everything starts somewhere

Well, I leave for Africa in less than a month. I still don't really know what to expect. I'm sitting here listening to the soundtrack to the movie "Into the Wild" (great movie and greater soundtrack although my buddy John would tell you I fell asleep halfway through it) and trying to come up with a good explanation for why I feel like I need to do this. Mostly I guess I stumbled on to the opportunity. My parent's church was having a missions conference and one of the speakers happened to be a guy named Henry Krabbendam. I'll do my best to explain what I know about him although I'm still not really sure how he got so involved in Uganda. He's a professor at Covenant College in Georgia. He's very Dutch, very big, and very merry, I think my favorite thing about him so far aside from his strong Dutch accent though is the way he writes emails.

Jeff:

PRAISE THE LORD...WE ARE TRAVELING MAY 6, JUNE 1, OR TAILORMAKE A
TRIP...
MAY 6 IS THE BEST, BUT WHICH ONE WOULD FIT YOUR SCHEDULE BEST...THE
MOMENT YOU LET ME KNOW I AIM TO TALK DETAILS...:)....Greetings to the
family and the church...

In HIM,
hk

All caps, full of love and excitement, and very to the point. Anyways, my parents have explained to me that he is very well connected in Uganda and these connections will afford me many different opportunities while I am there. As far as I know these opportunities include working at a school, working with a company that digs wells for villages around Uganda, and working with a guy who is important in the world of finance in Uganda. I will also be meeting up with a group from my church for a couple weeks and doing some different things with them. In the middle of all this I will be flying north to be with my family for two weeks while we travel around Italy. This is really ALL I know about this trip. I know no one else in Uganda besides Dr. K and my plans for while I am there are no more nailed down than what I described to you already. I am full of anticipation..

If you are wondering about the political situation in Uganda I have found a great source in www.allafrica.com also the BBC tends to do a good job covering eastern African current events as well. But really watch "Into the Wild" it's amazing.