Jinja

Today we took a day trip to Jinja, the second-largest city in Uganda. It has a much different atmosphere tha Kampala - quieter, less chaotic. 

Just before we reached Jinja, we stopped for a boat ride in Lake Victoria, which is the second-largest fresh water lake in the world.  It was very peaceful and gave us a great opportunity to enjoy some of God's amazing creation -  many varieties of birds, monkeys, lizards (about 2 feet long), as well as the beautiful trees on the banks.  We rode to the source of the Nile River where we could actually see the current where the water flows out of the lake to become the White Nile. It 

flows for 90 days until it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. 

We then went into the town where we had an amazing experience to remind us that this is where God wants us to be.  A few years ago both Cheryl and I had read the book, "Kisses from Katie".  It is written by Katie Davis, a young women who came to Uganda from the US and began caring for orphans in the Jinja area. She ended up moving here permanently and adopted 13 girls.  She has started a ministry called Amazima Ministries which operates a sponsorship program for 700 orphaned children, provides a meal each weekday to 1200 people and is planning to open a school. The book had been used to plant seeds of interest in coming to Uganda for both of us. 

While we didn't meet Katie we were surprised to just "happen upon" the office for the ministry when we went to use a washroom off the courtyard behind the cafe where we were having lunch. We were able to chat with the fellow (who happens to be Canadian) in the office and learn about what Amazima does.  It's amazing to see how this journey is unfolding bit by bit.