Rolling Hills Community Church - High School Ministries / Eternal Impact Uganda Team 2009

Christmas 2009 - Seeing Is Believing

2009-12-20T16:13:00.001-08:00

Well it's been a while since I posted anything. Towards the end of our trip, I warned everyone reading this blog that I would be coming to them - looking for support. Well, here I am.

It's been a somewhat slow process, but we have launched the Seeing Is Believing campaign. While still in Uganda, I knew that I would have to appeal to my friends and family to support some specific need over there. I also knew pretty quickly that the specific need would be Mama Mary and her orphanage.

The campaign has been set up under Eternal Impact. My first inclination was to "go it alone" and start up a separate organization, but when I though of the necessary legal and financial accountability hoops to jump through, I knew that I simply wouldn't have the time. So John Garrick and Eternal Impact Ministries have graciously agreed to "host" the campaign. This step also makes good sense in that Eternal Impact already has the strong relationship with UFC and Pastor Kennedy.

Along the way, I sat down with one of the pastors from Rolling Hills to discuss the project. He gave me some great advice - be patient. It likely won't happen overnight, it might take a year, maybe longer. So here we are about 6 months after leaving and I'm just getting our little bird out of the nest, but I'm so thrilled to see it going!

In discussions with John and Kennedy, we developed a budget target for the project. Our target is to achieve commitments of $3,200 per month. This number includes 15% administrative costs to cover such items as financial auditing, web site development, printing and mailing costs, and a part time administrator in Uganda who will be responsible for procuring the needed supplies and coordinating the volunteer help for the orphanage. The monthly total will pay for rent, utilities, food, clothing, medical care and education.

If by some chance God blesses our efforts and we find more people willing to share their resources, we will seek another orphanage to support. In discussing this with my UFC friends over the internet, I was told that there are two of the students whose dream has always been to open an orphanage, so that is one possibility.

But for now we are concentrating on Mary and her children. May God richly bless you as you consider helping out.

Look for updates around Seeing Is Believing at "eternalimpact.org"

Video

2009-07-29T15:22:00.001-07:00

Stephen

2009-07-28T19:58:00.001-07:00

For anyone who read the story about our visit to the orphanage, I told you about Stephen - my special little buddy there. Well, Kayla managed to catch a photo of him, so I needed to share it!

Pictures

2009-07-23T10:33:00.001-07:00

We're HOME!!!

2009-07-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, we made it home! It was more of an adventure than we would have preferred, but we made it.

British Airways - in all of their competence - somehow managed to come up with a discrepancy in the baggage that took them 2 hours to fix in London. The result of this was a missed connection in Seattle for our flight to Portland. Alaska/Horizon has flights between the 2 cities every half hour, but it was 4th of July weekend, which meant their were no available seats.

So who wants to spend the night in Seattle? No hands go up. I then started hitting the rental car counters to find out who would rent us a couple of large vehicles to go one way to Portland. Ended up with Avis - and picked up a Ford F-150 double cab pickup and a Cadillac DTS. Ken drove the pickup, I took the Cadillac. Unfortunately, the Caddy didn't have a bench seat in front, so that left us with only 10 seats for 11 people. Lance valiantly chose to wait and standby for a flight at 11 pm.

So we headed out on the last leg of our trip. I woke up at 5 am London time Sunday morning. By the time we headed out of the Seattle airport, it was 4 am Monday London time. By the time we got to the Ridgefield rest area on I-5, it was 6:30 am Monday London time, an I was one tired puppy! Got out of the car and the cool air revived me enough to make it on home.

There is much more to say, much more to process. I'm not going to promise daily updates to this blog, but I know that we're planning on getting everyone together again in a couple of weeks, at which time I'll add more comments.

I would like everyone to know, however, that this trip had a profound impact on everyone. As for me, I have a mission and objective. It includes a specific passage from James, 2:14-18:

What use is it, my bretheren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled" and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works".

I have much to do.

I pray that God will bless all who have been reading this blog, and especially my brothers and sisters in Africa.

4th of July in London!

2009-07-04T11:22:00.001-07:00

Hey Folks! Well, we just got back to the hotel from spending the day in London. We attacked this one from the standpoint of looking around, seeing what we might want to explore more thoroughly on a return trip. And yup, there's a TON of stuff to explore more thoroughly!

We took a bus tour through much of Westminster & Old London. This afforded us an opportunity to see pretty Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, The Tower Castle, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and so much more, but we didn't do anything in depth. Call it an appetizer.

Mostly I think all of us are just excited to get home. As in REALLY excited to get home! I know I sure am.

So our love goes out to all, and our thanks for all of the prayers. Tomorrow evening Portland time and we'll get to see all of you again!

Still more pics

2009-07-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

We're in London now with a relatively quick internet connection so here's some pics. There's also a post below this and more pics & a video below that. Enjoy!

July 3

2009-07-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

There's more pictures and a video below this.

Today is the first leg of our journey home. I got to drag everyone out of bed early this morning – as in 4:30 am – so didn’t really have time to write anything prior to our departure for the airport. Right now the plane is over the Mediterranean and according to the moving map it appears we’ll be flying directly over Palermo, Sicily. Someday I’d love to see the area – and the rest of Italy, and the rest of Europe – on the ground.

Yesterday was nice end to our stay. After a leisurely morning, we went to a local hotel that had apparently agreed to let us use their pool briefly. Ken had decided that he wanted to be baptized in Uganda, so along with the KIU students we all attended the event. Branden, Cameron and Kennedy participated in the baptism. Once they were dried off, we shared Communion with the students.

Then it was off to do some shopping. Since I’m posting this prior to our arrival home I’m not going to tell anyone what they’re getting for gifts. I did purchase a traditional African shirt for myself. And no Alex, Nick and Cameron – T-shirts that say “Mzungu” on them are NOT traditional African shirts!

We spent the afternoon with the students and it was a very bittersweet time. Many stories and perceptions were shared. Every one of us have developed very strong friendships with these folks. They have truly touched our hearts. When your travelers get home, ask to see pictures of Kennedy, Antony, Aaron, Patrick, Vivian, Sophie, Manu, Grace, Evelyn, Jackson, Brian – all of them. Let us tell you about them, about what wonderful people we have discovered, about their remarkable love for the Lord.

From the celebration with them, we have found that we are not the only ones who have been touched. Patrick, Brian and Sophie told us how they had not been particularly active in the campus church, but joining in with us has shown them a new meaning, a new fervor for their faith. Aaron and Antony told us how Ken and I have given them a new role model for parenting. Kennedy told us that he has never worked with a team that they’ve grown as close to, that they’ve been able to develop the relationships with like they did with us.

And on my heart this morning (or afternoon or whatever time it is now!), I am still praying for their ministry. I’ve mentioned a few times over the past few weeks that the KIU students are primarily Kenyan, with some Tanzanians and Rwandans mixed in. There are very few Ugandans in their group. If one thinks of the logical conclusion to this, you’ll realize that the majority of them will return to their home countries. Yes, there will likely be others to take up the mantle behind them, but I’m praying that they would gather more Ugandans into their group – people who not only love God but who are truly devoted to their country. I would like to ask those reading the blog to pray for this as well.

Michael – our wonderful driver – showed up at the guest house at 5:30 am to pick us up. Accompanying him were Kennedy, Antony, Aaron, Manu, Patrick, Jackson & Vivian. As we’ve become used to, we were not allowed to carry our own baggage out to the bus, nor were we allowed to unload it at the airport. Once the unloading process was complete, there were numerous hugs and a virtual flood of tears as we said our goodbyes. As Sam said yesterday, it was like saying goodbye to your best friends.

And now we’re off to London to play for a day. I’ll likely give everyone a report of that as well before we return home, but in the meantime I’d like to tell you a little about what I told the group yesterday afternoon. I told them that I had originally accepted Christ as my savior at age 7, but that since there was no support for that around me, the faith was allowed to dwindle to almost nothing. The Lord pursued me, however, throughout my childhood and early adulthood until I came back at age 23. I told them that my enormous, overriding concern before leaving on this trip was that we would come over to Uganda, lots of people would be saved, and then they’d be left on their own. I worried incessantly that there would not be a support system to teach them, to disciple them.

I then told them how overjoyed I am that these KIU students ARE that support system, that the people who have sought a relationship with God through Jesus do have a support system. I also told them that we will be coming back, making a return trip to Africa. The fact that I said “we” was quickly grasped by Branden – he interrupted me to make sure he was hearing correctly. “Excuse me Dale, but by saying ‘we’, you’re including yourself, you know.” I told him that I was very aware of that.

So we’re “Out of Africa”, ladies & gentlemen. I know that each and every one of us left a piece of our heart there.

Kayla’s Comments

Hey everyone it’s Kayla and I am writing to you from the airplane in low spirits. Coming on this trip to Africa has been the single most exciting moment of my life. I had no idea that God was going to work as much in my heart as he did these past few weeks and I am so grateful for this experience. From the moment of stepping off of the plane in Entebbe and talking with Matthew I knew that this was going to be incredible and sure enough it was.

To me and I know for almost everyone else, this trip required me to step out of my comfort zone. I was shocked at some of the things that I did such as sharing my testimony at three different schools and going around in the slums sharing the word of God to others. Let me be the first one to tell you that this wasn’t easy but I am so glad that I had this opportunity to evangelize and grow in my relationship with the Lord. Another thing that I didn’t expect was to create the kinds of relationships that I did with the KIU students. They are absolutely amazing people that just give off this genuine love for each other and for Christ that it truly inspires me. I have bonded with them so much in particular with Sophie, Patrick, Brian and Emmanuel that I know I have created lifelong friendships with them and can say that I am going to miss them so much and they will always have a place in my heart.

I have been having a hard time ever since saying good-bye to all of the KIU students at the airport and I truly just didn’t want to leave Uganda. If I could, I would have wanted to stay for the whole summer. This is just the beginning of my journey with God and I have so much more to learn and grow from. Uganda does hold a special piece in my heart as Dale mentioned earlier and I would absolutely love to return with this team and ministry and I’m praying that it is Gods will for this to be a reality soon.

Katie’s comments

Hello America, this Katie writing from the plane.  Dale just caught me as I was reading scripture and really processing this mission trip so it was great timing to write you. To be honest I don’t even know where to begin and how to sum up this mission to you. Words will never do justice to the work of the Holy Spirit. Pictures (2200 I’ve taken) will never show the true work of God, the extreme poverty, or even the beautiful people of Uganda.

Going into this mission I knew I would leave changed and challenged. But never did I believe I would have my life flipped upside down. God has really stirred my heart these past few weeks in ways that have frightened me. To be honest I don’t know what this looks like but I know it includes Africa in some way. My prayer is that each one of you who has been reading this blog gets the opportunity to hear the amazing work of God from the team. God took a small team from Portland and a team from Africa and together made miracles happen. God took the obedience and willingness of us all and used us to His glory!! From the demon-possessed girl, to the Muslim converts, to feeding the people in the slums God was at work. I sit here in awe of a Mighty God we serve. This mission was an opportunity that I pray each one of you has the chance to do. The harvest in Uganda is RIPE!

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.- Matthew 9:37,38

The people are in need of a Savior. The people are thirsty for hope, life, Jesus! I am challenging you as I have been challenged. These people are desperate. These people have faces, these people have names, these people are children of God! They deserve clean water, food, and to hear the good news of Jesus! I apologize if I seem overzealous but I am writing from a deep passion, real experiences, and the call of Christ in my life.

I thank you all for following us on this journey! Next time I pray you join us in loving Africa! It will change your life! :)

PIcs & Vids

2009-07-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

July 2

2009-07-02T04:52:00.001-07:00

We’re back in Kampala. Things are back to normal – the Kampala Philharmonic Canine Choir is in full throttle this morning. Yesterday was a long, miserable trip from the lodge back here interspersed with a couple of moments of levity. I remember distinctly hearing Lance telling Cameron that it would take about 4 hours, Kennedy saying 5. It took 8.

We left the lodge at 10:45 am to catch the 11:00 ferry. Of course, this being Uganda, the ferry didn’t actually leave until 11:30, so we were hanging out around the ferry slip for a while. The Lodge, however, had provided us all with box lunches to take along. There was a bunch of other people, a troop of baboons and a few warthogs hanging out as well. Most of our gang got out to hang out rather than being cooped up in the bus some more.

Pretty soon I hear a couple of the kids talking about “where’s that one going”, then
“Somebody should close the windows.” Too late. One of the baboons leaped up into the window beside where Erika & Nick had been sitting , reached right over Erika’s and grabbed Nick’s. Turned around and jumped back out. I’m quite sure now that baboons can read – Erika had a vegetarian lunch while Nick had a steak sandwich.

A couple of the baboons then went through the various items in the box. At one point a warthog wandered over to begin rooting around at something they had left and the baboons moved off. One of the baboons took the box of mango juice over to a little concrete pad. We were rather surprised that he couldn’t figure out how to insert the straw into it and just bit into it instead. He was rather smart, however, to take it to the concrete since he was then able to lick up whatever spilled.

Once across the Nile for the last time, we headed up to Murchison Falls. We had seen it from a distance on the boat trip, but you can drive up to the top and get a much closer view. Once again, mere words cannot describe it. Think of a river as huge as the Nile being forced through a little crevasse of rock about 20 feet wide and you’ll get some idea. Absolutely awesome!

That little detour led to The Great Tse-Tse Fly Hunt. For some reason I always thought they were tiny bugs, but they’re about the size of a normal house fly. And they have a nasty little mouth, with which they bite mammals and suck blood. Those mammals would include humans. And they swarm the bus – even follow it down the road. A bunch of them followed us down to the Falls parking lot, and by the time we left several of them had moved into the air conditioned comfort, I suppose looking for a leisurely lunch. Ken nailed one on his window with the Uganda guide book. Aaron was chasing others around with an old rag. Lance took off one of his flip flops and splattered one who had already had lunch on his window, which brought a chorus of “EEEEEWWWWW!!!” from all – there was a rather large blood spot on the window in its wake. Cameron grabbed Branden’s pillow and tried to nail one, at which point Branden grabbed Cameron by the neck tightly – I’m assuming to pray for his success. Lance detached Branden before Cameron lost consciousness. (just kidding about the neck grabbing, of course). Hunting them all down took quite a while, but it did help to break up the tedium a little.

Going from the Lodge back to Kampala is in the neighborhood of 250 miles. 150 of that is on dirt road. And the dirt road was badly washboarded and rutted out in numerous places. Made for a very long trip, and we were bouncing around enough that it was next to impossible to sleep. It was a little interesting to watch the landscape transition from savannah at the park back into more jungle like as we got closer to Kampala and there were a few troops of baboons. Otherwise, it was a very long trip. If you’re interested in looking it up on a map, we went from the Paraa Lodge in Murchison Falls National park, via dirt road to Masidi, and then paved road on into Kampala.

Then we got to Kampala. We arrived at the outskirts about 6 pm. We finally pulled into Momma Mumbasa’s for dinner a couple of minutes before 8. The traffic here in the evening is a thing to behold. Actually, if you can avoid beholding it, that would be preferable. I told Michael that it was a good thing he was driving because if it had been me I’d be in jail after having run over about 500 boda-boda’s (motorcycles) . There are no rules in traffic here except for “the bravest one wins”. And let me tell you – some of them are pretty danged brave! To quote Branden “I think I’m ready to get back to a little order.”

But I also noticed how alive the city was at that time. In addition to the motorcycle and vehicle traffic, the streets were packed with throngs of people. I think of the US and doubt highly that you would see that many people walking down streets that were pavement-dirt-storefront. It has a vibrancy that is pretty cool. It also has air that had all of our eyes burning and our throats raw by the time we got to dinner.

So today is another play day – hanging out with our brothers and sisters from KIU and going shopping. It’s our last full day in Africa. Where has the time gone? As we prepare to leave, I find myself dealing with some very mixed emotions. I miss my wife and son terribly – I don’t believe I’ve been separated from Linda for this length of time since we started dating around 25 years ago. I miss the food, my home, my routine. But I’m also going to miss this place, the people. I’ve made what I consider to be some very good friends here, people who I will cherish. And there is so much more that needs to be accomplished. So leaving also brings a sadness.

Once again, I’ll try to wrangle someone else to add some thoughts, but to be honest it’s very much like herding cats. Let’s see, the priorities are taking pictures, talking and laughing, listening to ipods, reading, sleeping, swimming, showering, putting on makeup, and pretty much any other activity other than writing something for me to post in the blog.

