Sunday

Our Sunday here was very successful. We were all up early preparing for the day. Church began promptly at 9:30, and our team was an integral part of the service. Their main choir led in a few songs of worship followed by two songs by the children's choir. Our whole team was then called up to the front to introduce ourselves. They continued with testimonies by two people in the congregation and taking of the offering. The rest of the service included Aaron leading us in a few songs of worship, Craig giving a quick testimony, Sandi sharing a few words, and Aaron doing a short teaching. The service ended with Pastor Tom, the head pastor here, thanking our team for all the work we have been doing and closing in prayer.

The day did not end there. We changed our clothes, ate a quick lunch at House 8, and headed back up to the church. We had planned a three-hour program for the kids in the community. It was like a mini VBS, with songs, games, crafts, and a story time. Aaron and Breanna did a short skit, which included the story about the widow who came to Elisha for help. It was a great way to remind the kids that God loves them and will always provide for them.

Today, we are painting for several hours. We hope to finish the first coat in two more of the homes. We will be going to dinner at the Masiko's, which we are all very excited about. They always make us feel extremely loved, and the food never disappoints us. The only downside is our time for painting will be cut a little short today. Please pray that God multiplies our time.

                                            Click on the link to see more pictures: Sunday Pictures

Saturday

There are many challenges with blogging in Uganda. Our power has been out the majority of our "free" time, and when the power does come on, the internet is usually down. We apologize for not updating our blog the last two days. Here is what you missed...

Saturday was the compassion project day here at Agape Chapel. Over 250 children gathered at the church for the festivities. The morning starts with a hot breakfast and then the kids are off to their Bible classes. After classes, children gather for songs and games. The day ends with lunch, and the children are sent home. We had the privilege of serving both meals, leading songs and games, and even helping teach in the classes.

Saturday ended with more painting. We now have finished one house completely and are nearing the finish line on the second. Bumps along the road have slowed our work, but the team has stayed positive and worked extremely hard! Please continue to pray that we would be able to finish all 5 homes.

Friday Pics.

I apologize, again, for the delay in posting.  The power has been out a lot the last few days, and we have been going like crazy.  I only have enough time to upload the pictures from yesterday's Compassion Park Day.  I will post more about today's activities and accomplishments in the morning.  We had a very productive Saturday, to say the least.  Thanks again for the prayers.  Much is being accomplished in the name of our Lord and Savior.

                                              Click on the link for more pictures:  Friday Pictures

Friday - Compassion Park Day

I've been sitting looking at my screen for the last 20 minutes trying to find the words to describe yesterday. I know it sounds cheesy but yesterday was breathtakingly perfect. Here is why...

Many of the people on our team are on their second, third, fourth, and even fifth trip to Uganda. The biggest problem with coming to this country is you cannot leave without giving your heart away to the children here. This has moved almost all of our team members to sponsor children through Compassion International. Yesterday we had the opportunity to spend the day with our "sponsor families".

We met our children at a local hotel where many of them spent the night after traveling to see us. After a brief time of prayer we loaded the children into a bus and drove to another hotel in Kampala to eat lunch. It was so fun to watch the children, many of whom had never eaten with china, table linens, and silverware, feast on their favorite foods! They even drank a bottle of soda.

With full bellies and big smiles we were off to the zoo. The zoo is a weird concept for Americans when we think about Africa because the misconception is that all of the African animals are wandering around waiting to devour us. The truth is, for most of the children, this was the first time seeing lions, giraffes, warthogs, and zebras. The expressions on their faces were priceless.

The climax of our time together is when we finally give our gifts to the children. Book bags filled with basic necessities, candy, games and clothing light up the childrens faces like Christmas morning. It's humbleing to see how precious these items are to them. The words thank you and I love you fill the air while hugs are being shared. Thank you Jesus for these kids!

By this time it was quite late and was time to dine at our favorite local eatery. Faces were stuffed with fried chicken, roasted chicken, fries (chips), pizza, soda, and ICE CREAM!!!!! They were so happy it didn't even bother us when the ice cream melted all over their new clothes. We crawled into the van with tummy aches and heavy eye lids and made our way home.

