Just a short trip update on the 2013 African Trip Schedule.  We currently have 11, yes 11, trips headed to our ministry sites in Africa during the year 2013.  We are busy in the Lynchburg Office organizing and planning for these teams to travel.  Our African staff is resting from this year's team and preparing for what will come in 2013.  We are ready to see how God is going to touch the lives of those He sends to Africa next year.  Please be in prayer for our teams and our staff!

Be blessed!

Just wanted to show a photo of Phiona Mutesi in one of her matches at the International Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey last week.  Now home and back in school, Phiona earned 4.5 points in nine matches during the Olympiad, which now means she can be called a Candidate Master because she won at least 50% of her matches.  Congratulations Phiona!  Check out our website for information on how to purchase Tim Crothers' book, Queen of Katwe, about Miss Phiona, her coach Robert, our Chess ministry, and Sports Outreach!

God is good!!!!!!!!

One more heart-wrenching day in Kampala Slums

Ministering to the needs of individuals in Kampala Slums. Tomorrow we will be heading to Nairobi where we will be serving at the Sports Outreach school in the Mukuru Slum.

Trips, trips and more trips!

In just  a few short weeks SOI will be taking three different groups to different sites out of the US.
There's a group of 13 from Messiah College going to Soroti, Uganda May 13 -22.
 A group of 28 from Rivermont EPC and Lynchburg College headed to Kampala & Gulu, Uganda and Kenya May 22-June 5.
And a group of 13 from Liberty University's Women's Soccer team going to Ometepec, Mexico May 13-26. (check out more of their trip at mexicoSOItrips.blogspot.com)
Each group will have different focuses... anything from Health Education, pastoral training, clean water initiatives, sports clinics, teaching English, to playing futbol matches with the natives.

Please keep these teams in your prayers AND check back here to read their updates along the way!

A little help from my friends...

The time here in Uganda has been one that has greatly encouraged me and given me the space I needed to be with the Lord. There have been so many sweet moments where the Lord has met me and challenged me.
He usually gives me a word for the year as the calendar rolls over in January. Last year's word was "gratitude" and BOY! did he challenge that one for me. I truly struggled to be grateful most of the year. As I have been here I have gotten to do a lot of reading. Mostly fun fiction books and the Bible but a few days ago I started the book, "Invitation to a Journey, a Road Map for Spiritual Formation." It's been a good source of encouragement, challenge and direction giving as I prepare to end my time here in Uganda. The reason I bring this book up is because there is a section that showed me how I could be grateful in the midst of the most difficult year I had last year. It is as follows:
"God often disrupts our psychological state. Thus the community of faith becomes vital in our growth toward wholeness in Christ for others. The often disturbing, upsetting intrusions of others enable them to become great agents of God's troubling grace in our pilgrimage. Our sisters and brothers in the faith also become God's agents of comfort, encouragement and support as we wrestle with the call to come out of the security of our incompleteness into the wholeness God has for us in Christ. It is in the community of faith that we find the support structures of the classical and personal spiritual disciplines, through which God conforms us to the wholeness of Christ for others."
My community, you reading this blog, have been of GREAT value to me this past year. The Lord used you to spur me on, to pray for me, to love me. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus to ME!

Now, God has given me a new word for 2012. I keep hearing it over and over ... when I read scripture, when people are speaking, when I am praying... it is Peace, Shalom. I pray that this start to the year in Uganda will deeply root in me God's peace NO MATTER what the year holds, where He takes me, what comes my way. (supposedly God's peace passes all understanding ;) I will pray the same for you!

I can't believe I only have 3 more full days in Gulu. I am excited to share with you stories and pictures from the past month. Thanks for being on this journey with me. I am MOST grateful for you!!

Porridge, Frogs, and Free Range Chicken

The last few days have been fun. The first daycare ever started in Lajwatek on Tuesday so I have been out there for a few days to help Millie, the only teacher with 70+ children. Below is one of the little girls after their breakfast of Porridge. I like to call this a Porridge Mustache!

