The morning started by exchanging money in Kampala. There are lots of rules around how they do money exchange. They only accept 50’s & 100’s and they only accept bills that are marked 2006 and above.

Geoffrey, the Ugandan pastor, wanted us to be keenly aware of all the happenings in that very small money exchange office and now I see why.

There is some negotiation room with the exchange rate and there was more than once in which Geoffrey had to be firm with the gentleman that was in charge of giving us the money.

The man kept handing me some of the bills back as I gave them to him and he refused to exchange them. I asked each time what was wrong and he would point to the year of issue on the bill, again all the bills had to be dated 2006 and above.

In order to facilitate the process because all the other people were still waiting on the bus, I began to check the dates as I handed them to him so that we could make the process quicker. After a few more bills, he once again handed one back to me and pointed to the bill and acted very frustrated.

I was beginning to stress out because I knew that people were planning on this money as their only spending money and I didn’t really have a lot of extra for a backup plan.

I looked at the date on the bill and it was fine. So what in the world could possibly be wrong? When I asked him the question, he pointed out a hairline tear in the top of the bill. Truthfully, it couldn’t have been more than a ¼ of an inch long, it was tiny and had I not looked very carefully I would not have seen it. All I could think of was really you are refusing to give me money for this tiny little tear? Certainly his refusal to see the bill as acceptable did not start my day off in the best of circumstances, especially since the next 8 hours were spent on a bus.

When we got to Nebbi, it is the first time staying at this particular hotel. As Kathy and I checked the rooms and got ready to make the room assignments, we noticed several of the rooms did not have a commode. That is one of those deal breakers for me. I can live without anything on a mission trip but many of us really do need somewhere to go to the bathroom. So I was a little disappointed

Finally after the room assignments were made, and a special thank you to Terry Blythe and Lance Armstrong who took one for the team and took the rooms without a potty we were ready to go to dinner.

Geoffrey joined us by this time and asked us if we had hot water. Several of the folks who already had a shower responded yes. Well, that surprised Kathy and myself because we did not plan on having hot water as that was not a commodity we had the privilege of experiencing last time.

Before leaving for dinner, Geoffrey took us out on the front porch of the hotel and you can look across the street and over the path and see the rooftops of the Acres of Hope buildings. That coupled with seeing many of the children that we had the privilege of putting shoes on their feet and playing games with them last March, and having the privilege of greeting them changed my perspective. Took my grumpiness away from this morning when the gentleman was rather unfriendly and demanding about the money exchange and it reminded me of why we are here

You see it is all in how we choose to see. In the sermon series that we are doing right now we are talking a lot about setting our faces towards Jerusalem.

For many of us on this trip, leaving this time was particularly hard we are not sure why, but there seemed to be just a sadness that accompanied us. On the 24 hour airplane ride over here all I kept repeating to myself was and he set his face to Jerusalem.

So I am asking you as we are 1,000 and 1,000 of miles apart, what is your Jerusalem? For us this week it is choosing to see that even though we may not be able to change everyone’s life, every little thing that we do from handing out a pencil or coloring page out of a coloring book or a pair of tennis shoes, it is making a difference and representing the love of Christ and it’s sharing that love.

So for us this week, being here is our Jerusalem. Even though it was tough for me to set my face in this direction, once I was willing to see what God would have me see, I was transformed. As I saw the rooftops of Acres of Hope across the field and also noticed a young man wearing a WCUMC youth mission trip shirt that was worn out from use, a peace that it is all worth it took over. The people here truly do have hope. It is because of you and your generosity and love.

So, I do not know what your Jerusalem is but regardless; do not be afraid to set your face to it. If you do, a transformation will work in and through you as you seek to follow God.

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