Esther's Journey

Our house was a little quieter two weeks ago.

The reason for this was because, for an entire week, we only had two children at home instead of three! Esther went to visit a friend in northern Uganda. She flew up there without any of us, taking a MAF flight from Kajansi near Kampala all the way to Arua!

Esther set off early on a Thursday morning with Andrew driving her to the airfield. Once there, she boarded a MAF flight bound for South Sudan, which also stopped in Arua on its way up north. A flight that Andrew was NOT flying, so the pilot was someone Esther had only met once before.

The plane was being chartered by an amazing missionary family we know who live in a rural part of South Sudan. Esther was able to join the flight with these friends and sit next to their 11 year old daughter, who is a friend of Esther- so it was perfect timing. Even though Esther did not have any of her family with her, she was at least travelling with friends.

The MAF plane bound for Tonj in South Sudan, via Arua, taking off with Esther on board:

This was a very special trip. A year ago, when we left our Juba home so suddenly, Esther was upset because she worried that she would never see her close friend from Juba, Djourbaine, ever again. I made her a promise that I would do everything I could to let them see each other again- and we prayed that this would be possible.

A few days after us, Djourbaine's family were evacuated from Juba when the fighting intensified. They were collected by the French military and flown to Uganda- where they have stayed ever since, working for YWAM (Youth With a Mission). Now here we are in Uganda and the two friends find themselves in the same country again!

Of course, Esther and Djourbaine are many miles apart, with us being in Kampala and Djourbaine's family being 295 miles (475 km) away in Arua. However, being in the same country does mean that there are ways and means for the two girls to meet up- and we found that the MAF plane is one of those ways! It was an exciting trip for Esther to go and stay for a week with Djourbaine and her family!

Naturally, I missed my daughter every day, but was pleased to hear her happily relating her daily adventures on her evening phone calls! :-)

When she returned home, she brought some photos to show us of the enormous YWAM base where she had been staying, with its many trees and plantations of bananas and corn:

After a week of fun with friends, Esther was taken to the airfield in Arua to board the MAF flight that would be passing through bound for Kajansi.
Esther was expecting to join a flight with a pilot she barely knows... but was delighted to discover that Andrew's return flight from South Sudan had managed to make it to Arua with enough time to stop- so Esther got to fly home with her dad, sitting with him in the cockpit! What a great way to travel home!