Josh's Journal - Oct. 24

October 24
I survived my week of teaching in Katakwi. Katakwi is located east of Soroti, right on the border with Karamoja. It is a fairly remote place which has suffered greatly because of insurgency and raids. As a result, few people go to that area to strengthen the church or to train leaders. Everyone in Soroti that I talk to agrees that Katakwi is the most unreached area in Teso region. Therefore, I offered several months ago to train church leaders there. Things finally got organized. We met at the PAG in Katakwi town. About 80 church leaders attended the training. I was using the “Pastoral Care” materials written by the Timothy Leadership Training Institute of Calvin Seminary.

The road to Katakwi is TERRIBLE. Katakwi is about 30 miles from Soroti, but it still took an hour each morning and evening, even on the motorcycle. On Monday it rained while I was traveling there in the morning, so I arrived wet, muddy, and cold (yes I did say cold.) By Tuesday the road had turned to dust so the white handkerchief I tie around my face (to keep the dust out) had turned brown. People there were surprised I would drive back and forth each day, but I felt that my children should see me at night. I also know that I wouldn’t feel rested if I stayed with that big group each night. So each day I left home before 7 and returned about 6 at night. Let me give you one more glimpse as to how bad the road is. I have four plastic side panels on my motorcycle. Two of the plastic panels cracked this week, my battery leaked acid all over - even though it says it is sealed, and I lost my license plate even though it was held on with two screws and two pop rivets.

The teaching went well. I taught about 7-8 hours each day. The church leaders seemed eager to learn and had many questions. I think the highlight was probably the discussion we had about the place of our families compared to the ministry. I asked Basil (who helps me organize these events) how this week compared with the week we spent in Amuria. (I felt like Amuria had gone better.) He said Amuria was a little more organized, but the church leaders in Katakwi were much more eager to go back home and begin practicing the things they had learned. He felt like the lessons would be applied more in Katakwi.

On a side note, one of the pastors wore a blaze orange hunting coat to the workshop every morning. Yes, it really was a hunting coat. It had the black quilted lining and the heavy duty zipper. It made me wish I was in the woods. Soon enough, three weeks from now we will be driving up 131 on our way to McBain. I can’t wait.

For now, I am just tired. My body is tired and so is my voice. I am looking forward to a weekend of rest.

The blind have begun making follow-up visits to the people who received the orange tree orchards. They have been impressed with how well people are taking care of their trees. They have also been sharing the Bible studies we recorded. I am excited that this is finally happening. Our biggest hurdle at this point is the money we need for their transportation. Our account for the work with the blind is nearly empty. At that point I guess we will need to rest from that work and wait on God.