Since it is the first time the kids have gone to "school" they are a little clueless with some things. All the songs are new, how to sit in one place is new, how to keep your hands to yourself, etc.

One little boy yesterday had to go to the bathroom so Millie sent him and his sister out to go. She assumed that he would head for the latrine. Well, I walked out to check and he had dropped his pants right there bin front of the building and was beginning to squat. Just one of the many lessons of daycare in the "bush"... kids may not know to go to a latrine. It was hilarious. I lead both of them over to the latrine and showed them the propper place. Gotta love it!

Have you ever showered with frogs? Lastnight I went into the "bath house" around dusk. As I turned to lock the door I felt the side of my foot against something reptile like, I gasped, looked down and frog had come really close to losing his life under my foot! I opened the door for him to exit, he did, and I proceeded with bathing. A little later I saw something out of the corner of my eye and there was another (or maybe the same) frog getting in on the bathing action!

Needless to say, I am getting my fill of startling situations with little critters! If I were a "screamer" the people here would probably get many more laughs from me!

Lastly, I have been staying at the Kyazze house. (It's quite nice.) They have puppies in a kennel and 4-5 chickens roaming free in the yard. Two days ago they told me that we would have chicken the next night. I quickly deduced that one of the free range chickens here in the yard would be our dinner. When I came in from the day yesterday Grace, the chef of this particular meal, was almost down plucking all the feathers. I was a little uncomfortable but then she told me the next step would be gutting it and the roasting. I quickly exited! About one hour later she served chicken and rice. Believe it not, I tried it (considering I am 95% vegetarian) and it was good! I still can't believe I saw the process literally from start to finish... LIFE ON A FARM! :)

Lillian

This is Lillian. She is the youngest of 5. She was born in an "Internally Displaced People" Camp during the war. Her mom is HIV+ and so is she. She looks to be between 1-2 years old but is actually 4 years old. The disease has stunted her growth and effected her development (she doesn't walk or talk). Little Lillian is a joy to be with and I cherish the minutes with her. My heart definitely breaks for her short life expectancy.

Her mom, Florence, works on the Koro Farm as a cook. She loves Jesus and is doing her best to provide for her family. Pray for this sweet family that the JOY of the Lord would continue to sustain them is such difficult circumstances!

Afican food, people, and sunrises

It's the start of a new week here at Koro farm. School is back in session today, Mango Tree Day Care is registering new kids and the staff is getting their plan together for 2012. Good things are happening!

 From my last post you know that there were many things going on around here the last few days: Chess tournament, End of fast celebration and the regular Sunday activities. Below are some random pictures from last week...

The banner from the celebration on Thursday

Elevation ladies demonstrating their Latrine positions :)

Jennifer, Dorah and I getting ready to serve the feast after the conference. We served over 200 people.

The Kyazze family (Aloysius' wife and kids) at 5:30am getting ready to journey south for boarding school with their Elevation shirts on. They were so proud!

I feel like I am starting to settle into what living on the farm is. It's nice. There is a great, slow rhythm to everything that I think I needed more than I knew.

Friday I went into Gulutown with Maureen and Olivia (two of the main cooridnators at the farm) to buy school supplies for the Day Care starting in Lajwatek village. It was fun to shop with them. The system here is very different from the States, that is for sure! The girls' boldness in bartering is impressive. We went to the local market and I finally had my first "rolex" (in honor of Kacie). At first I thought they were talking about buying a watch but I soon learned that a rolex here is fried egg rolled in Chapati (fried flatbread)... it's like a breakfast burrito. It was delicious along with a COLD orange Mirinda (fanta).

