Day Eight (Sunday, Feb. 26)

Final Blog Post from Feb 2012 Uganda Trip

We woke for the 3rd day with no power and if I could be completely honest, I was beginning to miss the luxury of warm water/warm showers.  I felt a little spoiled since only 10-20% of the Ugandans have electricity!---and of those who have electricity, service isn’t all the time.  There are daily interruptions of power for up to 12 hours.  So, as spoiled as it sounds, I was a bit desirous of a hot shower and a blow dryer before making the 2 day trek home from Uganda! ---OK...enough whining! 

We attended the 8 am worship service at Ggaba Community Church (our sister church) today and it was a great time of praise and worship.  Pastor Peter preached on “knowing the will of God.”  Isn’t that the essence of every Christian’s life!?  Don’t we find ourselves asking, “Why am I on this earth?” We were created by Him for Him and learning to discern the will of God is vital.

Unfortunately, we had to leave that service before its completion in order to reach Bweya Community Church (BCC) for the 10:30 am service. The service at BCC was another special celebration as the church building was dedicated to the Lord.  It was a tremendous blessing to be there and assist them with the final construction as well as be there for its dedication.  

Being there, seeing the church building, listening to the people worship...it was almost more than I could take in.  It was only 14 months ago that the land was paid for and Pastor Robert accepted the call to start the new church.  God has moved mightily and accomplished much during this short period of time.

I was surprised at the physical size of the church the day we arrived, and I was equally surprised a week later at the service.  It was amazing to see it was almost full.  We had an awesome time of worship as many groups offered various cultural dances and songs, the the glory of the Lord.  Earlier in the week, Jack had been invited to speak and dedicate the church.  Jack did so and presented the comparison of parents dedicating their child to the Lord.  Jack also gave the explanation that the church was the “people” not the “building.”  He challenged the congregation to go into the village and BE the church.

Pastor Robert shared a part of his testimony.  He talked about being raised by his father who was a witch doctor...so he was the son of a witch doctor, knew no English and had not gone to school.  Pastor Robert’s focus for the service was that when Christ enters your life, He changes it.  Pastor Robert challenged his congregation to allow Christ to make a change in their lives.  Several came forward at the close of the service, accepting the Lord. What a sweet time of fellowship it was!

Directly following the service at Bweya, we had to make our way to the airport.  Jack, Neel and I talked about the week and how we individually thought it had been a very good & productive week.

We all had seen and experienced God in many different ways during our time in Uganda.  This had been Neel’s first mission trip and his first time to Africa.  He learned much about a new culture and recognized the importance of leaving behind “western” eyes.  He also learned a respect for the Ugandan people and their ways.  He also learned one can share the love of Christ despite one's ability to memorize scripture!  :-)  All God needs is a willing heart, and Neel came with that and so much more.  Neel saw and experienced God in may ways, but I’ll let him get into the details.

Jack and I were greatly encouraged with Pastor Robert and the church.  They have “owned” the responsibility of the church plant from the very beginning and he’s doing a great job grafting in members of the village into the church.  It’s been beautiful to see!

Pastor Robert said that initially, people in the village assumed him to be a thief because he was hanging out with the village “drunkards” and those doing drugs---those “less than desirable people”/the “outcast”...does that story sound familiar??

Jack and I are also greatly encouraged by some developments that evolved during our time in Uganda, involving the potential relationship of a particular orphanage.  God is doing GREAT things!  I was reminded of how God is in the business of “redemption”!  This was a well-timed personal reminder.

I’d like to say a word of thanks to all who gave to the ministry of ekissa during this trip.  Through your prayers and financial blessings, we were able to share the love of Christ  through various tangible ways.  Those were in the form of 2 months of financial support to Pastor Robert (as ekissa, in faith, has pledged to support his family and the church at $250 a month).  We were also able to purchase medication for the treatment of malaria for an individual, repair 1 of the 3 wells in Bweya Village, in order to provide safe drinking water.  We were able to purchase the remaining supplies needed to complete the roof of the church, as well as purchase a replacement sound board as the existing board recently quit working at Bweya Church.  So, thank you for your sacrificial giving.  I hope you’re able to recognize your contribution toward Kingdom building, in Uganda!

