More Blogs

Many of you may not have known but Jaynie and Caitlin were posting blogs on their own blog sites the entire time we were in Africa. Sorry we did not let you know earlier and post them here. I would encourage you to go and read them at http://godblesstherains.wordpress.com/ and http://eyalama-yesu.blogspot.com/ Their writing is very good and both go into a lot of detail of some of the things we went through.

I'm still here!

Ahh! I don't even know when the last time I posted was, I'm sorry! I just know that the big group of 14 from The River has come and gone already. And so much has happened since then... I really enjoyed my time with all of them here. They were a lot of fun to be with, they were so open to listening to what the 6 of us had to say after being here for a month, and they jumped right into life in the bush. I didn't hear any complaining about the conditions and they seemed to get accustomed to Oditel much faster than I did on my first trip - walking down to the center with their new friends, riding or walking waaay out into the bush to eat mystery meats, and trying their best to learn some new Ateso words. I was very proud of them. Good work U2 :)

In case any of you didn't know, I decided to stay back for another week after all the rest of The River missionaries headed back to the US because I still had some work I needed to get done here. We tried to work it out so that someone else would be able to stay with me, but it just didn't happen. So I have trusted God to keep me safe here as a lone Mzungu - after all, if my dear friend Amelia can make it a year by herself, I should be able to make it a week :)

For those of you who have been praying for me these past few days, thank you, thank you, thank you! Your prayers have certainly been heard and answered! I was a little nervous at first because I had a rough start coming back to the village after dropping the big group off in Soroti. I took public transport back to Oditel - 4 hours in the back of something like a big pick up truck, piled with boxes and bags of supplies. Then people sit on top of those supplies, then more people sit around the outside edge of the truck, making a total of 40+ people in the back. The first 2 hours were ok but the last two I was really just miserable. I was crammed so tightly that I literally couldn't move to get inside my purse, move my legs at all, or even straighten my neck up. I don't know how Ugandans can travel like that!

Then once I finally reached the village, it had already gotten dark. Being a female Mzungu by myself, I really was a little nervous and pretty irritated. There were a few guys calling at me in Ateso after I got off and I wasn't really sure how to get them to take my bag down from the roof. And then I heard "Ayyy Asio!" (my Ateso name). I looked up and saw Andrew, a teenage boy who works/stays at the Catholic mission we stay at, walking down the road. Oooh eyalama Yesu for sending me that boy at that very moment! He helped me get my bag down and carried it all the way back to the mission for me. I also felt safe with him there even though the yelling didn't really stop. He laughed after someone yelled at him in Ateso "How much for that Mzungu?" I'm just glad he didn't name a price for the guy :)

So anyways, I've have been back at home in Oditel for 2 days now. And let me say that just like in America, I prefer being out in the country (or bush) instead of being in the city. I love the closeness and community here, there's always a familiar face nearby.

And for more answered prayers, I have felt completely safe, haven't felt lonely even a single time, and have stayed well fed :) One of the priests at the mission immediately invited me to eat every meal with them while I was here and Pastor Andrew has also offered me many meals.

As for fellowship, I've spent my days with the children, lots of time in the evening with the people from the mission - eating meals, even playing Scrabble with Father Opio, and then after church today, I spent the afternoon sitting at Pastor Andrew's store with a group of people from the church. I had such a good time with them, they were really funny, like they really had me cracking up! I didn't know Ugandans could be so silly. There was also some solid, profitable talks/discussions. After all of that, Pastor Andrew served me another delicious meal with the only meat that I really like to eat here, beef. Luckily, after struggling to ride a bike in my long skirt earlier in the day, I got someone to carry my back to the compound on their bike :)

So anyway, after a wonderful Sabbath day, I'll be back at it again tomorrow working on my remaining work here. Thank you again for praying for me and please keep praying for me - for continued protection, that I would get to meet up with all of the children and finish my work, and that the Lord would be preparing my heart to have to leave this place that I've come to love so very very much. Thank you again!

Amina eong yesi (love you guys!)
Asio Cati

I'm still here!

Ahh! I don't even know when the last time I posted was, I'm sorry! I just know that the big group of 14 from The River has come and gone already. And so much has happened since then... I really enjoyed my time with all of them here. They were a lot of fun to be with, they were so open to listening to what the 6 of us had to say after being here for a month, and they jumped right into life in the bush. I didn't hear any complaining about the conditions and they seemed to get accustomed to Oditel much faster than I did on my first trip - walking down to the center with their new friends, riding or walking waaay out into the bush to eat mystery meats, and trying their best to learn some new Ateso words. I was very proud of them. Good work U2 :)

In case any of you didn't know, I decided to stay back for another week after all the rest of The River missionaries headed back to the US because I still had some work I needed to get done here. We tried to work it out so that someone else would be able to stay with me, but it just didn't happen. So I have trusted God to keep me safe here as a lone Mzungu - after all, if my dear friend Amelia can make it a year by herself, I should be able to make it a week :)

For those of you who have been praying for me these past few days, thank you, thank you, thank you! Your prayers have certainly been heard and answered! I was a little nervous at first because I had a rough start coming back to the village after dropping the big group off in Soroti. I took public transport back to Oditel - 4 hours in the back of something like a big pick up truck, piled with boxes and bags of supplies. Then people sit on top of those supplies, then more people sit around the outside edge of the truck, making a total of 40+ people in the back. The first 2 hours were ok but the last two I was really just miserable. I was crammed so tightly that I literally couldn't move to get inside my purse, move my legs at all, or even straighten my neck up. I don't know how Ugandans can travel like that!