Yesterday I accompanied Olivia to the village where she is the staff support/minister, Lajwatek. I was asked to lead the "sunday school" time. At first I am always hesitant to lead those times because I am unsure of my teaching skills but I felt the Lord lead me in a direction of what to teach and my fears eased. I taught about blind Bartameaus throwing his coat aside to seek Jesus, to seek healing and how that is like the Hebrews verses of throwing off everything that hinders to run the race God has for us. It ended up being a fun time for me. I am thankful that the Lord met me in that assignment and know he will continue to do so.

The afternoon felt like a true sabbath. I sat and talked with the staff, shared food, and went to bed early. I could get used to this! :)

This morning I decided I needed to get my act together and go for a run. So, as the sun rose over the horizon I took a jog down the dirt roads around the farm and back. It was so wonderful to listen to worship songs and gaze upon God's creation here in Uganda. I felt blessed.

I know that God is doing a work in me here. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly yet but I know it is happening. Thank you for walking with me! Thank you for praying. Thank you for missing me and letting me know I am not alone here.   

CC on the Farm!

Well, all US teams have left Gulu and I am getting to hang out for a few weeks.  So far the pace has changed from being with the teams but there has been lots going on. On Wednesday a 3 day long chess tournament started...

The chess tourney took a day off to celebrate the end of the staff/church's month long fast. A conference was held at the farm and then a big feast ended the day. It was a great celebration.

I am trying to upload more pictures but the connection isn't good enough.

Thank you for praying for me and my time here. I am adapting and enjoying being with everyone. I am hoping for rest and lots of connection time!

Heading home...

Well, I don't have an official update from the team in Kenya but I know that they have completed their time in Nairobi and are now headed back to the US. We will all have to get details of Nairobi personally. :)
I did receive a text from Dustin (YT) today saying they got to eat some questionable animal parts at the dinner tonight... should make for a good tale!
Thanks for being on the journey with us over the last 12 days.
If you would like to meet the team at the airport on Sunday afternoon their flight should be in around 4pm on Delta 2233. I am sure they would LOVE to see your familiar faces!
Grateful for you,
CC

Waterfalls, Slums and Kenya....

So sorry that we have taken a small break on the blog. It's been a great, full few days.
Wednesday morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise of the Nile river as we ate our breakfast and headed out for a boat ride up the Nile River.

As we made our way toward Murchinson Falls we were up close and personal with many Crocs, Hippos, birds of all types and even an Elephant!

We hiked to the top of the Falls and had a picnic with the sounds of the crashing Nile behind us. We got to take some time for rest there as we waited for the bus to be repaired (This Is Africa... TIA... you never know what will happen and how long you will GET to wait! ;)
After boarding the newly repaired bus we made our way south to Kampala for a nice stay back at the Pope Paul (ask Carrie how much she LOVES this place!)
Thursday morning we journeyed into Katwe slums and held a medical clinic in the church where Sports Outreach holds many of their programs (chess, feeding program, etc).

It was a success! We served 200+ people in a little over 3 hours!

We packed up, had a great meal near the airport and then the team flew to Nairobi.

Today they (CC is writing this from Uganda) are spending time in Mukuru slum.

Hopefully I can update you in a few hours how their time there has been.

Thanks for being on the journey with us!

Ngo Ma En Owaco (“That’s What She Said” in Acholi)

We started the day with one last breakfast of eggs, pineapple and toast at the Church Hill Courts in Gulu before heading south to the Paraa Safari Lodge in Murchinson Falls National Park.  We all piled into the bus and began our 4 hour drive.  We immediately took an inventory of snacks to make sure we wouldn’t go hungry.  Between Anna’s Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, YT’s peanut M&Ms, Carrie’s yogurt covered pretzels, we felt well prepared.  A bus ride wouldn’t be complete without some games, so we rocked the Name Game, which turned into the Name, Plus Any Funny Quotes, Game.  Jon and Matt get props for having “Naked” and “You Complete Me”.