Blessings, 

Sarah

Day Seven (Saturday, Feb. 25)

We are down to our last full day in Uganda and we decided to spend it encouraging our South Carolina missionary friends who serve here in Uganda. They donʼt get many visitors from the states so we hung out with the Bolitho family. We spent the majority of the daylight hours engaged in conversations that ranged from the state of the economy in Uganda, what the rest of Uganda is like outside of a 3 hour radius of Kampala, to the Bolithoʼs stories of training the pastors all over Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Malawi. They are an amazing couple who have given their life to spreading the gospel. Here we had come to “encourage” them but I believe they ended up encouraging us!

After leaving the Bolithoʼs home, we made a visit to Patrick and Sarah Serunjogiʼs home (Patrick is our on the ground facilitator). They had invited us for dinner; however, we already had an invitation for dinner with Pastor Peter. We visited with Patrick and his family and were then given a “tour” of his new home and "neighborhood." In 2003, Patrick purchased a piece of land with the intent of building a 2-story house. He and his family would reside on one level while the remaining space he would use for housing mission teams. At the time he purchased the land there was nothing but “bush.” However, thanks to a newly constructed resort, the property surrounding his house is now being developed. Patrickʼs home is nestled in the side of a mountain which overlooks Lake Victoria. The view was breathtaking!! Needless to say, the Lord has certainly blessed the value of Patrickʼs property.

This kind of got me thinking about our lives with/without Christ. Before Christ our lives are much like “the bush,” not very appealing, under-developed, thick, dark, filled with unsuspecting fear and danger. However, once Christ is a part of our lives the beauty of our lives can be seen. It takes Christ coming into our lives and “cleaning out” in order to see a breathtaking view of our lives. When Christ comes into our lives our “property value increases”!

Chew on that...

Blessings,
Sarah

Day Six (Friday, Feb. 24)

Today was another great day.  God continues to move and we are grateful.  Everyday God continues to unveil blessing after blessing.  Just when I think we've received "the" blessing God intended for the purpose of this trip, He unleashes another one!

Jack spent the day at the home of Bob and Mary Lee Bolitho.  They are American missionaries through IGO (International Gospel Outreach).  Bob teaches at African Bible University and Mary Lee has served as our eyes and ears on the ground as it concerns the children of Bweya and Mercy Orphanage.  Bob and Mary Lee also are guardians of the 2 children Jack (and Kathy) sponsor, so Jack was busy pouring himself into his "kids" today.

Meanwhile, Pastor Robert, Neel, Abby and I visited Bethany Village.  Bethany Village is the children's home run by ARM (Africa Renewal Ministry).  This is a "best practice/best model" compound in Africa. It's a place I enjoy taking teams at the end of our time here in Uganda. I think it's important for individuals to leave realizing that while poverty and orphans are a tremendous reality here in Uganda, there is hope!

So, we took a boat ride across Lake Victoria to Bethany Village.  There we were greeted by Dennis, the overseer of the children's home.  He explained the business model they use as well as the mistakes made along the way.  Dennis shared and I asked LOTS of questions.  I can't get into specifics, but this model will be very important to the village of Bweya in the near future.  We thank God for the pioneers who went before us and who are so willing to share the "fruits of their labor."

Following our meeting, Dennis took our group on a quick tour, which included a visit to their piggery.  There, we learned a lot regarding the construction, care and daily maintenance of a piggery.

At the close of our time at Bethany Village, we then joined Jack at the Bolitho's home.  There we gathered around a table for lunch and fellowship.  We had such a great time.  I think their home must be "the hangout" as we were there and then a couple of seminary students floated in, along with 2 other young boys. It was awesome.

Last night (Thurs night), Pastor Robert showed the Jesus video at Bweya Church to over 100 people.  He is doing the same tonight, so I'm looking forward to catching up with him tomorrow to see how it was received.  

It's getting late, so I will close for now. Please continue to pray for our team.  Tomorrow will be our last full day here in Uganda.  We will attend early worship at Ggaba Community Church and then the regular service at Bweya Community Church.  At the close of worship at Bweya, we will head to the airport.  We also haven't had power in 2 days and would really like a warm shower before heading back to the states.  If you don't hear back from us through another blog entry posting, it will be due to a lack of power to charge the computer.

Blessings,

Sarah

Pictures from Uganda

 Bweya Community Church Pastor Robert and family

 Bweya Community Church the day before the roof was completed

 Daniel, a 70-year-old Bweya Community Church member who was assigned to be the property protector to ensure squatters don't take over the property.

