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SELINSGROVE - Lori Ssebulime was the only American missionary able to walk away from the July 11 terrorist bombing that killed 76 people and injured dozens more in the capital city of Uganda.

On the bushes near her front door in Selinsgrove, a wooden sign welcomes her each time she returns home, telling her she is loved. It is the last of several signs still in their original position - she brought the other ones inside because they were poster boards and were susceptible to the weather. Her unpacked suitcases and luggage still sat in her living room near the front door.

"I really haven't jumped back into real life. I just thought this morning that I need to check when my bills are due," she said.

It all still feels like a dream, she described.

The team leader of the 15 Christ Community United Methodist Church missionaries who were serving the Bwaise Pentecostal Church was one of six who decided to stay an extra week longer than their counterparts - "to tie up some loose ends and spend time with our friends," said Ssebulime.

That move almost proved fatal for the team.

The six Americans decided to watch the World Cup final on television at an Ethiopian restaurant when a bomb next to their table exploded. Minutes later, another bomb exploded on a rugby field across town.

"I don't even remember the explosion. I just saw a white flash of light and everything was gray. I could hear people screaming. I don't even remember when I realized it was a bomb," said the 40-year-old Selinsgrove missionary said Wednesday morning from her home on Bogar Street.

Slow motion

Although she was able to walk away from the blast with cuts on her legs, minor burns on her face and hearing loss, her team members were not so fortunate.

Emily Kerstetter, 16, of Ellicott City, Md., remains in a Johannesburg, South Africa, trauma center as she recovers from a leg injury that has required several surgeries.

"I heard Emily screaming," said Ssebulime, who said there was a growing pool of blood around the teen as she approached her.

As she attempted to pull the girl away from the carnage, she could feel the glass and the wood shrapnel and tasted blood in her mouth - it all felt like it was in slow motion, she said.

"I can't get the picture of her leg out of my head," said Ssebulime, adding that she saw nothing but bone from Kerstetter's knee to her ankle - doctors almost amputated her leg.

Kris Sledge, 18, of Selinsgrove, has since returned to Pennsylvania, but remains in an undisclosed hospital recovering from his wounds.

Joanne Kerstetter, of Selinsgrove, is also recovering at an undisclosed hospital from a fractured arm and superficial wounds.

Pam Kramer and her son, Thomas, 14, of Winfield, are now home and recovering from leg injuries. Pam has a titanium rod in her leg; Thomas has 105 staples in his.

Humbling, hard

But the team was not without losses. Three members of the African church they were serving perished in the explosion, including the Rev. Peter Mutabazi, pastor of the church.

Ssebulime described the pastor's funeral as "shocking." Because of the high cost of preparing a body for burial, the pastor's head was still bloody.

"I almost threw up at that point because the emotion and sorrow was so great I almost couldn't stand it," she explained.

But the Ugandan people are amazing, she went on.

"Peter's wife said, 'It would have been so devastating if we lost any of you six,'" said Ssebulime. "They did lose people, but yet they're so concerned about us. It's humbling, but it's hard."

Her experience with the pastor spans 15 years when they met while she was working as a social worker in a Ugandan orphanage and he worked security for Food for the Hungry. When she left in 1999 to move back to America, she always had plans to return for mission work. In 2004, the first mission team went over. They went two more times before this year, eventually working with Pastor Mutabazi, his church and Life Care School, which helps more than 200 children.

"His main thing was working in the slum. There's a lot of drugs and a lot of prostitution there," said Ssebulime. "He firmly believed the only way to stop the cycle of poverty was through education."

Mission continues

Even though there was so much tragedy during their most recent trip, Ssebulime only speaks fondly of Africa and Uganda.

"My heart has always been torn between here and there," she said.

Her house is evident of such love. Not only is she married to a Ugandan, her walls and countertops are adorned with various African trinkets and instruments.

"Once you rub shoulders with the Africans, they get into your heart and you can't get them out. They're so friendly. The hospitality that they show toward us - you don't experience that here," she said.

Worshipping with them, one feels like they are in the presence of God, she said.

"I can't imagine not having faith and going through something like this," she said.

The answer to the question of why this happened should not be sought after, she added, because it has happened and must be accepted.

"We have to carry on the work that will be done," she said, explaining plans to return next year are already in the preliminary stages. "If we don't, the terrorists have won in stopping us."Lori Ssebulime, 40, of Selinsgrove, shows one of several signs that welcome her home after being injured earlier this month in the Uganda bombing. She was one of six local missionaries to be injured, but was the only one able to walk away.