The Night I fell in love with Uganda....

I was in the country for three hours and already in love with it... I just had the most incredible night that I don't even know how I am going to find the words to do it justice. We made it to Entebbe, Uganda after a day of travel. The bus ride from the airport to our hotel was about 45 minutes, and I'm pretty sure everyone was falling asleep.  When we arrived, our team leaders gave each individual the option to either stay and rest or go to Return ministries. My whole body was screaming rest while my heart was telling me to go and love. I am so glad that my heart can overcome my weariness because after a night like tonight, I feel so full of joy and happiness.  I knew I would love loving on the kids but I did not know how much emotion I would have and how much I would never want to leave.  Return ministries is a place for kids in the community to come and learn, worship, pray, and play. Pastor Samuel started it and is the sweetest man. He explained that most kids there do not have fathers. Most of their fathers abandoned them, so they are left with just their mothers.  As we pulled up, all I could hear were screams of excitement from tons of children. As I began to see faces with the screams, my eyes started tearing up uncontrollably. They all were jumping up and down saying welcome welcome! I got off the bus with tears streaming down my face. At once, at least 100 kids were hugging and jumping on my team and I.  We only had time to stay for about an hour, but it was truly the best hour. The kids and I played ball and danced. They were so excited to show me a kitten they had found. Every child around me was touching me whether it just be a small little finger. They all are screaming photo photo! They love to have their picture taken and then to see it. I did not want to leave. When you start saying bye, they all run up and hug you and say thank you for coming! Pulling away was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. It's amazing how much one person can mean to them. How much me, Caroline Flippin, can make hundreds of children around me smile with joy.  Driving around Kampala is so neat. It is so different here. You can see the poorness all around you, but as I watched the people as we drove by, there was nowhere else I'd rather be. The Ugandans are walking everywhere, and there are lots of motorcycles. The driving is crazy and especially since they drive on the opposite side of the road as us. The other cars on the road literally drive right next to you that I was afraid to even stick my hand out the window. But the people smile at you as you go by and the children wave and scream "muzungu!" which means white person. As we were driving we passed a herd of cattle just walking on the road  which I thought was hilarious. I couldn't have asked for a better first day! Favorites from the day: - As we were driving to Return, I passed a teenage girl who had this really sad face. I looked at her and smiled and waved and she got the biggest grin on her face. Melted my heart. - This little girl named Vanessa grabbed hold of me the second I got off the bus at Return and would not let go of me the whole time. She admired the green bracelet I had on my wrist. She kept saying "I want!" But, we're not allowed to single them out and give them things, so we decided that it would be a memory bracelet, and the memories her and I had would be in the bracelet and everytime I looked at it, I would remember her. - This other little girl who was no more than one had her shoeless foot stepped on, and she just crawled in my lap and laid her head on my chest and cried. So sweet.  That is all for today. My heart is overwhelmed, and I can't imagine what else God has in store. Tonight, I will fall asleep smiling :)