 Daniel's Son

 Neel working on the well at Mercy Orphanage in Bweya Village

 Bweya Community Church

 Jack and Hannah at Loving Hearts Babies Home

Path on land to Bweya Community Church with Lake Victoria in the background

Day Five

Our day began with a visit from "Abby."  He's one of our Ugandan friends who has helped us to relocate orphans who have been in undesirable situations.  Abby came to bring 2 of our little friends to the house for a visit.  The 2 boys are siblings of a child who was adopted as a result of an ekissa mission trip last year. The boys are handsome and healthy.  Abby's doing a great job caring for them and they're being very successful in school.

While Abby was with us, we had a meeting regarding the status of Mercy orphanage, as he used to work there and remains active in the lives of the children who reside there.  As I mentioned earlier, I can't get into details at this time on the blog; however, God is moving mightily and we are greatly encouraged about the future.

Jack's day started at 5:15 am as he and Pastor Peter traveled to Kampala for a meeting.   An organization called Partnership Worldwide had its regional director for business development here in Uganda for some unrelated meetings and Jack was able to get on his itinerary. The 2 of them met with this individual to explore the possibility of establishing a business, as a mission component to ARM'S economic development model, as well as researching their success stories, in an effort to duplicate them in Bweya. Jack feels this was a productive meeting and ekissa will follow up to explore the possibilities of a future relationship.

Around mid-day we went shopping at the market to purchase crafts, etc. to bring home AND we visited the "New York Pizza" restaurant.  The pizza was consumed as if we hadn't eaten in 5 days! Lethargy settled in as fast as a "New York minute" and we headed back to our compound, where the power as been out for the last 24 hours. (Welcome to Uganda!!!)

Our schedule has been rather constant so it's been nice to slow down to discuss & digest the things we've seen, experienced and done.  At the moment, I'm sitting in the middle of the dinning room table, due to the lizard that Jack & Neel failed to capture!!!!!! I had been sitting on the couch writing the blog when Jack hollered for me to jump up.  A 5 inch lizard was running up the wall behind my head!!!  Yes, I promptly jumped up and screamed "like a girl."  UGH!!! I HATE those things!  Let me just say, I am so thankful for a mosquito net to sleep under at night.

Well, it's time for dinner, so I'll close.  Sorry that yesterday's blog was posted late...(the power's been out).

Blessings,

Sarah 

Day Four

We all started our day feeling a little sluggish as we stayed up till after 1am talking "theology"...go figure!

Our friends Pato, Ben & Jason joined us for breakfast at our home.  After eating, I (Sarah) was given an African drum lessons well as an African dance lesson from Jason.  It was was a lot of fun but it left me with one question----How is it that it looks so effortless for the Africans?

After the dance and drum lessons, we all went to Gaba to drop off a few things at ARM and Wentz Medical Clinic.  From there we traveled a short distance to Loving Hearts Baby Home.  It "filled me up" to be there among 25 babies/ toddlers and to hold and feed a 7 day old baby!  This little one probably weighed 5 lbs.  Neel was a complete spazz at the baby home as he sat on the floor playing with a 9 month old named "Karen," while Jack played "grandfather" to a little one named "Hannah."  Hannah was a little slow to warm up to me but was all smiles for Jack.

One of the highlights of the day was our stop at Mercy Orphanage in Bweya.  As I stated in the previous blog, their well was broken.  This is 1 of the 3 wells that serve this village of 7000 people.  This water was/is vital!  They use it for cooking, drinking, bathing, etc., and the well hasn't functioned for the last 6 months.  When we arrived at mid-day to Mercy, the well repairman was there working on this 70-80 foot well.  Neel was awesome as he got in the midst of these young men, assisting them.  Once they took the pump apart and removed the steel pipe which the water runs up (much like a straw), they learned it had to be replaced.  The well had been used so much, that all of the pumping motion over time, had worn the pipes down.  By late afternoon, the pump had been repaired and the orphanage and surrounding neighbors had running water again! Hallelujah!!

After leaving Mercy, we went to the church. Driving down the "foot path" I looked out across the bushy fields at the newly constructed church.  There are times I am completely in awe and speechless of God's size and faithfulness. I cannot believe it's only been 14 months since the purchase of the land...and now the church stands strong.  We serve a mighty God.

People started arriving at the church, by foot, around 5pm and we had a time of prayer for the church and the people of Bweya.  It was a new worship experience for Neel as everyone in the church walked around the church, lifting up their prayers up to God, out loud, at the same time!  The spirit was surely in that place.  I cannot imagine what worship will be like on Sunday as we dedicate this building to the Lord.  

Blessings,

Sarah

Day Three

We began our day with Mr. Robert, affectionately known as my Ugandan Grandfather.  I explained yesterday who he is to the ministry of ekissa and that he has been in poor health. As I told him, I simply wanted to “lay my eyes on him” and the team wanted to pray with him and for him.