Our first taste of the safari came before we even pulled up to the lodge. Off about 10 feet away from the bus was a group of elephants. Their size was amazing and the closest most of us had come to something similar was during a ride at Disney. We knew that we were in for some amazing things later.

Walking into the lodge we were greeted by cold hand towels and fresh passion fruit juice. The staff was so warm and welcoming and seemed more excited to have us then we were to be there. Lunch was even a meal fit for royalty. A delicious buffet of every food you could think of. It was nice to have a little change up from the food we had been eating the past few days.

The group split up into two Land Rovers to officially begin the safari.  Eric and Geoffrey were the guides and the first half of the ride included giraffe’s, antelope, wart hogs (which Beth has a new found love for), and the national animal – Kob.  The guide found one male lion hiding/napping under some brush, but he didn’t feel like coming out to play, so we drove on down to the water.  At the water, we saw a lot of hippos and buffalo.  The hippos were just waking up from their day long nap and were all yawning, which is quite a site. 

We caught an amazing sunset and then crossed paths with some male lions. This time the large male was up and moving around and to prove his masculinity, he pounced on the two younger males.  Our guide told us that the dominant male didn’t like when the others stood up around him, which made us a bit nervous as one of the guides was standing on the roof of the truck…Anna asked him, “are you afraid?” and he said “sort of”.  Anna and CC decided to roll up their windows.  When Brett exited the roof of the truck (it had large sunroofs that you could sit on) and said that the big lion was starring at his legs dangling off the side truck dreaming of dipping them in BBQ sauce, we knew it was time to drive off into the beautiful Ugandan sunset.  On our ride back to the lodge, the guide Eric thought he saw a leopard, but it ended up being nothing.  Back at the lodge, we had another amazing buffet meal and some delicious desserts. 

While some of the girls (CC, Anna, Emily, Abby, Alexis) were by the pool writing the blog, a deranged hippo, hiding behind the fence started making aggressive grunting noises.  Little did Abby and Emily know, this same hippo made an appearance last year causing some choice words not fit for a mission trip and the release of bladders.  As Abby and Emily were screaming and running in circles, Abby was yelling “I can’t write this blog with wild animals right here in the wilderness behind me”.  Just then, the crazed hippo jumped out and revealed himself as Dr Pastor Jon.  See YT’s video of the whole thing to really experience the full excitement.

Fun Facts of the Day:

CC majored in Safari in college and has a vast knowledge of tracking wild animals

After experiencing a rough day of tummy rumbles yesterday, Dave gets the MVP award by starting his day off with strong Ugandan coffee and ending it with salad (washed in suspicious African water).  We’ll see what tomorrow brings him…

Dustin and Carrie provided martial counseling for CC, Beth, and Abby…or should we say singles counseling.

While playing an impromptu game of Signs, Matt, who still cannot remember his number, began making up signs that did not exist.  Needless to say, we are not surprised.

Top Ten things that made our day awesome

Lagutu top ten list

10. Brett assisting Dr. Pastor Jon in removing spider legs from a man's ear
9. Playing a Ugandan Congugation game where eveyone has to come up with a word that ends in "tion" ... it was the climax of the bus ride
8. CC "baaaaaa-ing" at least 25 times today due to losing a game (which she has to continue to do everytime a Ugandan says "goat" for the rest of the trip.)
7. Visiting a village/slum in Gulu town (where Sports Outreach has had ministry to HIV+ women) and having kids swarm the cameras... it was clear they don't see many Mazungus.
6. Teaching the Gulu staff a flash mob dance to "Dynamite" and Abby teaching everyone how to "Dougie"
5. Eight year old kid showing up Matt's drawing skills
4. Dennis sharing his life story in the very area in which he was a child soldier.
3. Dinner and Praise/worship with the team and the Sports Outreach staff.
2. Serving 400+ people in the village through the medical clinic
1. Learning the phrase "that's what she said" in Acholi

“I’m A Barbie Girl, In a Barbie World”…this is Africa!

