Gone to prison...

You know you’re safe when you wake up with military personnel guarding just outside your room with M-16 rifles. OK, so it’s actually a bit eerie, but you won’t get that kind of experience in America so it was worth reporting.

Today we continued our 3 outreaches, but this time we showed our Jesus film to the Lagutu Village. Although the crowd was not as big as last night, about 200 showed up with many walking a couple of miles to see the movie. There were no technical difficulties and no concern of rain.  It was very moving with over 15 people giving their life to Christ. Like yesterday, you would think that would have been the highlight of the day because of so many giving their heart to Jesus, but God had even a bigger day in store.

Our medical clinic moved to the prison today and our expectations were far exceeded. We had over 200 prisoners wait patiently in line for their medical care. The 2^nd patient happened to be a prisoner who started a ministry in the prison. He now leads a church service every week with as many as 300 prisoners attending. God bringing him early facilitated several conversations the rest of the day as we had a dozen prisoners give a commitment to God. We not only had the opportunity to lead them in prayer, but got them connected with Pastor Stephen (our 2^nd patient) for follow through. We also had discussions to further the prison ministry and it looks like Sports Outreach will be able to show the Jesus film in the future to them as well. God is so amazing.

We had many chuckles and few hysterical laughs. A few remembered

1.       The van got stuck in the mud and had to be pushed out (I heard the African ladies from Sports Outreach out-muscled our American men, but that’s not surprising). 

2.       The same team went to the wrong prison

3.       Ashley needs to learn his ABC’s. He thought orangutan started with an A (you will have to ask him the story)

4.       Joan hates this camping game by the way.

5.       An old man (who was quite inebriated) sat in front of the bus during the movie and was stepped on multiple times because no one could see him.

6.       Though not funny, but kind-of at the same time, the same old man (remember, very inebriated)  nearly got run over by the bus…and when we say nearly, we mean he was going underneath the front bumper. He was OK, so don’t worry. He didn’t feel it and probably won’t remember in the morning anyway. Praise God some people from the team saw what was happening before it was too late.

Jesus on the big screen

What an awesome day.  We broke up into 3 groups as we had 3 major tasks to accomplish. The Medical Clinic, Brick making and the video outreach.

The medical team consisted of 4 nurses, a few interpreters, a doctor and a several medical assistants. Over 200 people showed up to be treated at the clinic from cuts/infections to malaria. We had a special surprise visit from Esther which excited everyone. (This is the same Esther that was miraculously healed and brought back to life after being dead 3 days) Watching McKinley and Tonia’s expression when they realized who the person they were talking to …was priceless. You will have to see the pic on our return. The clinic was such a success, we are continuing for 2 more days.

Our 2^nd team moved and made bricks for a new kitchen next to the school/church. What felt we completed well beyond 659 bricks (the official count may be closer to 1000), we turned the dirt, sand and concrete while others used the brick press to make the bricks. It was back breaking, but well worth working side by side each other and the people of the village.

Our 3^rd team paved the way for the movie night. After testing the equipment and making sure everything worked properly, they came over and borrowed a few from the construction team. They enticed them with an opportunity to become “slashers”. Everyone agreeing just for the name alone, they were handed some special “machete” type devices and told to start swinging like golf clubs. Although not what was expected (to be a slasher), everyone was excited about practicing their golf swing. After only a few minutes, the burnout began. Practicing your golf swing or being known as “the Slasher” did not matter anymore. THIS WAS REAL WORK…even more challenging than brick making, this task seemed impossible. We were all wishing we had gas powered weedeaters, but none was found. We did finish the “slashing” and headed back to the farm. One of our interesting moments comes from Ashley during his short call. He went into an outhouse to discover a hole with a few flies. Needing to clear his bladder (he had more Fruity Miranda’s than we could count), he took aim.  Once the hole was reached, a swarm of flies of biblical proportions came right at him. Out of reaction, he about ran out of the outhouse, but quickly realized exposure may be a problem, not to mention he had not completed his task. He decided to fight off the flies and finish his short call.  Amazingly even after that, his Fruity Miranda addiction continued through the day.