We had an amazing time of prayer before touring his sustainable farm.  Neel went crazy over the ingenuity found in this relatively quiet, reserved Christian man.  He’s even learned to make bio-fuel from cow dung and urine!  We then went travel down the dry dirt road to Mr. Robert’s parent's home.  There we visited his father, offering our condolences and prayer for his dearly departed wife whom he married in 1937...do that math!!!  

After leaving Mr. Robert’s father, we walked through a beautiful garden to the family cemetery which adjoins the church property.  When we arrived at Bweya Community Church, they were putting the finishing touches on the roof.

Yesterday we learned that the water pump at Mercy Orphanage had been broken for months and the children have been walking to Lake Victoria for water.  Have you ever SEEN Lake Victoria?  I wouldn’t stick my big toe in it, let alone, drink it!  Pastor Robert has made arrangements with a local gentleman to begin repairing the well pump tomorrow as an act of “community service” by the church.  This particular well is 1 of 3 wells in the entire village of roughly 7000 villagers.  It being broken has major implications regarding water availability for the villagers.  We can never underestimate the value of this repair!

There is a young man, roughly 19 years of age, name "Ben."  Ben travels with our team every time we come to Uganda.  Unfortunately, he has been unable to attend school due to lack of funds and has no parents.  Ben and his situation have been weighing heavily on my mind since the day we met. 

My sense was that Ben was in great need of a good Christian mentor, willing to pour themselves into his life.  Knowing this, as well as the vast knowledge Mr. Robert has in entrepreneurial projects, together we engaged in conversation about his willingness to serve as Ben’s mentor. By the end of this conversation, a “micro-loan” opportunity had been sketched out, enabling Ben to develop a business plan around a piggery (Ugandan word for pig farm).  Pigs are a growing, profitable market here as one pays 50,000 shillings (a little more than $20) per piglet. Mr. Robert has agreed to mentor Ben through this process with the hopes of progressing to cows and chickens.  

I believe today was a turning point in Ben’s life.  He now has a goal and and someone to guide him through this goal. Until now, Ben has spent his time roaming the dry dusty roads daily with nothing to do, nowhere to go, no dreams and no hope.  I felt like a mother who had given birth!  I’ve known Ben has much potential but wasn’t sure how to help.  Please pray for Ben that his excitement and determination will last and that he will take much pride in this opportunity.  Until now, there has been a “hand out” mentality as he has watched his friends leave for college. I believe we had a “divine appointment” with the Lord today.  The Bible says, “Without a vision, the people perish.”  Ben now has a “vision” and I am excited and beyond grateful for him! He, too, is very excited and promised he will be a man who works hard with high integrity.  He just needed someone to believe in him, his abilities and someone to encourage him!  

While remaining at the land, another man named Moses came to visit.  Moses has served at the Mercy Children’s Home here in Bweya.  I began to inquire about the conditions of things at Mercy Home.  I cannot get into specifics in order to ensure the safety of others, but my heart is lighter as I am confident of God’s movement regarding this place.  

Mercy Orphanage is what God used to birth the ministry of ekissa. The prayer at that time was that God would redeem that place, and the lives of those affected by the injustices would also be redeemed.  I believe vulnerable children are the center of God’s heart and He will allow injustices towards them only for a short time before He intervenes.  We serve a just God...a faithful God...a “redeeming” God!!  

After a incredibly fruitful time at the church, the team traveled a short distance to the center of Bweya Village to Bweya Children’s Home.  ekissa, Pastor Robert and the director, another man named Moses, had begun conversations this past June about our working together for the purpose of child sponsorship for the 85 children residing there.  We wanted to continue dialogue about this possibility as well as request the opportunity to provide another 2-3 day medical clinic on their premises in June.  We look forward to see how God will grow our relationship with them.

Today was another full day but again, extremely beneficial for all.  With each time we come to Uganda, our relationships blossom more and more.  For this, we are thankful! God is doing a great work here in Uganda and in the lives of those who dare to journey with us. Neel continues to comment on his growing understanding of the importance of relationships here.  I have a close friend who once said, “You know God’s calling you to come, when you no longer have to ask permission...” .  She was referring to traveling on a mission trip to Uganda. Many say they want to come, but their spouses don’t want them to.  Is God calling you???

“Thank you”, to all who have supported the ministry of ekissa.  No show of support is too small.

Standing in awe of how big our God is,

Sarah