Honeymoon

So Aggie and I have just got back from our honeymoon! which was a great time of relaxing and not doing too much.
After the chaos of organizing and completing an African introduction and wedding, we felt about ready for a holiday, and being on the beautiful white beaches of Mombasa was a perfect place to unwind.
We used this time to really just rest, and not feel pressured to do anything.

I was certainly excited to swim in the ocean again! And I was very proud of Agnes, who after seeing the ocean the first time in her life, jumped into the waves and played around like a little child on their first visit to the beach.
Of course she clinged tightly onto my back, due to the huge waves (as she saw them) rolling into the shore (less then 1ft and barely surfable .. I suppose if you have never seen waves before they might seem scary haha)

The hotel was nice as well, and there were plenty of monkeys running around, trying to steal food. We actually had one monkey jump onto our back veranda, and then sneak straight past us into our room through the open door! It smashed around our room until it found the complementary sugar and milk powder, that it obviously was aware of.
I tried to be manly and go and grab it, but it bared its teeth at me, so I grabbed the tv remote and chased it out of the room.
We made sure to watch the open door from then on.

It was interesting how Aggie and I got lots of strange looks from people staying in the hotel. Often when we were asked where we were from you would get asked "what good business is in Uganda".
This was due to everyone being used to white men coming to Kenya to make big money in some sort of business venture and getting themselves an African girlfriend/mistress.
So they usually seemed surprised, and raised an eye, when we would reply that we were married and were not business people, but missionaries.

We did see a lot of old white men with baby faced, teenage looking African girls. Some of the girls barely looking past the age of 17.
Aggie and I really try not to judge, and we always laugh and make up stories saying "Maybe they are missionaries too, and she is his adopted daughter" .. but usually the scantly dressed clothing and suggestive body language says otherwise.
It is sad to see though, and something I have often seen in places around Asia.

We were staying an hour out of Mombasa on the coast, so one day we took a tour through Mombasa. We visited old town, where some of the stone foundations date back as far as 2000 years ago. The place is full of history, and we saw the place where the first missionary to East Africa lived, as well as the place where the bible was translated into Swahili.
Mombasa has always been a melting pot for different cultures, and evidence and memories from so many cultures can be found.
It was also a vital place for the African slave trade, with many thousands of slaves passing through the town before being shipped away to the Arab world for a tragic life of slavery.
It was fascinating to see fort Jesus as well. The fort was constructed by the Portuguese over 400 years ago, to protect their strategic place on the East coast of Africa to help build their empire. Often (especially with the Portuguese) missionary work and colonialism, more or less, went together (though this is not always the case, I have read stories of faithful European missionaries who loved the local people and were opposed to the cruelties of colonialism). The fort had seen many wars and battles in its years as well.
How interesting to know a place of war was named after the prince of peace. I remember reading a book on African Christianity, and how Christianity never really took a hold in Mombasa during these times. The reason being that the Portuguese (with the help of Fort Jesus) had sealed the stamp that Christianity was not a peaceful religion, and went hand in hand in empire building.
It is easy to look back into history and think about how often we have 'got it wrong' and failed to represent Jesus accurately. But we have to be careful not to think that we don't do the same thing today! Does the Christian West still accurately portray Jesus? A good question to ask ourselves sometimes.

Mombasa city itself had a strange feel to it. We really didn't spend much time in it, but from the stories I have heard about the place, and just standing in some areas, you get the feel of a place that is a bit of a spiritual war zone.
I have heard stories of the church being persecuted in Mombasa, as well as other suggestions of 'make sure you play it safe there'.

When we first arrived, our taxi driver from the airport started telling us all these stories about Mombasa that was not really giving Agnes a comforting welcome.
The first thing he did that raised Agnes' eyebrows was point to a rundown ghetto looking apartment building and state that "many Al-shabaab terrorists are hiding in that building".
Al-shabaab is an infamous extremist Muslim terrorist group here in East Africa. They have links with al-qaeda and have been quite notorious over the years for bombings, shootings, kidnappings and executions. They originate in Somalia and are very vicious, often murdering and executing Christians and other moderate Muslims in terrible ways.
They were responsible for a number of attacks on Ugandan soil, so people in Uganda (and most of Africa) are well aware of them.
So Agnes raised an eyebrow or two hearing their name.
Our driver also pointed to a church about 30 minutes from our hotel that was all boarded up and run down. He told us that Al-shabaab had recently stormed the church and shot a bunch of people there, only a few months ago.
We then passed a burnt out building near our hotel, apparently a disco, that had recently been bombed with a grenade by Al-shabaab.
So with all these little stories I was wondering how Agnes was feeling haha.

To top it off when we reached the ferry that takes our car to the south coast of Mombasa, our driver told us another story that had Agnes feeling a bit sick.
Agnes is already scared of water and cannot swim, so she was feeling strange being on a big ferry that crosses a deep water passage, while carrying a bunch of cars on it.
Our driver started to tell us that some years back, one of the ferries was overloaded and sank, killing about 300 people.
Not something you say to the girl who is just visiting, is scared of water, and crossing on the ferry for the first time.

Luckily we didn't drown, or were a part of any terrorist attacks, especially being in our out of the way and safe hotel. But with all these stories, and more that I have heard over the years, it did feel that Mombasa is a battle ground for peoples souls.

I often wonder if living in such a place would only strengthen and enhance your faith! And the lure of building the kingdom in such a place can often be strong for me.
But right now my calling is in Uganda, and I have a wife who is quite happy to leave it like that for some time haha.

So we are back here in Uganda now, after a long day traveling. We feel refreshed and ready to start the real work of marriage life. We already have big moves to make and adjustments with Agnes moving into my home.
Already I can feel the difference of married life, in that everything is a joint decision. The comfort of having Agnes by my side is lovely and I look forward to her partnership .. but we also recognize the hard work we are going to have to put in.

We thank everyone again for all their support and love during this time in our lives.
God bless you all.