Wow, our trip to Uganda has been very eventful to say the least. We arrived at the Raleigh airport at 5pm Monday afternoon. As we were walking into the airport, the fire alarm was going off and there was a voice over the PA telling everyone to evacuate. Having been a firefighter for 6 years, added to the fact that no one that worked at the airport was paying any attention to the evacuation instructions, I realized very quickly this was a false alarm and proceeded to check in. Not three minutes after the alarm went off; another voice came over the PA instructing us that the security status in the airport had just been upgraded! This would definitely be a sign of things to come!

We flew from Raleigh into NY. We boarded our plane in NY for London with no problem, but before we could take off, the plane had to be deiced. This delayed our takeoff by about 30 minutes. After we were 2 hours into our nine hour flight, the flight crew captain came and informed me that we had been rerouted because of the snow storm, and due to this delay and extended flight time, we were not going to make our connection in London to our final destination in Uganda, Entebbe. He said they had already rebooked us on a flight to Cairo, Egypt.

Well, our flight to London was also delayed and at the exact time our plane was touching down, our flight to Cairo was supposed to be taking off. As we got off the plane, the crew informed us that they were holding the plane for us (there were several of us that had been moved to this flight) and we needed to RUN to the departure gate. So, Amy and I and the rest of our new late friends sprinted across the Cairo Airport, being directed by airport personnel at every turn! I felt like we were all competing on the show “Amazing Race”!!  We made it to the plane and boarded to angry stares of passengers who were now an hour late taking off thanks to us!

Here’s a friendly heads up to those of you who may be traveling in the near future, if you have to RUN to catch a plane that you were not originally scheduled to be on, you can count on the ground crew NOT RUNNING with you to transfer your luggage onto your new flight!! We finally arrived in Uganda at 5:30am on Wednesday morning. However, our luggage is still sitting in Cairo!! It is supposed to come in at 3am tomorrow morning, so we should have it for the second half of our stay!

Today, we drove into Kampala for our hearing. I had to wear a borrowed suit that was too big and underwear that I washed in the sink with shampoo the night before!! I had packed a couple extra shirts in my carryon but somehow managed to forget a backup pair of skivvies!! Looks like the one pair of underwear I have is going another round in the sink tonight!!

I know you’re all wondering if we got the miracle we have all been praying and believing for. The answer, I am sad to say is no. There were questions about Joyce’s father that need to be answered before a ruling can be granted. Though that seems like a setback, we were scheduled for a ruling on January 25th. So, as it stands now, Amy and I will return home on Dec. 22nd, and I will return by myself a couple days before January 25th and stay for a week to finish up. Then Joyce and I will fly home together.

With that being said, Amy and I still have a strong sense that we need to be praying over this situation surrounding Joyce’s father.  The only way that we can explain it at this point is that there is a strong sense of spiritual warfare surrounding the details of this situation. You all have prayed so faithfully and courageously with us, and I can’t tell you what a blessing and strength that has been. Please continue your fervent prayers for us as we continue to try and bring Joyce home to be a part of our family. This thing is defiantly not over yet!