Standing on the Equator!

Yesterday we travelled from our guest house in Kampala to the small town/village of Rakai! (pronounced like Rock-Eye)  This is the childhood home of a minister who also uses the iPods that Linda has sent loaded with Chuck's sermons. The drive was long....and the road wasn't always easy to navigate!  The traffic in Kampala is like nothing I have ever experienced before! We did however see a traffic light today....that makes 2 so far!  We picked up Pastor Roland along the way to join us on today's adventure. Once outside of the city we headed south west following the curve of Lake Victoria...although we couldn't see it!  

After driving for about 2+ hours, we crossed the Equator!  Can now check that off my bucket list!

     

After our short rest stop we travelled another 1 1/2 hours on to Rakai!  The scenery is beautiful and in this part of Uganda, at least, it is lush and green with palms and banana trees.....reminds me of the sights and sounds of Hawaii! Upon arriving at our destination (after many queries to George:  "Are we there yet!") we first meet with Pastor Fred and other pastors in the town center for a brief meeting and lunch! (and I actually ate some!!) Pastor Fred explained that he has started a ministry called Celebrate Hope here in his home village to help the families there by not only ministering to their souls, but also to help provide them with a means to support themselves through coffee farming!  He also is mentoring many other local pastors to be able to do the same in their villages.  After lunch we drove out to the heart of Celebrate Hope and visited one of the many homes they have built and provided to a single mom on her own coffee farm.  These "farms" are about one acre each and they form a cooperative whereby the coffee beans are collected from all and then shipped somewhere for roasting....the last batch went to Italy!

We then headed back to Kampala and another 3+ hour drive!  George is a trooper!  Interesting side note to today's adventure....there was another pastor visiting Celebrate Hope today as well......from Oakland, California!!

(PS.  If you have ever, EVER wondered what good the EPA is.....just ask one of us!)

Photos of Pastor Fred at his new(soon to be finished) coffee ministry building and one of the houses on a coffee farm that has been provided through Celebrate Hope!

Okay....more later .....gotta scoot!  We are off to our Hopeline Africa Mission in about 30 minutes to spend our LAST day there with the children!  This week has gone by so fast! Can not believe I will be leaving one week from tonight!