After another delicious glass of fruit cocktail (think passion fruit, watermelon and guava yumminess) with breakfast we hopped on the van and headed to Koro Farm for church.

The service started with a couple of songs sung by the children’s choir.  Listening to them sing and watching their joyful faces as they dance is definitely a highlight of the service.  These children light up when they praise God, what an encouragement!  While, we Mzungas (‘white people’ for those of y’all who didn’t read yesterday’s blog) felt the mics were turned up far too loudly, the teenagers using them thoroughly enjoyed hearing their amplified voices.

Pastor Aloysius then asked Whitey if our group would come up one by one or two by two and introduce themselves.  We were invited to share a bit of what God is doing in our lives if we so felt.  Though most of us were feeling a bit nervous to share with such a large congregation, each of the group members did a terrific job.  One of the most impactful testimonies came from one of our quieter members, Dr. John.  After today we agreed to call him Dr. Pastor John.  He simply shared how he experiences Christ in his life but it was so eloquent that I think every person leaned a bit closer to ensure they didn’t miss a word.

 After a few more songs and a testimony from another visitor we had the privilege of hearing Aloysius preach.  He is a very quiet yet zealous man for Jesus.  It was a glimpse of Heaven to worship with brothers and sisters half way around the world.  The service ended with some more songs from the children’s choir.

We rode back to the Churchill hotel, ate lunch and took a siesta.  A few hours later we returned to Koro Farm for a soccer game.  Here are some highlights of the game:

-Beth was MVP of soccer game and her team greatly appreciated her prowess on the field.

-David dominated as goalie even enduring a leveling by Brett.  In official soccer rules, Brett would have been red carded.  I guess since he was bulging out of his tight red nylon mesh tank top they decided to skip the red card.  The blue team got a free kick out of this play.

-Aloysius’ elementary school age son acted as commentator on the loud speaker providing added entertainment for the spectators.

After the game Alexis and Emily showed off some of the latest dance moves Steve Urkel style.  It was...interesting(?) and hilarious.

I don’t think it’s been mentioned yet but our driver’s ringtone is the instrumental track of “Barbie Girl”…um, okay.  So we often find ourselves humming, “I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world…”  Other than the fact that this song is completely lame, this is a funny anecdote because our driver is an older Ugandan gentleman who is fairly reserved among us Americans.

Quote of the day:

While teaching some of our Ugandan friends to play a fun game called Ninja Chop

Brett: You need to make a noise like a ninja.

Robert: Oh you mean like Chuck Norris?

Favorite Food of the Day:

Some rockin’ Ugandan mashed potatoes…yyyyuuuummmmmmm!

Get that dirt off your shoulders.

Day three proved to be the longest day yet. Whitey had talked to us the night before about what we should expect going into the village of Paguini. He encouraged us to prayer for strength and support each other as we were preparing the serve for 14 hours. As Wilfred drove us out to Paguini a few of us were thinking we have to almost be there, how much further could we drive into the bush? And just as we thought that he kept driving further and further. At some points it seemed he was paving a path that had not been there before. We jumped right into setting up the medical clinic and were anxious to start serving the people. Thanks to CC and Carrie we had things a little more organized than the day before. The pharmacy was set and we were ready. Or so we thought we were. I don’t think any of us were prepared for how many people showed up for free medical care. Some have even walked 2 hours to get to us. Everything from AIDS, heart murmurs, chest pain, malaria, worms, and skin infections. Anna even helped with a woman who had just given birth 6 days ago. The precious baby girl did not have a name yet and Anna through a few ideas out there for her. Anna, Anna, Anna is what she insistent upon. The people were coming from every direction. We were blessed to be able to sit and hear the stories of the people and pray over them as they waited for their medicine. IN all we were able to serve over 800 people in our medical clinic last 5 hours.   Even though we had to turn some people away because of running out of supplies we trust that God is the ultimate healer.