Then once I finally reached the village, it had already gotten dark. Being a female Mzungu by myself, I really was a little nervous and pretty irritated. There were a few guys calling at me in Ateso after I got off and I wasn't really sure how to get them to take my bag down from the roof. And then I heard "Ayyy Asio!" (my Ateso name). I looked up and saw Andrew, a teenage boy who works/stays at the Catholic mission we stay at, walking down the road. Oooh eyalama Yesu for sending me that boy at that very moment! He helped me get my bag down and carried it all the way back to the mission for me. I also felt safe with him there even though the yelling didn't really stop. He laughed after someone yelled at him in Ateso "How much for that Mzungu?" I'm just glad he didn't name a price for the guy :)

So anyways, I've have been back at home in Oditel for 2 days now. And let me say that just like in America, I prefer being out in the country (or bush) instead of being in the city. I love the closeness and community here, there's always a familiar face nearby.

And for more answered prayers, I have felt completely safe, haven't felt lonely even a single time, and have stayed well fed :) One of the priests at the mission immediately invited me to eat every meal with them while I was here and Pastor Andrew has also offered me many meals.

As for fellowship, I've spent my days with the children, lots of time in the evening with the people from the mission - eating meals, even playing Scrabble with Father Opio, and then after church today, I spent the afternoon sitting at Pastor Andrew's store with a group of people from the church. I had such a good time with them, they were really funny, like they really had me cracking up! I didn't know Ugandans could be so silly. There was also some solid, profitable talks/discussions. After all of that, Pastor Andrew served me another delicious meal with the only meat that I really like to eat here, beef. Luckily, after struggling to ride a bike in my long skirt earlier in the day, I got someone to carry me back to the compound on their bike :)

So anyway, after a wonderful Sabbath day, I'll be back at it again tomorrow working on my remaining work here. Thank you again for praying for me and please keep praying for me - for continued protection, that I would get to meet up with all of the children and finish my work, and that the Lord would be preparing my heart to have to leave this place that I've come to love so very very much. Thank you again!

Amina eong yesi (love you guys!)
Asio Cati

Home

It's been a while since my last update but I will have to fill you in later. I just wanted to let you know that we made it home safely yesterday, however Caitlin is staying in Uganda for another week to finish out a few things. Continue to pray for her safety.

Brian

Photos

Here are some photos

No Internet

Hello everyone.

Sorry there have not been any recent updates. Our internet access has been non-existent. Here are some updates from the past week.

On Saturday July 31^st I met with all of the coaches and leaders of the soccer league for the second time. There are two leagues, 8 teams in a 10-14 league and 6 teams in a 14-17 year old league. Games started on Wednesday and there will be one game every day till late August. Then there will be a tournament (all mzungus will be back in USA by then). They would then like to make an all star team and go play against Kapelebyong. The idea then would be that the league would start over.

On Sunday August 1^st we started a prayer ministry after the service very similar to how we do things at The River. All of the prayer was done by the local people with our support. Jaynie and I were a team with Pastor Emanuel and a few other women. There was also a 12 year old boy who layed hands on and prayed for everyone along with us. Eventually he even wanted to be prayed for. While praying for him I saw a very clear vision of a knight surrounded by fire slaying a dragon. The boy was the knight. Jaynie also had a vision of a soldier. Pray that this boy grows up to be the warrior that Janyie and I saw in him.

On Tuesday August 3^rd the Youth Association of Oditel hosted a farmers training day. They were expecting upwards of 200 people from all over the region. Some traveling up to 15 miles one way to be here. I will be providing lunch for everyone as a way to encourage people to come. I preached for about 30 minute to start off the training. I spoke on the value of community and used many biblical reasoning's to support my claims. The response from the pastors present and from all of the people was very encouraging. Everyone that attended felt empowered. The training was practical and hands on using the skills that they have learned in creating and maintaining the garden that Luke and Adam put in. The idea is that these people will use the skills they learn to train all of the people around them.

On August 5^th I was reading a chapter from the book When Helping Hurts. The chapter that I happened to be reading was on Asset Based Community Development. One of the things discussed in this chapter was taking an inventory of all of the skills and abilities that people in the community had. At the time I read it I didn't think much of it but later in the day it turned out to be extremely helpful… I was walking around Oditel during the time that the orphans are being fed at the carepoint. I ended up finding one of the pastors who was at the farming training and we chatted for a little bit. During our conversation I presented him with the idea I had read about that morning in my book. I suggested that they take an inventory of the skills and abilities that all of the people in the community have. Then group people with similar interests and skills together. So now rather than people being scattered all over trying to work alone, they could band together and share knowledge and possibly send one person to receive training and then come back and teach the rest of the group and hold a conference similar to the farming training to share their knowledge with the rest of the community. They are fully embracing this idea and making it their own. This has great potential to bring the community together and increase the quality of life here.

Currently I am in Soroti at the Elotu Josephs house with Jaynie while the rest of the team is back in Oditel. We arrived last night and had a great time visiting with Amelia and her friend from Gulu. We will head back to Oditel tomorrow morning. We probably will not have internet for a while so don't expect too many more updates from me.

Brian

 

 

Please Read

Our friends Amelia is a teacher at a school in Kapelebyong. We have been interacting with her the past few days and she shared this story with us this morning. Please take the time to read it. I know that it is long but it is a must read if you are helping the poor and needy.

