The past three days have been gruelling for the team!
Hand-delivering Family Kits in the village sounds like easy work, but I had forgotten how physically exhausting it can be. I can't describe how hot it is working in the heat of the afternoon. As we walk for miles deep in the jungles of Uganda the sun beats on our faces and necks like the lash of a cane. After a full day of delivering the kits our team is tired, sweaty, very dirty and emotionally drained. We are grateful for many of our Ugandan guides and translators who are helping us make the deliveries. We finished the distribution this afternoon and are pleased to have been able to deliver 50 Family Kits to some of the most destitute widows, widowers, orphans and families in the region.
Yesterday evening as we reflected on the value of Family Kits we were encouraged by Pastor Robert and our beloved Damali who continue to affirm this important part of the project. Pastor Robert (who is also the Head Master of a local school) has this to say:
"You are helping us build the church of Uganda through the distribution of Family Kits. Almost 80% of my my village is represented by the Muslim faith and without the presence of Mazungus (what the Africans call "roaming" White people) we would be unable to share Christ with them. If we were to try and share the Gospel with them as Ugandans they would come after our heads with a machete! So we are so thankful for Grandview Church and the opportunities that Family Kits are giving us as Pastors to share the Gospel."
We continue to be amazed by the incredible stories of conversion the village Pastors are experiencing. The Pastors are employing the teaching that they have received from Ian, Bob and John and when they preach hundreds of Ugandans are giving their lives to Christ - even 200 rebel soldiers walked out of the forest and surrendered their weapons to Pastor Robert and Cedric as they preached in the open air of Rwanda. Incredible. God is doing miracles through these men and the Kingdom is growing exponentially as a result of Grandview's investment here in Wakisi! I dare say that revival is afoot and we are celebrating alongside our Ugandan partners for the pleantiful harvest.
We are all looking forward to tomorrow's service at the newly renovated Gospel Messengers Church. Pastor Simon Peter is ready to welcome us into his new church and Ian and Brad will both preach - we suspect it will be a long service! Construction is about 90% complete and only pictures can fully translate the changes.
This will be the last blog as we head out of town tomorrow afternoon and start to make our way back to Canada. Thanks for following us along the way - we have many more stories to share with you when we return.
Best,
t.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Day 5 - Uganda from Melissa's perspective
What a couple busy days this has been! Yesterday, Pastor Ian, Bob, and John began their pastoral training, which made both the team and the Ugandans very happy. The rest of the team headed over to Sonrise Baby Home to help at Damali's orphanage. The men on our team that had previously worked at Gospel Messenger Church came over to the orphange to do some construction in order to make room for more babies, and of course Bethany, Denise, and I had spend time with the babies. I am probably safe to say that African babies are the happiest and the cutest. My favourite one, Stevie, never cries. What a joy! All of the people at the orphange are just a joy to be around. After a long day of work, we headed to a Ugandan resort, just across the Nile, and enjoyed a couple of hours of relaxtion. The girls decided to enjoy to sunshine, and the guys decided to play some games in the water. Who knew a bunch of old men could have so much fun with a football!! It was a great end to a relaxing day.
Today, we headed into town to get all the supplies for family kits. We rented a truck and rode around on it the whole day, and apparently for us Canadians, it is very amusing, to Ugandans, its just a part of a normal day. We finished picking up all the supplies, and dropped them off at Damali's auntie's house, for safe keeping until tomorrow afternoon when we start delivering them. We are all very excited for the breakfast feeding tomorrow, and a chance to hear some of the stories of people in the villages when delivering family kits tomorrow.
Today, we headed into town to get all the supplies for family kits. We rented a truck and rode around on it the whole day, and apparently for us Canadians, it is very amusing, to Ugandans, its just a part of a normal day. We finished picking up all the supplies, and dropped them off at Damali's auntie's house, for safe keeping until tomorrow afternoon when we start delivering them. We are all very excited for the breakfast feeding tomorrow, and a chance to hear some of the stories of people in the villages when delivering family kits tomorrow.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day 3 - Sights and Smells
Greetings from Uganda!
We landed safely in Entebbe late on Saturday evening and got a few hours rest at the Central Inn, just a few minutes from the airport. It's been a long, exhausting journey (as Brad reflected, probably one of the worst he's experienced with any previous team).
Early Sunday morning we loaded up the bus and headed towards Jinja taking in the sights along the way - lush green rain forests, the coast of Lake Victoria, and the busy streets of Kampala. I had forgotten how hot the sun is here at the Equator - it's been 30 degrees and sunny since we arrived. Perfect. As we drove the smell of diesel fumes, burning grass and garbage wafted through the air breezing through the bus windows.
We met up with Pastor Ian at Mto Moyoni and drove into Wakisi village to attend two church services. Thankfully we were only asked to sing at one of them! We enjoyed the singing, dancing and passionate worship of the believers in Wakisi. We look forward to the celebration service next week at Pastor Simon Peter's newly renovated church.
After the services we were invited to the soccer pitch where we would participate in what has become a traditional event for our teams - Canada vs. Uganda. When we arrived the field was empty, but after a few minutes of kicking the ball around we had drawn a sizeable crowd. There must have been one hundred or more villagers in the grand stands, ready to cheer on the Canadians! Of course we lost the game - though honourable mention goes to Pastor Ian and Brad for valiantly guarding our net! Final score was 4 to 1.
