Home At Last!

This is Pastor Matt.  Wanted to post that the mission team arrived safely tonight at the Spokane Int'l Airport!  The globe trotters for Jesus are back home on the Palouse.  I am looking forward to hearing about their incredible trip.  Stay tuned... 

Monday Update

This is Amy reporting for the group... We are thrilled that after a few days of no Internet access, the Internet is now working again for Kirsten and me, who are staying at the Shelton's house! We are sorry there have been no blog updates recently. Many things here come and go... even though this is a very nice house by Ugandan (and U.S.) standards, there has been little or no running water for our entire stay here. One day I bathed with a cup and a half of water. The missionaries who live here have made great personal sacrifices. We are all feeling so grateful for many small things that we always took for granted.

We've visited many powerful ministries over the past few days. On Friday afternoon, we visited Africa Bible University, a seminary that trains leaders from several East African nations. There are a combination of Western and African staff there, and they have a large farm on the campus which makes them fairly self-sufficient. There work will profoundly shape the future leadership of Uganda.

On Saturday morning, Debi and Lennis helped Lisa pack for her move to Pullman while Kirsten and I went to a different slum neighborhood with Misti. We attended a house church there, which met in the corridor between two houses, covered by a blue tarp. The African worship at that service was my favorite part of our time here. These incredibly impoverished people sang praise to God with such joy, clapping and dancing and jumping! I think the music of heaven must be African.

Saturday afternoon we traveled to a Rafiki village where Lisa used to work. Rafiki is an organization which has started orphanages in several African countries. Rafiki owns a beautiful gated campus in Uganda and has taken in about 92 children. The children live in homes in groups of no more than 10 with a Ugandan woman who becomes their "mama." They attend a rigorous Christian school and are trained in many local trades as well. The children are not allowed to be adopted because the goal of Rafiki is to train Godly leaders who will influence their local communities. These orphans are trained to be disciples of Jesus Christ and leaders for their country. We were so impressed with the transforming work Rafiki is doing. And the missionaries from this ministry who showed us around were from Washington state!

Michael, the man who drove us to Rafiki was a wonderful Christian man who has worked for Lisa in various capacities over the last several years. He is 36, but barely knows how to read and write. His dream is to go to school because he desperately wants to learn. Being literate will make a huge difference for him. We decided to use some of our remaining money from the trip to help pay for school for him for a year. He is so grateful. Some of your money made this life-changing experience possible for him. So thank you.

On Sunday we attended a service at an Anglican church (which is known as the Church of Uganda here). We also saw traditional African dancing and music at the Ndere African Culture Center.

Today we visited a World Vision site in Ladero. World Vision has been in this community for about 10 years and has made an incredible difference. We got to visit a family in the home World Vision had helped them to build and also saw the dilapidated place they had lived in originally. Then we visited a tree nursery project, one of the many community development projects World Vision has created to teach the people of this village new business and agricultural practices that will benefit them. They are educated and trained by World Vision so that they can be self-sustaining. And then we visited a church there and were overwhelmed by the people's gratitude to World Vision. One of the World Vision staff members who showed us around today is from the northern part of Uganda where there is much conflict. His brother was abducted to be a child soldier when he was only 7 years old and has never been seen again. That was 10 years ago. Cont'd by Kirsten. However, his attitude remained positive and explained to us that although his brother's abduction was a struggle for him, abduction and other atrocities happen frequently in Uganda. He said that the violence in Northern Uganda is expected and very real.

It has been good to hear people's stories and understand the reality of places and life that are not our own. Our time at with World Vision took up the greater part of our day and we are preparing to go to an orphanage that focuses specifically on babies. We will be helping the staff with child care and building upkeep, as well as be exposed to the harsh reality of conditions the babies are in, upon arrival. Lisa has adopted three children from the orphanage and has told us some of the things we can expect. Her children were not healthy upon adoption. We are looking very forward to serving the babies and request your prayers, as it will surly be an emotional experience.

Until next time, and as Amy said, we now have Internet access and will be able to send our blogs! Yay!

