Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Our First Goodbyes

Rinehimers & Coppedges with our Pastors in Training in Nebbi
As many of you may know, John & I will be leaving Uganda soon! Our commitment here with WGM has been fulfilled as of November, and we will be heading home! We have always felt that God was asking us to come just for these two years. We have been seeking His guidance & direction for our future ever since we got here it seems, and we continue to feel that He is still leading us back home. So we will be returning to the States on November 8!

This past weekend began our goodbyes, as our pastors in Nebbi threw a going away party, Ugandan style, for us! It was so humbling & special! As soon as we told our pastors we were leaving, the first thing they thought of was giving us a party! And a party it was! We left our house with the Coppedges at about 9 am & got home around 5 pm! That is very African~ it isn’t a party unless it lasts 6 hours or more! And I even got a chance to finally wear my traditional Ugandan dress I had made in the market here!

Our 10 pastors in training represent 8 churches in the Nebbi area, and they had representatives from all 8 congregations come to the party! This is huge, because it takes some of them all day just to get there~ so many of them traveled on Thursday to be there on Friday just to honor us… so incredibly humbling! And they gave so extravagantly! We had no idea they’d be giving us even one gift, but each church presented us with a special gift in a special way~ they all lined up & danced their way to us in the front to give us their gift! It was so sweet! Erica is pictured right with Joyce, our only female pastor in training, who gave her a matching hat! And John is pictured right with the Ugandan warrior wood carving~ when the pastors presented this gift to him, they said he gets a hunter, because John is a hunter for Jesus! Precious, isn't it! John preached a sermon as well, challenging them to not miss Jesus in their daily lives, and they had lunch for us and singing too. It is a day that John & I will always remember.

We are so thankful for these pastors & churches that God has placed in ours & the Coppedges’ lives over these past 2 years. And we continue to be amazed at the extravagant love & generosity of our precious friends here in Uganda! We really are so blessed!

2 comments:

Katie Ingram said...

Hey! I'm looking forward to hearing you speak at youth group next month!

Kelsey said...

Hey, my name is Kelsey. I found your blog through reading some of the other WGM blogs. I am interested in being a VIA in Uganda and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you sharing your experiences in this blog. I am taking a Missions and Evangelism class in school right now and I brought up something I read about in your blog in class the other day.