A slow, thick summer breeze carried grimy city humidity down New York's Fifth Avenue. As a river of lunchtime crowds coursed around us, I stood with a chatty girl my age. With her clipboard, brochures, and pressed shirt, she looked identical to her co-workers scattered up and down the block. We were both sweating—she from the heat, I from the awkwardness of the moment. Knowing her ability to keep my attention would directly determine the success of her pitch, she told me about life in India; about how desperate the children were there; about how, for a price, I could support a child and be the change I wanted to see in the world.

After half an hour, I found myself signing her clipboard and turning over the number to my debit card. I walked away from her feeling like I had just done right, like I had done something that would make my parents proud. My girlfriend at the time later told me the way I acted on the street that day was one of the reasons she loved me—I was compassionate. 
Now, after spending the past year in Uganda living amidst the fallout of giving, I barely recognize the person I once was.

"I don't understand why we can't just deliver it."

Margaret, my Ugandan co-worker, was staring at me, a thin sliver of a smile veiling her disapproval. Between us at the edge of my desk was a stuffed envelope: a square, manila bomb that neither of us wanted to set off.

A few American visitors had stopped by our office and left the envelope with Margaret earlier in the day. They wanted her to give it to one of our organization's mentors, hoping that it would find its way to the young girl it was addressed to. The girl, a friend of the visitors, had no mailing address and lived in a village out in the bush. Margaret wanted to honor their request; I wanted her to understand why that would be difficult.

"And what happens then?" I asked. "What happens when we deliver this? Should the girl send a package back to the states? If so, how will she pay for it, for the postage?"

Margaret reached out and snatched the package off the desk. Before I could stop her, she slid her finger under the envelope's flap and opened it up. One by one and without saying a word, she removed a handful of items from the envelope—pencils, a small Frisbee, a packet of candies, a letter riddled with pleasantries and questions—and laid them on her desk, as if to say, See, nothing in here is a threat. Nothing. This gift is harmless.

"It's only a gift," she said, waving at the items spread out before her.

"I know, I know that," I said. "But it puts pressure on the person who receives it. The girl has to answer the questions posed in that letter. She has to spend money on a response, money she probably doesn't have."

Pause.

"And plus, passing this on to her feeds unhealthy stereotypes—the whole white-people-falling-from-the-sky-with-gifts-in-hand thing. It's dangerous if Ugandans equate white people with gifts. And who are these Americans anyway? Are they friends of this girl? What type of relationship do they have?" I had raised my voice.

Margaret stared back at me, unsure if she should respond. Flushed and uncomfortable, I wondered if I was being too harsh, if I was overreacting. Could a few pencils and a Frisbee really change the way a child thinks?

Giving to charity is often a straightforward, linear process. First, a donor learns of a situation that inspires him/her to take action—to give. Then, he/she passes money on to an organization. The organization takes that money and applies it to programs aimed at helping beneficiaries. Finally, program staff on the ground work with beneficiaries to pass on strategies or materials, the real world manifestations of the donor's funds.

Transparent as it may seem, this process has turned my adoptive hometown of Gulu, Uganda into a town at odds with itself, a place capable of churning out moments mired in philosophical conundrums.

For years, because of the way Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) used this area as a staging ground for their decades-long war with the Ugandan people, Gulu has been sitting at the end of the giving process, acting as a goodwill receptacle for international organizations and private donors. Situated along a key trading route near the Sudanese border, Gulu has morphed from a quiet village into a bustling town in the last century. Its high population density made it a target for the LRA, a group that used child abductions to fill its ranks. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, with donor funds from overseas, NGOs began applying salves to community wounds.

However, just as the fighting here—the child abductions, the rapes, the stolen cattle, the middle-of-the-night murders—has scarred the lives of the Acholi, Langese, Karamojong and other northern tribes, the help that the fighting has sparked has also left a wound.There are scores of tangible benefits that have come from the area's NGO initiatives, but these programs—these vehicles for giving—have also delivered changes in the way people think, created often dangerous shifts in how people see their peers, their work, and on a larger scale, their position and potential in a stratified world.

"I was shocked when I saw my family not digging," my Ugandan friend Joseph said. "It was the start of the rainy season. 'What are you doing?' I asked them when I saw them sitting at my mother's hut. I asked, 'Why aren't you preparing your fields?"

He stared out at the black ribbon of asphalt ahead of us, a narrow road that connects Gulu to the nation's capital, Kampala. We had a few more hours to go before reaching home, and with a busted radio in the car, words were our only comfort. I waited for him to continue as he dug through the memory.

"You know, they had just returned from life in the camp. For ten years plus they were receiving food from the World Food Program. One of them said to me, 'We are not foolish. We decided not to farm. We are still waiting to meet the right NGO that will help us with food.' Tssssssk! Can you imagine?"

I told him I couldn't.

"These are farmers! And they were telling me they are not going to farm?! How can this be?"

The path that connects my house to the main road into town is a narrow, orange footpath that cuts through a gauntlet of brush before opening onto a small dirt road. Late for work, I trudged down it one morning, oblivious to my surroundings.Then:

"Excuse me, excuse me, sir." A short man in a faded and stained black t-shirt was walking next to me, smiling. "Good morning, sir," he said, extending his hand. We shook.

"Do you remember me?" he asked. I stopped to get a better look at him.

"No."