Dustin insisted we take a “siesta” after finishing up with the clinic due to only being done with half of our day. Some eat and napped in the car, some sat and talked with the people and Carrie, Abby and CC started a painting all the children’s nails. Not just the little girls, nope. But the little boys and women as well. They were in awe of the colors and surprisingly knew to not touch anything after we painted them. Abby thought she was doing the boys a disservice by painting “Passion Pink” on their hands. But the joy on their faces afterwards was enough for all of them to just smile and keep painting. That is one thing we decided to leave in Uganda and not bring back to the States with us.

Now enter the brick machine. For those who haven’t been on the trip before they have heard nonstop about making bricks. It has been a big part of the trips in the past and so big in fact that they have turned it into a little competition. They guys got a little head start and were making some throughout the day but after lunch and the siesta it was time for all of the team to join. We decided to have all of the girls show up, oh I mean make some bricks. Two people shoveled, one person was quality control and made sure the dirt was packed, two people pulled bar down to form the brick, two pulled down to release the brick and one person was the runner. Little did we know we would have the whole village surrounding us and adding to the pressure of making these bricks. But the girls definitely showed up. Towards the end the rest of the group jumped in to compete with the some of the Ugandan staff to finish up the dirt pills. Shamelessly we lost by one brick but were proud of our efforts. So much so that we brushed the dirt off our shoulders. Literally.

Next we headed down the field in the village to play a soccer match against some of the locals. The goals were marked by two large branches in the ground and it even had little flags in the corners. Looking around at our competition we knew we were in for a challenge. Luckily we had some of the locals join our team to make the numbers even. Abby and Emily did play and represent for the ladies. We were given the name “Team Mzungu Women” meaning team of white women. Let’s just say that name was thanks to the Andrews sisters and not our soccer playing ability. About 5 minutes into the game one our SOI friends, Dennis, shot one right past the keeper to give Team Mzungu a lead of 1-0. Dave was our all star goalie and made some game changing saves. Even took a blow to the chest and took it like a champ. Alexis, CC, Carrie, Beth and Anna were on the sidelines teaching some of the children American cheers. “Let’s get a little bit rowdy, R—O—W—D—Y” even made it in there complete with the hip shake. Halftime came and went and on the next corner kick Abby responded to a deflection of the defense and buried it in the corner of the net, or imaginary net in this case. Team Mzungu now lead with a score of 2-0. The Ugandans didn’t keep it like for long and slipped one in past Dave. After taking a direct shot to the stomach, Abby was praying for the whistle to blow and for the game to be over. Team Mzungu was able to hold on for a victory of 2-1. Don’t worry we surprised ourselves too.

The end of the night was something a lot people were looking forward to. Here we are in this remote village in the middle of nowhere Uganda and SOI was able to set up a huge blow up screen to show the Jesus film in Acholi (the local language). Hundreds of the people from Puguini gathered around to see the story of Jesus in their language. A first for many and we were blessed to be there to experience that with them. There were no English subtitles so we did our best to follow along in our bibles. Many responded to the prayer of salvation and hearts were changed forever. Even though it was a long day for us God gave us strength and revealed himself in everything that we did.

Fun facts for the day:

-          Alexis set the record for most times falling on your butt while working the brick machine with 14 times.

-          Matt still cannot remember his number in our countdown after 4 days on the trip, so Dustin for wrote a song for him entitled…”Matt is number 11”.

-          After winning the soccer game a random boy came up to Emily:

Emily: Hi, I’m Emily

David: Emoi, Hi I am David. I want to be your fan.

-          Bret heading the ball 4 times during the game with his “country, Cowboy, leather, Brad Pitt in the legend of the falls hat on”

Medicine, Relay Races and a Resurection

Hi everyone.  The team had an amazing day, and due to lateness and a 630 wake up calling awaiting us all, this update will be a little shorter than the previous. 

