Day 11

10:30 AM (Guest House)

I'm getting baptized today! I was very blessed by Josh's baptism message this morning on my ipod.. What an awesome symbolic moment! I'm a bit worried about the river situation, but I know I'm supposed to do it here and I'm very excited about it! I dreamed about it all night, ha! I think it will just be wonderful to be reminded that my sin has been washed away-my past sins and my future ones. I should feel no guilt because of what Christ did for me. This symbolizes being buried and resurrected with Him! Hallelujah?! Amina!

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

this is the power of Christ in me.

From life's first cry, to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

can every pluck me from His hand.

Til' He returns, or calls me home,

here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

I'm wearing my swimsuit under a black t-shirt and shorts and I think I'm going to wear my tennis shoes to avoid the cow dung to the best of my ability...We are going into Kiburara to say goodbyes after so I'm bringing baby wipes to clean off a bit...

5:55 (Guest House)

Oh, what a day! I am just so thankful God had me wait until now to get baptized. It was an awesome experience and I'm thankful for every moment.

We got there a while before the Ugandans and thankfully beat the cows as well.

It didn't smell too bad today either! I was a bit nervous, not sure why, but I'm sure it was less so than if I were about to go in front of CLC and give my testimony. The weather was perfect- hot with a breeze and sunny.

When the Ugandans got there (2 buses full) we got started pretty quick. There were about 10 women singing with a big drum and many people got in a line.

Jeff snapped this shot--reminds me of baby Moses on the Nile!

To my delight, Nayebaretopista was also getting baptized, so that was neat to share with her.

Moses and Drew did most of the baptisms instead of Isaac, but asked Isaac if we wanted him to do ours. At first we said no, but...yesterday when Isaac was talking about weddings he has done, I had this sudden picture or thought of him doing my wedding someday. It was weird. I used to just assume Pastor Piper would do it and after he stopped doing weddings that Brad would do it, but the last few years after being away from home I've been bummed thinking it may not be a pastor we both know well. I obviously have no idea, but it was a nice thought...which is what I basically told Isaac when we made him get in the water just for us. I said, "just in case you do my wedding someday, that'd be kind of cool." Ha, I don't think he actually minded, but I can't believe I said that to him.

Jess and I went last. I walked into the water (without my shoes) and Moses asked me my name and said the words while Isaac was praying as well.

They dunked me (mouth and eyes shut!) and that was it! All kind of a blur, but I was thrilled!

Everyone was cheering and singing and giving me hugs when I came out. Lani was crying. Jess went next and then Isaac prayed for us. Just such a blessing. I always wanted to be baptized in a river/lake like in the Bible and for there to be singing when I came up like at BBC, and God took care of all of that for me :)

I can't be certain, but it appears they are doing a bit of the traditional dance Edson was trying to teach us yesterday ;)

These brothers were such a blessing to us as translators on the trip!

The changing was humorous as Drew, Isaac, and Jason walked us back into the bush and then stood post on the "path" while Terry and Lani held up colorful African fabric around us.

The cattle soon entered the water right where we had been and it was all quite surreal. It is rare, but I guess last year there were hippos in the area, oh and the monkeys were in the trees for us!

(Isaac actually informed me that rather than just taking a nice swim here, Simon was actually searching the water for hippos! Apparently that's what they do to check the water....one person just swims around willing to be a sacrifice if there ARE hippos nearby!...I'm not sure Paul was aware of this ;)

We rode back to Moses' for a last lunch and all too quickly it was time to say goodbyes. I guess it was maybe a good thing, but only Nayebaretopista was around of my favorite friends. She is 11 and her sister is 10. She just sat holding my hand, quiet as normal other than little bits of soft singing. I showed her the video of her baptism and that got a smile. I told her I was praying for her and I would miss her. She kept asking me to give her my pen, which I didn't get until I left that maybe she wanted to write something for me, so then I felt bad. I got on the bus and saw her covering her face and wiping tears, to that made me tear up. Lots of people were there hugging and it was neat to see the conversations happening and the quick/strong friendships that have formed. It really felt like only yesterday that we were awkwardly getting off the bus for the first time and not quite sure what to do.

The excitement of us driving through the villages never did fade so we still got bright smiles and waves as we drove back to the guest house. I bathed and then sat down watching the sunset with Jeff, Gavin, and Isaac as we waited for dinner. Meanwhile, Drew and a crew were driving into the boonies trying to barter for an old metal Coke sign off one of the buildings. Drew had his eye on one in Kiburara, but the owner wasn't home. Moses thought it was quite strange that we would want an old rusty sign, but we explained that in the US people decorate with that kind of thing and they can be quite expensive!Some guy told Drew and crew to follow him all the way to his home only to discover that he had a new plastic Coke sign that of course Drew wasn't interested in buying. Alex (the translator) was NOT happy.

I stuck with french fries and mango for my last Ugandan meal to avoid problems on the bus ride. A couple of us played Phase 10. I was winning until they skipped me the last couple of rounds and Gavin came out on top! I had a terrible time falling asleep, but oh well.