Today we visited the construction site at Gospel Messenger's Church in Wakisi Sub-County (our thanks to John Dinner for this coordination of this project). Progress is well under way and Otto, Paul, Wayne and Curtis were excited to get there hands dirty. All the windows and doors are complete, the floor is finished and the masonry work is almost complete as well. For those on our team who remember the original structure, we were amazed at the transformation. The rest of the team visited Baby Justine in Jinja town to purchase more necklaces for the @the Source Beads team.
Family Kit distribution will begin later this week and we're all looking forward to getting into the village to share our story with the widows and orphans.
We landed safely in Entebbe late on Saturday evening and got a few hours rest at the Central Inn, just a few minutes from the airport. It's been a long, exhausting journey (as Brad reflected, probably one of the worst he's experienced with any previous team).
Early Sunday morning we loaded up the bus and headed towards Jinja taking in the sights along the way - lush green rain forests, the coast of Lake Victoria, and the busy streets of Kampala. I had forgotten how hot the sun is here at the Equator - it's been 30 degrees and sunny since we arrived. Perfect. As we drove the smell of diesel fumes, burning grass and garbage wafted through the air breezing through the bus windows.
We met up with Pastor Ian at Mto Moyoni and drove into Wakisi village to attend two church services. Thankfully we were only asked to sing at one of them! We enjoyed the singing, dancing and passionate worship of the believers in Wakisi. We look forward to the celebration service next week at Pastor Simon Peter's newly renovated church.
After the services we were invited to the soccer pitch where we would participate in what has become a traditional event for our teams - Canada vs. Uganda. When we arrived the field was empty, but after a few minutes of kicking the ball around we had drawn a sizeable crowd. There must have been one hundred or more villagers in the grand stands, ready to cheer on the Canadians! Of course we lost the game - though honourable mention goes to Pastor Ian and Brad for valiantly guarding our net! Final score was 4 to 1.
Today we visited the construction site at Gospel Messenger's Church in Wakisi Sub-County (our thanks to John Dinner for this coordination of this project). Progress is well under way and Otto, Paul, Wayne and Curtis were excited to get there hands dirty. All the windows and doors are complete, the floor is finished and the masonry work is almost complete as well. For those on our team who remember the original structure, we were amazed at the transformation. The rest of the team visited Baby Justine in Jinja town to purchase more necklaces for the @the Source Beads team.
Family Kit distribution will begin later this week and we're all looking forward to getting into the village to share our story with the widows and orphans.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 1 - iPhone saves the day!
Not off to a very good start...(though it makes for interesting blogging!)
We arrived at the airport around 4:30pm yesterday to check in for our 9:00pm flight to London. Unfortunately just before boarding we were told there was a mechanical issue with the plane that would require 30-45 minutes to diagnose and repair. We were reassured it would be resolved in good time, and patiently waited for an update. 3 hours later (midnight) we were told the flight had been cancelled and that we would be spending the night in Toronto. Delightful.
Brad, Dave and John spent the next two hours re-working our flight details (which subsequently have changed dramatically - we're now flying through Brussels instead of London) and the rest of the team enjoy some late night airport coffee and a few card games. Once flights were worked out we waited in line for hour to get on a shuttle bus to the Crowne Plaza - then waited another hour still to check in to the hotel. Finally around 3:45 am we were all checked in to the hotel for the night.
Our flight leaves for Brussels tonight around 6:00 pm (Lord willing). We're all disappointed that we've lost a full 24 hours in Uganda but, we're still optimistic and the team is in good spirits.
Our thanks to the incredible designers of the iPhone whose amazing technology and engineering brilliance allowed us to get a hold of Ryan, update Pastor Ian, send a few Facebook messages to Damali and get important flight information (using British Airways fabulous app!).
Hoping the next post will be from Jinja. Sending our best from Toronto Airport.
Tony & Melissa.
We arrived at the airport around 4:30pm yesterday to check in for our 9:00pm flight to London. Unfortunately just before boarding we were told there was a mechanical issue with the plane that would require 30-45 minutes to diagnose and repair. We were reassured it would be resolved in good time, and patiently waited for an update. 3 hours later (midnight) we were told the flight had been cancelled and that we would be spending the night in Toronto. Delightful.
Brad, Dave and John spent the next two hours re-working our flight details (which subsequently have changed dramatically - we're now flying through Brussels instead of London) and the rest of the team enjoy some late night airport coffee and a few card games. Once flights were worked out we waited in line for hour to get on a shuttle bus to the Crowne Plaza - then waited another hour still to check in to the hotel. Finally around 3:45 am we were all checked in to the hotel for the night.
Our flight leaves for Brussels tonight around 6:00 pm (Lord willing). We're all disappointed that we've lost a full 24 hours in Uganda but, we're still optimistic and the team is in good spirits.
Our thanks to the incredible designers of the iPhone whose amazing technology and engineering brilliance allowed us to get a hold of Ryan, update Pastor Ian, send a few Facebook messages to Damali and get important flight information (using British Airways fabulous app!).
Hoping the next post will be from Jinja. Sending our best from Toronto Airport.
Tony & Melissa.
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