. Wow! Amazing story! Praise the Lord for saving another soul! Many people here (in Jasper, GA) are praying for you and those you are ministering to.... thanks for the updates! I'll keep praying for those angels to surround you all! (and to hold the lions and hippos back!) Godspeed to you!

    Wendi
    Jasper, GA

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  3. I haven't been able to stop smiling and praising God since I read about Wojay accepting Christ! I've prayed for him very much in the past several days, and for you all as well. God Bless as you finish out your last week, and thanks for the entertaining narrative of your safari excursion :)

    ~Jesse

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