Kids at Sozo Orphanage...Allen at top row far left
Last night I was in a neighbor and friend’s garden. enjoying a lovely outdoor patio dinner….loads of good food, wine and laughter….all the things we so take for granted in their plenty….when my daughter called. “Why aren’t you answering your cell phone? Jan(my sister) has been trying to reach you…Allen was in the bombing!” OK, now I’m really confused…and scared. I haven’t heard anything about any bombing…..though I know my sweet, handsome 23 year old nephew Allen is in Uganda…in Kampala…working with a new orphanage that he has played no small part of getting started. Bombing? I called my baby sister (who was on her way home from the funeral for her Father-in-law….what a day), she explained that she had gotten a text from Allen asking she call him as soon as possible. You can imagine her terror about him being so close to such senseless carnage(maybe ten feet away) and her immense relief that he is unhurt…somehow.
64 killed in Ugandan bombings
This is the email I got from Allen after I wrote him late last night.
“Hey Donna, Its 5am, and we have yet to go to sleep. Our nerves and blood are still pumping. I am still not believing what happened. We went to eat at a place that had a projector screen to watch the World Cup game. We got there late and it was so crowded, we didn’t get the good seats by the screen. I was upset because we had to sit in a room off the courtyard but could still hear the speakers and watch a smaller screen. Half time hit, on the whistle blow the bomb exploded literally about 10 feet from us. We were all disoriented, and hit the ground in prayer. The wall that I was upset we had to sit behind guarded us from the blast. A window that I was resting my shoulder on blew in, but thank God the curtain kept the glass from shooting at us. There was blood everywhere and people only a few feet from us were killed instantly. It was chaos. There were seven of us total, and we all walked out untouched. UNTOUCHED! God is so good, and he protected us in such an incredible way. We are out of the city and safe. My heart aches for those that didn’t make it. 15 were confirmed dead at the restaurant we were at. Two other bombs went off at other places that were watching the games. We are ok. Tell the fam we are good just overwhelmed and still shocked. Thanks for your prayers. I love you guys so much. Allen“
Imagine… the wall that you resented so much just a couple minutes earlier, saves your life. And now we know at least 74 people died in those 2 bombings, including one American, who was also there on a mission trip. And a teenage girl from Ellicott City was injured, seriously enough to be airlifted to South Africa for surgery. She was at the same restaurant as Allen…just in a more exposed spot. Now comes a warning for Americans living in Uganda to avoid large gatherings for fear of more violence, and that an Al-Quaida linked group may be responsible. As for Allen….he will probably be coming home, at least for a while…I know this has been a horrific trauma for him, the terrible things he has witnessed from a few feet away…he will never forget, ever. Allen has a more detailed account of what happened(and what he had been doing before all this) on his blog Foundation on Rock, here’s a link. It will bring tears to your eyes.