By the way, in case I haven’t mentioned it, Alex has now officially been dubbed “Pastor Alex”. When he’d get up to share, it floored all of us and the young man has blossomed (just as many of us had predicted).

Kam & Ken’s comments:
A quick story from our Sunday trip to the IDP camp. We have delivered food and shared the Good News of Jesus to several households (tiny shacks). Virtually all are single mothers, at least there are no men around. Up until we meet Becky none have spoken English. They all graciously accept the small amount of food we leave and accept Jesus. Sometimes, at least for us when we have to rely on an interpreter we just don’t know for sure that the message truly was accepted or understood. It was very difficult to deduce whether the individual had wanted Jesus or said they did in order to ensure that they received food. We have to remember that we are the hands and feet of Jesus delivering the message of salvation and the Holy Spirit takes over from there.
Then we meet Becky. She is a lovely young African mother with a small baby. She speaks very fluent English. She is very hospitable. She brings out several chairs and takes us to the hut next door where there is a large mat. Dad & I share the Gospel and pray a blessing over her family. She eagerly accepts Jesus as her personal savior. As we prepare to leave we notice another young mother at the adjacent hut. One of the most amazing experience’s of our trip to Africa is that Becky, who just received Christ 2 minutes earlier helps us share Jesus with her neighbor. In fact Becky does most of the talking. Her neighbor receives Christ and we see the Holy Spirit already at work in Becky. What a blessing it was for us!
We have truly seen God at work in Africa, over and over and over again. We have learned not to let the little things get to us, and we pray when we return to the USA that we don’t get reprogrammed to the American way. For example, the traffic in Kampala is totally indescribable. It truly is the law of the jungle. Mothers nurse their children everywhere including when we are sharing the Good News of Jesus. Forget about refrigeration, a butcher shop is a small shack with the meat just hanging out in the not so fresh air of Kampala. The list of things that would bother many Americans goes on and on. We Americans get so caught up in being politically correct or we want everyone else in the USA to do things our way. Africans just live their lives, trying to raise their children and survive.

July 1

2009-06-30T22:13:00.001-07:00

Well, I was just trying to load some pictures but the internet just isn't cooperating this morning. Since we're returning to Kampala today, I'm hoping I can get some up probably tomorrow night (which would be Thursday morning at home - I think!)

Last night we had a team gathering around a campfire to share our experiences and some stories about those experiences. Lance had told us earlier in the day that holding on to our stories would help to solidfy the experience, to help us hold on to what we've learned.

It was a very meaningful time for all of us. Kayla and Nick spoke about how the Spirit helped them to overcome their fear of speaking in front of people. Cameron and I spoke about our experiences at the IDP camp and what we learned from that. I'm not going to go in depth into anyone's stories because I want them to share them with you when they return.

Africa has affected all of us deeply. My Irish friend from a few days ago was right on target - Africa gets in your blood. As for me, I have gone from being "The Reluctant Missionary" - a man whose mind fought coming all the way - to being a man who now has a passion to do more for these people. I can easily see myself coming back here, but before I can spend money for another trip, I am compelled to do whatever I can to help the people here. For those of you who know me personally - begin preparing yourselves. I'm coming!

I continue to marvel at God's incredible creation. The land, the flora and fauna, all of it completely surpasses my ability to describe. And the people. Having spent pretty much my entire life in racist society (and to my Canadian friends, make no mistake - yours is too), I have now come to see people of color in a whole new light. Their beauty is astounding. From the most beautiful specimens imaginable down to the withered old woman I saw at the IDP camp, they have a beauty here that is truly astounding.

I'm going to continue to grab the other members of our team and have them add thoughts. In the meantime, I continue to ask for your prayers. For our safety, but more importantly - please pray for the people of this land. They have taken up a place in every one of our hearts that we may have difficulty explaining, but that will remain with us forever.

June 30

2009-06-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Nick’s Comments.
This last two weeks and a have been amazing. Aside from being sick the first four days and visiting the hospital in Kampala due to the wonderful Malaria pills which I stopped taking shortly thereafter. On a more positive note the culture is amazing and I have really enjoyed it so far and the food is amazing. I have been impacted in many ways that I never thought I would. Everything from distributing food in the IDP camps, to sharing the gospel with kids in the schools has been a real eye opener. The first few days we went to a bunch of schools in and around Kampala. It was a great experience, for the most part the kids seemed genuinely excited and thrilled to hear what we had for them. At first giving my testimony and talking in front of many people was a little frightening , but after the first couple schools it seemed like no big deal and almost felt natural. One of the most impactful things for me has been seeing the living conditions of the people in the slums and IDP camps. Its one thing to see something like that on tv or in a movie, but when you see it in person it suddenly becomes much more real and shocking. Overall everyone in our group is having an incredible experience and cannot wait to share it with everybody back in the States.
--Nick

I’m trying to round up the others to get their thoughts on here, but I did want to catch everyone up on our activities over the past couple of days.

Yesterday (Monday) we left the Transa Rock Hotel and drove out to the Dream Center Gulu. Like the IDP camp, it was quite a ways out of town on a dirt road, and when we first drove in, it looked completely and totally unremarkable. Basically a squared off area next to a village, around 15,000 sq ft, surrounded by barbed wire and had a couple of huts on it. In the far corner was a group of young men working on something.

Pastor Robert, the man in charge of the place, explained what exactly it was. During the civil war, the rebels made a horrid habit of abducting young boys – as young as 7-8 years old – and training them to become soldiers. They are young men now, but since they did not get to complete their schooling they are not trained to do anything. It is difficult enough to have their villages accept them back in, and being unemployed and untrained on top of it makes it an enormous challenge to get them assimilated.

The Dream Center takes the young men in, trains them in such skills as sewing, carpentry and brick making, and then places them into communities upon graduating. It is helping to build the future, one small step at a time. I find the concept very encouraging.

We all got the chance to get our hands dirty since there was a large pile of bricks that hadn’t been baked properly that they needed to move to a pit. We formed a couple of chains and passed most of the pile into the pit for them.

As we were filtering back to the bus, the children from the village had formed up as an audience for us. Erika noticed a girl that had an open wound on her leg, so she got out the First Aid kit and started bandaging her up. Soon Lance and Aaron had joined in, and by the time we left several children had nice white bandages on their bodies. It was rather poetic since this was all going on about 15 feet away from the foundation that has been laid for a clinic on the property.

From there we went back to Gulu and dropped off everyone from KIU except Kennedy & Aaron. We then made the trip to Murcheson Falls National Park for the safari.

The lodge here is fantastic, and the safaris – by Land Cruiser in the morning and a boat trip down up the Nile in the afternoon – was simply incredible. We were able to see all sorts of wildlife, including elephants, 2 different prides of lions, many different species of antelope, warthogs, water buffalo, baboons, and several others that slip my mind right now. Oh, and on the boat trip we saw at least 100 hippos and several crocodiles. God’s creation is incredible!

The plan is that tomorrow morning we’ll take a bus ride up to the top of Murcheson Falls, then wander back towards Kampala. Thursday morning will be shopping, followed by a going away party with the KIU students at The Palace in the afternoon. The next day is off to London!

And now for some more comments from the other folks.

Erika’s Comments
Praise God! I’m here to write a general recap of my experience in Uganda, and Pastor Kennedy is here laughing at my blank face and screen, cause I really can’t find the words. Not because the trip wasn’t overwhelmed with Jesus’ teaching, the building of valuable relationships, and confusingly simultaneous joy and heartache, but I guess because, it was. My highlights include community work in Nabutiti (Texas City) on Monday and Tuesday and in another community near Omega on Thursday, where we distributed food and shared God’s story in words. At first for me, it was daunting to think of just sharing the Gospel with a Muslim woman on her knees before me in the dirt of a Kampala slum, or praying for another burdened by HIV, but if I’ve learned anything on this trip it’s been the actual power of the Holy Spirit if we are just willing. As we first starting walking around on Tuesday, giving nothing but truth, I felt torn by a desire to come back with more physically recognizable help: more food, shoes, health care. But as the day went on, and we prayed for healing or whatever else, I believed more each time that God would provide, and the gift of hope is the ultimate assistance. Jesus has moved in amazing ways in every person on our team and I think we’ve all learned so much. I’m so grateful for having been a part of the trip

Some Pics

2009-06-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

June 27-29 - Long one!

2009-06-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it back to the land of internet access. We're currently at the Paraa Lodge in Murcheson Falls National Park. Going on safari int he morning!

This one's long, but it's about 3 days worth.

It’s Ken----This morning before our scheduled Friday activities, KIU students Patrick, Millicent and I, along with Kayla & Pastor Kennedy headed down to Texas City to deliver Bibles to several of the people we had met earlier in the week.

Our first stop was to call on Rita, the unemployed unwed mother with a 3 or 4 month infant & the teenage sister with the badly infected eye. This very shy, beautiful (both physically & in spirit) young mother immediately welcomed us in to her tiny home. On our first visit her baby had no clothes & was just wrapped in a blanket. Right away we noticed she had purchased clothes for her baby with some of the small amount of money we had left her. Her sister came out immediately upon our arrival (she had been very reluctant to come out on our initial visit). She had obviously received medical attention as her eye was very red, but the swelling in was completely gone, as was the pain. On our first visit, Rita received Jesus as her personal savior. We gave her a Bible & Pastor Kennedy prayed & asked the Lord to bless Rita and her family. As we walked up the hill toward our next destination I happened to look back & noticed Rita peeking out of the house through the blanked that substituted for a door. For the first time she had a smile on her face.

Next, it is off to follow up with Jackie, a 22 year old (who looks 14), caring for a 1 year old. Her sister is now with her & there are 2 babies in the very small household. Both Jackie & her sister are “Born Again” and have no short term needs. On our earlier visit Millicent had stayed with Jackie’s baby while Patrick & I had accompanied Jackie to the closest ultra, ultra mini mart (shack) grocery (bulk food) outlet. We pray for the family & head to our next destination.

It is Olivia, another single mom, we next visit. She accepted Christ at our last visit. Kayla presents her with a Bible. Millicent prays for Olivia & her baby. I take a picture of Kayla & Olivia then with Kayla, Patrick, Millicent, Pastor Kennedy & Olivia. On a humorous note---- I try to take a picture of Olivia’s baby, she shuts her eyes, I try again & she shuts her eyes again & begins to cry. I feel very bad, I can’t believe I make the baby cry. Kayla and the others get a good laugh out of it.

Every prayer request from these precious children of God include the desire for a godly man to marry & care for them.

Our last stop is to follow up with Nadia the 20 something daughter of a Kenyan Muslim Lady who the mother truly believed was possessed by an evil spirit. That the Muslim mother would invite KIU “Born Again On Fire For The LORD students Patrick, Leena, Maria, Manu & I into her home to pray for her daughter is difficult enough to explain. On Monday, as we waited for the Nadia to return to the home before we met with her, the five of us prayed outside the home for God to use us as HIS vehicle to cast out the evil spirit if one did exist. One of the KIU students was fearful we could be vulnerable to the spirit. I must say that there is so much I do not fully understand about this issue, but I do know as believers we are fully protected by the Blood of Jesus. Additionally, we agreed we serve an awesome God & must have faith, that if it is His will His miraculous power (when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ) can accomplish anything. Inside the house, the daughter was very meek, distraught & frightened & told of a recurring dream of delivering a baby & immediately throwing it to its death to the ground. We all prayed in the name of Jesus Christ for the spirit to be cast our & for healing.

Now, today, we were returning to follow up. Nadia met us at the door. She was a totally changed person. The meekness & fear were gone, as were the dreams. She was smiling & very happy. We entered the home & Pastor Kennedy prayed for both the mom and Nadia. As we left, the Muslim mother asked for Millicent to befriend Nadia. Pastor Kennedy assured the mom that Millicent and/or other KIU students would return.
Look, I know virtually nothing about the spiritual world or spiritual warfare, yet I believe the Word of God makes it clear evil spirits exist and they know and tremble at even the name of Jesus Christ. Did Naudia have an evil spirit within her? We’ll never know and it is not really important. What I do know is that the name of Jesus is most powerful. We saw a totally changed young woman who appeared to be filled with a new spirit---the Spirit of our Holy Father, healed by the name of Jesus.

I want to say hi to my nine grandchildren (Max, Andrew, Lucy, Maya Rose, D J, Lily, Sophie, Violet & Jack) who I miss very much & love dearly. To say that the little children of Uganda have captivated the hearts of Kayla, Erica, Sam & Katie & all the guys would be a gross understatement! Everywhere we go all four girls, plus Nick, Kam & Alex are literally swarmed by the kids, some as young as the age of two. Yesterday, as we left one of the schools, two little girls clutched both index fingers of Kam & were prepared to go right into the bus with us. I can’t but help think of my precious grandkids & how the Lord has blessed my family.

When I first met KIU student Rose, I told her how excited my granddaughter Maya Rose (age 11) would be to know one of the African College kids shared her name. So too will be Sophie (age 7). Jack (age 2) is likely too young to get it, but someday will see a picture of KIU student Jack and then I will tell my little Jack what an awesome young man KIU student Jack with the infectious smile is.

KIU student Rose has claimed me as her grandpa as have several of the other KIU girls. I now have grandkids on two continents!

The next time I come to Africa I very much so, want to bring my soon to be 14 year old grandson Andrew. It is now 11:15, we leave for Gulu at 7:30, so I’m off to” hit the sack”.
Thank you Ken. I want to take a moment, by the way, to acknowledge how much I’ve come to admire Ken on this trip. I’ve seen a childlike yearning and desire in him to learn, to grow in God. It is truly remarkable.

We did the last two school assemblies yesterday in partnership with Omega. Sam and I missed the first one to allow her a little more time to recover, so I’ll check around and get someone else’s perspective on that one. The second one was at a school quite close to Omega. It went well, but the attendance was pretty severely hampered by a simultaneous soccer game between the students and teachers. Those that did attend were probably the least responsive I’ve seen. Branden asked them a yes/no question and no amount of cajoling on his part could get anyone to answer either yes or no.

We were then to wrap up our time with Omega, spending some time with their people back at their church. Our original understanding was that they wanted to discuss how youth ministry is done in the US, see if there was anything that we could give them in the way of tips, scripts, etc. The understanding morphed along the way to be that we would be discussing ministry “strategies”. Then it was to be a discussion around issues confronting the church in Uganda, and how we would deal with it in America.

Once we finally got there, we found out that it was to be a discussion around one issue – homosexuality. There have apparently been a couple of high level scandals in Uganda involving pastors being forced out of the closet, pastors accusing each other of being homosexuals (I got the impression that perhaps some of these accusations were groundless). The session started off with one of the Omega pastors (Frank) going into a pretty impassioned statement about how homosexuality is evil, against the laws of God and nature, and how they feel it is threatening the church. It is evil and they have to fight it with all their might. They also sent out a bunch of photocopied news articles for everyone to pass around. He made it quite clear that Omega feels that this is the biggest issue facing the church in Uganda.

Discomfort. Lance, Branden, Ken and I all made comments to them about how it is vital that they differentiate between consensual homosexuality and homosexual rape. How they also need to separate the act from the person – that you must continue to love the person. You must not ostracize anyone completely but rather need to help them heal and love them. I pointed out to them that homosexuality is only a tiny piece of the sin in the world and the danger is with focusing on it is that all other sin is ignored. I pointed out to them that the church in the US has made this mistake – devoting almost all of its societal efforts on homosexuality – and it has resulted in so many other sins becoming acceptable behavior, even encouraged behavior. Aaron and Branden both pointed out that their focus should be on fostering solid families with faithful partners.

Frank was dutifully taking notes and at the end of the session read back the pertinent points that he had heard. I’m sad to say that it seems to me he only heard the things we said that affirmed their stand.

On a final note for this morning, my portion of the funds from Lance’s supporter did not make it to Gulu. My heart continues to be burdened for Mother Mary’s orphanage. I told everyone about Baby Esther the other day, and there is a picture here on the blog of her sitting in Sam’s lap. While we were there, I heard someone make a comment in passing that she has had a lot of medical problems. Well, yesterday I asked Kennedy about it. He said that she is HIV positive. So my portion of the funds – along with an additional contribution – went to Kennedy to help with her medical costs.