January 9th, A Time of Reflection

Hello all. This is Kirsten and we have had a very emotionally challenged day! We visited the slums in the middle valley of Kampala to distribute food, pray and meet the people. It is shocking to see the condition of the people and the places they live. We met a gentlemen named Douglas, who is a missionary for Mana Ministries (organization that distributes food) and he spoke to us about the ministry, the need of the people, and explained what our visit to the slum would entail. The ministry had a large tent set up in the middle of the neighborhood where people were gathered to listen to the gospel, get in to small groups to be prayed for and share stories, as well as ask questions, and receive food donations. Amy, Lennis, Debbie and I were to pair with an interpreter (most do not speak or understand English) and Misty or Anthony to lead a small group in prayer, counsel, and just simply get to know them.

It is amazing to see how responsive the people are to accepting Christ in their hearts and willingness to commit to continual prayer. I was personally touched, as four people accepted Christ in my group after praying with them! I prayed that I would have the words to say (I am not a very eloquent speaker!) and was quite nervous upon arriving. However, once I started communicating with the people, it was surprising how at ease I felt. The other girls had similar experiences and it is amazing to see people who are in such desperate need for physical and spiritual intervention, accept Jesus in to their hearts! Mana Ministries then, follows up with the people who accepted Christ and assists them in starting home churches.

Something that I appreciated about Mana ministries is that not only do they have concern for spiritual needs, but physical needs as well. Physical needs were visible immediately upon entering the neighborhood. Children were playing in the dirt and garbage with torn and dirty clothes, no shoes, and sometimes with no shirt or shoes. Many were thin and had flies landing on them constantly. Rarely did I see a child with or near a parent. It was also blatantly obvious how much the children needed love. They all wanted to hold our hands and many followed us around wherever we went. The children were all so beautiful but were in such need of care.

The residences of the people of slums are places most of us would not feel clean or safe enough for our pets to live in. It is truly a frightening picture. Much of them were still flooded from the rainy season and people had put their beds up on blocks, so they would not get wet. The sewage gets in to the water when it there is flooding and runs in to the homes. Mosquito's are drawn and people easily get Malaria as a result. Doors consisted of hung dirty sheets and matresses were made of anything somewhat soft even if it was soiled, torn etc. Walls were dirty and cracked. Garbage was littered around the whole neighborhood and dirty cows wandered down the street.

Going in to the slums touched our hearts more than I can say. These people need food, a clean environment, health, love and the gospel. We are so blessed as Americans to have all that we do and that reality has never become more obvious. Please continue to pray for us and above all, pray for the suffering and sorrow plaguing Uganda and the greater part of Africa. We will continue to keep you updated as often as possible. Talk to you soon.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This is Amy... So sorry to those of you who have been waiting to hear from us. We have been out since 6:00 am and it is now after midnight, and this is the first chance I've had to write! To those of you who are waiting to hear from Debi and Lennis, they wanted me to let you know that they are doing well, but don't currently have email access at Lisa's house, where they are staying. Hopefully they will be able to get online tomorrow.

We spent about 9 hours in the car today, driving to Lake Mburu to see African animals... zebras, baboons, warthogs, hippos, and crocodiles! We saw much of the African countryside and small villages along the way. This is beautiful country, and we thank God for allowing us to see it. Two of us tried goat stew for lunch... which was interesting. The time in the car also gave us many hours to get to know Lisa and her thoughtful and gracious daughter Samra. They taught us much about Ugandan culture and the physical and spiritual needs here, which was so helpful. The driving here is absolutely insane, however, and I can't even tell you how many head-on collisions we nearly had today! Please pray for our safety on the roads.

Kirsten and I got to visit with Misti for about 2 1/2 hours tonight and hear about the ministry she has been doing with the poorest of the poor here. We were brought to tears by her stories. It is very lonely and challenging to be a missionary here, and we spent some time praying for her. Please be in prayer for these missionaries who have given their lives for the gospel, that they would find encouraging friendships and strength from the Lord.

Tomorrow we will be visiting the slums in Kampala with Misti to share the gospel and help with food distribution. Please pray that we will have courage and compassion as we speak with the people there and that God will give us the right words to say. We are so grateful for your prayers.