Thursday Pics.

I am so very sorry for the delay in posting the pictures from yesterday.  As Aaron posted earlier, the power went out early last night, and our time was very limited this morning.  Enjoy the pictures from the evangelism and the painting that we did yesterday.

                                                   Click on the link below to see more pictures.
                                                                     Thursday Pictures

Thursday

Today is Friday here in Uganda but we lost power last night and weren't able to update our blog!  Here is what happened yesterday...

Thursday was an incredible day of ministry!  We started the day by going out to the local community and evangelizing.  The areas we were ministering to were mostly populated by muslims and peoples practicing witchcraft.  Our team broke up into four groups and were led by church leaders from Agape Chapel.  After just a few hours 26 people gave there life to Christ!  Praise God! 

I can't wait unti you are able to ask the team members their personal stories about that experience.  There is not enough room on the blog to tell them all but I will tell you my favorite story :-)

I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a local Islamic leader in the community.  He was the headmaster of the local Islamic school.  I asked if I could pray for him and them men he was sitting with and he refused.  I prayed with other men and after I finished the Islamic leader aksed if I would pray for the drought affecting the area.  I prayed and hoped that the Lord would change this mans heart.  One hour later the skies opened up and it rained all afternoon, all night, and is still raining this morning.  What a powerful God we serve!

We also continued our painting projects with much success.  We were all super tired by the end of the day but spiritually energized by how grateful the house mothers are for the work.  We hope to complete the work we started by the time we leave.

Please continue to pray for our team and for the local communities here around the village.  We feel your prayer support and are encouraged greatly.

Cleaning Day

The team accomplished much today.  We completed the cleaning of three of the four homes.  We scrubbed the walls and floors to prepare the houses to be painted in the next few days.  The house mom's and their children were extremely grateful for all that we did.  I was able to post some pictures tonight.  We are all heading to bed now.  We have a long day ahead of us.  We will be doing outreach in the surrounding village strating around 9 am.  Please be praying for us as we go out to share the Gospel in the community and to invite them to church and VBS this Sunday.  People from the church will be joing us as we bring Jesus to the lost.  We are thankful for all of you at home, and we covet your prayers while we are here.

                                                      Click on the link below for more pictures.
                                                                      Wednesday Pictures

Tuesday Pictures

Here are the pictures from yesterday that I promised.  My camera was misplaced some time yesterday, so I don't have too many pictures to post.  There are some pictures from our arrival, the greeting we received, and the presentation from the kids last night. Unless my camera is found, we will continue to rely on the other members of the team for the pictures that we post.

Click on the link below to see more pictures.

Tuesday Pictures

Wednesday - Day 2

The team was awake and ready to go this morning after a much needed night of sleep. We spent the morning remembering our warm welcome last night. The cool Ugandan air was filled with the cry's our the rooster and the smell of fresh fires preparing the days food. Mark an Vickie White (our host couple here in Uganda) will be gone today trying to renew their visas. Please keep them in your prayers asking the Lord to make that process go smoothly.

Today the team will spend all day on their hands and knees cleaning the homes here at the village. This work will be very tiring and hard but is a necessary prerequisite for us to paint. What a blessing for the mothers and children to have fresh clean homes. As always we look forward to our time spent with the orphans. Today we will eat lunch in house four and later will anticipate the arrival of the children who spent the day at school.

Please continue to pray for our team. It is so comforting to know the Lord is always with us and that we are covered in prayer by our friends and family back home.

Safe and Sound

We arrived safely in Entebbe around 9 am this morning.  God did many miracles along the way, big and small.  We made it to the Agape Children's Village around noon.  We were greeted by song, dance, and cheering of all sorts.  We had lunch in one of the homes, and Mark and Vickie made us dinner.  We ended the night with a presentation from the kids - more song and dance.  Though it is only 9 pm here, we are all heading to bed.  The power went out a couple hours ago, and we are all exhausted.  After over 25 hours of travelling and a great day with the people here, we are ready for some sleep.  We will post more details and pictures tomorrow.

Trip Verse

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
-James 1:27