June 27 – 3:40 pm

Well, we made it to Gulu. The horror stories that we’d heard about how nasty the road up here would be turned out to be unfounded – there were a few spots with some potholes, but for the most part we moved along well. The trip seemed to go much faster than I had anticipated.

Final tally of the KIU Students/UFC staff along with us – Kennedy, Antony, Aaron, Brian, Evelyn, Lillian, Patrick, Emmanuel (Manu), & Sophie – and we love them all! We love their spirit, we love their sense of humor, we love their dancing, and especially we love how much they love God. We keep telling all of them that we want them to come to America to see us. If Brian can get his visa to study at Mississippi St, we’ll make it happen. Kennedy will make it over at some point, but we so badly want to introduce everyone to our friends. Several of us mzungus have been finding ourselves speaking with their accents. We love how they pronounce “God”. I can’t type it, we’ll have to imitate it when we get home.

As we reached the outskirts of Kampala, we noticed a grocery type store with a big crowd of agitated people gathered out front. It was explained that this is basic Ugandan justice. The police in Uganda are so corrupt that you can pretty much get away with anything as long as you can bribe the cop. Because of this, if someone is caught shoplifting, the neighborhood takes over dispensing justice. They’ll gather around and beat the bejeebers out of the perp. Antony & Kennedy informed us that these beatings even result in death on occasion. So shoplifting in Uganda is not a good idea.

The trip itself was pretty cool once we got out of Kampala. We were stuck in a traffic jam for about 15 minutes there, but otherwise things moved along well. The highlights:
• We stopped at a “rest area”. The Ugandan version of a rest area is a place where the guys could go off one side of the road a little ways into the trees, and the girls could do the same on the other. While we were all stretching, the younger dudes were showing off – Aaron picked Lance up and carried him across the road. I asked him why he didn’t carry me! There were a few foot races and Branden actually beat Manu. Of course, this was after Manu had already raced Nick, Alex and Kennedy.
• Shortly after getting back on the bus, Michael slowed way down. There was some type of black faced monkey standing at the side of the road looking at us. Branden had been talking about wanting to see a monkey, so he got his wish.
• Soon after that, we started seeing baboons all over the place. I’m pretty sure there were a bunch of pictures taken.
• Then we crossed over the Nile. It was breathtaking! Whenever I think of the Nile, I think of it as the Egyptian version of the Columbia – flowing steadily but unremarkably through the desert. This far south it is nothing of the sort. Already a huge river, it was beautiful as we saw a waterfall and many rapids all over the place. Again, I’m hoping we can get some pictures posted of it. Lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” on the bus.
• We passed many different villages along the way and saw plenty of the traditional grass roofed African dwellings. As we were entering Gulu, we started seeing large groupings of these. Kennedy pointed out that these were some of the IDP camps.
• As we drove through one fairly secluded area, Kennedy also pointed out that this was not a particularly good place to have you vehicle break down. There is apparently a tribe that still practices cannibalism.

So we arrived in Gulu and parked in front of the bank downtown. Kampala actually has a downtown area with a bunch of impressive large buildings, shopping centers, etc. Downtown Gulu is paved, but is quite dusty with old store fronts, lots of the usual shack-shops, drainage ditches with lots of trash, etc. Branden pointed out that the store front across the street had a sign on the top that said “C&P 1962”. I thought that was rather cool since that was the year that someone very special to me was born! We waited around for about half an hour while Kennedy & Aaron tracked down our “host”, then re-boarded the bus, turned around and went back up the road about ¼ mile where we turned onto a dirt road and headed into a rather shady looking area.

The hotel we’re staying in – the Transa Rock Hotel, however, is pretty nice – nicer than I would have expected from looking at the town. All of the mzungus have their own rooms (with the exception of Branden & Katie). B&K are on the top floor (4th) along with Antony & Aaron who are sharing a room and Sam. Originally Sam was down on the 3rd floor with Kayla & Erika, but they were side by side at one end of the hall and Sam was at the other. Dad didn’t feel too comfortable with that arrangement so I asked Ken – who was in the room right across the hall from me – to switch with her. I therefore now have her right across the hall and Ken is down on the 3rd floor with the girls to help keep an eye on things. The boys & Lance are all down on the 2nd floor. The rooms have beds, nets, fans and small desks and chairs. The bathrooms have a toilet and a shower head. There is also a large plastic bucket that you put under the shower head and stand in

Most of the KIU students are staying in a set of rooms surrounding a small courtyard out back. My room also has a private balcony overlooking the neighborhood out front. The balcony is a nice touch, but the view isn’t all that attractive. The house directly across the street has a dirt yard, a couple of clothes lines full of clothes, and about half a dozen turkets wandering around. As I look further I can see a neighborhood that is definitely a step up from the slums of Kampala, but would also definitely be considered slums in Portland. Lots of kids running around, some with clothes on, some without.

We’re heading to one of the IDP camps to distribute some food here in a little bit.

June 28

I believe we just experienced the worst, shortest night’s sleep since arriving in Uganda. We were all victims of a confluence of “Uganda Time” time last night.

I’m sitting here in my room with the only light available being my laptop. The noise here is different than it was in Kampala, but much more intimate. By that I mean I could tune out most of it in Kampala and sleep most of the time. Here there was a nightclub down the street that was blasting music all night long – and is still blaring at 5:30 am - the roosters have been crowing, there’s a dog that periodically emits nice loud, long, mournful howls, and it is all happening right outside the hotel, which features windows that don’t close. There is also a child that was crying and screaming much of the night. The thing that has me totally baffled is how the night club manages to power the music. When we arrived yesterday the power had been off in the entire town for a day and a half, and just barely managed to flicker back on around 4 pm. There has been enough power in my room to turn the fan a tiny bit. There isn’t enough power for the lights to work, so I’m thinking that it doesn’t make sense to wake anyone up until there is enough natural light to see.

Figured out later that the night club may be the cause of much of the power shortage issue around here. Once they finally shut down at around 6 am, the lights all came back on.

Sorry – rabbit trail. Back to the effects of Uganda Time. It was decided that we weren’t eating any dinner until after the camp visit – everyone was instructed to eat some of their snacks to tide them over. This was great since that was what we had for lunch on the bus ride up. Yeah, and here I am complaining when we’ve got a veritable feast compared to the people we’re visiting.

The main point I’m trying to make about the later dinner, however, is that it turned out to be VERY late. By the time we got back to the hotel from the restaurant (they were quite slow), it was close to midnight. The English service at the church is at 8:30, so I’m expecting a lot of tired folks this morning.

The trip to the IDP camp started out with by going over to Gulu Community Church (which is where we’re attending church this morning) to meet Pastor Chris. The plan was that we were to go to the camp, distribute food and then they were going to show the Jesus film. I was looking forward to this since I had heard quite a bit about the “Jesus Film Project” a couple of years ago but had never had the opportunity to see it.

Getting out to the camp was about a ½ hour experience since we traveled probably 3 miles on one of the famous Ugandan “roads” where the pedestrians often make better time than the vehicles.

I’m going to back up a little and try to explain what little I’ve been able to learn about these camps. I say try because although I’ve been asking pretty much everyone involved with the trip to give me a historical rundown, but so far the best I’ve been able to pull is a few little bits and pieces and I don’t have access to any more detailed information. These camps were set up during the civil war that was fought here for a long time between the government forces and the rebel forces of the LRA as a place for the people who were displaced from their villages during the fighting. This war was very ugly, with the rebels frequently going into villages and committing massive brutality – women & children were a favorite target. Since the rebels were using guerilla tactics – including hiding among the population of the villages – in many cases the government told the villagers that anyone NOT in the camps would be considered a rebel. As recently as 2005, rebel forces penetrated into Gulu.

Many of these people have lived in these camps for 25 years. A child born shortly after a family arrived is now well into the period where they would have their own children, so an entire generation has known nothing but the camps. The government has now instituted a plan for them to be resettled back in their villages, however, so the numbers in the camps has dropped significantly. You can see the “ruins” of many huts within the camp left behind by those who have left.

The food distribution bags consisted of some beans, maize flower, sugar and some laundry soap – I don’t know how far these staples go, but each bag for each family weighed about 5 lbs. We broke up into groups of about 5 people each, picked up 2-3 bags each and headed into the camp.

Each group consisted of a couple of members of the US team, 1 or 2 of the KIU folks, and an interpreter. In our particular group, the interpreter was a young man of 15 named Stevenson. We were also accompanied by one of the guys from the church named Samuel. Sophie, Sam and I rounded out the team.

We visited approximately 15 huts. Every single one of them housed either Christians or people who accepted the offer of receiving Christ as their Savior. When talking to Ken later, he said the same thing happened with their group. I still find my heart burning, however, to do more, to help provide more food. A couple of those who were already Christians expressed a need for Bibles. The burden I feel in my heart continues to be that the people who are coming to know Christ have an opportunity to be discipled. Samuel indicated that they come out on a regular basis, but I still worry since nobody in the camp seemed to recognize any of the people from the church. I find myself worrying about a lot of things for these people. And all I can do from this point is to leave it in God’s hands. Maybe that’s the point.

We have not been going inside the huts as we did the homes in the Kampala slums. The distribution and discussions took place outside as it seems that is where much of the time is spent. Before we even headed out, Sam was down on the ground talking with a little boy, somewhere in the 5-8 range. He had a large open sore on his leg, which the flies were exploring at their leisure.

The people that are in this camp are from the Luo camp and the dialect they speak is Luo. This tribe spans Northern Uganda and well into Kenya. Sophie is from that tribe, but the dialect from the Kenyan territories of the tribe are different from these, so she had a difficult time understanding much of what they said. Stevenson had some difficulties since he’s still somewhat tentative with his English. It still kind of blows my mind that English is the language that they are attempting to make “universal”, but if Uganda is ever to emerge from 3rd World status, it is critical that they be able to communicate with the rest of the world, so it makes a lot of sense.

Stevenson is a very nice young man, but his knowledge of the world outside of Africa – even to a certain extent outside of Gulu – is pretty limited. He dreams of being a professional soccer player (as do 99.9% of all Ugandan boys).

Sorry if today’s issue is rambling a little. I’m very tired and am having difficulty putting the narrative together. As the movie started (the actual movie shown was called Paul the Emissary) started, we found out quickly that while the film was being broadcast in English, one of the folks from the church was translating it into Luo over a microphone. It drew a large crowd, and the people in attendance were very enthusiastic. Branden preached afterwards – again through an interpreter – and there was a large crowd gathered round afterwards.

It is now 11:05 am and we just got back from the church service. It was rather jarring to walk in and find a large group of mzungus already in attendance. Turns out that Teen Mania has a large group here that has been working on building something here in Gulu all week. The service was fun and outrageously energetic. The closest I’ve seen to it at Rolling Hills is the occasional moments when Aaron Doerr starts hopping around in the Spirit. We discussed it afterwards and all agreed that of all of the worship services we’ve attended, it was the most out of tune we’d experienced, and yet was probably the most joyful. Branden preached – and delivered probably the most inspired message I’ve ever heard him preach. And on his birthday, no less! I was watching a bunch of the Teen Mania kids and at the beginning it kind of looked like they were tired and prepared to be bored. By the end of it I had seen them laughing, most of them were leaning forward, totally into what Branden had to say. Pretty cool! We were kind of looking forward to chatting with the Teen Mania kids afterwards, but they took immediately headed out and boarded their bus.

This afternoon/evening we did one more school – John Paul II College here in Gulu. A Catholic school, it was by a large margin the most impressive school that we’ve visited to date. While being given a tour, it was pointed out that one of the buildings (named after Mother Teresa) houses the kids who are amputees – victims of the war. We were not given a tour to visit these kids, but the thought of it saddened us nonetheless.

The assembly that we did, however, was fantastic! As we entered the room, the kids in there were already in the middle of singing – and very enthusiastically. We joined in, then went through introductions and Branden led some worship. The kids were joining in and there were even a couple of girls in their midst who would do some type of high pitched chant in the middle of it. I have to admit that it isn’t something that I expected from a Catholic school, but they brought it!

We are all grieved by the news tonight of the passing of John Garrick’s mother. We are praying for John and his family, and I would like to post one here:

Our glorious and magnificent Lord. We bow at Your name this evening and lift our Praises to You. You are the Creator of all, and Your will, Your plans are what we truly desire. Tonight I lift my brother John to You, along with his family. You know Lord that his Mom has left us to join You, and we rejoice in that. At the same time Lord, we know that the family and particularly John will feel her absence, feel the separation that is always felt in death. We ask you that You would comfort them Lord. Let them feel Your loving arms surrounding them. We know that they will be undergoing a state of grieving, where life at times may feel like they’re going through the motions. We pray that You protect them during this period. We ask this in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sam’s comments:

This week has been a learning experience to say the least. Life over here in Uganda is vastly different from the life of a typical American citizen. Letting go of my organization tendencies has been a huge part of growing throughout this trip, you see, as you might already know Ugandan time means show up and end whenever you feel lead to. Visiting the schools of Uganda was an eye opener. The kids of these schools (well a lot of the schools) weren’t super engaged to what we were talking about but more interested in scheming up ways to have their new Mzungu friends “help them out”. This week however has also been a wakeup call for me as well. I have had a huge problem with worrying ever since I was a little girl. I have wanted to overcome that fear but have never let go of it. The morning that I was horribly sick those same worries came creeping back into my brain. “What if I have to go to the hospital like Nick”? “What if it doesn’t go away”? …..what if, what if, what if. After about the 5th time shoving my face into the white plastic bucket (that I had named my new best friend) I sat there and in tears choked out the words “I don’t want to be afraid anymore!” At this very moment my dad prayed for me and I felt a massive burden lift off my shoulders. Since that day God has provided me with tremendous peace that I have not felt before. I still get afraid of things sometimes but I know that God is always there right beside me. He loves and adores me and knew me before anyone else. I do not need to be afraid for God knows my future and already knows what will happen, so I trust in Him.
Isaiah 41:10
Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
This verse has always been one of my favorites but I never really put it to heart. The words spoken here are clear and direct but I only listen to the ones I wanted to hear. God used this verse to bring peace into my life during this trip.
Well you have already heard some of my thoughts of this week from my Dad’s conversation with me earlier in the week, so with that I say God bless you all and I miss everyone at home.

June 26

2009-06-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

It is Friday - The last day before we head off to Gulu. In a somewhat strange thought process this morning, I started wondering whether it feels like time has been flying or dragging. I came to the conclusion that it has been neither. It’s almost like for the first time ever in any of my experiences time is moving at the pace that it is supposed to move.

As you know from yesterday’s post, I missed all of the activities so this post is going to be communicating what the team related last night during an extensive debrief session.

The usual morning routine – load everyone up, head to The Palace to pick up the other half of the team. The next destination was back to the Omega Healing Center. At Omega, they were again split up into teams for food distribution in the slum adjacent to the property.

The difficulty, however, is that there was a very limited number of Omega people, and those were the people who pretty much held the key – they were the only ones who knew which homes were the ones intended to receive the food. They were also basically the only ones who spoke Lugandan. After delivery of the food, the teams out of necessity coalesced back into a couple of large groups. Most felt that once this happened it became a pretty significant obstacle to talking with people. While the Lord can and will bless and use any of our efforts, it didn’t seem to be as impactful as the trips into Texas.

From the team’s description, I heard the story of a woman with AIDS. 2 of her 5 children had AIDS. Her husband had already died of the disease. Katie asked Kennedy about the whole topic. He said that it is obviously a huge problem, but for whatever reason people don’t like to talk about it. Maybe this is the theme for my whole trip – “I’m still processing” – but I wonder if there doesn’t need to be a much stronger push to bring it out from under the rocks, to try to push the discussions on it. How that would be accomplished, I don’t know.

After the gourmet peanut butter & jelly sandwich lunch at The Palace, they headed out to the first school assembly. This one was apparently in the most cramped room we’ve seen to date, which I have a hard time wrapping my brain around when I think about how cramped the room was on our very first school in Gaba.

The highlight of this school was the soccer and basketballs. The Headmistress here explained to the team that they had been praying for a long time to acquire a playing field, and those prayers had been answered. As in Wednesday – they had just made the purchase of a piece of land for sports on Wednesday. Up to this point they did not have any athletic equipment whatsoever. So now they have a field on Wednesday, and our team comes waltzing in on Thursday and gives them some soccer & basketballs. No, take that back. GOD comes waltzing in on Thursday and provides these! He’s the only one who knew the timing.

