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!