"You said hello to me just up the road there. It was a week or two ago I think."

"OK," I said, unsure of what he was getting at.

The man leaned in close. He had a gap between his two front teeth that was so large I wondered if it was actually a space where an extra tooth had once been. I suddenly became aware of the possibility that this man had been waiting for me to pass, that he'd studied my morning routine and planned this encounter.

Whispering now, he said, "Well, actually, I was hoping, uh, that you would maybe be my friend." Pause. "I think we would make very good friends. We could spend time together and talk. We could give advice to each other, just like friends. In my heart, I know you to be a very nice man." Saying this, his voice rose a bit, making his sentence sound more like a question he was asking for the first time.

Reflexively, without giving his request any thought, I started shaking my head. "I'm sorry," I said. "Thank you for the compliment, but I'm sorry: I can't be your friend. I know this sounds strange, but this is not the first time people have approached me like this."

I explained to the man how more than a dozen Ugandans have started the same exact conversation with me before, and I told him, too, how many of those people later asked me for money to help pay their kids' school fees or buy bus tickets to Kampala. The man protested at first (No, no, you have me wrong—I'm not like those people) but eventually he smiled, wished me a good day, and left.

Later, feeling horrible about the way I brushed off the man, feeling like life in Gulu had turned me into a cold stranger to myself, I talked to Sarah, a Ugandan co-worker, about my response. "Was I being too harsh?" I asked.

She laughed.

"No, of course that man wanted to be your friend so he could get things from you—money or a ticket to the US, probably. Ugandans never speak that way to other Ugandans. It was OK that you walked away. Really, it's OK."

Sarah also told me about 'pen friends': about how when Ugandans get an American pen pal, they start writing letters with only the culmination of the relationship in mind. "In Uganda, if I have a friend writing letters back and forth to me, in my mind, I think, OK, now I have someone who will help me in the future. Letters usually lead to more," she said.

I thought back to the letter the Americans dropped off, to the envelope and the conversation I had with Margaret. I wondered how many people in the developed world stumble into these types of relationships. How often do we give and, in the process, let our good intentions pull us right into the snares of complications we didn't bargain for?

Here in Gulu, many Ugandans see white foreigners as inherently wealthy, perpetually ready and wanting to give out a couple of bucks or a free meal. In turn, these foreigners—often development workers like myself—doubt Ugandan advances of friendship and question motives. Some Ugandans try to 'double-up' on support from different NGOs or attempt to embellish their personal histories to meet vulnerability criteria on applications; others like my friend Joseph's relatives are left with crippling dependencies after a program's phase-out.

One NGO in town that was providing thousands of scholarships to high school students across the North scaled back their operations last year. With other local organizations unable to 'absorb' the now scholarship-less students, hundreds of kids were left scrambling for school fees. I came home one day to find a white envelope waiting for me by the front door. Inside I found a portrait of a teenage girl and a letter written so perfectly it must have been drafted a few times. The girl in the photo, the letter's author explained, needed help—'just some small money'—to pay her school fees. For days afterward, I couldn't help but think that high school kids who waved to me as I passed were simply hoping to lay the groundwork for a relationship that they could eventually tap for assistance.

Of course, cynicism doesn't shade every relationship here. Genuine friendships between foreigners and Ugandans are not only possible: they are common. As an employee of one of the NGOs in town, though, as someone who is here working for an organization that aims to help people, I'm torn: I see how giving both supports and smothers people. Seeing this duality manifest itself in my community, realizing that giving is in fact a murky, perplexing act, has changed me.

I feel as if my empathy has been worn raw. Even living amidst a tangle of organizations that work to help people, I have been flooded with stories of physical abuse, children succumbing to sickness, and lost educational opportunities. I cringe now when I hear of new start-up NGOs taking root in town, immediately questioning their audacity and level of experience; I don't flinch when students I am interviewing tell me about the way their parents were killed or raped; the sight of beggars in town—even the one with a thick stump for a leg who carries around his miserable plastic bag of mixed food scraps—stirs up not feelings of pity within me, but surges of frustration and anger; sometimes when kids see me and immediately ask me for money or pens (echoing the met demands they've made to other foreigners in the past), I stop in my tracks and, thinking out loud, ask, "Why? Why should I give anything to you?"

The trees lining the road by Kaunda Grounds trap the clouds of dust kicked up by passing cars and trucks. After a few rain-less weeks, the road is perpetually cloaked in a thick, reddish haze. Walking home on this stretch of road at the end of the day, as I was doing, is a gritty, eye-squinting ordeal.

A motorcycle emerged from the haze and screeched to a stop by my side. Both bike and driver fit the profile of one of Gulu's hundreds of boda bodas, motorcycle taxis that take people around town.

"Where are you going?" the driver asked.

"Near Holy Cross Church, across from the prison," I said.

"OK, let's go," he said, nodding toward the back of his bike. I hopped on and he sped away.

As we were driving, my hand raised to shield my eyes from the dust, I thought about a conversation I had had with a boda driver a few weeks before. The driver had asked me for money to help buy school uniforms for his kids. As I had done before in similar situations, I apologized and explained I couldn't help him. The irony of the situation, however, was glaring: here was a person canvassing on his own behalf, asking for support in-person, and I was refusing to engage. Yet years before, someone on the street in NYC was able to get me to support a person in India I had never even met. I thought about how Gulu had numbed me, anesthetized me to the stories of brokenness that once surprised and saddened me. It took more now to convince me of someone's misery.

