We arrived at the event center at 8 to begin setting up for the day. We scrambled to assemble tables and chairs in our space, but unnecessarily so since the conference (which was supposed to begin at 9) didn't start until 10am. We're told that's the Ugandan way. Flexibility was the name of the game today.
Jayson and I were responsible for the "Bear Pit" session. As I explained yesterday, two participants from each day of the conference will be selected to go before a panel of investors and businesspeople to pitch their business ideas and ask for funding. It is our responsibility to teach them how to write and present their business plans. Initially, we had hoped to be able to select the 20 session participants for each day, but that all fell apart around 8:50 this morning. Given the circumstances, however, I was incredibly impressed with the people we did end up with in our session.
I spent the "tea break" (because that's a thing) talking to one woman, Vicky, who operates about 6 different businesses--honey, clothing/purses, money lending, construction, rentals, and pastoral training. She wants to combine all of them into one property. She brings in women who have been turned away from their families for one reason or another, teaches them to sew to produce the clothing and bags for her business, Cottage Industries, and houses the women and their children, if needed. She is also the pastor of a church, so she hopes to use all of the funding from these various businesses to build a church for the pastors she has poured into. She also wants a school on property for the children of the pregnant women who she takes care of. This is a lady with big dreams who is anxious to do the work of the Lord. She was so thankful just to sit down and talk with someone, even though I felt entirely unqualified to offer advice. She stopped Jayson and me at the end of the day and assured us she would be here at 8am tomorrow morning to discuss with us more.
Another man, Frank, acted as our translator for the entire day-long session. He was unbelievably smart and so anxious to learn what we had to say. He has done a ton of research on the ins and outs of the bakery he hopes to purchase and after hearing him give his pitch, I wish I could give him all $5000 he needs to start out. He even sent Jayson and me his budget tonight to look over and give him feedback. Not to mention the fact that half of our attendees wouldn't have understood a word without him.
Through scheduling changes and random adjustments to the day, it all went relatively smoothly. 170 pastors had been invited to the conference, and 290 people showed up, the other 120 of whom were not pastors. This left little lunch for us, but we were perfectly happy with potato chips and sourdough cookies. I've been really impressed by how laid back and adjustable this team is--they have certainly helped me remain patient and flexible!
We finished today's sessions at 5pm and cleaned up before heading back to the hotel for a delicious dinner of beef and spaghetti. The PDN staff joined us, and Dr. MacGregor had us push all the tables together for one big family dinner. I'm reading Shauna Niequist's "Bread and Wine" right now, which is al about the importance of celebrating life around the table. So much unfolds when there's a table and food between you. I just love that image. Breaking bread with people who have childhoods and families vastly different from my own, but because of what we both believe about the significance of the bread and the wine (the latter, of course, was not present at dinner, this is a Baylor trip) we are one body. Dinner was followed by a game of glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee (which I can now say I've played on all 3 continents I've been to) and I am now about to crash at 9:30pm. It was a long but incredibly rewarding first day, and I am so excited to see what God has in store for the rest of this conference.
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