When I got up Sunday morning, December 30, 2018, I wasn’t ready for an adventure. I was staying in the guesthouse of the Arua, Uganda diocesan radio station, and I had not slept well. I was awake most of the night as the dogs who patrolled the property after dark barked incessantly. Nothing had been wrong; a new dog had been added to their pack the previous day and they were just being dogs.

My friend Sherry Meyer, a lay missionary in Arua since 1991, and Tonino Pasolini, a now 82-year-old Comboni priest, had plans to visit one of the 28 worshipping communities (or chapels) of Aripea Parish, an assignment the bishop of Arua had given them nine months earlier. They had warmly welcomed me to the northwest corner of Uganda and showed me their principal work of running a three-frequency Catholic radio station, Radio Pacis. They took care of Aripea Parish on weekends. I felt obliged to accompany them for their Sunday ministry.

After eating a hasty breakfast and packing supplies, we headed out to Ogboa Chapel, a local community they were visiting for the First time. First communions would be celebrated that morning; as we approached the turnoff, a group of children dressed in white shirts and blouses with dark pants and skirts met us along the road waving a banana leaf to welcome us. With them was Alfred, the catechist overseeing this zone of the parish. He climbed into our vehicle and directed us to proceed on what looked like a footpath.