A few days ago, we heard about a missionary family that had been forced from South Sudan after the recent danger and turmoil. According to the email, they were a family of five basically moving around Uganda with all of their posessions looking for a place to stay. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we had to whatever we could to help them, especially since the BnB was completely empty except for the three of us. (Three? Sad number. It should be more. I miss the kids.) We spoke to the family and agreed to have them for at least two weeks as they try to figure out what’s next.
We spent some time getting the house ready and cleaning the rooms today in preparation for their arrival. We’re so glad we’re in a position to help.
I had a meeting today with some of my CTC staff. We need to make room in our little center for the laptops James donated. It’s already crowded in the center, but we can’t afford to expand especially since the landlord increased our rent. So we’ll have to be creative and get as many tables as possible along the walls. I also talked to them about the web development course and my staff was excited about the opportunity to host the course and also to sit in as students.
Then I had to run to find a tailor for some repairs around the house (curtains and chairs) and stopped by my bead supplier for more wooden beads for our leather journals. Then off to the bank for salaries, and finally back home to spend a few hours in the workshop. Unfortunately, I wasn’t doing anything interesting except cleaning. The workshop has gotten really crowded recently with most of our craftsmen working full-time because of school break. It was so crowded that it was really hard to work. So I pulled an (unused, inherited, imported) wire shelf unit from the shed and fit it in the workshelf to help us get organized. As I was doing that I realized that our locking tool cabinet (wardrobe) was also getting out of control and this was also keeping us from working efficiently so I cleaned that out, too. By the time I was finished, the workshop looked pretty amazing. It was streamlined, open and ready for action. The space was so transformed that it invited creativity and enabled good work. Jen made me a nice sandwich and it was time to meet our guests at a local gas station to lead them to the house.
As I approached the gas station, I knew immediately which vehicle was theirs. They were piled high with luggage and the family was sardined inside amongst the wall of luggage. I realized they really were carrying everything they owned. I led them back to the house and we helped them unload and get settled. They seem like really nice folks and I can’t begin to imagine what they’re going through but we’ll do whatever we can to help.