When we reached my house, I pulled out my wallet and, before I could find a thousand shilling note for the driver, he smacked at the wallet in my hands. Startled, I backed away from the man.

"No, no. You don't need to pay me," he said, laughing.

I was confused. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not a boda driver," he said. "I'm just driving home. You don't need to pay me."

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a donation to a charity on my girlfriend's behalf. The charity—one she likes that provides people with clean water—applies 100% of its donations to program-related expenses (all administrative expenses are covered by a few wealthy donors). The organization has a straightforward website and forces local beneficiary communities to invest in their water projects; intentionality underpins everything it does.

As I clicked the 'Pay' button and completed my donation transaction, I felt comfortable, calm. Unlike that sidewalk sponsorship I made years ago, this donation was the end result of research. I thought about the donation before making it, considering the organization's project history and long-term goals. No nervous sweating in the sun; no pulling of heartstrings.

Sure, my money could end up reinforcing negative stereotypes on the ground. And some of it might even be used to line the pockets of a local government official somewhere. But despite this, I made the donation because I still have faith in giving. I am still convinced of its potential, its ability to catalyze opportunity.

I keep this faith even though I don't take charity at face value anymore; I'm more critical now, and this, I think, is a good thing. No longer an easy sell, yet still not an expert on development by any means, I have seen enough while living in Gulu to realize that anything can be packaged and sold, that any success story—no matter how small—can be made to shine when taken out of its context and slapped on the front of a glossy brochure. I know that, outside of a post-disaster/crisis environment, a gift that isn't earned can be a wet blanket for one's dignity. And I see how giving can make donors feel like God, like fate changers.

But I've also met the proud parents of scholarship students; I've walked into homes built with the help of micro-loans; I've patted the heads of healthy pigs being fattened for market. I have talked to beneficiaries who won't go back—who can't go back—to the risky, uncertain lives that once owned them, and their faces are impossible to forget.

NOTE: A friend of mine and co-worker wrote this. His name is Andrew Morgan and you can find the original piece here - http://glimpse.org/stories/view/ethical-dilemma-giving-more-than-we-thought-we-gave/?utm_source=Carousel&utm_medium=Online

-- 
Jared D White

http://www.jareddwhite.com/blog
http://twitter.com/jareddwhite

Update

Picture

The picture is of the tiger and african wolf that live with us in our compound. They like to play with each other and flaunt their male suppiriortiy around. 

Soccer

I met with all of the Pastor Sam and all of the soccer coaches today. They have had leagues in the past and as a result things are progressing very well. There are already teams formed before we arived so all we have had to do is organize things. There are 8 teams of 10-14 year olds and 6 teams of 14-17 year olds.

Some of the things that came up at our meeting are as follows. 

• Children will be playing immediatly after school and they have not eaten since breakfast. They would like it if there could be a way to feed the playing teams a small meal. In the past they charged 3000 shillings for each player but this was very hard for many to come up with. 
• There needs to be some way to pay for balls. We need creative ideas that do not involve charging the players lots of money
• At the end of the season there will be a tournament. 
• We would like to have a prize for the top scorrer of the league like some cleats or a nice soccer ball. Also winning team gets a ball
•  At the end of the season they will form an all star team to play against Kapelebyong.
• Saturday we will be conducting a refferee and coach training day. Mike will be doing the teaching. I will be providing money to pay for lunch.
• Pastor Sam is going to bible college the second week of August and Mike will take over as the leader of the soccer league.
• Caitlin did some basic first aid training with the coaches to care for open wounds. 
• The first game will be next wednesday.

Farming Training

The Decipler Joseph approached me today with a great idea. There are groups of people all over Kapelebyong and the surrounding area. Joseph wants to gather one person from each of the 40+ goups to come and meet in Oditel. He will train them to use the gardening techniques that Luka and Adam taught the people here. We will be expecting 120 people to meet here on Tuesday. The idea is that they will go back to where they live and train everyone around them. I will be paying to provide lunch for all of them. Joseph will organize a follow up process a few weeks later so that we can ensure that everyone is doing there part in training those around them. I am very excited about this because on Sunday as I was praying I felt very strongly that there would be some community project that would grow and expand to help everyone in Oditel and the surrounding areas. 

Nursery

Back during our first trip when Wil and a few others met with the leadership team for the church here in Oditel Wil asked a question that has sparked a forest fire. He asked them something along the lines of "why is the school system so bad?" Pastor Emanuel, Pastor Sam, Pastor Andrew, and the rest of the leadership at The Center (The church in Oditel) very seriously considered this question after we left. Over that 6 month period they have come up with a solution. They have started a private nursery school (3-6 year olds, very similar to pre-school) all on there own without any of our help. They have a curriculum that was bought from a company in Soroti and currently in the second term of their existance. Much needs to be done to help build up this vision. They would like to start a private christian primary and secondary schools as well, within the next 10 years. When we walked through I counted 30 or so children who are currently attending this. They sang us the ABC's and were able to point at pictures and tell us what was in the picture in both the native language as well as english. We also went and spoke with the government run primary school headmaster. He loved the idea of the nursery school and highly recommended that the church move forward with the plans they have for it. The headmaster informed us that in other areas of Uganda where there are nursery school in place the children are so much smarter and much more likely to continue on with school. Currently this nursery school is just in the hands of the leaders of this one church. I strongly encouraged these leaders that they needed to get all of the surrounding churches in the area involved in this project as well as seek the advice of the headmaster. They liked the idea and would like on member from each church to form a school board. This project has great potential and I really think we need to look into how we can help.