The atmosphere was cramped, but everyone feels like the students at this school were some of the most engaging that we have encountered to date. They were talking to our people, asking for prayer, genuinely appreciative of everything.

Then the second school. This one had probably the most expansive venue we’ve had to date since it was held in outside in a courtyard. The courtyard apparently had 3 story buildings beside it and there were students watching from outdoor walkways all the way up. Branden & Lance were guessing that there was somewhere around 500 kids in attendance.

And most agree that they were among the least responsive. The Headmaster came up to Lance beforehand to introduce himself and immediately starts dropping some pretty strong hints that they want money. He asked where in the US we are from, and Lance told him that Oregon is just north of California. “Is there much wealth there?” While our kids felt like the assembly was the smoothest one to date, they also felt like few were paying attention. Nick got up to tell his story, and was talking over a bunch of crowd noise. In the interactions afterwards, there was little interest in asking for prayer or acceptance of Christ, but much interest in acquiring contact information from the mzungus. The team seemed pretty disappointed by the experience – like it was something they would expect at a high school in the US.

We’re not always going to hit home runs.

To give everyone a heads up, we’ll be heading out fairly early tomorrow morning for Gulu. It is apparently about a 6 hour drive, and I’m not sure what kind of access I’ll have to the internet, so the posts for the next couple of days may be a little sporadic. I’ll keep it as current as I can, but if we miss a day, don’t panic!

Kam’s Comments:
Yesterday was an impactful day on not only the people our team ministered to, but also me. The day started out as we headed down to Omega Healing Center, which is a very large church here in the Kampala area. We were put into teams to evangelize and give food and other goods to the needy people of the area. I was moved when we came across a woman who had AIDS along with two of her five children. I could see the gratitude in her eyes when we presented her with our bag of goods. She was “born again” and we could see the love of Christ in her. That was the highlight of the day. In the afternoon we traveled to two different schools. The first school we arrived at loved the drama we performed and had a great response to our testimonies. I personally gave my testimony to that school. We really felt like we connected with the kids. The next school, however, was not as fired up for Jesus. On top of that, we were having all kinds of sounds system failures during worship. This was one of the wealthier schools, or so it seemed, that we had come to. When we shared our testimonies, Branden’s message, and drama with them, it felt like they had heard these kinds of stories a thousand times. It felt like they were American high school teenagers. They were easily distracted and after the message all they would ask for is contact information or money. It was a little discouraging and disappointing, but we knew that the team was going to run into at least one school like this. All in all, I believe yesterday was a great day.

June 25

2009-06-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Good morning Friends! Well, it is certainly morning here in Uganda and I suspect that by the time you open this blog post it will be morning over there as well ! I’m met once again by the usual cornucopia of sound – right now it’s a long distance barking duel between about 4 or 5 dogs.

So, when I put up the post last evening, I tried to tantalize everyone with today’s. Primarily it revolves around one very disquieting episode which I’ll get to in a little bit. The schedule for the day was that we were working with Omega Healing Center but it turned out that by partnering they had arranged 3 different school assemblies for us to do – one of which a couple of their people joined us at, the other two it was just us & our faithful band of KIU students.

My first impression of the day was the drive back over to Omega. If you remember my post from Sunday’s trip over there, I came down pretty heavily on the squalor. Well, you know what? Compared to Texas City, this area now looks almost middle class. I guess we’re all getting extreme lessons in relative poverty. We keep hearing that the IDP camps up around Gulu are the worst, and we’ve still got a couple of days to go before we get there.

We arrived at Omega and found out - I don’t remember if it was before or after we arrived – that rather than doing community outreach in the morning and then school assemblies in the afternoon (which had kind of become our routine) we were doing an extra assembly in the morning. This one would be at a primary school roughly 15 miles towards Entebbe. In addition to our merry band of mzungus and KIU students, we packed in a couple of extra bodies in the form of people from Omega. It was quite cozy in the bus!

As we leave the highway, to drive back into the school, the area appears similar to the area around Omega – outrageously poor by our standards but nowhere near the worst. About 100 yards in we notice that we’ve picked up an escort. A rather strange looking little man started out running in front of the bus but soon faded to running beside us and is now following us, diligently trotting along (you don’t make much speed with a bus on severely rutted dirt roads). As we stop the bus, the little man is waiting to greet us as we come off the bus.

He stands well under 5 feet tall with a somewhat crooked body. His face is dark and has normal African features – a broad nose, wide mouth and high cheekbones - and yet it somehow has an almost Polynesian expression on it. It’d kind of hard to describe. His clothes are absolutely filthy with an old buttoned shirt and trousers that have rips running in varying lengths up and down the legs. There are no shoes, and his feet have numerous cakes of mud. On his head he seems to have some kind of black scarf or something. Later when he took it off and put it back on again, it actually looked like a small black lace tablecloth or something. I don’t think he can speak – at least I never heard him do so the entire time we were there. He moved in a manner that reminds one of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The girls – both our girls and the KIU girls – were understandably a little frightened. Okay, let’s be honest – I think all of us were a little bit frightened. As we unloaded the bus, he was trying very hard to grab boxes and stuff. He wanted to shake everyone’s hand. Most would pat his shoulder or just kind of twist around him as they got off the bus. Being Mr. Compassionate, I bent over and quickly shook his hand. I was rewarded with a transference of some of the dirt. I then moved over to join a few others in an impromptu barrier between him and the girls. We get all of the gear off and loaded onto shoulders and start walking down a dirt path towards the school. Our strange little escort is out front – showing us the way. We would later learn that his name is Katto.

This primary school is situated on the side of the hill, with several dilapidated buildings on a relatively large piece of property, surrounded by a large fence. I thought it probable that once we entered the property one of the teachers or somebody would shoo our escort away, but he continued on into the compound, followed by the majority of us. The first building you came to was a long hall – stone walls with stone windows and some rudimentary desks, probably about 60-70 feet long, about 15-20 feet wide. There were no doors in the doorways – everything just open to the air. As we passed that there was a large open area that I would guess serves as the playground.

My first impression was that this is rather strange – the children are very shy of us and are not flocking to the mzungus. Katto is trying to intermingle with all of us and everyone keeps trying to move away from him. Everyone. Katto then moves off kind of out of our group. We soon notice that the children are kind of gathering around him and getting louder – they’re taunting him. Soon groups of them start running at him, only to turn away quickly, shouting and screaming as they run away from the strange creature. We end up standing around out in this playground area for quite a while so this continues on and off. Katto also keeps trying to re-join our group and intermingle with us. The kids also slowly start warming up to us and little knots of them will bravely come up to shake our hands. At one point, I’m squatting down shaking hands with some of them and notice Katto standing off to my left front about 5 feet away. A group of 3 boys comes running up behind him and slug him in the back and then take off running. He happens to be holding some type of bowl in his hand and swings it at the children. I look up and notice a man who we would later find out was the Headmaster watching from about 20 feet away. I’m thinking that he’s likely going to reprimand the children, but he just continues to watch.

I stand back up and Sam and Kayla are standing beside me with mortified looks on their faces. A couple of young men from our combined group are laughing. I’m with Sam & Kayla - I am feeling pretty low. Katto is indeed not a “normal” man, but he is a human nonetheless. He’s done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. But what do I do? So I just continue to stand and watch.

A couple of minutes later I’m chatting with Patrick and Sam, and we hear Ken call to us from behind that he wants to take a picture of the three of us so we turn around and pose. Katto immediately comes over and stands in front of us. Somebody from the side starts trying to shoo him away, but Ken tells them no, it’s all right. He snaps the picture, and as the three of us start to turn away, I notice Ken walking over to Katto. He squats down and puts his arm around Katto’s shoulders and shows him the picture on the back of his camera. He stays down at Katto’s level for a couple of minutes trying to communicate with him.

A couple of minutes later we finally get the signal to move up to the hall and start setting up. I estimated about 500 kids there. Katto follows and is trying desperately to help in any way he can. He tries to help set up one of the speaker stands. He tries to help Branden open his guitar case. The assembly ends up being pretty tough – primary students have just started to learn English and there isn’t much that we say that they understand. But Katto remains up front with us every step of the way. He claps on rhythm when we’re singing. He doesn’t understand the “tossing the imaginary basketball” game we play, but he’s trying to interact with it nonetheless. Antony, for his part, allows Katto to stand beside him as he introduces us and closes the assembly, and makes a couple of different comments about our friend Katto, trying to communicate that he is a human, that he deserves to be treated with dignity. I don’t think the kids understood the words, but I do believe that Antony standing there with his hand on Katto’s shoulder, showing him kindness, communicated something to them.

So we pack up to leave, haul the stuff back up the hill and Katto is with us every step of the way, trying to help carry stuff, to do anything he can to help. As we drive away, he takes off out front of us this time, trotting along, escorting us back out to the highway. As we drive through the slum area, numerous people shove and push Katto, but he continues on his singular mission to be our escort.

As we’re driving back to Omega, I sit and stare out the window. Frankly I’m glad I had my nice dark sunglasses on to help hide my tears. Oh God! Why was I afraid of him? Why did I give in to my fears? My sense of shame was quite deep. Why is it considered normal for children to harass and abuse those who are different? For that matter, why is it so normal for adults to do the same thing? Katto is another of your creatures, Lord. I realize that he is so much more worthy of Your love than I am. You told us that if we fail to minister to the lowest, the weakest, the poorest, we have failed to minister to You.

Ever since that moment I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to communicate how deeply this particular episode has cut me. This morning I find myself unable to adequately do so. Update at 11:46 am. Samantha is sick today so I’ve stayed behind at the guest house with her. We were just talking about it, and she told me how she was feeling at the point the children were taunting and hitting Katto. She said that she felt she was watching Jesus as he was whipped, as he was taunted walking through the streets carrying his cross. Exactly.

I also realize now that the entire visit to this school was about Katto. I don’t think the children understood much of anything we said, but somebody showed him some compassion. The children didn’t warm up to him afterwards, but they were no longer taunting him.

Okay, on to the rest of the day. We went back to The Palace for lunch. Quite frankly, the spoiled mzungus are getting a little burned on the food. It’s rather sobering to think that in America we start whining if we eat the same food two days in a row, while over here they eat chapata and rice or any of their other staple foods at every single meal on every single day. Ken commented yesterday that he is definitely riced out. I know that I would be able to go a long, long time without eating chapata again. So for the past two days we’ve been doing lunch at The Palace – peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, cookies (they’ve got some orange cream sandwich cookies that are to die for!), and various snacks that the mzungus have brought with them. It has actually been quite fun. Pastor Ronald couldn’t get over the fact that we eat breakfast (peanut butter & jelly) for lunch. We brought some packs of trail mix and nuts from Costco. Many of the students don’t even understand what grapes are, never mind the concept of raisins. One of them was trying to figure out how they were supposed to eat almonds. Sam brought along some packets of beef jerky yesterday. That didn’t go over so good with some of them! Antony made an interesting observation – everything is either too sweet or too salty.

We then went to another high school for an assembly. This was by far the “richest” school we’ve been to – by Kampala standards it was in a very nice neighborhood and the school itself had such amenities as windows, doors, a clean paved driveway and recently painted buildings. The group that we did the assembly for, however, was about the smallest we’ve done so far – I counted roughly 30 students. At least from the perspective of Lance, Ken & I, it was probably about the least responsive group we’ve encountered so far. The students didn’t seem too interested in interacting with any of us afterwards. The fun part of it, however, was that both Kayla and Nick got up in front of them and told their stories for the first time. And both of them did a fabulous job. I know that Kayla was terrified beforehand, and Nick said that it was a first speaking engagement for him as well, but you never would have known.

We did a third assembly in the early evening at another school that Kennedy told me is owned by a Muslim. I missed that one – was off updating the blog – but the impressions that I got from the team are interesting. Lance felt like it was one of the best interactive groups that we’ve encountered – he had a cool prayer session with a small group of them and a couple of good discussions as well. On the flip side, the girls were commenting that many of the students were pretty aggressive in asking for their email addresses (we have told the kids pretty emphatically to not give those out). Ken encountered another art student who was looking for someone who would sell his wares in the US.

Finally, to end the day we got a special treat. Lance took us all to dinner at Fang Fang – a Chinese restaurant in Kampala. And they had actual Asian people working there! Lance had relayed John’s impression that it was supposedly the best Chinese restaurant he’s ever eaten in. It was definitely good, but… John – if you’re reading this, we need to talk. Your Chinese restaurant repertoire needs to be expanded!

And on a not too happy note, it looks like I’m hanging at the guest house with Sam today. She has become the second victim of stomach issues. If it isn’t better by the time I get to post this tonight, I’ll definitely ask for prayers. As a matter of fact, I’ll go ahead and ask for prayers for the health of all of us anyway.

And since I’m hanging with my daughter all day, we’ve been sharing our experiences with each other. Some of her observations.
• “When we were at the orphanage, the children sang a couple of songs to us. While they were singing the second one, thanking us and God for what we had brought, you could see these children – probably 4, 5, 6 years old, crying and worshipping God in a way I’ve never seen anyone – ANYONE! – worship before.”
• I asked her how she thinks this trip will affect her long term. “I hope that I’ll be able to continue seeing the beauty in God’s creation. Yes, Kampala is dirty, dusty, smoggy. There’s lots of garbage and run down dwellings, but the people are so beautiful, the trees and hills and flowers are incredible. You can see the hand of God in everything around. I hope to be able to hold on to that.”
• “I don’t think Alex realizes how much he is impacting the rest of us on this trip. His story about his friend’s death and the belief that good can come from bad things has really struck home with me. Earlier today I was feeling sorry for myself because I got sick. It has given me a chance, however, to reflect on what has happened, what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt. It has been a blessing in disguise. “
• “I was really disappointed from not making the cut in the Soul’d Out (a capella singing group) auditions the last week of school. Discouraged. I come over here, however, and I’ve been told that I have a beautiful voice. I get up and goof around with the KIU students in the dance” lessons”, and all of them start telling me that I’m a really good dancer. These are people whose opinion I REALLY value. It has given me a remarkable boost in confidence.”
• “At home, ‘beauty’ is defined by your looks, your dress, what you eat, how popular you are. Over here they judge your beauty by your love of the Lord, your heart.” We talked further about the incredible beauty we’ve found in these people – particularly the ones that we’ve been growing close to – Patrick, Brian, Sophie, Kennedy, Antony, Aaron, Vivian, Lillian, Grace – all of them. And their beauty matches both American and African standards.

Today’s KIU student profile is Sophie and written by Sam. Sophie is a very tall (just not quite as tall as me) lady. When I first met her I thought she was my twin. Well, maybe not in skin color. And maybe not in hair since I’ve got lots and she keeps her head almost shaved, but still my twin. She has a passion for dance that you can see just by how she moves. She also has a great sense of humor and a smile that can light up a room. She is always open to trying new things. I think she, Brian & Patrick were the only ones that did like the beef jerky that I brought! She is from Kenya and absolutely loves her home. She’s already tried to convince me (and several others) to come visit Kenya. Her gift may not be in evangelism, but when she dances, EVERYONE stops to watch. Sophie is very fun, very social, and has a difficult time NOT talking. I will miss her dearly when we go back to the US. She is DEFINITELY going to be one of my new friends on Facebook! She is studying law – she wants to become a lawyer. I really hope she can come to the US some day so I can introduce her to all of my friends!

One final note, as of 5 pm Sam is feeling much better. My daughter and I have had a remarkable bonding session today – getting to share our thoughts, feelings, impressions. I also realize that counting travel days – which are pretty grueling – this is somewhere around the 8th or 9th day in a row of pretty high level activity for this team. Once again – John, if you’re reading this, the Lord had a very good reason for creating a day of rest on the seventh day. Everyone looked totally exhausted when we got back from Fang Fang last night. We skipped our normal debrief session and everyone just went to bed and collapsed. And then it was up and at ‘em again this morning. Sam and I feel quite blessed to have had a day to rest and reflect, even if she was getting sick.

June 24

2009-06-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

Once again – up at zero dark thirty. This morning Ken and I both woke up around 3 am. This is pretty normal for me, although I’m not used to having other people wake up at the same time. As usual, the dogs are barking outside. There’s one other piece of the morning cacophony that I don’t think I’ve told everyone about. About 5 am the Muslim call to prayer starts up. I’m not exactly sure which direction it is coming from, but it is there nonetheless. The reason I mention it is that it just isn’t something I’m used to hearing at home – it’s just another aspect of the atmosphere here.