We ended the day with our movie night. This was the big outreach that we prepared for throughout the day. We had a large inflatable screen, big speakers, a projector and a movie about the Life of Jesus in the Acholi language…  (Jesus on the Big Screen). With all the preparation and practice, we still experienced technical difficulties, but Aaron, Ashley and Sam got on top of every challenge with speed and ease… with the exception of the projector. After an hour of trying to get the projector to turn on, Aloysius saved the evening (he always has a plan B) by surprising us with a second projector. We have no idea where he got it (we are not sure if he even knows), but God is good and everyone was excited.  The movie started late, but the movie watchers were very patient as always.  Their responses to several scenes in this movie were a joy to experience as they clapped, shouted and even rejoiced with their African tribal hollering we love to hear. The sound carried down the street and the screen was large enough to view from the road. People were coming in throughout the movie. By the end of the evening, we had over 400 people show up to and over 50 commitments to Christ. He answered many prayers last night and even when it looked we were going to have a massive downpour at any moment, He even held off the rain. Praise God for what He is doing.

September 28th… you have a WHAT in your ear??

Well, we made it to Uganda after countless hours on planes, trains (Atlanta shuttle) and automobiles!

We arrived latenight Tuesday night and immediately headed to our comfy beds for rest. The birds over the lake in Kampala woke us early, in time to have a delicious breakfast of hard boiled eggs, pineapple and sausage (yum). Ashley broke his yearlong Mirinda fast. Then off we went to the bus, numbering off 1-17, prepared for a fun filled drive to Gulu.

And oh! What fun it was. Between Aaron T. & Ashley singing the entire Grease soundtrack and David being voted most likely to be on Dancing with the Stars, the seven hour commute felt manageable and even fun. One bonding moment along the way was when Wilfred pulled over. When asked if everything was ok he replies, “it’s not very much ok”… hmmmm, what does that mean?! Well, the clutch went out on the bus we soon found out. We exited the bus, took a short call (potty break) and shared a Fanta, or two. We had the chance to interact with some of the locals and even get to know each other on the team better.

It wasn’t long until we were on the road again. Yes, Willie Nelson was sung on our bus! Soon we were crossing the mighty Nile River, heckling the baboons that live around there, and quickly approaching Gulu. When we saw the “tall tree” we knew we were close. We turned into the farm and the excitement was palpable! We shared a snack with Aloysius and Esther Kyazze, the leaders of Sports Outreach in the north. That prepared us to be welcomed so graciously by the Sports Outreach staff with singing, dancing and praising the Lord. It was a sweet time filled with joy!

After we said our hellos, Aloysius escorted us around the farm and captured our attention orienting us on the ministry there.

Arriving to our next hotel after dark, we were all anxiously awaiting dinner since our lunch consisted of the Fanta drinks during the van clutch repair. Just before we were to be served, the hotel had a blackout and we briefly wondered if we might repeat our Fanta drink meal, but the electricity returned shortly and we enjoyed a wonderful meal of fish, pasta and pizza. It was great.

We finished our evening with a time of worship with songs and prayer, but even that was delayed a bit with Sam jumping around, head cocked with his left ear parallel to the ground and arms wailing.  Wondering if he was having an epileptic fit, we quickly checked to see what was wrong.  Incoherently, he repeated ivegottabugnmaear, ivegottabugnmaear. We finally heard I have a bug in my ear.  We called a “code red” at the ChurchHill and our medical team swept in and dislodged an African Gnat (about the size of his little toe).

We finally settled down and entered into some awesome worship lead by Eric Bernier (one of our fearless leaders). It just now started to rain which is great because we are all heading to bed and loving the “white noise” God is creating for us.

Favorite moments from today…

Barbara: breaking down and spending time on the roadside with people.

Greg: the welcome at Koro farm.

Ashley: loved the drive up to Gulu and see how God is orchestrating the team, etc.

Todd: “if you continue to hold onto your idols, you’ll miss the blessings I have for you”

David: encouraged by Aloysius’ words of gratitude for coming back.

Tonia: praise and worship at the farm made her excited about worship in Heaven.

Tim: Colossians 4:3 excited about the video ministry this week.

McKinley was struck by the living conditions… how tragic and real in a new way to her.

Kelly: being at the farm and feeling the Lord’s presence.

We're off...

Tomorrow the Wilmington crew heads to Uganda to visit friends is Lajwatek and Lagutu. We invite you to come along with us. Feel free to leave comments for your friends/loved ones on this adventure!

This is the the crew at the well dedication in October 2010... This year there are 15 team members!

Thanks for being a part of the journey through the blog!