Prayer

We desperatly need your prayers for our team. There have been several times when I have been praying and I was lead to pray for protection of our team from evil spirits. One night Jaynie had a demon enter her dreams and she excersised it out of her dream.... Last night we started praying and I felt that something was not right. The more we prayed the worse the feeling got. I strongly felt that something very bad was on in the horizon. Pray for our team and any attacks the enemy is planning to throw our way... Tonigt we were praying and I saw a vision of huge stacks of firewood all over Oditel. Each was covered in gasoline and the Mission 6 team was walking around with lighters, igniting fires all over Oditel. Pray that we do set fires in the hearts and spirits of everyone we interact with. 

Amelia

Amelia (A teacher from California who teaches in Kapelebyong) has been a tremendous blessing to our team. She speaks teso as well as very good Ugandan english. She has helped in many of our meetings to ensure that everyone is understanding each other. She is a lot of fun and we are all happy that she is in our lives.

Carepoint

Work has begun on the carepoint. Every day all 260 orphans in Oditel
are fed at 1pm. We are building a kitchen were this will happen in the
future. Ground breaking happened yesturday. Also we are putting in a
solar powered water storage system. Work began on that today as they
set in cement around the newly dug well.

Dinner

I witnessed a cat climb a tree to catch a lizard and eat it. This is Africa

Chief

This morning I was one of 5 people who preached in church. Yes that's

right 5 people preached, and that was a short service. Two days ago I

was searching through the bible looking for something to speak about.

I was clueless as to what to do. I came across the good Samaritan and

instantly knew that I needed to speak on that. Well back to church

this morning. I was the second one to preach. I was introduced as The

Chief of the mzungus (white people) The first spoke on Isaiah 6 "Hear

I am send me". which fit perfectly with the Good Samaritan message. I

encouraged them to love their enemies and those they don't get along

with. The people received it very well and expressed their happiness

for us being in Uganda.

It hasn't rained in 3 weeks and many of the plants in the garden
planted by Luke and Adam. Please pray for rain and that it comes this
week.

Tonight we had a lot of fun taking pictures, here are a few.

Caitlin got her revenge

Photos

When it rains in Africa it really comes down, I took this photo right
outside of where we are staying in Soroti.

The cat is Cat-Lin's new best friend, we named it shim because we don't know if it's a boy or a girl and don't care to look.

Brian

God Bless The Rains

Good afternoon from Africa--It's just after 2pm here in Uganda!

Our dear friend Orone David came for a morning visit after our late breakfast and warned us that it looked like rain. As we did our morning group prayers, it began to thunder and the room got darker and darker . . .

Soon, it began to POUR rain on the TCON house in Soroti. I tried to convince the others to dance in the rain, until we ran outside on the porch and realized the rain was freezing cold. We all stood on the porch in awe as the yard quickly flooded and the unrelenting rain came down in sheets.

The meaning of the rain is not lost on any of us. It's a reminder of all the faithful prayers of our River family for rain in Kapelebyong (which is in the Amuria region, just 38 km north of here.) This region suffered two whole years of drought, meaning no crops grew, meaning no food was available if you didn't have money to buy it, meaning many (too many) died of starvation. This starvation was the reason Pastor Wil chose Kapelebyong for The River to adopt--the week before his first visit, 6 people had died.

We have been faithfully praying for rain for the past 6 months, as the rainy season began in March, we all waited to see what would happen. When Joseph emailed Wil to tell him rain was falling in Kapelebyong, Wil checked the radar over Uganda and there was one large swirling rain cloud that was scheduled to hover directly over Kapelebyong for days on end. David just this morning told us Kapelebyong has gotten the "adequate" amount of rain, not too little, not too much . . . Perfect rain.

How many times did I sob when it rained in Kalamazoo this year? Especially when we got word of the constant rain in Kapelebyong . . . One day as it stormed when I was in Walmart, I stopped in the middle of the kitchen supply aisle and cried and praised God as I imagined the life-giving rain in my precious village.

And now, I'm IN Uganda, just miles away from Kapelebyong, as the rain pours down, and I'm fighting the tears again. What a gift, what a marvelous God that has heard our prayers and been faithful to His children in Kalamazoo AND Kapelebyong. What a blessing for us to witness His gift of rain on our second day in Africa!!

The rain IS a blessing, not just for the people in Uganda, but also on us as God's children here to do His work. The bible makes references to God's blessings pouring down like rain, and we as a team have claimed two verses, ever since January when it "randomly" rained on the day we were commissioned at church.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to BLESS ALL THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. Deuteronomy 28:12

Yet [God] has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.. Acts 14:17

I also found another verse this morning that fills my heart with joy and comfort when I think of the abundant rains in Kapelebyong.

Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit. Joel 2:23-29

What amazing promises for ALL of us as God's people.!!!!!!!!! Take a minute today and thank God for His faithfulness, love, provision, Spirit, promises, grace, mercy . . . For ALL He is!! He is the SAME yesterday, today, and forever. He loves each of us with the same passion with which He loves His children in Kapelebyong.

I will end now, as my heart is seemingly about to burst and I need to go spend some time with God.

Thanks for your continued prayers--we can feel them covering us and protecting us and are so thankful for each of our prayer warriors at home.

Much love to you all!!

