PPAC - From White Rock to Uganda

We’re in Uganda!

So we’ve made it into Uganda and I am now typing this from Jeff and Shannon Dyck’s house on the ten acre site for Peace Portal Community church! Our trip has been fantastic and I can not even begin to portray the full idea of what has happened since the last update, but we’ll do our best.

Things started out reasonably well. A large gathering of well-wishers, friends and family and fellow brothers and sisters, gathered at the large green jade sculpture in the International Terminal of Vancouver airport. We were sent off with some amazing prayer and left to our own as we passed through the security terminal. Our first hitch wasn’t incredibly unexpected – our flight was delayed, but we managed to find ways to kill the time. Namely a group Pilate / stretching sessions in the middle of the terminal. Let the teambuilding begin 



8 hours and 50 movie choices later we arrived in Heathrow Airport and promptly grabbed our passports and headed down to the Tube, destination: Pickadilly Square. The tube ride itself was quite humid and hot, but we were all excited enough for that not to matter. Even with the hour long ride.



Fearless leader Jon took us on a whirlwind tour of England’s sites with us walking the entire way after the Tube. We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Thames river, a bunch of really old churches and sculpture, MI6 headquarters, and likely more. Pat Kenyon seemed to enjoy the tour the most as we seemed to manage to leave him behind at a few crosswalks, but otherwise stuck together and made it back in time for our connecting flight.




8 hours and 50 very similar movie choices later (which almost sounds like a complaint, but really, how can you complain when you have 50 movie choices?!?) we began our descent through the clouds over the Nile river and into Uganda. Making a descent in most normal flights, including coming into London, is somewhat normal. When breaking through the clouds on the way into Africa, the cabin becomes shocklingly quiet, save for the subtle clicks and pops from the craning of everyone’s necks to see out the windows and get a glimpse of the red earth of Africa. As this flight had been a red-eye departing at 9pm, we had not had a chance to see the ground until coming through the clouds. A very surreal experience, especially after flying for 16 hours, traveling for 24 hours, and some of us not having had more than 3 hours sleep!

Arrival in Uganda and deboarding the plane was great as well. The humidity hits you as soon as you step out, and familiar sights that you expect to see are just not there and instead replaced with things seemingly from another world. Seagulls are now cranes. Stray cats are now cows or goats. People drive on the left side of the road. I should say, “drive” on the left side of the road. The Ugandan road-travel is something that can only be experienced, and if you’re uncomfortable whizzing in and out of traffic and purposely missing vehicles by 6”, you may be alarmed. Maybe.




We arrived on the site after a ride through downtown Kampala and Entebbe to the most warming welcome Im sure any of us have ever experienced in our lives, unless they had already been to Uganda before. All of the children from the orphanage and children’s houses lined the road and as we pulled in, clapped out a beat you could dance to and sang a welcome song. We were privileged enough to be able to walk along each side and greet each child and ask their name, shaking hands and exchanging smiles. Any one of these children could melt the toughest person’s heart, showing the most genuine smiles and unreserved affection. And this is something that does not stop. The Ugandan people are truly wonderful, and its very obvious from the time that we arrived that Peace Portal Community church in Uganda is making a difference in these children’s lives.





The day went on. We met everyone imaginable, saw the market, tried to find monkeys in the jungle down the road, and came back to the site to play with the kids. They absolutely blessed us by allowing us to do that.

As if a day couldn’t have any more packed in it – following dinner and an extra helping gone uneaten, the women of Peace Portal Community put on the most fantastic welcome entertainment imaginable. Traditional dancing, a trumpet solo, original Ugandan praise and worship all pounding through a speaker system and echoing through the valley that saw people walking in from the road or riding up on their scooters (boda-bodas) to check out the commotion. We shook the ground until the sunset, and then departed with a promise to reunite tomorrow morning for church. God is truly at work here and we look forward to being able to help in any way we can!