Visiting the US

I'm back in the US for a visit! Everything seems so clean and so big--it feels like I'm walking around on a movie set. I was given a ticket to fly back to attend both the "All Society Gathering" for my mission agency, SAMS, and the New Wineskins for Global Missions Conference.

Both events are held every three years at Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, NC.

New Wineskins is a great conference with people flying in from all over the globe to attend--places like Myanmar (formerly Burma), China, and Sudan. There were even two missionary doctors and a Bishop from Uganda.

They hold the SAMS retreat right before the New Wineskins Conference since so many people travel here for that. It was great to be able to gather with the other "SAMS" family--though this time we were gathering under a new name. What had been "The South American Missionary Society" has changed its name to reflect its global vision and is now "The Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders" but still know far and wide as SAMS. Personally, the new name may save me a little explaining as people wondered what the "South America" had to do with a North American missionary working in Africa:) I really enjoyed the chance to talk with other missionaries as they can really understand some of the things I go through in a way other's usually don't.
Ridgecrest has a nice conference facilty and I got to drive past the famous Biltmore mansion--no the confernce wasn't held there!

An interesting side note--I got to see the fire department put out a small brush fire nearby using helicopers and scoop buckets to drop water--you never see anything like that in Uganda.

I'll be in the US until April 20th and will get to spend some time in Charleston SC before I head back. This is the first trip to Charleston but I have lots of people I've met who are from there and will give me a chance to meet up with them and visit some churches--I especially want to go to St. Andrew's in Mt. Pleasant, SC.