Dear friends of Invisible Children,

April 15, 2005

It’s been far too long since our last update (almost 3 weeks) - and for that we are sorry. A lot has been going on, while at the same time, not enough to write home about. We’ve heard through the grapevine that a lot of you were concerned and worried by our last e-mail – and for that, once again, we are sorry. We are mostly sorry for those of you who don’t appreciate the dry humor and fine writing of Dave Chappele, Arrested Development, and The Family Guy, - who we consider our greatest influences (see any individual under 30 for further guidance). So for all you who don’t “get us� we would like to officially set the record straight: Noel is healed from the accident (which wasn’t really an accident at all), Amy and Danica have stopped throwing up, Jessie’s alive, and Vanessa is now up to a whopping 8 proposals (one from Jolly’s very serious, yet musical, nephew Joffrey. Weeee’ll seeeeee…)

The new tragedy of updates is as follows: Jessie was hospitalized for a night because of a sever case of misdiagnosed typhoid, Zack traveled back to the USA with an extra carryon, otherwise known as malaria, a Black Mamba –AKA a gigantic snake - is terrorizing the boys bedroom, and Ryan has a serious case of African diarrhea. Nothing to be alarmed about, really, just take a breath. If anything seriously troublesome happens we promise to set aside our dry humor and inform you in a more official e-mail. The following is that ever requested more official e-mail. So, for those of you who only read these updates to get a quick laugh, we are once again, and for the last time, sorry.

As of recently we’ve been reading the often over quoted thoughts of C.S. Lewis in his book entitled The Screwtape Letters. For those who haven’t read this literary piece: it depicts a master demon corresponding with a lesser demon, in the masters attempt to educate the lesser on the stupidity of humans and the motives of God, who is referred to as “The Enemy�. We have found it insanely wise and applicable to our trip as the fourth week comes to a close. Check it out: “The Enemy [God] allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavor. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and began the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing. The Enemy takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His ‘free’ lovers and servants--‘sons’ is the word He uses…if once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependant on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt.�

We are currently emerging from such dryness, and becoming more and more confident in the success and what will be the ending result of this expedition. We have spent three weeks in Gulu and much of the time here has been fruitful. The new members of the team have really fallen in love with the people, interacting with the children most of the time. Each passing day we learn so much about this culture, the effects of the war, and about ourselves. We (Jason, Bobby, Laren) have realized that returning to a place the second time is difficult because one often remembers only the good things that came from the initial discovery. The “enchantment…aspiring dreams…and curious fantasy� as described above, have been building up the last two years and have now bottlenecked, resulting in a mixture of deep nostalgia and disillusionment with Northern Uganda.

Days in Africa often happen in slow motion. Time is not money here. We often wonder what it would be like to take a Ugandan to order at a McDonald’s drive-thru. They would be astounded as the timer counts down the seconds, the hot beef and cheese (which they might receive but once a year) arriving to their lips in a minute or less. Speechless is what they would be – taken back by such an efficient culture that can produce hot food in under a minute. But there are other days in Uganda which a thousand and one wonderfully spontaneous things can happen that you never planned or expected – you, the American sit at the end of the day speechless – taken back by a culture that doesn’t live by the constant pressure of ticking clocks, internal as well as literal - and values community and friendship far above hot beef and cheese. We write this in a positive not negative tone. Although we are discouraged at times, we realize we are entering into “the real task of laborious doing…becoming less dependent on emotion and possibly experiencing what it means to be a ‘free lover.’� What we’re learning is: invested investigating takes time.

We have reunited with three of the four Invisible Children characters (Jacob, Thomas, and Tony) from the rough cut. We write “characters� because after editing their image and voice for 1.5 years, “characters� is what they started to become to us. But in the past three weeks we’ve been able to spend so much time with them that we’ve reestablished a true friendship. We are currently on the hunt for the fourth boy, Boni (he’s the one who’s heart is beeping). We have heard he is now in a boarding school three hours away from Gulu near Kampala. Kampala is the bustling city of southern Uganda; filled with fine dining, dance clubs, and huge shopping malls. (and by “fine�- think Mexico set to a tropical backdrop) Last weekend we took Jacob and Tony to Kampala for the first time to search for Boni, which is equivalent to an Orthodox Amish visiting Times Square; they were overwhelmed and over stimulated. We went to five different schools, but to no avail, Boni was “not there.� Despite not finding Boni, they were mesmerized the entire three days.

We also took them to a BBQ at the American Ambassadors home. Jacob had never been in water in his life, let alone seen a swimming pool. They each had their first American hamburger. The next day we took them to see Lake Victoria and to the source of the Nile. Upon arriving back to Gulu they have informed us that they are now officially the coolest kids at their school; like that girl who took the summer vacation to Milan and came back with new leather pants that are “sooo next year� and a signed David Beckam photo to boot. All the boys are doing well. Tony is staying with us in our compound, and making us cry with laughter. Jacob looks the same and is doing well in school; we live for his big smile. And Thomas is a grown man now, and for the time being, has fallen out of school. Thomas is in need of a little more encouragement than the other two.

In the upcoming month we are planning a lot: traveling to the surrounding districts of Pader and Kitgum, trying to get on a military convoy, building a bigger camera crane than last time, and planning a huge hip-hop concert in an Internally Displaced camp (IDP). Our hands are full, the days are long, and the sun is hot. But we end our nights, with the commuter children in the centers, singing praises to God into the hugeness of the starry sky.

Thank you for all your support. You are the total bomb. Invisible Children.

P.S. Please pray for Jolly Okot’s family, today she lost her sister Christine to Aids at the age of 45. She leaves behind six children, and she and the family have been in constant pain for many years. It was life changing for five of the team members to experience the realities of AIDS and the passing of a human spirit first hand. She is now with the Lord.