Today we worked in Lajwetek village.  This is a village that SOI has been able to work in for the past 2 years and Gpd truly has done amazing things.  Today we ran our first medical clinic.  With our team of twelve, plus 8 medical students joining us from the Univesity, we had quite a team.  It took a little while to get everything running like well oiled machine, and the pharmacy end of things almost lead CC to a snap (on only our 3rd day), but we finally got it all together and were able to serve and minister to over 500 people today.  150 families came through in 5 hours.  Wow, it was crazy.  each person had a medical exam, perscriptions if needed, and one of our team members to sit and pray with them.  Before coming through the clinic, everyone was able to receive Health education class while in the waiting area. 

After the clinic, we were able to run a sports clinic for the children of the village.  This included a crazy game of volleyball, relay races and a socer tournament.  In the end, the team that won the tournament, ages ranging from 5-18, played against the Mzungu American team.  We were victorious 2-1 in a very fun game. 

Finally we went a home fellowship group and heard the testimony of Ester.  Ester's testimony is that in 2009, she had died and was dead for three days.  A friend of hers asked the SOI staff to come pray for her and perform her funeral.  It was here, that through prayer, God raised ester back to life after three days being dead.  She was not a follower of Jesus before, but came to follow Jesus after her resurrection.  This testimony has been a powerful piece of God's work in this village and now there is a church of over 200 worshipping here. 

We returned home for a nice dinner, and or first game night of signs.  If you havne't played before, I wont try to explain on this, but lets just say it is a life changing game to have in your life (almost as life changing as the Orange Fanta here, but that is another story)

Simple highlights of the day:

Beth and Abby having a baby throw up on them in the medical clinic... stange but everyone voted it s highlight

John organizing and leading an incredible medical outreach... he was a stud as usual

Bret MsDonough performance in our soccer game.  He dominated a few 7 year olds, they ahd not chance against him

Emily and Alexis hyperventilating at dinner because they were laighing so hard at "Your mama..." jokes


Please pray for us tomorrow.  We have a very big and a very long day.  We will be doing a medical clinic, making bricks and showing the Jesus Film at night in Pugwini village.  We leave at 730 am, and probably wont return home until 11 at night.  Pray for strength, unity and the powerful message of Jesus to go out

Headstands in the Field (by Abby)

Who were our travel companions for the last leg of the trip? Yes, that is right. On our flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe the African Children’s Choir were making their way back to their home of Kampala, Uganda. I cannot even begin to explain the joy these children brought to us in such a short time. All of us needed a little boost after traveling for a day straight. They had just finished a 16 month tour of the United States. These children, ages 9 to 12, hadn’t seen their parents and families in over a year. We were blessed enough to have our rows in front or behind them and got a little glimpse of their tour. Washington DC, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia and New York were just a few places they visited. I can’t imagine being away from my family for such a long time at such a young age. Once we landed in Entebbe the whole plane erupted in a cheer, lead by the children of the choir. I think everyone was excited to be at their final destination and off of the plane yet every single one of us were sharing in the excitement with the children. God was already preparing us for what we were about to experience and we hadn’t even stepped off the plane yet.

Our first full day here in Uganda was surreal. We woke up to a delicious breakfast prepared by the staff at the Pope Paul. Brett, Emily and myself were about to have to live in the one outfit we had on thanks to placing our bags with the Italian Yoga group. Brett pulled a “Home Alone” running towards the gate at this van as they were driving away. You think the yoga mats strapped to the top of the their bags would of given it away that it wasn’t any of the rest of our teams. We are just going to blame it on the jetlag and thank God that we didn’t have to make an extra trip to Italy on our way home to pick up our bags. Once we all settled into the bus we started on our 7 hour (cough cough, CC) trip to Gulu. With our small group this year we each were able to have our own seat and sit pretty comfortably. Thank God for that. I can’t imagine being squished sardine style for our long commute north. My biggest question was what happens when we have to go to the bathroom? Do we have bathroom breaks? Enter in the short call or what Matt would call a “quickie”. It was unlike any bathroom experience I have ever had. We had to bring our own tissue paper and squat against a wall and go. No exaggeration. If we didn’t have to drink water every 5 minutes then I wouldn’t of done it. But now that I have I feel one, gotten closer to the girls who experienced it with me and two, when in Rome right?