Jaynie Fawley

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Just another Friday morning

Its Friday morning here and I probably got like 4 or 5 hours of sleep last night, I must still be suffering from jet lag. We will be hanging out in Soroti until Saturday morning when we we head to Kapelebyong. So far this has been a really fun trip filled with very clear visions and prophetic words regarding other team members, and tons of well needed laughter with and at each others expense. Taking it easy today will turn out to be very nice, hopefully we can get out and climb Soroti rock.

Yesterday Joseph told us that one of us would need to preach on Sunday in KP and when he asked who would do it everyone immediately pointed at me. Seeing as one of the major goals is we are trying to accomplish is building community perhaps I will speak on something about loving others. 

So there have been many funny things that have happened and I will try and share those things with you every time I post something. Lets call it the Quote of The Day, I know super original isn't it. You may not find it funny but the 6 of us likely think it's hilarious. 

Quote of The Day: (those who know Joseph, the Childrens Hopechest rep in Uganda will enjoy this)

Joseph: Does anyone have any gum?

Deb: I have some...

Joseph: Thank you, can I have the rest of the pack?

Deb: Sure

Joseph: Does anyone want some of my gum?

Posted by Brian

First Full Day in Uganda

Hello everyone!!

It’s now Thursday evening in Uganda (7:51pm as I type these words) and it’s been a long day. It’s been a long two days!!

To catch you up, we left Kalamazoo at noon on Tuesday for Detroit. By the sheer grace of God, my 52 lb suitcase only weighed 50 lbs on the airport scale, so I didn’t have to remove anything. The flight to Amsterdam left around 5:45pm and was fairly uneventful. I watched “Date Night” (not as funny as I hoped) while I ate dinner and slept for a solid 3 hours. The 7 1/2 hours seemed to fly by.

The layover in Amsterdam was also uneventful. It was 6am there, but my body still thought it was midnight, so it was just a blah 3 hours till the next flight. Another uneventful 7 1/2 flight followed. This time I decided to watch “Precious” which was a RIDICULOUS decision on my part. The two bottles of red wine helped calm me back down and I was able to get another 3 hour nap in.

There were a couple sweet God-things involved in this flight. I had reserved a seat near my team a week before, but when I got my boarding pass, I was in a completely different cabin. I approached a boarding agent and asked to be moved. I found out there was only 2 open seats in the whole plane, and it was in the back row. There was a possibility I could end up in the same row as Deb and Brian, but that would depend on if a couple from Minnesota showed up or not. She said she’d call me back to the desk when she knew better. Soon, we were the only ones left in the boarding area and we were all antsy to get on the plane. So I walked back to the boarding agent and waited in line to speak to her. The man ahead of me asked to be moved to an aisle seat. I glanced at his ticket and saw he was supposed to sit in 19E. My pass was for 19D. The agent moved him, and I rushed forward and said I’d keep my seat as long as she didn’t put anyone next to me. She said she “added” the seat to my pass and promised no one would be moved there. In a packed plane and a 7 1/2 hour flight, Jesus made sure I’d be comfortable. What a good brother/friend/father/God!!!

The second God-surprise came when I met the man sitting across the empty seat from me. He works on an oil field near Lake George in Uganda and travels there every other month. We struck up conversation about the empty seat, and he ended up sharing that he’s been a Christian for 3 months after being a proud Pagan for his entire life. His wife had been converted 2 weeks before, and he had gone with her to a church service when he arrived back from Africa. During that service, we has completely healed from a years-old leg injury in which his foot was almost completely torn off his body. His leg and foot are now completely healed. Since that day, two of his pagan friends have also been converted. I was so pleased to be another sister to welcome him to the family, and we had some wonderful fellowship before we took our respective naps.

Once we landed in Entebbe, Uganda, we had no problem getting visas, finding our baggage, and getting outside (once again, no customs check) to find Joseph. Seeing his face in the crowd was such a great moment for all of us. He gave each of us a huge hug to greet us and the first time I heard his usual random “What?” mid-sentence, I absolutely felt like I was home.

That night we drove to a hotel in Entebbe and sat in the lobby for over an hour, exhausted, waiting for our grilled chicken and chips (french fries) to be done. We ate quickly and dragged ourselves up to our rooms to pass out. Caitlin and I were pleased to find our room had two big beds, a fan, and a bathroom with a small shower and a toilet and sink. It took me about five minutes to fall asleep (thanks to ear plugs and a sleep mask) despite the fact that my body was still under the impression that it was only 4pm.

We woke up to the typical (and amazing) African breakfast. Cereal, fresh pineapple and bananas, “exotic” eggs (eggs in Africa have white yolks), sausage, and white bread with plum jelly (which I will have to purchase before I leave because it’s sooooo good!) Soon after breakfast, we loaded into a “taxi” van for the long drive to Soroti with the most gorgeous man I’ve yet seen in Africa driving us to our destination.

Leaving Entebbe, I saw Uganda for the first time in daylight in almost six months. The red clay dirt, the green banana trees and Dr. Suess trees (as I call them), the smell of earth and smoke, the slum neighborhoods on either side of the road, the rows of kiosks selling everything from phone cards to wooden bed frames and triple-layer bunk beds, the streams of people walking, on bicycles, on boda-bodas (dirt bikes), the babies strapped to their mom’s backs, the children waving at us and screaming “Mzungus!!”(their word for white people) . . . All of this felt so familiar, so normal, so welcoming, so much like HOME. As we drove into Kampala, I had to fight back tears as I realized I actually recognized the roads, the sights, the businesses, and the buildings. I spent a good deal of time just thanking God for allowing me to come back, despite the 1000 things that tried to stand in my way. We sat together in the front of that bus, God and I, as I marveled at the world He created and every person, plant, and child we passed. Just being here in that moment was worth the weeks of tears, anxiety, worry, and strife.

