Visit to Pallisa

A couple weekends ago, we traveled to Pallisa to visit a friend who we taught at Pentecostal Theological College in 2009/2010.  It was an interesting adventure because we drove ourselves there on a route that was new to us.

Along the way, we saw this overloaded truck filled with cattle and baskets and people.  And it was not the only one - there were three such trucks in a row!

Another interesting aspect of the drive was how we drove from light into the darkness of a massive rainstorm.  You can see here how the sky ahead was so dark.

Once we reached the place where it was raining, it was really raining.  We crossed several spots where the road became small rivers.

But by the time we got to Pallisa, the rain had slowed down and we passed through areas with beautiful scenery.  The rocks reminded me of the Needles in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

So we picked up our friend Boniface in Pallisa town and then drove from there to his home in the village.  The roads were very muddy from the rain, but we managed to get through...until we reached the path leading up to Boniface's house.  There our vehicle got stuck in the mud in a spot where we had to squeeze between a stack of bricks and a ridge and couldn't avoid the mud.  Thankfully, all of Boniface's family and his neighbors came running and helped us get out.

The kids from the neighborhood had a great time drawing in the mud on our vehicle.  This picture only shows you a little bit of their fun - they would draw pictures with their fingers, then would wipe them out and start drawing again.

It was very fun to see our friend Boniface again and to see his family and where he lives. 

Boniface was a very good student at the Bible college and also the oldest student.  He is currently 60 years old and still very active and energetic as a person and a pastor.  We enjoyed sitting with him and talking over the evening.

Here are some photos of his house and some of his family:

The next day, Sunday, we drove to the church where Boniface is the pastor.  We drove off and suddenly realized that there were children hanging onto the back of vehicle.  After stopping to tell them to get off, we found them there again.  Finally, we left them behind.  Unfortunately, we later discovered that the bumper had broken off on one side because they were standing on it.  This later led to all sorts of excitement with car repairs that lasted a whole day, but that is a story for another time.

We arrived at church and met a very lively congregation.  It is always a joy to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Anthony preached and enjoyed himself thoroughly in telling the story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis.

There was more music from talented young people.

 

I gave a brief teaching about why Christians should want to take care of God's creation.  People appreciated hearing some ideas about how they can do that.

After church, we headed over to the home of one of the church members.  They fed us and all the church leaders quite the feast.  There was a very wide variety of food:

Eventually, we had to leave and go back the way we came.  Although there was no rain on Sunday, the rain from the day before had made its way down to low points in the area.  When we reached a certain swampy area, we saw a huge crowd on the road ahead and wondered what could be going on.  As we got closer, we realized that the road was covered with water!  There were lots of young men there who were earning some extra money pushing vehicles through the two-foot-deep water.  It was a good thing they were there because we only made it halfway across before getting stuck and needing a push.  In the end, we were thankful to make it home safely.