Before we arrived in Gulu, Dustin went over the history Northern Uganda. Most of us have a little knowledge of the situation because of the Invisible Children documentary that had come out a few years ago. We were passing the same streets that these kids would walk on for hours upon hours at night to escape the fear of the LRA. Pulling up to the farm we had the warmest greeting from the SOI staff there in Gulu. Momma Ester had a delicious African snack prepared for us complete with fried sweet potatoes, cooked cabbage, fried toast and fresh pineapple. I knew I was going to like it here. She introduced us to her sweet family and some of the other SOI staff that we would be spending the next few days with. Maureen took us on a tour of the Koro farm and we were all amazed at the progress within the past few years. What once was bush is now vast land filled with crops and animals.

As we were wrapping up the last of the tour we ran into a choir practice. This isn’t what you usually see on Sundays with long choir robes or microphones with stands. There were just voices, clapping and lots of dancing. More of which we will see on Sunday. But as we were passing, two girls stopped what they were doing and were running, screaming towards us with their hands in the air. They proceeded to pass Alexis, Beth, Anna, John and myself but ran straight into Matt’s arms. We all thought, “Oh maybe they remember him from last year…No, wait he wasn’t on the trip last year.” Not one of us stopped laughing for the next 15 minutes and we actually have already brought it up a few times since this afternoon. Matt is going to come back with more than souvenirs and stories.

The most encouraging part of the whole tour was hearing that the main reason of this farm was to involve the community to be a part of the mission. The donations, prayers, work and time put into this farm has already made such an impact in the staff’s lives and the lives of the community as well as those that visit. I have seen it for a short time today and I am already anxious to get back.

A verse that has been on my heart and has been my prayer for this trip:

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.”

God is so good and it’s only day 1.

Fun Facts of the trip:

Brett likes to use the women’s bathroom… as evidenced by him accidentally using the women’s room in the Charlotte airport.

Matt’s minimum height requirement for his future wife is 4’2”.

Quotes of the day:

Dustin: “It’s a muffin and a donut, it’s a monut”

Anna: “Brett, just because you are cat whisperer doesn’t mean you are a gorilla whisperer. You better back up, you’re getting ready to get slapped in the face.” (as Brett is trying to feed a baboon a twix bar)

Dave’s celebrity crush: Eva Mendes

10 + 2 To Uganda... Barbarians Forever!

The journey has officially begun. The stories, the memories, the impact of what it means to journey deep into God's work in Africa is in front of us.   We started as 10 of us in the Charlotte airport, and we will be joined by 2 more who are in England right now, and eventually we will be 12 together. 12 together will crash into God's work in a powerful and life changing way. The trip is called "Barbarians Forever." The theme for the past four trips we have taken in January has centered around the concept of being a Barbarian for Jesus. Much of the terminology and sharing of this concept comes from a book called The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. Here is a quote that will shed some light on why we will carry a Barbarian spirit in our hearts and into this work.

"God's ultimate end or our transformation is to unleash the ultimate faith within. When His Spirit is poured out into our lives, we are inspired to extraordinary levels of living. Barbarians never exist simply to live. Barbarians wake to live and live life fully awake. To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled wit dreams and visions far too compelling to ignore. Live or die, succeed or fail, barbarians must pursue and attempt dreams and visions. The barbarian spirit dreams great dreams and find courage to live them."   Erwin McManus

So the journey has begun, and there will be much to be shared of what has happened in and through the group. Thank you for being a part of the journey with us, pray for us to stay strong and courageous, and to stay together as Barbarians forever.