Wednesday, January 7th

Hi all! This is Kirsten reporting LIVE from Uganda! Yes, we made it after many hours of travel! As Pastor Matt mentioned in an earlier blog, our flight schedule changed significantly and we ended up being bumped up to business class at no cost on our way to London. It was very different from anything we had experienced before. Luxurious, and something we probably will not be doing again in our lifetime! However, being a part of the luxury made us realize how grateful and privileged we are to be living in a country where those kind of opportunities are possible. We arrived in Uganda this morning and to our surprise, got our Visa's and went straight out the door to visit Misty and Lisa with no other security or custom checks. It is sure to be different on our trip home! We met both Misty and Lisa's family's and they were a joy and blessing to meet! Driving was a little tense, as vehicles move extremely fast and that are not many road rules. While driving through town we have already been exposed to poverty, and have not yet even been to the more financially devastated, slums. We will be going in to the slums later this week and are asking God to speak to us before, during and after our visit. We will be having lunch at 12:30PM today, then be on our way to visit the Compassion organization of which we have all been looking very forward to. After our visit to Compassion, we will be coming back to our residence and eventually try to get some much needed sleep later this evening (11 hour time difference and over 30 hours of travel so far). We are all operating on limited sleep, but are thankful to have gotten as much as we have on this trip so far. Thanks SO much for your prayers and we ask that you continue to do so, as our eyes will be opened to very different cultural experiences and extreme poverty. We will keep you updated as much as possible!

Thankfully there's no snow in Uganda

Pastor Matt here!  I just got off the phone with Pastor Amy at 9:59p.m.  Originally the mission team was to depart from Spokane at 9:00a.m., but with the snow storm the Inland Northwest had last night, their flight was cancelled and the ladies were scrambling to adjust itineraries.  Instead of flying out of Spokane at 9 am, the mission team finally left Spokane at 3:00p.m.-this meant that they missed their connecting flight on KLM airlines to Amsterdam.

Sometimes missing flights is not all bad.  The team was placed on a British Airways flight from Seattle to London (Heathrow) which departed at 10:00p.m. with the added bonus of getting placed in business class for no extra cost.  The ticketing agent for British Airways told Amy that their business class seats would have cost $9,000 a piece!  Their seats fold down into full length beds including a pillow and comforter!  Hopefully with the upgraded seats the women will be able to get some good sleep. They will need it, because instead of arriving in Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday evening to go right to bed, they will now be flying to Kampala on another red-eye, leaving London  at 9:00p.m. Tuesday night and arriving in Uganda at 8:25 am Wednesday morning January 7th.  Wednesday will be a full day as they will tour the Ugandan operations of Compassion International.

Pray that God's peace and rest will surround them as they make their away across the globe this evening:)

 

Uganda, Here We Come!

Tomorrow evening four of us from Pullman Presbyterian Church will begin our journey to Uganda, Africa! Our group consists of Debi Sterk, Lennis Boyer, Kirsten Northfield, and me (Amy McNelly). We hope to be able to post updates and photos from our mission trip here and also inform you of ways you can be praying for us and for the people we encounter in Uganda.

We leave Spokane at 9:00 am Monday morning, fly to Seattle, and then board a 10-hour flight to Amsterdam. From there, we fly 8 hours to Uganda and will arrive there Tuesday evening.

Our plan is for two of us to stay with Lisa Meyer, a Pullman native who has been working as a missionary in Uganda for the past several years. She and her four adopted African children are planning to move back to Pullman sometime next month and will attend our church! We are excited to meet them and have them introduce us to Uganda.

The other two of us will stay with Anthony and Misti Shelton, friends Matt and I met in seminary, who now live as missionaries in Uganda with their two young daughters. The Sheltons and the Meyers both live in the capital city of Kampala, only five minutes away from each other!

Here are our current prayer requests: Please pray for safe travel, for our families as we spend 10 days away from them, for our health (I have had a couple of bouts with sickness lately and would really appreciate your prayers that I stay healthy for this trip!), for our ability to visit all of the mission sites we are scheduled to see, for us to be open to learning from the Ugandan people, and most important--for us to hear what God is speaking to us while we're on this trip. We hope to visit several mission sites and see what partnerships we might be able to form between them and Pullman Presbyterian Church. 

Your prayer support means SO MUCH to us!! We know that we are your representatives and your prayers will provide us with the strength we need for this trip. Thank you for being a part of this exciting experience. We can't wait to see what God will do!