Among the things I am most grateful for today is that I did NOT miss the boat for Thanksgiving! Rain that began last night continued into the morning hours and a boat that I normally take for the 1-1/2 hours to Jinja, skipped my village.
Disheartened and fighting back tears, I trudged through mud and puddles, praying I would find a boat at the other end of the island. As I approached the shore, my grateful eyes saw a boat landing, which would take me to Jinja. Yay!
This afternoon I joined fellow missionaries, most of whom are serving here in Uganda with Global Outreach, in a special time of fellowship, praise, and feasting at Good Shepherd's Fold (GSF), an orphanage outside Jinja.
For those of you wondering what we eat here in Uganda for Thanksgiving - let me tell you, I don't think any traditional element was lacking. We enjoyed savory turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes, brown gravy, green bean casserole, cornbread pudding, macaroni and cheese (okay, it's not traditional, but it is American), cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, salad, rolls, cookies, pies... Oh, no wonder I am so full!
After almost missing the boat in the morning, I was very thankful I didn't miss this special Thanksgiving celebration with my "family" here - those among the children of God in Uganda.
Here are some photos, to give you a "taste" of my day. : )
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| Bob and Michelle Peterson leading us in some praise music. (Michelle is holding Johnathan Smith.) |
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| The Smith family enjoying their Thanksgiving meal. |
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| We even had Indians at our feast! From left: Katie (from England), who is working as a nurse at GSF, Sarah, a visitor and cousin of Amanda, far right, who is here teaching missionary children and ministering to children and youth at GSF. Can you see Katie's patriotic "warpaint" on her cheeks? She was really getting into the spirit! :) |
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| The feast |
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| The feasters |
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| Drinking ginger soda |
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David with one of his favorite buddies - Josiah Peterson  He was wearing a "Thanksgiving" outfit, complete with turkeys and other holiday-related pictures, and a patch that read "1st Thanksgiving." |
Reminds me so much of what we were T-giving blessed over there. A British couple was at the dinner and had to put up with the history story kids were telling re: the Pilgrims running away from England b/c the Brits were so mean. They were happy to have dinner, though. It was so much fun...
ReplyDeleteGlad you had yours. I had heard that the rain was a real problem over there yesterday. And YOU had turkey. That's not always available, and the other family that posted today had had chicken, which most of us did. We just pretended we were having turkey. I always took cans of cranberry sauce and corn when we were going back after time here. Make people grin a whole bunch.
Bless your day and your time.