Another update from the adventures of Timoteo and Daudi (our African names). So I can't remember if we ever happened to mention anything concerning the topic I'm about to address. I believe we planned to wait for the whole story before we'd fail to serve the situation justice in a short Twitter. You will understand what I mean in a short while, just be patient and keep reading.

 So as many of you probably know Dan and I arranged to have two local Africans chaparone us all over Africa throughout our 2 month excursion. We had a couple of very understandable reasons for this. A few young punk mazongos traveling through some of the poorest places in the world with very expensive equipment, this to many does not sound like a good idea. Even if our intentions are good. Also we knew that there would obviously be the language barrier. So in came two cool locals named Jack and Tony who would serve as our body guards, translators and heros. Our agreement before the plane crash was to have them accompany Rob, Dan, Tim and I the whole two months of travel and $1.25 a day living.

So some of you may have been wondering what ever happened to them and why there is nothing in any tweets about them anymore. You could come to the conclusion that Tim and I are awesome and deserve the spotlight which could have some truth in it :), but there's more to the story.

Five days after we left Nairobi and had gone through Kakamega, Kisumu and Kampala we had just landed in Gulu, home of the Invisible Children. Within 2 hours after getting off the bus and finding a guest house we decided to head to the market to see what we could buy for $1.25. As we were walking, Jack's phone rings. The news that came from that phone call deeply shook all of us. Our newly constructed plans would once again be completely shattered. "Jack, your two younger brothers (of his 5 siblings) were suspected of being theives and the police shot them to death. You've got to come home". You could say that devastation is a good word to decribe the condition you would have found our hearts in. Immediately all of us took a seat at "Mama's Cafe". After respecting his tears of mourning with silence, we eventually asked for any other details he had. We came to soon find out that events like this are all too common in some African cities where justice is in the eye of the beholder.

I vividly remember the walk from there back to the bus park that day and will probably never forget it. The way I placed my hand on Jack back as he cried and we walked. I told him i could never imagine the feeling of losing two of my brothers and that he should have no shame in his tears. Crying in the African culture has been twisted to signify utter hopelessness and shame. Just then a wave of emotion came over me as I thought about what it would be like to lose two of my brothers. I thought about all of the ways each of my brothers had shaped me to the core of who I am as a man. To lose any of them in a strange way would mean a death to a part of my own identity. Tim... I deeply love you. Joe... I deeply love you. Matt... I deeply love you. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of you guys and I am increasibly thankful for the privilage of having you as brothers. One more thing on that note. Mom and Dad, I've told you before and unashamed, I'll tell you again for everyone to know. You are both impecable parents and there is nothing I would change about you. There are no parents in the world that could come close to replacing you. "I feel like I'm in love with a school boy, ahh I mean, I feel like a school boy in love"(yes a Dumb and Dummer quote). Your love and support is the greatest reason I am able to be doing what I'm doing right now. Thank you.

Finally, back to what I said at the top. Tim and I decided not to mention anything about this till we knew the whole story so that Jack family name would not be slandered. We wanted to be able to tell you truthfully whether his brothers were actually guilty or not. It turns out that his brothers were in fact innocent and were tragically caught in the crossfire between police and other criminals.

"Every man dies, but not every man truely lives" Braveheart!

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" MLK Jr.

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed." Isaiah 1:17