Lake Victoria is a huge lake. You can travel for hours by boat and get to the place that you see no land. It is not uncommon for there to be 5' waves on the lake. Scattered throughout the lake are little islands that are inhabited. The people have very little communication with the land and sometimes never leave the island. There have been missionaries in the past that have visited these islands and shared the gospel but it has been many years that they have been left to themselves in every way. The island people are what we would call simple people. They live a simple life of fishing and have simple thoughts about the God, the world and everything in it. They are just trying to make it from day to day. The islands are filled with drugs and alcohol that are destroying lives and families. This would be our task on Saturday. Visit one of the islands to encourage the pastors and evangelize as much as possible.
When we arrived at the dock I had no idea what kind of boat we would be boarding. All I knew was it was about 30' long. I have expecting a little fairy of so sort. What we boarded was a home made 30' canoe that was take on water and we had about a 30 minute trip to get there. The boat could only come about 15' from the shore so we were taxied out and the girls were carried. There are people that get paid all day long to carry people from shore to boat and boat to shore. We saw grown men being carried on the workers shoulders. The lake was calm on the trip over which made for a nice smooth ride.
We we hit land on the island it was as if we traveled back in time about 50 years from Ugandan standards. It was a very primitive place with huts all around. There was a school that was unfinished and run down that the kids were meeting in and kids were everywhere. Hanna took out some little bracelets that we were giving to the kids and was pinned up against a wall as they bombarded her for a gift. I had to step in so she could move.
We made our way up to a big tree which would be the meeting place for the church service that day. And as I was walking a saw three men in a hut not to far from where the tree was. As we were waiting for the people to gather The Lord impressed upon my hart to go and speak to these men about Christ. So I grabbed Julius, my translator, and we headed across the field back the their hut. After the greeting I began to share my testimony with the 3 young men. I share with them how the one decision that my father made to follow Christ changed the entire course of our family. I come from a line of alcoholics and my dad was headed in that direction until he gave his life to Jesus. Two of the men confessed that they had received Christ but one had not. As I pleaded for him to accept Christ, he bowed his head and prayed to receive. He was one of the three we led to Christ on the island that day. Steve preached a great message of David and Goliath using the kids and props for his story. The parents loved it.
After all ministry was over the villagers prepared the team fresh fish that had been fried. (The whole fish, eyes and everything.) It was not something that we would have normally ate but Krystal and I jumped right in. The fish was very good. You just had to be careful not to eat the bones.
The team had spent several hours on the island and it was now mid afternoon. The wind was getting stronger and the boat ride back was pretty rocky. We had chartered the canoe for ourselves, but ended up with about 20 extra passengers for the trip back. It was a long day but a good day in The Lord.
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