We're in the Entebbe, Uganda airport awaiting boarding on our first flight toward home. We'll be riding the red eye to Amsterdam, then flying from there to Boston tomorrow. We should be home in Bridgton, Maine around 5:00 PM tomorrow, August 2. Its hard to believe our trip to Africa is over. We worked, saved and planned for so long.

Saying good-bye was hard. Rose truly loved the four Agape kids in the process of being adopted by our new friends from Houston. We're hoping to see them again the next time we go to Texas to see our oldest child. Their soon to be parents, Mark and Cindy, were life savers in so many ways. To have Americans who had already spent time in Uganda to explain so many things was a gift from God. Simon, the gatekeeper for our little road, was especially hard to say good-bye to. I still haven't written his story, but for now I'll merely say he is truly one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and a real inspiration. We said good-bye to Mona and her sisters, the Somalian refugees, last night. Rose's friendship with Mona was so sweet, and they've already found each other on Facebook.

The toddlers at Agape House, on the other hand, didn't really understand we were leaving, but it was hard for us to face the fact that we wouldn't be playing with Paul or Shaun or Ashley or any of the others again. And certainly it was hard saying good-bye to the staff. These people work so hard for so little. They sang us a song and did an African dance for us as part of their good-bye, a very African thing to do.

As Joseph, our primary host, was driving us out of our gate onto the dirt (mud since last nights torrential rains) roads of our slum neighborhood, the street kids all came running up to the car to high five us. These kids were some of my favorite people we met here. Then I asked Joseph to stop by our regular fruit stand one more time, where I told the young man who worked there that we were heading back to America. I encouraged him to keep practicing. Then we were on our way to the airport.

There's so many more stories to tell, memories to smile at, people to pray for... Its been one of the most meaningful months of my life, and I hope the truths that God has revealed to me this summer have a permanent effect on me, even the hard things. It reminds me of the song "Monkeys at the Zoo" by Charlie Peacock:


"Monkeys At The Zoo"


"Will it be different now, or the same?
Will I have learned anything, or was it just a way to spend a day or two set aside for thinking thoughts about you?
If that's all it was I had a good time.

But that won't be enough for me, not this year, not anytime soon,
I have got to clean house, gotta make my bed, gotta clear my head,
It's getting kinda stuffy in here, smells sort of funky too, like monkeys at the zoo,
I have been whoring after things 'cause I wanna feel safe inside - that's a big, fat lie,
No amount of green, gold or silver will ever take the place of the peace of God.

Spirit, come flush the lies out,
Spirit, come flush the lies out.

Will it be different now, or the same? Have I changed at all?
And if you were to dive deep inside my soul would you find Jesus there, or a gaping hole?
Should I be content with my "beautiful" Christian life?

But that won't be enough for me, not this year, not anytime soon,
I have got to clean house, gotta make my bed, gotta clear my head,
It's getting kinda stuffy in here, smells sort of funky too, like monkeys at the zoo,
I have been whoring after things 'cause I wanna get everything right - that's a big, fat lie,
No amount of green, gold or silver, the perfect body, another hot toddy, work for the Lord, fame and power, power and sex, a seat at the table at the Belle Mead Country Club,
Here's the rub: nothing will ever take the place of the peace of God."