The Launch

Connie completes a short documentary about Jeff’s medical mission, and the Universal Press Foundation agrees to fund more service trips as well as Eugene’s website for connecting needs with people who can help. Eugene also creates Egghead, a portable voice-operated device that supplies remote communication, travel information, cultural guidance, and translation.

Whit announces that he will travel to Uganda to mentor Pastor Noah, a new Christian serving the Karamojong people. Veterinarian Elizabeth Sparks also needs help caring for the cattle on which local families depend. Wooton has been praying for Uganda and eagerly volunteers, despite learning that rival tribes raid one another for cattle and sometimes use guns. He arrives at the airport with five bags, mostly filled with clothes and shoes for the villagers.

Elizabeth and Pastor Noah meet them in Uganda. On the drive from the airport, Elizabeth explains that she serves through Christian Veterinary Mission. She teaches people to care for their cattle and shares the message of Jesus as trust grows. The Peon and Bokura were once one people but now regard each other as enemies, repeatedly stealing cattle and killing in retaliation.

Armed men stop Elizabeth’s truck and order everyone out. More warriors surround them, and the travelers flee under gunfire, blowing a tire before heavy rain can wash out the road. The pursuers eventually recognize Elizabeth and apologize: they mistook her vehicle for those used by raiders who steal cattle and destroy crops. Their willingness to help change the tire shows how deeply her years of service have earned their trust.

At the Peon village, elder Alipar prepares to retaliate against Jahi and the men who fired at Elizabeth. She persuades him to refrain, knowing that revenge will only provoke more fighting. Whit suggests marking her truck so both tribes can recognize it. Later, she accepts a pair of cow horns as payment for treating an animal and plans to mount them on the front.

A warrior named Kondo brings Elizabeth to a cow called Mosey, whose swollen, hardened tongue prevents it from eating. She treats the infection with iodine while Wooton discovers that Kondo understands English and can even laugh at a joke. The herd contains unfamiliar cattle that may have been taken from the Bokura. Since neither tribe brands animals and both claim all cattle belong to them, every theft becomes another excuse for a raid.

Whit observes that Elizabeth has close friends in both tribes and is respected because she protects their livelihood. He suggests that God may have placed her there not only as a veterinarian but also as a peacemaker. Elizabeth finds the idea impossible. She has no experience making peace, the tribes have hated each other for generations, and men in this culture will resist direction from a woman. Whit dryly agrees that perhaps even God cannot repair some situations, leaving Elizabeth to reconsider what she has just said.