Adventure

Over the Christmas break Farouk and I decided we felt like we needed to go on an adventure. After seeing so many facebook posts from home of people going away for the holidays, as well as having many people here going away, I started to get the taste for a little bit of a holiday of my own.
All of Youth Support Uganda's projects have finished up for the year, and Agnes has gone away on a short term mission trip, so I was feeling like now would be the perfect chance to go away for a few days, as next year will be very busy.
Farouk has been by himself at his home this Christmas period as Beatrice took their little baby to go and visit her family deep in her village.
So sitting and chatting at the office the other day we decided we should go on a little field trip for a day. What started as maybe a day exploring some scenery turned into 3 days of heading far over to the mountains of Western Uganda.
Western Uganda is a beautiful place and is shadowed by one of Africa's biggest mountain ranges, the Rwenzoris. These mountains divide Uganda from the Congo, and is full of beautiful green scenery, lush jungles, chimps and monkeys, and extinct volcano craters.
It took a full day to reach the west in public transport, and we only had our backpacks and no idea where we would stay.
There are lots of very cheap guest houses here that the locals use, which is basically a room with a bed for about $3.00 a night, so we made use of these places while during the day we took boda bodas deep into the mountains to go walking.
We got to explore a lot, and we found beautiful waterfalls that we went swimming in (even Farouk got to go for a swim, which is very rare) and there were also these awesome bright blue crater lakes that you could swim in.

We also got to see lots of wild life and there were plenty of monkeys running around.
Western Uganda really is a paradise, and we were both awe struck at the beauty of the place. I captured our little adventure on my GoPro and below you will find the link to watch our little adventure.
It was great to have a refreshing time out in creation before the busyness of next year starts. Those of you who know me, know that one of my biggest passions is exploring new places and being among wilderness.
I really get a sense of God's glory in the beauty of creation, and I feel privileged to have been able to go on a little adventure, even if it was only for three days. It was also great to take Farouk along, as he has never really traveled before and was especially taken aback by the waterfalls.
I'll leave you with some words from John Piper about creation which I think is fitting for my time in Western Uganda.

"When I look at this universe,
I am just so moved by what a work of wisdom it is, and what knowledge is displayed.
Everything that God made, speaks!
And since God never speaks in vain, everything ministers, if you have eyes to see it, and ears to hear it.
Everything ministers, because everything speaks God, and God is in ministry.
God heals, God gives hope, God gives happiness, God gives humility, in and through everything that He has made.
And you know that this was made!
This is a painting, not the painter, this is a design, it is not the designer.
And no evolutionary speculation to the contrary can shake loose the deep, primal, intuitive, normal, ordinary perception that this was made!
These stars were made. This little spider who carries air to the bottom of the lake and fills his little nest was made.
It is just amazing how God has put this world together, it should just stun us to silence as we look at how the world fits together.
In wisdom He has made it all"

You can watch me and Farouks adventure here: https://vimeo.com/82946264