Amazingly enough, it is cooler here than in Michigan right now. There were even times when it got cold in the van. It was nice to drive for an extended period of time and not get out with your clothes soaked with sweat. 7 hours and a few naps later (thank you, neck pillow!) we arrived in Soroti. We are now at the TCON house (Children of the Nile), dinner was delicious, and we’re getting ready to play Bananagrams before bed.

It has been a long two days, but a wonderful two days, and I am sooooo excited for what the next 30 days will bring. Keep us and our plans in your prayers as we spend tomorrow in Soroti buying supplies and “moving” to Oditel (in Kapelebyong) on Saturday.

Love to everyone!!

Jaynie Fawley

We made it!

Hey River family! We have safely landed in Uganda and are now in the capable hands of the Chairman, Joseph. Our flights were smooth and uneventful, with everything running on time. Our most exciting moment was during our flight to Entebbe when our plane took a biiiig drop during a little bit of turbulence, like big enough that we were airborne and our seat belts were holding us down! We drove 7 hours to make it to the TCON house in Soroti and we'll spend the next day or two here before we make the two hour drive to the village. So thank you for your safe traveling prayers and keep them coming :)

Things we have what? Learned on our trip :)

1. If the fasten seat belt sign is on, even if other people are standing, do not get up or you may suffer the wrath of a stressed out flight attendant (ahem, Brian). Dutch flight attendants do nottt joke around...

2. Last time we came to Uganda, there was an 8 hour time difference, but this time there was only a 7 hour time difference. Anybody want to guess why?? If you were a self-centered American (ahem, all of us), you might think that Uganda had done some crazy time change or that maybe all of our cell phones were linking up with the wrong towers... Turns out that WE were actually the ones who sprung ahead during Daylight Savings, silly mzungus :)

3. If Brian offers you a homemade cookie that sat in a ziploc on the floor of his hotel room all night, check for ants BEFORE you take a bite... They might be a good source of protein, but you will feel like they're crawling up your throat for the next hour :)

4. The weather in Uganda during July is beauuuutiful - 75 with some sun and some clouds and a perfect breeze :) We are so happy and so blessed to be here, enjoying this country and fellowship with each other!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we love and miss you guys lots!

Caitlin

Tick, Tick, Tick

Our time in the US is slowly ticking away. We are leaving Kalamazoo at noon on Tuesday July 20 to head over to Detroit Metro. We have two 8 hour flights, one from Detroit to Amsterdam and one from Amsterdam to Entebbe. You can watch the progress of our flights by going to http://flightaware.com/ Here is our itinerary:

On The Way There

Depart - Jul 20 - 5:40pm

Detroit, MI (DTW) on Delta 242 

Arrive - Jul 21 - 7:35am

Amsterdam (AMS)

...connection time: 3 hours 25 minutes...

Depart - Jul 21 - 11:00am

Amsterdam (AMS) on Delta 9318

Arrive - Jul 21 - 7:50pm

Entebbe (EBB)

On the Way home

Depart - Aug 20 - 9:50pm

Entebbe (EBB) on Delta 9319

Arrive - Aug 21 - 5:15am

Amsterdam (AMS)

... connection time: 2 hours 45 minutes ...

Depart - Aug 21 - 8:00am

Amsterdam (AMS) on Delta 272

Arrive - Aug 21 - 10:35am

Detroit, MI (DTW)

Confirmation

I just want to share with you a story about God confirming my place in returning to Uganda. Last Thursday morning our team purchased plane tickets and I was a little nervous because I only had a little more than half of the funds needed for me to return. The day went on as normal but I prayed, and had been praying, that God would provide all of my funds. It so happens that I am a regular attender at the small group that Jeff Jones leads on Thursday nights. Usually there are about 4 of us total who go and we meet right outside The River. A guy who I will choose to keep anonymous, lets call him Joe showed up and asked us if there was anything going on at The River that night because he felt an incredible urge from the Holy Spirit to be there and he did not know why. The only thing going on that night was this bible study, so he joined us. None of us have ever met him or even seen him before. At the end of the bible study Jeff felt led to pray about me going to Uganda and Joe asked me how much more I needed to raise and I told him I still needed $1500. After we prayed and finished up he pulled me aside and told me to wait for him outside. He got in his car and left. 10 min later he came back and handed me a sealed envelope labeled "Emergency Money". When I opened the envelope there were 15 $100 bills inside. I was in shock, it turns out that he had taken the money out of the bank that very morning. The Holy Spirit used this to show me that I really do have a purpose in Uganda and I will do big things.


John 10: 1-4
 ¹"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ²The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. ³The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.


John 10 says that Jesus calls us out of the sheep pen and AFTER we have come out he goes ahead of us. When I bought that plane ticket it was as if I was stepping out of the pen. Jesus went ahead of me and has provided in so many ways. Are you waiting for Jesus to do something in your life? It could very well be that you are not waiting on him at all but it's the other way around. He is waiting on you step out of the pen in faith before he will go ahead of you. 


Brian

Real Life... Real God... Real Change