As a matter of fact, I’d like to take a moment to just give you some examples of some of the small details here. If you find it boring, I apologize – skip past this! Let’s see… As you drive down the roads, you notice that there are women’s clothing shops interspersed in the mix. Most of them have mannequins out front displaying the wares. All of the mannequins are white. I never really thought about the fact that any manufacturers of mannequins would be in “Western” countries. The predominant building material over here is brick, and there is a relatively large amount of construction going on. The scaffolding, frames – everything requiring wood at these construction sites – is unfinished wood – large sticks. You’ll see an entire building frame work that looks like somebody went out into the woods, chopped down some small trees and brought them in. Which in all likelihood is exactly what has happened – I’m guessing they don’t have many sawmills. Plumbing in much of the city is non-existent. Every home has one or two yellow 5 gallon plastic jugs. They take these to wherever and fill them with water – I’m guessing on a daily basis. The other day we drove by a row – the equivalent of about a block long – of furniture stores, selling beds, upholstered chairs, and coaches. All of the wares were sitting out on the dirt.

On the roads that ARE paved (not many of them) there are numerous round-a-bouts similar to those cropping up all over the Portland area. Not nearly as controlled, of course. These traffic circles all run clockwise due to the fact that they drive on the other side of the road. The “middle class” neighborhoods contain homes that are all surrounded by walls – usually about 8-10’ high. Most of these walls have razor wire, barbed wire or some other deterrent to climbing along the top. The most common is one that I saw in Mexico several years ago – when the wall is built, empty glass bottles are put into the mortar at the top of the wall. The bottles are then broken, leaving a topping of jagged glass that would not be particularly comfortable when trying to put your hands on it.

Okay, back to the activities. Yesterday was basically the same as Monday, except we weren’t distributing food into Texas City. The teams were just venturing into the slum and talking to people, sharing the Lord. All of us Mzungus are getting much more comfortable with that – frankly we all had some difficulty with it. The people here, however, are also much more open to hearing about it. They’re much more open, much more hospitable than what we are used to in the US. We continue to see heartbreaking things. Branden encountered one family who had a boy perhaps 8 years old who had been in an accident. He had a compound fracture of his femur, and the family had no way to pay for surgery. If something isn’t done, the child will probably never walk again. The medical facilities here are limited, and most don’t have money to pay for what they do have.

But there were numerous people accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. This is exciting, but I continue to believe that the really exciting thing is that the KIU students are committed to following up with these people. These students are on fire for the Lord!

An cool side note involves one of Lance’s sponsors. This person had given Lance some money, with the condition that he use it to help someone directly over there. Lance distributed the money to all of us and asked us to use our imaginations – and then tell him what they did with it afterwards. Sam, Katie and Alex encountered a woman who did not have the money to pay for her children’s (2 of them) school fees for the upcoming term. The three of them pooled their money and gave it to the woman who now has the money to pay for her kids’ schooling. At this point I’m planning on holding my assignment for Gulu, but we’ll see what happens.

In the afternoon we went to another high school and held an assembly. The venue was more roomy this time – basically a pole barn that serves as their “auditorium” and there were only about 50 kids in attendance. We were able to perform the Set Me Free drama (finally!) and the kids knocked it out. Erika and Cameron shared their stories and both did a wonderful job. Branden spoke with passion. And yet it was a very unresponsive group. I guess some days it works and some days it doesn’t. I am amazed at the growth I’m seeing in our kids, however.

One uncomfortable episode was at the end when one of the teachers or principal (not sure his position) from this particular school got up to speak. He apparently thinks Mzungus mean money and lots of it. He was being quite insistent that we come back to his school to build a chapel for them to enable them to provide guidance and counseling to the students. Before we leave. Pastor Kennedy explained to me that there are some over here who have this image that if a white person comes they have unlimited resources and time, that all they have to do is ask and it will happen. While his school would be condemned in the US, it was actually quite nice and spacious for the standards over here. It may sound a bit callous, but I know that I can think of many other things that need to be addressed before building a chapel for his school.

Let’s see, we’ve also discovered that these folks refer to the scourge of the earth as “squitos”. They leave off the “mo”. Apparently they think of malaria pretty much like we think of the flu or bad colds – it is just something you live with. You get it, you go to the doctor and you get through it. Sometimes you don’t. Malaria is the number 2 killer behind AIDS over here.

Speaking of AIDS, I continue to wonder why I don’t hear it discussed. It is not nearly as big of a topic of conversation over here as it is in the US, and the damage from it over here is so vast. The only times I’ve heard the topic discussed has been moments when I’ve brought it up.

This one is a little abbreviated - at least in comparison to some. I didn't manage to snag anyone else to write anything last night, and I was dealing with a little exhaustion. Since I'm posting this at 5:10 pm local time, however, I can tell you that I'll have quite a bit to say tomorrow. The first visit to a school this morning was... interesting. How's that for a trailer?

June 23

2009-06-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Okay folks, today’s entry is going to have my usual entry as well as comments from Alex, Ken and Branden – trying to describe their experiences. I say trying because there are no words, no pictures, no videos that would adequately describe what we are experiencing here. But try we shall. The debrief sessions every evening get progressively more emotional, more intense. I am positive that this trip is going to impact every one of our lives and will take weeks, months, years, probably the rest of our lives to process. On to the events of yesterday (Monday).

We headed down to the Palace yesterday morning about 8:30. Once there, the KIU students began separating out some foodstuffs that some of our funds have supplied. There was rice, maize flour, cooking oil and laundry soap. Basic needs. We then separated into teams of 3-4 people and headed to “Texas City” – a slum. Picture a university – by American standards rather run down but by Ugandan standards quite nice. Down one end of the campus is a dirt road that leads into a slum. And this slum is like nothing that you’ll see in North America. Many of the buildings are stone or brick, but like the neighborhood around Omega Healing Center the stone walls are the entire structure – there are no amenities inside, often no floor either. Other buildings are made of sticks or pieces of tin patchworked together. The “streets” are mostly dirt paths, some so narrow that you can’t walk 2 abreast, most navigable only by motorcycles (boda-boda) and even them slowly. Down the middle of the streets are streams of sewage and they’re strewn with garbage. There are piles of garbage all over the place, which serve as feeding grounds competed over by goats, chickens, and the occasional cow. And when I say cow, please don’t picture a nice grain fed black angus. These cows are as thin and stunted as the people living here. There are piles of charcoal – no, not Kingsford briquets, just chunks of charcoal – everywhere. This is what they use to cook. All of the time – not just when they feel like grilling.

We enter a courtyard surrounded by 3 of these stone buildings – each housing 5-6 families – and a garbage pile and community outhouse on the fourth side. In the middle of the courtyard is a patch of dirt with a stick frame, probably 30 feet by 20 feet. This is Pastor Ronald’s church. He holds services there – if it’s raining or unbearably hot they’ll pull tarps over the top of the frame, otherwise it’s just the stick rectangle open to the sky. Pastor Ronald assigns each team the name of someone that they’re to deliver the food to. How we find the peoples’ homes I haven’t a clue. I was teamed with Grace and Vivian – two Kenyan KIU students. Most of the Kenyans speak Swahili as their native tongue and English which is pretty much the universal school language of both countries.

We walk down another couple of dirt paths and arrive at Margaret’s house. Margaret answers the door – or rather the sheet that hangs across the doorway – and after a few minutes of awkward signaling and gesturing she invites us in. You see, Kenyans, Tanzanians, and most of the other countries surrounding Uganda speak Swahili. The Ugandan’s native tongue is Lugandan. Margaret does not speak Swahili, and she didn’t attend school so she doesn’t speak English. Grace & Vivian do not speak Lugandan. I, of course, speak only English and what French I remember from 30+ years ago in school (can you say “useless”?). Margaret invites us in. Here is this woman who lives in absolute poverty, and there’s these 3 strangers coming to her home with food – one of whom is a very large Mzungu. She looked terrified.

Her home is about 8’ square. One half is the bedroom – a pair of bunks separated from the rest of the home by a mosquito net. The other half is the living room. It has a love seat type piece of furniture and two chairs. Grace & Vivian take the love seat, Margaret sits in one of the chairs and I fold myself into the other. There is hardly enough room between to house everyone’s feet. And we had removed our shoes before entering, so here’s this black pair of size 13 socks crammed into the tiny space with the three black women’s feet.

Grace begins to attempt to explain to her who we are and why we’ve come; that the food is from God, that the Mzungu has come from America to tell her about God. All three of us make attempts to talk with her. I think Margaret was rather terrified of me – she spent the entire time leaning out of her chair in the opposite direction of me, and never made eye contact. After about 20 minutes, her daughter – Harriet – comes in, followed shortly thereafter by her friend Marjorie. Harriet is about 12 and attends school, so she knows some English, and stumbles through some rudimentary translation with her mother. Does Margaret work? No, she can’t find a job – not even washing clothes. Is Harriet’s father around? No, he died. How does Margaret get money? There was a vague reference to “the young man”. Does Harriet know the Lord? Oh yes! Does Margaret? She thinks so, and there is a Bible sitting on the back of the love seat, so there is some hope. But this is about as far as the conversation can go.

We leave and head back out to the courtyard. Shortly thereafter the team that Sam was on emerges to join us, followed by Erika’s team. Erika’s team had similar results to ours. Sam’s team, however, was able to find someone who understood both Lugandan and English very well. Both the woman in the home and the man who was translating accepted Jesus.

Honestly, it was spirit crushing for many of us. But Pastor Kennedy, the students and Pastor Ronald are committed to continue ministering to these people, to providing them with whatever they can. As we moved back to where the bus was parked, we discussed our experiences with several others. Many of the Kenyan students were as heartbroken as us, but they’re still committed to continue the efforts. Sophia honestly tells us how much she is dreading the trip to Gulu this weekend because conditions up there are much worse than this.

And yet, there is hope. There is hope for eternal life. There is hope for survival thanks to people like Pastor Ronald and the students. There is hope in my mind that maybe I can try to convince some of the other Mzungus back home to help sustain the efforts. On the way back out, several of the students point to one of the stick structures. This is where Mother Mary’s orphanage was housed up until 6 months ago.

Deep breath. Okay, on to the afternoon. After lunch we piled into the bus – along with at least as many KIU students as us Mzungus to go a high school in Gaba – a suburb of Kampala close to Lake Victoria. On the way, I’m packed into the bus beside Patrick. You’ll read more about him in Ken’s comments, but among other things, Patrick is a genuine character. I recognized the first time I saw him that he has a grin every bit as mischievous as my own. As we talk, he informs me that the Swahili word for crazy is “chizi” (pronounced cheesey). So it quickly became known that Dale is the “Chizi Mzungu” and Patrick is the “Chizi Mafrica”. Sam can call me “Bunta Chizi” (crazy father) and I can call her my “Chizi Binti” (crazy daughter, of course!). Actually, Patrick told me that I am “chizi cabeesa” (not sure on the spelling) which means totally crazy!

The plan for the school was that the assembly would be opened by Aaron, do some introductions, then Pastor Kennedy would pray, then we’d do the Set Me Free drama. Branden would then preach, and two of the students would tell their stories of their life in Christ. The designated students – first ones out of the gate – were Alex & Sam.

We arrive at the school and are lead up to the 4th floor of the building. The high school students are already in the room – approximately 130 of them (near as I could count) in a room about 30’ long by 20’ wide. With desks. There’s no power available, which means no sound system, which means we can’t play Set Me Free, which means the drama is out the window. Go with the flow!

Lance introduced the team and I got a good laugh from the students when I told them I was the Chizi Mzungu. Branden preached, and then we had the highlight. Alex got up and knocked it out of the park – first time he’s ever been up to speak in front of any group of people, and he spoke with confidence, volume and passion. He told them of the terrible struggle he’s had recently after the death of his friend, but how God and His Word has comforted him. Absolutely awesome job. This was followed by Sam who enthralled them before she even opened her mouth – they don’t see many Mzungus, never mind girls that are that tall with hair that is that curly! She too delivered her story very well, telling them of her struggle with overcoming fear in her life. I would also add that when Branden told the students a little about his life – that his father walked out when he was an infant, that his mother was an alcoholic and drug addict and that he was pretty much raised by his grandparents – one of the students responded with “I’m sorry.” They have an image of Mzungus that our lives are perfect, that we have no pain, no problems.

While intermingling with the students afterwards, one of them told Lance that he had been a Muslim and converted to Christianity 6 months ago. Another one talking to Branden asked him how she could convert as well, so they put the two kids together to get her into Gaba Community Church.

One of my enormous concerns in this trip was discipleship – going out and “winning” the people to Christ is absolutely useless if there isn’t any infrastructure to help them learn what it means to live a Christian life. I have been very comforted in the fact that this is exactly what Pastor Kennedy’s team of KIU students is doing – and doing so well and with passion.

Since I’m writing this Tuesday morning, I’ll pass on something else we learned as a follow up to the Texas City experience. We have been warned that many of the people we’ll encounter will view us as some kind of gravy train – that the Mzungu will give them lots of money, sponsor their children, pay for their education, take care of all of their needs, etc. Branden talked with one man who said that he was an artist and wanted Branden to hook him up to sell his art work in the US – regardless of whether or not Branden knew anyone who sold art in the US. The most sobering experience belongs to Erika. She took a picture of 3 of the children that she had met in her visit. Their mother had gone to Pastor Ronald afterwards with the understanding that this meant Erika had agreed to sponsor the children. He asked Erika if she had made any promises (of course she hadn’t), and told us that we should not take individual pictures of kids like that.

Finally, I want to try to introduce you to some of the KIU students that we’ve been working with. Today I’d like you to meet Brian. If I can ever get the dance video loaded up you’ll see him. Brian is about 6’5”, skinny and lanky, but can he ever move! He has a smile that is totally infectious and a fabulous sense of humor. And he loves the Lord. When we were all trying to absorb the experience of Texas City, he was around to help bring some reality to us, to let us know that what we were doing WAS valuable, and that we can only do so much – that we can never fix everything. Brian is hoping to begin studies this Fall at Mississippi State University ( he was quite impressed that I knew it was in Hattiesburg!) if he can get the visa worked out. Branden and I have both put him on notice that if and when he makes it over, we’re flying him out to Portland for a visit!

Okay, that’s probably about enough out of me for today. There’s plenty more below from the others.

Alex’ Comments

Hey everyone this is Alex! Just stopped by to give you a quick update on what happened today. Today we went through a place called “Little Texas” - why it’s called that is a mystery to the group. Going through the small back alleys and seeing small children living in an environment like that , pretty much makes you feel like crying right then and there. There isn’t a picture, or video in the world that can describe what we saw there. When going through a back alley, a woman approached us and asked what we were doing. The group I was in, of course, pushed me up to the front to tell her. I explained the gospel to her and what Jesus had done, in about five minutes she accepted Christ as her personal savior. A little bit later we loaded the bus again to go to a high school about twenty minutes away where Sam and I would be sharing our testimonies to a crowd of high school students. Of course I was scared out of my mind and sweating more than a 15 year old Mzungu should. But as soon as Pastor Branden introduced me and pulled me up in front of everyone, I felt calmness that I will never forget. Let’s just say Sam’s and my testimonies went well  Well, I’m getting pretty tired and am having a hard time typing so I think I’ll be going to bed to get ready for tomorrow.

THE KIU STUDENTS & THE DOUBLE OVEN IN THE GREGSON’S (KEN) HOME

Yesterday (Monday) KIU students Patrick , Millicent & I were one of several teams on our way to Texas City, a very poor part of Kampala. I was going to say that Patrick and Millicent were typical KIU students, but there is absolutely nothing typical about any of the KIU students, nothing!!

Like, American kids, they have dreams - an education, marriage, a family & success. What makes them so special is their love, faith & commitment to the Lord. They are part of the United Faith Chapel community led by Pastor Kennedy at Kampala International University.

We have 2 bags of food stuff (staples) to deliver to Rita. It’s 10:15 a.m. Patrick Millcient & I arrive at her home, a 10 by 10 stone shack furnished with a mattress on the left & a very small couch on the right. Rita invites us in. She is unmarried & caring for an infant. She has no food, no job, no way to feed her baby. The food we deliver will feed them for several days. Rita is also taking care of her sister who is about the age of Erika & Kayla, 17 or 18. The sister is sick with a very swollen eye, likely infected.

