The Lord’s protection is greater than all! Within minutes our lives changed. I know it has been awhile since I last wrote a blog and yesterday I was planning on updating everyone with all that is going on here. There has been a lot to celebrate over the past several weeks, but I think I will use this blog to describe the events of last night.
As most of you know by now there were three, maybe four, bombs that went off in Kampala yesterday. We were in one of the restaurants where one exploded, but by the grace of God we walked out unharmed. The night started like so… we were supposed to leave the orphanage at 6 in order to pick up Jonathan in town and make it to dinner by 7. However, this is Africa and we were not picked up until 6:30, and there was a march on the main road, which delayed us another 30 minutes. Our hope was to eat dinner at 7 so that we could make it to the Ethiopian Village an hour before the game to get a good seat. We however, did not finish dinner until 8:45 and when we arrived at Ethiopian it was packed. One of the waiters said there was a small side room that opened to the main area and escorted us to those seats to watch the game. We were a little disheartened that we were not going to get to watch the final game on the big screen, but little did we know that us running late would save our lives. Our frustrations with Africa’s understanding of being on time turned into God’s perfect timing and protection of us.
We were sitting in somewhat of a semi- circle in front of the tv with a couple of rows of people behind us watching the game. I kept turning to Jonathan and saying I think I am going to walk out to the main area, it is too hot in here, but I never got up. Allen had just gotten back from the bathroom, the timer just went off for half time, Jay and I were standing up to walk out when a huge explosion went off. For the first five seconds we thought the screens had blown up due to an electrical mishap, but when I could not hear anything and realized I was not in my seat we knew it was not that. The boys pushed Carrie, Tori, and I up against the wall and covered us. I was really so disoriented at this moment that I really don’t know how to describe it or how long we were curled up against the wall. All I know is at this point I realized it was a bomb and I was almost positive another one was coming and I did not think we were going to make it. Nothing came. I was expecting things to be torn to shreds and tables everywhere, but I was not prepared in anyway for what I was about to see. I stood up and blood was everywhere. We could barely walk without slipping. I looked to my left and a two people were holding themselves, covered with blood, screaming. Jay and Mason passed a little boy being held by his mother; his leg had been blown off from the knee down. Jay tried to talk to the mom, but she just stared with a blank face, speechless. The row of people behind us either lost a body part or lost their lives. Again, we walked out without a scratch. The people behind us died and we walked out without a scratch. When I finally laid down this morning at 6:30 AM to sleep I could not close my eyes because all I could think about was that. Over and over again I think that. Once we all got off the floor, we looked around with almost no thoughts and just said “run!” Jay led, I threw chairs out of the way and we walked through the flesh, blood, bodies, and tables to get to the main road. People were screaming, crying out for loved ones, police were pulling up, bodies were being pulled out, reporters were coming; we were dumbfounded. The man next to us just fell on the ground weeping, “ My brother died! My brother died!” We did not know what to do because to our left was more people which could mean more bombs, but to our right was absolutely nothing- do we go away? What if they are targeting white people? Do we stay at the place since it was already bombed and another has not gone off yet? I just did not react in a way that was helpful at all. I had no thoughts, no reaction, no suggestions, absolutely no idea what to do. Jay was talking to Jon and it was just good to talk to someone who was not there. He was able to tell us what to do. In those situations we know what to do, but I think we were so shaken up that we just stared at each other and needed someone who did not see any of it to direct us. We made it down the road, Carrie passed out a couple of times, but other than that we made it out completely untouched. I know I am repeating myself, but still telling this story shakes me up and I cannot get over the protection of the Lord. At first I was mad and still question: why were we so protected and others dead, even the people right behind us were dead. There are 64 dead, 15 where we were. We were feet away from the bomb. When we eat at that restaurant they usually put us near the front at the big table, well that was the table the bomb was under. Again, the Lord’s timing is perfect, we would have set there if we were on time and we would not be alive right now. It makes me want to fall on my knees and weep. That’s the only reaction in me.
Please be in prayer for the families affected. I pray that we would not be desensitized to what has happened, this is not just another bomb that went off in a foreign country. It is sad to say, but I often feel that we become desensitized to this because we hear about things like this over seas often, but seeing families curled up weeping because in a matter of seconds they lost a loved one is more than just something to pass by while watching the news.
“ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
We are covered by the grace of our Lord.
