Kuji Service

Today ended our amazing journey in Kuji. We attended church in the village and praised God for the great week we experienced.

It was a closing ceremony of sorts, as we celebrated the renovations of the church and the revival of God in the village. Walter gave a fantastic sermon that related to the people of Kuji. He talked of planting the seed of the word of God, and letting it harvest throughout the village, and throughout the world. We closed the service with a gift to Pastor Isaac and the church. The gift was a stained glass cross made by Gail and Gary Gilliland. 

We were thrilled to experience such a tremendously moving time in Kuji, and are thankful to God to leading us here once again. Our prayers will forever be with Kuji. it is say that we learned more from them than they learned from us

Nampido Service

On this beautiful Sunday morning a team of Jeff, Robin, Elizabeth , Carole, Ben, Mitch and Cynthia worshipped with the church in Nampido. Part of our funds were used for the completion phase of the Nampido church. . Completed in Uganda means to pour concrete floors, add windows, stucco the raw brick walls and paint. Even though we had done our crusade at Kuji all week, the people of Nampido wanted us to come worship with them so that they could convey their thanks for the gift of fixing up the church. We had a team that planted the church in Nampido in 2006 so we were eager to see the improvements and visit with old friends. We feel that it is a very important part of the church planting to continue to return and encourage the congregation and let them know that we still stand with them and pray for them. It was a celebration service with many choir performances, many prayers, testimonies and a great sermon from Jeff. As a parting gift we left the church with mosquito nets and in turn they gifted us with a chicken, which rode back to the hotel under the seats in the van!

Water Wells

Ramon, Carole and Jim went with Dr. Patrick yesterday to visit water wells and fish farms that we support.  The people from the village came to the well as they were arriving.  They were so thankful for the clean water and the fish.  From the fish they get protein and income.  The villagers eat the fish and sell some.  The children got into the water with the net to catch some fish to show the “Mazungus”.  Like children everywhere, they loved being in the water.  Again today Ramon led a group this afternoon back to see more water wells.  Some of the team members hadn’t seen how the artesian wells worked and wanted to visit them firsthand.  The group visiting the wells today was Ben, Mitch, Carter, Terri, Megan, Cynthia, Dr. Bartha and Ramon.  Everyone was so thankful for all the work Ramon has put in to the water well project.  Because of her devotion and drive many thousands of Ugandans now have fresh, clean water.  

Pastor Dinner

Tonight we had our annual appreciation dinner for the pastors and interpreters at our hotel in Mbale. What a pleasure to see all our new and old friends from the trail and crusade with their loved ones dressed to the nines, praising God in such harmony and accord.

We ate, sang and rejoiced together then took the Lord’s Supper together.   As we said our goodbyes, we were sad to see our friends go, but look forward to reconnecting with them next year! 

Lulwanda Children's Home

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the Lulwanda Children's Home again this year. Natalie, the program coordinator and an Austin native, and many of the children toured us hand in hand around the property and explained to us the details of the home. (They do not call it an orphanage, as they try to bring out the home-like love that lives in the school.) They house 130 students on the grounds, however there are about 22 empty beds most of the year because the high school age students go to boarding school, which is a common practice in Uganda. They come to the home, their home, for the holidays or if sick. On the grounds of the home are 7-8 buildings. There is a school for all the children at the home, as well as children from surrounding villages. There is a commons building for gatherings and presentations. There is a kitchen, as well as the housing units. Also, there is a clinic building. Sadly, the clinic is not currently open as they cannot staff a nurse to run the clinic as needed. They would love to have a Western nurse, so if you know of anyone who would be interested, let us know! 

We played with the children for the remainder of the afternoon. The children all speak English and ranged in age from 4 to 13. It was such a delight to see the beautiful and happy children. They live an incredibly loving life at the Lulwanda Children's Home.