Patrick & Millicent speak to Rita in the Ugandan Language, & share the good news of Jesus Christ. Their compassion for their faith is on fire and very humbling to me. Millicent is praying in English. The words flow from her mouth, full of compassion and faith. My compassion is for Rita’s physical living conditions, Patrick & Millicent compassion is that she trusts Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior. You see, the KIU students truly believe in their heart of hearts that Jesus will take care of Rita, her baby & sister. Their love & faith in the Lord is impossible to describe. These students are an inspiration to all of us.

As we get ready to leave I ask Patrick if we can leave Rita some money to buy food & for medical attention for her sister. I give Patrick my wad of Ugandan money, 207,000 Ugandan shillings, about $100.00 American. He gives Rita $15,000 Ugandan, enough for food for a week or two & her sisters medical needs, & gives the rest back to me. I’ll let you figure the math (2,000 shillings = approx $1). Patrick, Millicent & I will have two more similar encounters.

My mind turns to the 4,000 square foot home in Wilsonville where Camille, Kam & I live and the new double oven & the new refrigerator & the new dishwasher. Hey they had to be replaced. They were as old as the 4,000 square foot house, built in 1990 that is the home of 3 people. The dishwasher leaked, the ice maker no longer worked on the fridge & the oven---you had to slam the door as hard as you could a couple of times for the digital system to light up. And besides, most of the neighbors replaced theirs years ago & the colors were old & outdated. An inexpensive repair, Camile’s choice was out of the question, they had to be replaced.

You see, Ken had to have the the new stuff and Camille deserved a double oven not just a replacement for the old single one. Several hundred dollars would be spent to the electrician for a conversion from 110 to 220. Not to mention the dollars to the cabinet maker. The bottom line is the new double oven, refrigerator and dishwasher would feed Rita and dozens others for weeks & weeks and help Mother Mary keep the orphanage going for a year.

Patrick & Millicent & the other KIU students. Their fire & spiritual passion to share the good news. I want it! I want to be born again, again. Then there is the daily Starbucks and the ----

Branden’s Comments

What happens when you mix a Kenyan, Rwandan, and me? Well, it is quite the experience. We went out today to the slum like I’m sure you have read, and we gave out food and preached the Good news of Jesus Christ. The problem was that my Kenyan friend Aaron speaks Swahili and English. David, my Rwandan friend speaks French, and I speak English and Spanish. Why is it a problem? Ugandans speak Lugandan.

I know that others have described the state of the slum but they are right. No words, pictures, or video can describe to you the scene. It wrenches your heart to see people living like this with, in our American minds, no hope. The three of us approached a house near the “church” in the slum. The “church” is a stick lean-to in the middle of the houses. We knocked on the door and the woman invited us in.

Ugandans are very hospitable.

We gave her the food and asked a few questions about her beliefs and we found out that she is a Muslim. Islam is growing rapidly in Uganda because of the money they are pouring into the communities down here. We began asking her questions about Islam and the commands she received from the Quran. We began explaining to good news of Jesus Christ, that God, through Jesus atoned for our sins and freed us from the slavery of sin. She looked into my eyes with desperation and said “I would very much like that” I asked her to repeat after me and pray to Jesus and receive his forgiveness. Did I mention that her daughter was there as well? Did I also mention that she received Christ on that day? I have never been able to share my faith with a Muslim let alone have her receive Christ with me in an 8x8ft room in a Ugandan slum. The amazing part isn’t just that she received Christ. It’s that the students at KIU don’t leave without getting their information so that they can get plugged into a discipleship program at any of the local churches. God is moving in the hearts of the Ugandans!

Do you remember me saying that we Americans see no hope?

The Kenyans, Rwandans, and Ugandans that we ministered with see a hope. They see that Jesus is THE only hope. They see that the money we raised at a church in Tualatin paid for the food and supplies didn’t come from us. It came from God. Truly, genuinely, and passionately they believe that Jesus is the great provider.

There is Hope. Jesus IS Hope.

I wonder what would happen if we started looking at the world through those eyes. What if instead of pulling ourselves up by our boot straps we saw that EVERYTHING is a gift from God?

Would we spend differently?

Would we think about how we used our time?

How could we serve at home?

God is at work in Uganda.

God is at work in us.

Some more pics

2009-06-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still having difficulty uploading the video, so you'll have to settle for some more pics for now. Don't forget to check the post below them for today's update.

June 22

2009-06-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Kayla and Erika! First of all, we want to wish our Dads a happy Father’s Day! Today, we think we got to experience the “real Uganda” when we visited Ebeneezer Orphanage. It was very impactful. The orphanage is run by Mother Mary, an amazing woman who is the caretaker of all 37 children. A reformed Muslim, Mother Mary has taken all of the children from the streets and other impoverished situations and built a home to care for them. She is a living testament to faith in action, and God’s will is blazing like wildfire through her life. Her faith is perhaps the greatest faith we’ve ever seen, and to hear her story was such a blessing, and so awe-inspiring. When we got there, the children ran to greet us and were very excited that we were there. We had brought them Beanie Babies, 2 bags of rice, snacks, and foam craft stickers which they loved to stick on their faces. We all connected with at least one orphan, and played basketball, soccer/football, clapping games, took photos, and read books. Their poverty was obvious in well-used clothing, and their finances depend on timely donations. Their company was both heart-wrenching and joyful. They have such deep passion for the Lord and really shared their love with us when they sang two songs for us. The first was to thank us and then their song thanked God for providing for them. They sang about times without food or security, and how they put their faith in the Lord, for all that matters is that He knows their future. During that song, the kids poured their hearts out to the Lord and worshipped with greater intensity than we may have ever experienced. That was an amazing moment, to witness their closeness with the Lord and there weren’t many dry eyes in the house.

Dale again

As the girls said, yesterday we began to see what Uganda is really like. And from a physical, earthly perspective, it is not pretty. As a matter of fact, it is frighteningly ugly.

We started the morning by going to the Omega Healing Center for church. Before anyone makes the same mistake that I did and I think several others did as well, the OHC is not a hospital. The “healing” refers to healing of the soul. In order to get there, we went out Entebbe Road towards the airport, and suddenly Michael (our bus driver) turns off onto a narrow, severely rutted dirt track. Up until that point we had stayed on 2 or 3 major thoroughfares – paved and lined with relatively decent shops. We had noticed that almost all of the roads leading off of these thoroughfares were dirt, and had an inkling that what was down there was not pretty, but seeing the real poverty made literally took my breath away. Some of the dwellings could loosely be called buildings in that they are made of brick and mortar, but that is all they are made of. No electricity, no plumbing, no doors, no windows, dirt floors, very sparse furniture if any. For many of the others, their homes would be generously described as shacks. I saw a family of at least 4 in a shack that was a patchwork of sheets of metal and wood about 8’ square. The whole dwelling – 8’ square. Along either side of the street and coming down in between some of the dwellings are “streams”. They are streams of sewage and garbage.

There is absolutely no thought of any creature comforts, and yet… I saw a woman standing in front of her dwelling sweeping. The broom is a bundle of sticks. She is sweeping the dirt, tidying up. They have nothing – less than nothing – and yet there are people that still maintain the dignity to try to keep their home clean. I saw many women washing clothes in whatever container was available. Considering the poverty, the people always look good. Their clothes do not come off the racks at Nordstroms or Macys, in fact most of them are probably 2nd or 3rd or 4th hand, but they’re well kept, they’re clean, they’re mended. I saw women walking towards the church for service that looked great, and yet they were coming out of this terrible poverty.

The church itself is a fairly large complex – apparently about 7 acres – with several different buildings on it. The actual service is held in one that most in the US would classify as a barn. Very well kept, but I noticed that the framework holding up the corrugated tin roof was made up of poles. There are a few light bulbs hanging, but most of the lighting came from “skylights” in the roof and gaps at the tops of the walls. The service was similar to what we experienced the night before, but with a little more structure. I’m fairly certain that most of the congregation was dressed in the finest clothes they have.

Mzungus stand out everywhere here. The kids in particular get really excited. At one point while we were singing, a little girl of about 5 came in and started hugging Kayla. And would not let go. She just wanted to keep holding on. I think Kayla is the ultimate Mzungu in their eyes – being fair and blonde, she seems to be the one that they gravitate to first. I suppose the hierarchy goes Kayla, Erika & Sam, Katie, then the rest of us! About halfway through the service, Michael came in and asked if anyone wanted to go to the Sunday School. The girls all left, and the guys all stayed for the remainder of the service.

Apparently the ladies arrival in Sunday School caused a near riot. All teaching came to a very abrupt stop as the kids swarmed them. They wanted to touch their skin, to hold their hands, to touch their hair. Katie said they were absolutely fascinated by the folds of skin on her elbow, for some reason.

After church we came back to the guest house, some changed into more casual clothes went down to Mama Mumbasa’s for lunch then went over the Palace. There we loaded up some of the beanie babies, foam stickers and a couple of soccer and basketballs that we had brought, as well as some large bags of rice and corn, some cookies and other foodstuffs that our trip has funded. Then it was off to the orphanage.

Again out Entebbe road, but this was a little different. The dirt road that we turned off onto had a bunch of goats wandering around, but the buildings that it backed appeared to be relatively nice, almost what you would see in a poor neighborhood in the States. We arrived at the orphanage – it was surrounded by a wall, had a nice clean gate and the driveway was more or less paved. Once inside their little compound, everything looked very clean and well maintained.

And then the kids started coming out. At first there was a little shyness, but they quickly started to move towards the girls, and soon were going around introducing themselves to all of us. The kids range from Esther aged 2 (more on her in a moment) up through some kids that are actually more helpers for Mother Mary – high school age although they’ve grown up in her care. They were polite, perhaps a little apprehensive since they rarely encounter Mzungu’s, but they warmed quickly.

All of them had closely shorn hair except Esther. She was a little doll! Cherubic little face and her lighter colored hair was done up in ultra cute corn rows. I’m sure you’ll see some pics of her. At our departure I think every last one of us wanted to have them hand her up through the window and take her home with us.

My personal encounter was with Steven. I’m pretty sure “Steven” is one of very few English words he knows, if not the only one. I would guess he is around 8. After hanging out with the kids for a few minutes, they asked everyone to sit down, to listen to Mother Mary’s story and get ready to give them what we had brought. I sat in one of the ubiquitous plastic stacking chairs. Our girls were surrounded by the children, as were Branden and even most of the boys in our group. There were also a bunch of the folks from KIU along with us and the children were hanging on them as well. Dale? Well, they’d come up and shake my hand and introduce themselves, but I don’t think they’re used to people my size, and definitely not Mzungus my size. As we sat down, however, Steven came over and sat down on the ground between my legs. I tried to see if he wanted to sit on my lap, but he wasn’t interested in that. He seemed happy to just sit there and lean up against my leg. During a prayer, I reached down and held his hands. At the end of the prayer, he didn’t want to let go. He’d keep himself curled up and I’d pick him up and swing him – he was eating it up! The rest of our time he’d move off somewhere else, like when they were handing out cookies, but he’d always migrate back to me. Just prior to our departure, they were lining everyone up for a picture and of course Dale had to be at the back with the tall people. As everyone was trying to get lined up, Steven moved away from the other kids and came over to stand in front of me. There was no way he was going to be in the picture that way, so I picked him up. I really hope we got some good pictures from of that. The departure was heart breaking. He came up to me as we were getting on the bus, and just didn’t want to let go of my hands. Just recounting this story brings the tears back.

Yes, folks, this little boy stole my heart. I love him dearly and it was heart breaking to have to leave. As we debriefed last night, I was trying to explain to everyone that the whole visit was a combination of my heart shattering while at the same time feeling enormous joy and blessing. These children have no idea of the impact they have had on our lives. I cannot think of a more meaningful Father’s Day experience.

Okay, thanks for indulging me. Back to the group experience. When we were introducing ourselves yesterday, there was a very audible gasp from everyone when Ken told them that he was 61 years old. Afterwards we were told that the average life expectancy in Uganda is 48, so I suppose to a certain extent he is Methuselah! Shoot, even I’m passed the average here.

My description of the orphanage itself is misleading. Yes, they currently have a very nice place, but they still have very little furniture. Mother Mary operates pretty much on a month-month basis. I was told that it costs approximately $500 per month to operate – can you imagine raising 37 kids on $500 per month? If the money runs out, she’ll likely be evicted again, something that has happened several times and from places nowhere near as nice as this. Eternal Impact and UFC supply much of their resources. Schools over here are not free – if a child is to attend school it must be paid for. The cost – by American standards – is a pittance. To educate a child from primary though a Bachelors degree from the University takes approximately $7,500. For 16 years of education!

So why am I telling you this? Ken made a comment that conveyed my feelings as well last night. We have to DO something. If all we do is to come over here for a couple of weeks and look at their lives, minister to them, share the gospel with them and then go back to our homes in the US, to our lives, it becomes nothing more than the Christian version of a Disney adventure. This experience – and I suspect our trip to Gulu will be even more impactful – tells me that we have to do more. Whether it involves sponsoring children, conducting fund raising for the orphanage or some other organization, perhaps committing to future missions work (no I’m not talking about me at this point! ) or whatever, there must be follow up to this. It cannot be some kind of strange vacation experience.

Oh yeah – Nick made it through the entire day without hurling yesterday! Made it through the entire day with the team, and I think he even ate! Thanks to all for your prayers.

And now for some comments from Ken.

Good morning, it is Ken or is it Methuselah? Dale who is a young guy - not yet 50 – he and I are easily the two oldest individuals that we have encountered, but that is not the subject of this update. As some of you know, I have a passion/love for kids, in particular, young adults.

The KIU kids are such an inspiration for all of us. They do love the Lord with all their hearts minds and souls, not just on “church day” but in every day. The fact is, every day is “church day” for them. These awesome young adults are the future of Africa. In the USA Christianity seems to be under constant attack. The trend is to remove God from just about everything. Our constitution guaranteed freedom of religion! Somehow that has been distorted to freedom from religion. While we in our country seem to be running away from God, here in East Africa, these young KIU students, the future of Africa, are running as fast as they can toward God. Their passion for the Lord is “awe” inspiring. I want that passion!

Now, on to our awesome young adults, Sam, Kayla, Alex, Erica, Nick & Cameron. They are so impressive, not just to me but to the KIU students as well! Our kids, as I like to call them, are developing close relationships with these college students. We all agree that just about everyone who meets our teenage kids are awed by their the maturity and knowledge of the Lord. We hear ohs & ahs when they introduce themselves as 15, 16, 17 & 18 year olds!

Dale's back - The trailer for tomorrow's post includes our visit to a slum area close to KIU and our first school assembly this afternoon. Tune in tomorrow for more!

June 21

2009-06-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hey all - the post below this one has some pics. I tried to upload a video clip, but it was an "epic failure" in the teen terms.

All righty then! I’ve got some pics and movie clips, courtesy of Ken’s camera, that I can hopefully get loaded up today. I say hopefully because I’ve found that internet access in the Internet café is, shall we say, “sporadic”. Friday night it seemed to pop pretty fast and I was rather surprised because John had warned me about how slow the connections were here. Last evening was a different story. It took me 3 tries to finally get the post up and I never was able to send or receive any emails – kept getting disconnected.

So I’m sitting in the living room area of the guest house at 4 am typing this. I have the patio doors opened up with the screens pulled across and it is a true urban jungle out there. I can hear at least 6 distinctly different dogs and who knows how many others in the background. They bark and howl all night. I chuckle when I think about how annoyed I get once or twice a year with one of the neighbor’s dogs barking for 15 minutes or so before the owner takes them in. The Kampala roosters also have a very sick perspective on time – they think they’re supposed to start crowing around 2 in the morning!

Yesterday we got a real taste of “Uganda Time”. Maybe it wasn’t a real taste yet, but it was certainly different than what we’re used to. We had 3 things scheduled for the day – helping to raise the tent at The Palace, practice worship and dramas and attend church at KIU in the evening. We arrived at The Palace around 9:15 am. We returned to the guest house at about 10 pm. I think it we spent maybe 20 minutes helping with the tent, maybe a total of 2 hours practicing dramas. Where did the rest of the time go? I have no idea. In Uganda, things happen when they happen.

The church service last night was an experience. I missed the first half hour because I was trying to get the blog updated, so I’m thinking right now I’m going to have someone else explain their perspectives of it. Branden did a fine job of leading worship and preaching, although there was great hilarity when his message was interrupted by a moth approximately the size of a chicken. It buzzed him a couple of times, but it would appear that Branden doesn’t deal well with bugs that appear large enough to remove one of his limbs.

