27 teammates, 27 hours...

The journey started in three different cities with three different groups but with one single objective: To join together to go and serve the people of Uganda for our King.  So we left, two of the three groups met in Detroit, and the rest met in Amsterdam.    The journey touched down in 3 continents, 4 countries and covered 27 hours.  If you haven’t made a trip like this, it entails a lot of sitting, airplane meals, sitting, watching movies, sitting, reading, trying to sleep, sitting, bathroom breaks, sitting, trying to sleep and finally arriving.   But when you arrive, and see the people you have come to serve and are greeted by the SOI staff, it all suddenly seems worth it.  Especially when that staff person is none other than CC Reynolds who has already been in Uganda for a week and gave us all a “You are all most welcome” when saw her.

Then off to the hotel, half asleep on the drive, where we checked into the luxurious Pope Paul guest house.  If you haven’t slept under a mosquito net, it is somewhere between a magical disneyesque experience and walking into a spider web that you can’t seem to get off your face.  But hey, it keeps you safe so it seems like a good idea. 

Day 1 opened with a very friendly or angry pack of dogs barking into megaphones just after 5 am.  Breakfast at the hotel, then off to the SOI office for worship and devotions with the staff.  Why can’t every day start with a devotion time like this, worshipping, praying, encouraging time from the Word before you start your work day.  It just positions your heart in an incredible way. 

Then we were off to slums for three projects:  medical clinic, construction and Soccer outreach.  The medical clinic and the soccer outreach were both held in Bwaise slum, and the construction team went to Natette slum.

The medical team consisted of 6 doctors, 2 nurses and 6 support team members.  They were able to care for over 200 families providing medical attention, pharmacy medicines and prayer for their needs.  The team humbled themselves and God showed up in a huge way. 

The soccer team had a 70 kids, most street kids from the slum that are a part of youth soccer teams, for a 2 hour morning skills clinic, and afternoon soccer tournament we dubbed the Uganda Cup.  Our team of 7 coaches were able to share the gospel with the group while giving them a great place to come and learn and play.  There was a coaches versus kids game, which proved to be more than the coaches could handle as we lost in a high competitive game of 7 versus a lot of Ugandas.

The construction team had the honor to tear down and rebuild a home for a very special family in the Natette slum.  4 years ago the families 8 year old daughter was raped and contracted HIV.  The mother could not afford to pay for medical care and started to engage in prostitution to pay the bills.  When she was unable to make enough money she put her on the streets.  SOI was able to step in and start to care for the daughter and the family.  Today was the day that we were able to build their family a new home to live in.  What a blessing to share in God’s amazing provision for a family that was in such desperate need.  It is a blessing to be the hands and feet.

The night ended with the finest of Uganda’s chipati, fish and Fanta, truly a meal of champions.

So there are the last two days.  We are all safe, and ready for what is next.  Thanks for praying for us.

 

A few comically highlights of the first 48 hours:

1.        At worship today the worship leader switched songs from English to Swahili and our whole team started flipping through their song books looking for the song to no avail

2.       David and Laurie Fox getting locked inside their hotel room for a while

3.       Lauren Petters sat next to YT for 20 straight hours on the plane rides and said, “I have never spent 20 straight hours with any person in my life cause I’m not married yet”

4.       During our sharing time tonight, a full on dance party band kicked in outside in the courtyard.  After the group went to bed CC and Laurie may or may not have had their own dance party.

Lastly, if you are new to the blog and most of you probably will be, we encourage you to post comments for your loved ones, or liked ones.  We read them at breakfast in the morning, and it brings a lot of love and life when people get shout outs.

The SOI blog team