Try packing for two years! I would rather go through ten straight-forward, pack-it-in-the-moving-truck, everything-goes kinds of moves than even one more move like the one we just experienced (although, of course, if God calls us to do this again, we will).
There were two added elements of difficulty to this intercontinental move: we were limited to the airline’s 50 pounds per bag policy and you cannot find everything you need or want in Kampala (but we don’t necessarily know what those items are), so we had to take a lot of things along with us.
So how does a person fit their entire life into five trunks?
Painfully. Over a lot of time. And with a lot of sacrifice. At first, I was convinced that 250 pounds would be enough, because really, we are moving to Africa and how much do we really need? Then it became clear through conversations with seasoned missionaries that we need much more than we think we do, because even the most basic items are sometimes available and sometimes not. And, coming from some women who have lived this life in South Sudan, bringing comforting items and products from home can be an absolute mental health saver.
Packing looked like this: throw everything we might need and want to take into piles, sort those piles into categories (kitchen, bathroom, miscellaneous), pack those items carefully into trunks (careful to maximize both space and weight), weigh the trunks, find that the trunks are too heavy so begin cutting items, email Neltia (who lives in Kampala) to find out what is available to buy here (to help with the cutting of items), make want-to-take-if-miraculous-weight-becomes-available piles from cut items, and do it all over again.
We did this a few times in Houston before we moved back to Indiana, and then countless times in Indiana. My mom’s weight room looked like a hurricane hit it for the entire month as items were put in trunks, taken out of trunks, shuffled around, and finally either stored away or packed to take. I know that Jesus calls us to leave it ALL behind, but I’m not going to lie…there were some moments in which I sat among our five measly trunks, surrounded by “discard” piles that contained some of my favorite items, and cried. It was hard to whittle my wardrobe down in order to fit mud waders, to set aside lovely-smelling body washes for vitamins, to willingly remove curtain panels for more essential linens, and especially to take out and box up some exceptionally useful and beloved books.
The other challenge was trying to guess what we should bring and what we should leave. Sometimes the choice was easy: clearly parts to our camp stove are more important than external speakers for the computer. Other times, however, it was excruciating. Will I be able to get shampoo and conditioner in Kampala that will actually clean and moisturize my mzungu hair? Should I risk it or should I sacrifice running shoes for the sake of good bath products? How many spices should I pack so that we don’t get burned out on eating rice and beans in the first two months? Will dresses be more comfortable than skirts and t-shirts? And on and on.
In the end, we did the best we could and then just keep praying that God would help us forget what we left behind and help us be exceptionally pleased with what we have. And that He would give us grace, because these five trunks look much different on this side of the ocean than they did before, so it’s easy to kick ourselves for not bringing some items and for packing some that we didn’t need.
Here are some pictures from us trying to decide on which wader boots we should buy, given the available space and weight, as well as the tremendous need for good boots to get us through a very flooded Nasir (we ended up going with light-weight, hip-high wader boots)…
At least this is one item about which I KNOW we made the right choice! 😉