Karen at GLI

A few days after our hike in Nyungwe, I went back to Uganda without Mark. I got to attend the Great Lakes Initiative Leadership Institute for Reconciliation in Kampala which is sponsored by MCC, Duke Divinity School, African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM), and World Vision.

It was a really neat experience to explore reconciliation with Christian leaders from around the region. There were some incredible speakers, one of whom was Emmanuel Katongole (author of The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology of Africa and Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda). Another inspiring speaker was Father Bernard Kinvi. The conference was in English and French, so it was good language practice for me, as well.

I attended a seminar on Christian Non-Violence response to Conflict, co-taught by an American man and a woman from South Sudan. It was really fun to watch them work together (made me think about what Serge and I look like in our co-facilitation), and we learned a lot about Jesus as our model for non-violence, as well as non-violent strategies.

It was an intensely social time for this little introvert, but I did my best and had some really neat conversations with old friends and new from around the region. Then I went to bed right after dinner.

I also ended up being in the middle of some conversations about Mark's job that were really hard and awkward for me. We appreciate your prayers for his work, and we hope to have an update soon.

We went on a "pilgrimage"to Lake Victoria. There, we prayed for each other. One country at a time, they were called to come to the middle of the big circle. It was humbling for me to join the 13 Congolese in the middle as they prayed for us.

It was two days of travel by road to get there and two days to get back to Bukavu. I arrived home last Sunday and was both very tired and very happy to be back with Mark!