Recreation Day in Jinga!

At about 7:30 this morning, half of our team left to go rafting on the Nile river! With all the horror stories I have heard, I hope they stay safe. We have all kept them in our prayers today and they are well in God's hands! The other half of our team left around 9:30 to travel to Jinga and took a safer ride on the source of the Nile and fed some very precarious monkeys.

Our trip to Jinga was suppose to take about an hour... but with the trip to exchange our money and heavy traffic, our trip was a little bit longer than expected. When we finally pulled up to the source of the Nile, it was so cool to finally see where the world's longest river began! We met our tour guide, Brian, and we were on the boat in no time. The water was so calm and all the birds we saw were so beautiful! We were even fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of some monkeys! We stopped at a little island and looked around to take in the beauty of the surrounding villages and Lake Victoria which feeds into the Nile. It was so incredible to be standing at the beginning of a river that provides for so many people along the course of 4,000 miles. As we continued our tour, we saw local fishermen catching fish with just a thin wire and locals using the river to clean their clothes. This was an experience I will always keep with me.

After the boat ride, we walked up a pretty steep hill and went to feed the monkeys. One of the men working there did a call to get the monkeys to emerge. As soon as we had the bananas in our hands, the monkeys carefully walked over to us to check us out. We held out little bits of bananas and they quickly snatched them from our hands. At first, the monkeys were thrilled to eat the bananas, but after a while, the boss took over and only he was allowed to eat the bananas, so the others stayed back. I loved being able to interact with monkeys! They are so fun!

Once we finished feeding the monkeys, we drove to Main St. in Jinga and ate at a little cafe. It was so delicious! I had an all 'American' cheeseburger and some chips (fries). I was so excited to finally have some American food again! Although, the food we have here is excellent! We started our journey back home after we ate and it started pouring which of course made the roads a little worse to drive on. So unfourtunatley, due to our delays, we weren't able to visit the children at the Orphanage today. Even though they aren't right in front of me today, they are still very much alive in my heart and I cannot wait to have their big birthday party tomorrow! As I'm sitting here writing this, some of our team is organizing the birthday items downstairs and getting everything ready for tomorrow. We had planned for about 250 children, but we are now expecting 400+ to be there tomorrow. However, God always provides and I have faith that each and every child will walk away with wonderful new things!

Our situation definitely reminds me of the story of where Jesus feeds 5,000. In Mark 6:39-44, it reads: And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass-And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties- And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all- And they did all eat, and were filled. I love this story because it really shows how God provides for us. I fully believe God will be there with us tomorrow, providing items to the children.

Love,
Caitlin