July 6: Mpigi

Sunday July 6 - Mpigi

Pastor Jimmy had been after us to come to his church on Sunday for years, so we loaded the van at 8:00 and started the long drive to Mpigi. It isn’t really very far to Mpigi – only about 40 miles, but a trip there involves crossing through the heart of Kampala then a long well-paved rural road. But the what awaits at the end gives the trip character: a narrow dirt path through a wetland jungle then up a very steep, winding trail to the side of a ridge and another wider road, but this one rutted and dangerous, then Mpigi Kafuma Evangelical Presbyterian Church!
We flew across town. There was almost no one on the streets this Sunday morning. And we made excellent time on the rural road, stopping only long enough for Lisa and me to buy bread and peanut butter for lunch. But Vincent didn’t turn where he usually did. Instead, he went on to a different dirt road. This one led past small homes, some made of brick and some made of mud. None were more than three rooms. Children played in the yards and they paused to wave as we went past. The road was terribly rutted and Jeff and I bounced madly in the rear seats. It was the worst road we’ve seen for the longest time: we’ve seen worse, but they didn’t last as long! And this fun lasted more than half an hour!
Finally, we came to Pastor Jimmy’s small brick home and where our usual road came into this one. We had only a few hundred yards to go. The steel sheeted building stood on the side of a hill above the road. We pulled in and the people inside started to shout. We hurried up the steep path and into the church. The view from Mpigi is spectacular. The church is on the side of a low ridge, which is high enough to give a clear view of the much larger ridge which rises above a beautiful green valley. There is dense jungle in the valley and the ridge above has been cultivated in places.
There weren’t many people inside, but they were certainly enthusiastic! They sang and danced. Every one seemed to be either in the choir, the youth choir, or the children’s choir. Each group sang several songs, then a soloist sang two. The only accompaniment was three drummers – a woman, a teen, and a young boy. They pounded their rhythms as the various groups sang. It was loud. It was exciting. And it was truly beautiful.
After Joseph greeted us, he introduced me to speak. I spoke about money and how God expects us to use it. I couldn’t tell how much the folks were getting, but they seemed to follow in their Bibles. The kids sat on mats on the floor. They were absolutely perfectly behaved.
When I finished, Joseph did a curious thing. He stood up and addressed the congregation in Luganda. He explained to me that there would be no interpreter, so I have idea what he told them, and he wouldn’t tell me afterwards either. When he was finished, Pastor Jimmy got up and talked about his plans for the church. He wants money to replace the wooden poles holding up the church (termites are eating through the wood), he wants a brick making machine so that he can make bricks (??), and he wants money to buy the land he presently occupies. He has projects for us to fund every time we visit there. This was no worse than usual, but I was surprised that he used worship time for it!
When all was finished, we climbed into the van and road to Pastor Jimmy’s house. His wife had prepared food for us, but we didn’t eat because it was simply too risky this early in the trip. It looked great: greens, matoki, pumpkin, and cassava. We made sandwiches instead. We found that our brown butter might look like peanut butter in the jar, but it had little in common with Jiff on the bread! It was fairly runny with some finely ground up peanuts in it. It was, as promised, brown, but “Brown Melted Butter” would have been a better description of the stuff! We had some delicious chocolate cookies with hazelnut cream for dessert!
On the ride back, I asked Vincent why he had taken a new route. He said the dust on the other road was very bad so he thought this would be a better ride. I told him I voted for the dust!
The ride back took no time and David was waiting in Jeff’s room. We talked with Vincent and Joseph for a few minutes. They decided they would come back at 9:00 to go after the ladies from Dallas whose flight arrived at 11:40. Everyone went to their rooms to rest. I collapsed on the bed and slept for about 2 hours.
When I woke up, it was time for dinner. We stopped by their room and David and Jeff joined us. Jeff wouldn’t eat, but David was hungry. He ordered the Beef Ragout, Lisa ordered fish in tomato sauce, and I ordered pork chop with mustard sauce. Mine was the most unusual. I had a huge bone with a bit of meat hanging from it with a small container of brownish sauce. It wasn’t bad, but it required a bit of work. The sauce was very good and I enjoyed It with chapatti, a very flat Indian bread.
After dinner, it wasn’t long until Joseph arrived. Lisa and David went with him to get the ladies from Dallas. I stayed back to work on this.