I have to apologize for misspelling (and possibly a misrepresentation of the sound) “Mzungu”. It’s an ‘n’ in the middle. Brian was trying to teach Branden & I some basic Swahili yesterday, but I’m afraid I’m very visual with language – I have to see the word written out before I can try to pronounce it. Branden appeared to be doing quite well, however. When I first started to contemplate this trip, one of my fist questions was “how will we be able to communicate?” English is the “official” language of Uganda, which means that it is taught in all of the schools from primary on up, all of the signs you see on the street are in English, etc. The “mother tongue” of everyone, however, is Swahili. This results in the pronounced accent that they speak with, and some are easier to understand than others, naturally.

I also learned today that Mzungu actually means “going around in circles”. The original white people that they met were traders who would travel around Africa over and over again.

I just can’t say enough about how warm and friendly the people are. In the US, there always seems to be an underlying tension between the races. I know that I have a few very good friends in the States that are black, but even in conversations with them I can still feel something there, even when neither of us feel any racism towards each other. Over here, they are just ecstatic to have us here. They tell us how blessed they are to have us come over. As Branden said last night, they don’t seem to have any comprehension of what this trip means to us – they are just overjoyed to have us. If we could bottle that perspective – for both sides – and import it to our country…

Another update on Nick. Friday night he went to the local hospital where they gave him an IV to re-hydrate him, and yesterday morning he appeared to feel pretty good, Later in the morning, however, he began feeling ill again. Lance took him into the hospital again and at this point it appears that his system is just not doing very well with the anti-malarial pills that he has been taking. They gave him some anti-nausea pills and we’re waiting for his Mom to speak with his physician at home as to recommendations where to go next. He is getting lots of sleep, but we all feel very badly that he is missing so much of the experience so far.

Everyone on the team had a new culinary experience last night at dinner – we had goat. All agreed that although it was slightly tough, it tasted pretty much like beef. I could tell a couple of the kids were a little apprehensive about it at first, but it went over well.

The people we interact with here all have an insatiable appetite to hear about what life in America is like. We all agree that one of the hardest conversations to have with them is around food. They want to know what we eat. They want to know what our staple foods are – what do we eat at pretty much every meal. You can tell them that the basic meats are chicken, beef, pork and fish, but it is very difficult to explain that we eat those in so many different manners – Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, Thai, Moroccan, “American”, barbecue and on and on – and that’s just in the Wilsonville/Tualatin area. It appears that they eat rice at every lunch/dinner meal. They also have “chapata” at every meal – an African bread that is similar to a tortilla but much better. I was sitting at a table with Evelyn last night, and when I tried to explain to her that none of us had ever eaten goat before, she was just astonished. “What about camel?” No, there aren’t any camels in North America. Rabbit? Erika told her that she had never had it. I told her that I used to eat it when I was younger and my grandmother would cook it, but haven’t had it in years.

But we all agree that their food is very good. Yesterday at lunch they served us “samoysas” (I’m probably butchering the spelling), which were kind of like fried dumplings filled with spiced meat, and “mince meat” which was a hamburger type meat spiced with something delectable. Every time we go to a meal they seem offended if you don’t take enormous portions of the food. Ken commented yesterday that he’s just amazed that they had 8 different courses at lunch – mince meat, samoysas, rice, beans, greens (similar to spinach but I’m not sure what plant it’s from), cabbage salad, chapata and fresh fruit (pineapple and watermelon). About the only thing that hasn’t gone over fabulously well was a white maize concoction they served last night. When I tried it I was thinking “paste”. Katie called it plaster. A couple of interesting observations I’ve had – I don’t think they’ve served anything yet containing cheese, and I haven’t noticed any garlic yet.

The weather warmed up some yesterday but still wasn’t terribly hot. In spite of that, I’ve noticed that I’m in a perpetual state of a light sweat. I’ve been having a terrible time trying to read stuff because every time I put my glasses on they start to fog up.

One thing I’d like to mention to everyone – please feel free to comment on these posts. Everyone here would love to hear from you, even if it’s just to say “Hi, we’re praying for you!”

The Church Service (Branden)

Let’s just say the church in America is, well, dignified. We have a very structured service that takes no more than 1.5 hours and one can generally know exactly what is going to happen next. To describe the church in African I think the words of David Crowder’s song “Undignified” best says it. It says “I will dance I will sing, to be mad for my king.” Then the chorus just says “I’ll become even more undignified than this.”

We entered the church service a little bit late, which is the custom in Uganda. Nothing is on time. The service hadn’t “started” yet but we walked in to a woman passionately praying/prophesying in a deep African accent. The gist of her prayer was that God is bigger than our problems. She said “I don’t care sister if you’ve lost your sister or mother the time of mourning is over!” “God is Good” It was amazing. Then the worship team started setting up. That’s right, the worship team STARTED setting up during the service. One of the guys started playing the keyboards and then an impromptu worship song started. They went on an impromptu version of “This is the Air I breathe” while they got us all set up. I (Branden) was asked earlier that day to lead worship. I have realized that we Americans do not know what worship is all about. I led 9 songs of worship, and they were ready for more. We had 10 students leading worship with me and the congregation was louder than the sound system! Then we had announcements, offering, another “sermonette”, the pastor spoke for a while, and then they invited me up to introduce the team and preach. I spoke for about 35 or 40 minutes and then Pastor Kennedy came up and recapped my message. Shortly after that we had a dance team that did 2 routines as a form of worship to the Lord. At the end of the 2.5 hours of service a young woman named Esther walked up and preached this message based on my message and followed it with worship and prayer. I have NEVER in my life heard anybody pray like that. 100 people praying in their own languages at the top of their lungs is breathtaking.

This first church experience rocked all of our worlds. We are around people who live with nothing compared to what we have, yet they have taught us so much about our faith. They begin every sentence with “praise God”. They pray, worship, and dance for Jesus with all of their might. They are looking to us as “rock stars” that have come to be with them, yet, they are the ones who are rocking our worlds!

Thanx Branden – Dale back again. This afternoon we went to the Ebeneezer Orphanage. Yes, our worlds were rocked again. I’m still trying to process it all and will hold off describing the experience until we’ve had the chance to debrief tonight.

Some pics

2009-06-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 20

2009-06-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

We all went to bed about 10 pm last night, and Ken & I both woke up about 4 am. Came downstairs to the lobby area to find Kam had already gotten up as well, so maybe we need to cut him a little slack on how much he’s been sleeping… NAH! There wouldn’t be any sense in that!
After I left off last night we all went over to The Palace – a compound across the street from KIU where Eternal Impact has their offices. Led by Anthony, we went around the room doing introductions – starting with the hosts. Let’s see, there was Anthony, Emmanuel, Peter, Aaron, Laura, Sophia, Harrison, David, Jackson, Evelyn, and Matthew. One thing that struck all of us was how each of them would start with “Praise God! I am Aaron and I’m born again.” To which the rest would respond “Amen”. The reason it struck all of us was that even in evangelical circles we don’t often see people wearing their faith on their sleeves to that extent. Most were students or recently graduated, most were from Kenya. Oh yeah – and they sang their own version of Hakuna Matata for us. Yes ladies & gentlemen, that term was NOT created by Disney! On the way back over to the campus, I asked Aaron how many students KIU had. They run around 11,000 which would make it a mid-range sized university in the states.
He also told me that the university is owned by a Muslim. From what they’ve explained to us, Islam is spreading rapidly in East Africa, and the manner of recruitment is a classic case of “find out what the people need and supply it - with strings”. As an example, many of the banks are owned by Muslims, and low interest loans are available to Muslims or those willing to convert. For Christians – not so much. I find this fascinating since the Islamic method of incursion in Europe is on the opposite end of the socio-economic scale. The people already living there already have all they need except workers to support their lifestyles. They’ve therefore allowed massive immigration from the less wealthy Muslim countries.
But I digress. It was decided last night that we were going to postpone the festival scheduled for today because we’re just not ready. The schedule had called for spending time yesterday rehearsing sketches and practicing worship songs, but by the time everyone grabbed a short nap and we did lunch and dinner, the day was wiped out. Meals at the restaurant are not like what we’re used to in the states. We’d arrive and it seems that they begin preparing the food at that point since we’d spend 30-45 minutes sitting at the tables chatting with the students. This is very enjoyable, but it is an adjustment to the harried pace that we’re used to. So by the time we got to the guest house (around 11) got cleaned up and ready to go (around 1230) went to eat and returned to the guest house (around 230) finished up some naps (around 5 pm) went to dinner, and had our social event at The Palace, we were back at the guest house around 9:30 pm.
An update on Nick. They took him over to the hospital last evening (Alex went with him as well) and he was given an IV to help re-hydrate him. We’re praying that a good night sleep will help him get back on his feet.
It’s now about 7:40 am and the rest of the folks (outside of Ken, Kam & I) are starting to stir. The girls had asked me to wake them at 7, but they apparently were woken earlier by some of the neighborhood crowing roosters and barking dogs. I haven’t seen any dogs yet, but they certainly are around! One other quick note on the urban wildlife here. There are a large number of very large storks flying around all the time. And I mean LARGE! We saw one sitting on top of a pole yesterday whose body was probably around 3’ long. When they fly overhead they look almost like a small plane! The kids are all remarking at how exceptionally ugly they are as well.
Update 7 pm
We spent most of the day at The Palace, rehearsing worship and sketches and helped them erect the tent. On tap this evening is a church service in the Main Hall here on campus. Branden found out this morning that he is preaching. Oh, and he’s also leading worship. He’s a little freaked out right now!
The highlight of the day was when us “mzumgu’s” (white people) were hanging out under the tent, helping the kids out with their testimonies. Somebody noticed that there were some tiny little black faces peaking through the gate. A bunch of little kids were going by and one of them somehow caught sight of a mzumgu – and they ALL had to see. We motioned them in and introduced ourselves, but Katie kept them completely enthralled by taking their pictures and then showing them what they looked like. It isn’t a very common occurrence.
As we were going through the same session, a group of the university students came outside and started practicing some of their singing – a capella. I swear there were angels in attendance. They were amazing!
The whole mzumgu thing is quite fascinating. We’ll be riding in the bus through town and kids walking down the street will spot us and get all excited, shouting “MZUMGU!” and waving very enthusiastically at us. We even passed a blonde white guy today, and he looked up, grinned and shouted “MZUMGU!” John had told us that we’d be like rock stars over here, but it’s almost like we’re from a completely different planet. All of them are extremely friendly, but we are definitely noticed.
We also had a dancing exhibition today, led by Bryan, Patrick, Laura, Sophie and a young lady that I haven’t been introduced to yet. Bryan is the leader of the pack, and can definitely bust a move. After they danced through several songs, all of our kids (and by kids, I include Branden, Katie, and Lance) got up and had Bryan and the other young lady doing moves and having our group trying to imitate them. There were varying levels of success. I was taking some pictures, and had 4 or 5 people come up to me to tell me “Sam is really good!” Patrick came up to her afterwards and said “You dance really well. Branden? Not so much. I think he has two left feet!”
Okay, I should probably head off to the church service. So much to tell, so little time to tell it. Lance is doing a fabulous job of coordinating us, and I’m sure Branden’s preaching will be great. Kennedy and Evelyn both asked me today if I was going to be preaching. I told them it would be probably the shortest message they’d ever heard. “Jesus is your best friend – never forget that!” The Lord may have called me to make this trip to Uganda, but I don’t believe I’ve heard him asking me to preach!!!
So until tomorrow (or whenever I can get to the internet café again) I’ll sign off. We’re having a blast!

Oh, and I'm hoping to get some pics and maybe a video up tomorrow.

We Made It!!!

2009-06-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it! Flight landed at Entebbe at approximately 8 am local (Friday). This flight it seemed most everyone managed to catch a few zzz’s. Nick appears to have recovered from his “events” from yesterday, so overall everyone seems to be doing well.

Entebbe – where the airport is located – is about an hours drive out of Kampala. Ti took us the better part of an hour to clear a health check station and customs before we could start rounding up all of the luggage. We were met by Kennedy, Matthew, Antonio and a couple of other gentlemen whose names I didn’t catch. These guys immediately introduced themselves and then took over loading all of our luggage and such into the bus.

For anyone who is not aware, Uganda was at one time a British colony, and as such has a lot of British traditions that linger. The most notable of these is that the driver sits on the right side of the car and drives on the left side of the road. Or at least that appears to be the intent. Like other third world countries – and downtown Boston, from my experience – the lines in the roads are meant more as an exception than the rule. Branden & I agreed that we’re not about to attempt to drive here – more than happy to be shuttled about by someone more familiar with the local rules. That is if there are, in fact, any rules!

As we were landing and driving into Kampala, I was trying to figure out where I had been that would be comparable in terrain. I finally landed on San Diego or Monterey in California. There is a lot of open grassy areas, plenty of palm and other trees, some beautiful flowers on occasion and generally quite pleasant to view. If anyone had visions of it being jungle or rain forest, you would be mistaken (I was before I started reading more about it). I’m frankly kind of amazed at the misconceptions I had prior to beginning this adventure several months ago. I assumed that it would be ridiculously hot and humid. Nope. It is humid, but I don’t think the temps are supposed to get above around 85° F the entire time we’re here. When we got off the plane (down stairways, of course) it felt very pleasant. Got a little sweaty inside the terminal as we were going through that process, but once outside again all was good. As a matter of fact, Katie just sat down and was complaining that she’s cold.
As we traveled through Entebbe and then Kampala, I was mentally soaking it in and comparing it to the closest city that I’ve ever visited in terms of socio-economic levels – Mexico City. There are areas of obvious poverty. In fact, by our standards, the vast majority of the area is very poor. The thing that struck me most, however, is that the people here seem to work harder at keeping things more tidy. I don’t notice as many wrecked cars and rusting machinery, etc as I did in Mexico City. As a matter of fact, I don’t notice as many of them as I do when I’m in Nampa, Idaho (sorry folks, that’s a family joke).

And then we arrived at our living quarters – the Emmaus Guest House. We are not roughing it, ladies & gentlemen. This place is much nicer than what we expected. We each have our own bed, complete with bug nets. The girls’ room has a bathroom complete with a tub, etc. Our room (Ken & I are sharing) only has a shower, sink and toilet, but still not bad. Clean, relatively new furniture, and the garden area behind it is beautiful with a well manicured lawn and lots of flowers and shrubs.
Most of the kids called home as we were leaving the airport – even if they were very short phone calls.

Well, I’m not sure how often or when I’m going to get internet access to be able to post this, but I’m jotting down my thoughts as we go along.

Update approx 6:30 pm

We left the guest house around 1 pm and went down to Kampala International University (KIU) for some lunch. The food here is obviously very different – lots of rice and beans, but the dishes are very flavorful and are providing all of us with some new culinary experiences. I have GOT to get their recipe for rice! We returned to the same restaurant for dinner. I believe the cafe here at KIU is called Mama Mumbasa's - And I hope I'm forgiven for spelling mistakes!

The students that we've been meeting are intensely curious about what our lives are like, and it is quite fascinating to learn about theirs as well. So far I've been speaking with lots of them from Kenya and one from Tanzania. I'm beginning to wonder if they actually have any Ugandans attending school here!

On the prayer request front, we'd like to ask for continued prayers for Nick. He had another bout this afternoon, and Lance & Kennedy have taken him to the hospital this evening, just to make sure he's okay. We'd ask that you pray for his health and recovery. The good news is that he's been getting lots of sleep.

Well, we're off on a tour of KIU so I'll wrap this up for now. I'm sure we'll all have lots of stories when we return!

We made it to London!

2009-06-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks - we made it across the big pond. Actually, the route of flight was more over Canada than anything else - over the top of Hudsons Bay and the north end of Labrador. Some slept like a baby (Samantha) and the others pulled a little - ranging down to Branden and I who combined probably rang up 1-2 hours.

Lance was telling us about the lady that he sat next to on the plane, who had been praying that she would be surrounded by Christians. Well, she had the window, Lance was beside her and the seat on the other side of him - as well as the entire row in front and the entire row behind her were Christians. God does answer prayer!

In a touch of unfortunate news, Nick appears to have contracted motion sickness towards the end of the flight. He's made several trips to the "loo" and is still looking rather pekid.

Other than that, folks are napping, blog writing, or - in Sam's case - pining for someone to go shopping with her. There's a ton of shops here in Terminal 5 at Heathrow. We're here until 9 pm local, which equates to 1 pm Pacific. It's a huge terminal with lots of seating areas, and we managed to find a bank of couches that people can take turns stretching out on. I think I'll go kick someone off of one and try myself!

Ta ta for now, and the next post should be from Uganda!

Ready, Set, GO!!!

2009-06-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

This is it, boys & girls. This afternoon at 2:30 we achieve lift off for Uganda. Well, actually, that particular flight is to Seattle, but you know what I mean!

Last evening we all gathered at Garricks to pack up. I believe Samantha was a little annoyed with me that I've trained the entire family to pack light. Her suitcase took the prize as the lightest, and when you saw all of the pieces of luggage gathered together, both of ours looked like little babies compared to some of the rest. Only one person exceeded the 50 lb. limit - I won't mention that person's name (Kayla!). Katie & Branden both brought suitcases that you could have packed 3 small children in.

So what are the emotions this morning? I can't give you everyone else's - Samantha is still asleep and none of the rest of the folks are here - but mine are the usual hodgepodge. There is a new sense of relief or inevitability (not sure which) added to the anxiousness and excitement this morning.

I'd like to add one more prayer request to the already extensive list this morning. Please pray for the parents and families who are staying home. Sending your child jetting halfway around the world to a strange place with a group of people that you don't really know is a definite leap of faith, friends, and the folks staying behind are experiencing anxieties of their own.

So ready or not, HERE WE GO!!!

It's t t t tomorrow...

2009-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just... Wow. In roughly 24 hours we'll all be gathering ourselves up and heading for the airport to begin what for most of us will be the adventure of a lifetime. I'm going to get a little personal with this one. One of the rather weird little quirks of my family is that we have a family theme song - The Great Adventure by Stephen Curtis Chapman. It's a fairly involved story that I won't bore anyone with right now, but if you're interested, you can dig into it on my personal blog at http://thegreatadventure-77.blogspot.com/ So we're all off on our own Great Adventure. "We'll follow our Leader into the glorious unknown!"

There's so many emotions that have been swirling for months, and I suspect that each team member is experiencing the same feelings but in their own unique way. There's a fear of the unknown. There's the excitement of traveling to what is, in many ways, a whole different world. There's nervousness about all of the processes and wanting to make sure we're doing everything right. And there's the anticipation - which is becoming quite palpable - at what the Lord has to teach each and every one of us.

And there's distractions. In the past week I've learned of a young man from Rolling Hills who chose to take his own life. I learned that an old friend of mine has a neighbor and friend - another very young man - who made the same choice. Two of my old friends have lost their fathers in the past 4 days. Multiple other friends are in the midst of significant battles with cancer. I'm not going to point the finger and say that Satan is behind all of these distractions -death and disease is a part of our fallen world. But they are distractions, nonetheless.

And so I - along with all of the rest of the team members - continue my preparations and try desperately to keep focused. Once again, I'd solicit prayers.

But in the end, I AM excited! I know this will change my life as well as the other members of the team. I pray that it will change the lives of some of the people in Uganda that we come into contact with.

So saddle up your horses, ladies and gentlemen - This IS the Great Adventure!

Monday morning - 2 days!

2009-06-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Two days until lift off. It is certainly bearing down, isn't it!

This morning I was thinking about how thankful I am to all who are supporting us. I'm thankful for the people who are providing prayer and financial support. I am thankful for the church, particularly Pastor Bill Towne and his prayers for us yesterday. I'm thankful to the parents of the kids on the trip and their remarkable support, their willingness to jump in and take care of last minute needs.

I'm thankful to John, and once again offer our condolences that he can't make the trip with us. I'm thankful for Lance and his ability to jump in at the last moment and do a "bang-up" job of getting us ready. I'm thankful to Juli and Kennedy and the rest of the Eternal Impact team for all of their efforts in arranging this trip.

I'm also thankful for the many friends who are offering encouragement and excitement to all of us. Over the past few days, I've had many people come up and start asking me about the trip and state "I've always wanted to do something like that!" That helps!

And most of all, I'm thankful to our Lord for providing all of the above! Without Him, none of this would be possible.

Oh, and one final thank you to the Mom's of the kids on the trip. Thank you for not arranging matching t-shirts for all of us!

Saturday Evening - Preparations for Departure

2009-06-13T19:38:00.001-07:00

It's Saturday evening, June 13. All of the members of the Rolling Hills Impact Uganda team are locked in spiritual preparations for the trip...

Branden and Katie are watching Top Gun. Actually, Katie is trying desperately to comfort Branden, who is weeping inconsolably over the death - once again - of Jester. "WHY? WHY JESTER?!" Branden shrieks. Katie hands him another piece of pepperoni and that quiets him some. "But what is Meg Ryan going to do now?" he sputters through tears and cheese running down his face.

Sam and her Mom are engaging in some last minute bonding - painting each other's nails.

Alex & Nick have been in a heated paintball battle since 10 o'clock this morning - a true duel to the death. Actually, Nick got hungry around 5:00 and went home to get some dinner, but Alex is still out there, stalking his adversary.

Lance is watching ESPN58 - which is showing re-runs of the 2007 Women's World Cup rugby game between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. 2 of the players on the Bulgarian team are now on the Olympic shot put team, and Lance is looking to see if there are any techniques he could use from the way they scrum.

Erika and Kayla, both having graduated from high school in the last week, are lamenting their lost youth. It is a harsh reality when one starts on the slippery slope towards spinsterhood.

The Countdown Continues

2009-06-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Okay Ladies & Gentlemen, we're now down to 5 days until departure. The anticipation grows, the frantic last minute preparations continue. I know that from my perspective, I pack for travel on a very regular basis and it usually takes me about 10 minutes. This time, however, I've been plotting and planning what I'm taking, how I'm going to pack it, preparing the clothes (spraying them with bug repellant), getting shots and obtaining other medications, rehearsing dramas - and the list goes on and on.

So this morning I would like to solicit prayers from anyone reading this. Pray for safe travels for all of our team members. Pray for open hearts in the people who we encounter. Pray that we would have open hearts to learn what the Lord has in store for us. Pray that each of us would learn what the Lord has for that particular individual. Pray for boldness, that we might portray and communicate Him to those who do not know Him yet.

We appreciate all of you and hope you share in some of our excitement!

Can you believe it?

2009-06-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

One week from today folks. We had an extended meeting last evening to discuss some last minute logistics and Q&A and to do some rehearsals on some of the dramas we'll be doing on the trip. I think it's finally starting to hit home to everyone.

One week from today we board a flight for Seattle (Horizon), then switch over to British Airways for a flight to London. After a 7 hour layover in London, it is on to Entebbe airport outside of Kampala, Uganda.

So we're asking everyone to get the prayers fired up - we're getting set for the Ugandan Adventure!

Update June 8

2009-06-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

A bit of unfortunate news this evening. John's Mom is in very poor health, and he has decided to forego the trip in order to stay close. We would ask everyone's prayers for the Garrick family.

Because of that, we are moving to the "backup plan". Lance will now be our new Fearless Leader. His first command decision was that he didn't like the term "backup plan". We will henceforth refer to it as "Operation Bulgarian Thunder".

John Garrick

2009-06-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

And finally here's John "Fearless Leader" Garrick. I'm just wondering, however - if he's Fearless Leader, does that make Branden & Katie actually Boris & Natasha? Does it then follow that Alex & Nick are Rocky & Bullwinkle? Such mysteries to ponder!

Anyway, I could cut and paste (i.e. plagiarize) John's bio from the Eternal Impact web site, but rather than going through the trouble, I figured I'd give you a link to their site and let you read about him and the other folks there.

http://www.eternalimpact.com/about/meet-the-staff.html

Nick Merriman

2009-06-07T05:16:00.001-07:00

We've almost got the whole team down! Meet Nick Merriman.

My name is Nick Merriman I have been a Christian since I was about 9 I am currently 18 years young and just graduated high school and am attending Chemeketa Community College. Some of my hobbies include paintball, going to concerts, music (Mainly Hard Rock and Metal), kayaking, video games, movies, and just relaxing. I have been on 3 Previous mission trips, all of them to Mississippi. This will also be my first time traveling overseas.eet

Lance Briggs

2009-06-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

Meet Lance! I had made up a story this morning about him being the coach of the Bulgarian Olympic Women's Shot Put team, so he sent me his actual information.

Lance was born and raised in Sherwood, Oregon. He attended Sherwood High School then went on to graduate from Azusa Pacific University with degree in marketing. Lance has a passion for both adventure, and the outdoors. After college he spent time in Colorado working as a lift operator, and in Utah working as a river guide.

After moving home to Oregon, God laid a calling on his heart to seek a more purposeful adventure. He connected with Eternal Impact and traveled to Uganda as a member of an Impact Team in June 2008. Lance has now joined the team at Eternal Impact as the Impact Team Director and is excited about continuing to live out the adventure that God has for his life. Lance is eager to lead more young people on the journey of discovering what it means to live out our faith both locally and in East Africa.

Lance has one older brother and five younger step-brothers and sisters. He currently lives in Wilsonville and is a member of Grace Chapel. Like a true Oregonian, Lance loves anything outdoors, especially when he can share his passions and adventures with others.

Branden Campbell

2009-06-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Under threat of me making up something completely fabricated, Branden sent me his bio this morning. No word on whether or not he likes Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain.

My name is Branden Campbell I am 24 yrs old and I am the High School pastor at Rolling Hills Community Church. I have been a youth pastor for 4.5 years and I still love it! My wife Katie and I have been married close to four years. We have 2 crazy cats and a dog. We love long walks on the beach, the vast sunset, and underwater bee bee stacking. We moved to the Portland area appx 14 months ago and have loved every minute of it. This is my first mission trip and I am excited and ready to make it happen!

Alex Merriman

2009-06-04T06:44:00.000-07:00

The next member of our merry band is Alex.

Hello, my name is Alex Merriman and I am 15 years old. Some of my favorite things to do are playing guitar, play sports with friends, going to church, going to movies, and some video games. I have two siblings, a brother named Nick (who is also going on this trip), and a sister named Justine. I've grown up home schooled and gone to church my whole life.

Dale Lockyear

2009-06-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, since some of the team members have not yet sent me their bios, I'll bore everyone with mine.

I am a 49 (well, almost 50, but not quite!) year old guy, married to a wonderful lady named Linda. We recently celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary by getting sick with food poisoning together. We have 2 children - Ben who is just finishing up his first year at Seattle Pacific University and Samantha (whose bio you can read here on the blog).

I'm a self-employed consultant, working with various computer systems that help companies plan their distribution and transportation needs. My work takes me all over North America, but this trip will be my first trip outside of the US, Canada and Mexico.

My primary role on the team is to help coordinate the dramatic sketches for the various assemblies that we'll be doing over there. I've been an amateur actor and member of the Rolling Hills Candlestick Players for approximately 10 years, and acting is probably my favorite pass time.

I'm very much looking forward to expanding my horizons in the Lord on this trip!

Katie Campbell

2009-06-03T15:23:00.001-07:00

I would like to introduce everyone to Katie Campbell.

Katie is married to Branden - the Rolling Hills High School Pastor. We all know and understand that Branden would not be of much use to us without Katie! Seriously though, Katie and Branden live in Wilsonville, and she is an avid photographer - particularly focusing on animals.

Katie tends to be a very organized person - the type who makes "to-do" lists and then is driven to complete them. Looking at the personalities of several other members of the team, her presence is going to be vital, since several of us are completely and totally unorganized.

The girls on the trip have also informed me that they plan to make some shopping excursions with her!

Samantha Lockyear

2009-06-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Everyone say hi to Sam, the next member of our dauntless team!

My name is Samantha Lockyear (Sam, Sami) and I am a 15 year old, just finishing up my Freshman year at Wilsonville High School. I've been a dancer for 10 years, with my favorite dance styles being lyrical and hip-hop.

Once I entered high school, I left competitive dance to focus more on acting and singing, although I still dance in musical numbers at school. Last Fall I played a Russian dance instructor - a MAN! - in our production of You Can't Take It With You, and was voted Best Supporting Actress for the school year. I also sang in the school Symphonic Choir and went to the state championships with the group, where we placed 5th.

I am an unusually tall girl - 6 feet - and I see my height as a gift that God has blessed me with. I live with my Mom & Dad, and have one brother - Ben - who is just finishing up his first year at Seattle Pacific University. I love all of them very much.

Cameron Gregson

2009-06-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'd like everyone to meet Kam Gregson. Kam is 16 years old and is just wrapping up his freshman year of high school at Westside Christian.

Kam is a 4 time - 4 TIME! - state chess champion, twice with individual honors and twice with team honors while in middle school. He also enjoys playing basketball on his high school team and - like pretty much every teenage boy in the US, loves to play computer and video games.

He has attended Rolling Hills Community Church his entire life, but really came to know the Lord while attending Jr. High camp, and was subsequently baptized there.

Kam is looking forward to learning what God has to teach him on this trip, and to continue growing in his faith.

Erika Standeven

2009-05-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ladies & Gentlemen, meet Erika - the next feature in our profile parade!

I am 17 years old and a graduating senior (grade 12) at Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon. I was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and my family moved to Oregon when I was 13 years old. I live with my parents and my younger sister, Adria, who is 13. I love music very much and sing in two different choirs at school as well as studying privately.

I am on the school swim team and also played soccer competitively for nine years before an ankle injury ended that. I still enjoy playing soccer for fun, however. My interests include studying other languages and cultures, and I am fluent in conversational French. I have a love for writing and a keen interest in learning about those around me, looking to discover ways that I can help them meet their needs.

I’m currently enrolled to begin studies in pre-medicine next year, although I’m uncertain as to which specific career path I will choose in health care. I hope to use my medical training in missions work.

I accepted Christ at age 12 and currently lead a small group of middle school students.

Shout Outs!!! - The Lockyear family

2009-05-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a moment to thank the folks who have supported our trip financially. Quite honestly, the cost of this trip is pretty high, and the Lockyears want to extend one more statement of gratitude to the following people who are assisting us and the Lord in making it happen:

Mike & Maureen Anderson
Marvin & Carlene Daniels
Jon & Silvana Dick
Dischinger Orthodontics
Patsy Lockyear
May Trucking Company
Gary & Karen Zagniacz

We wouldn't be going without you!

Ken Gregson, Sr.

2009-05-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day the Lord has given us here in the Portland area! Today I'd like all of you to meet Ken Gregson. Ken, like me, is a "Dad" going on the trip - his son Kam is one of the teens you'll be meeting in the next couple of days.

Ken is a father of 4 and a grandfather of 9. A retired food industry executive, he has also driven school bus in the Lake Oswego district and devotes a lot of time to the young Christians at Rolling Hills, leading small groups and classes with 3rd and 10th graders. Ken's wife Camille will not be making the trip, but the entire Gregson family will be with Ken & Kam in spirit.

Ken enjoys spending time with his family, boating and taking in movies.

Kayla Courtney

2009-05-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,

I would like to introduce you to Kayla or, rather, have her introduce herself. And she's going to be a Duck - can't get any better than that!

My name is Kayla Courtney and I just turned 18 on April 25th. I just finished my senior year at Tualatin high school and absolutely loved it! Unlike most people I actually kind of enjoyed school. I have been a cheerleader at Tualatin for four years now and I love the girls on the team. They are just like family to me and I'm going to miss them next year! Another thing I like about school is the fact that I met some of the greatest people there. My friends mean so much to me and I'm thankful for every single one of them! Next year I will be attending University of Oregon and can't wait for that new chapter in my life. I have a great family, my dad, mom and brother and they are my biggest supporters which means everything to me! I appreciate them and love them with all my heart and am happy to say they made me the person I am today.

Countdown

2009-05-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Well, this is the initial blog post for the upcoming Rolling Hills Community Church/Eternal Impact trip to Uganda. As we move forward, this blog will also be uploaded to an Eternal Impact site - that one might be a little fancier. I'll let everyone know the address for that once it's up.

Let's see, today is May 25, which means we have 22 days left before departure on June 17. Efforts this week include getting the team together Thursday evening to start working on the dramas and "human videos" that we're putting together for the trip. I'll also be posting some bios on the team members in here in the run up to the trip, so bookmark this and learn more about everyone.

Oh yeah, and please keep us all in your prayers!