Yikes!
This last week went by so fast. Updating for the last time from Uganda : (
On Monday, we headed south towards Entebbe Airport up to a place called Prayer Mountain. Ugandans walk for miles to reach this place to go for meditation, rest, and solitude with God. Our team went up there to have a time of reflection and worship with God, as well as...feed monkeys a whole bunch of bananas! Wild monkeys live up in the jungle-esque area on top of the mountain, so we took advantage of that. The mountain overlooked all of Kampala and even Lake Victoria, which was amazing to see. Later we went into the city to do some more shopping and see the Watoto church. 2,000 children are sponsored and housed into small villages by Watoto. It is also famous for its Watoto childrens' choir, which tours Australia and the USA every year with groups. Afterward, we went back to the Uganda Jesus Village, which we had visited previously on Friday. We put on a small medical clinic for the children, who were in need because of all that had happened to them in the last month.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we went to two different slum areas to hold medical clinics. In the first area, we treated 252 people, in the second we treated 210. Overall, lots of work but it has been so rewarding.
Today we went to the school we sponsor to have another time of chapel and worship with them. We also put on a sex education class for the older girls and boys, as well as a chance for them to declare purity to the Lord until marriage. We also put on the last medical clinic of the trip for a group of Sudanese people who live in Kampala. Unfortunately, many of our team has been getting sick, but nothing too serious.
The Biola team heads out tonight at 12:30am out of Entebbe Airport. We will be arriving at London-Heathrow at about 6:30am, London time (about 10:30pm on Thursday, Los Angeles time). We will be in the airport for a couple of hours until our flight out at 1030am to arrive back to LAX at 2pm on Friday. We're preparing for a long Friday ahead of us!
We are all excited to catch up on some sleep, but definitely sad to leave this beautiful place. However, it will be GREAT to see and talk to everyone we've been missing back at home.
God has been so good to us this trip and we can't wait to tell you all personally about it.
Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. We are more than thankful and more than blessed.
Mukama aca cumay! (..God Bless!)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Africa, God is moving in Africa.
Hey guys!
We've been doing going and going and going, finally we're able to catch up with you!
It's the end of Saturday, and we are currently listening to a Ugandan wedding reception that's being held on the lawn where we are staying. It's so festive and lively!
Our days have been filled with de-worming and medical clinics! On Tuesday in Jjakulara, we held our first clinic. What we do is take in a certain number of families in need of medical assistance, check up on their vitals (i.e. temp, blood pressure, and heart rate), then send them to a volunteer doctor to prescribe what they need. From there, a big group of our team works in the "pharmacy" to hand them out their free medicine. We also handed out de-worming pills, along with biscuits, candy, and crayons and coloring pages to the children. Those who weren't being tended to or working in the medical center played outside with the children waiting. Soccer was a huge hit! At that clinic, we tended to 125+ families.
Wednesday, we went to tour the Sanyu Baby Orphanage, which is currently taking care of about 44 babies ranging from months old to a few years old. We were able to feed the children their lunch of matooke (mashed plantain) and milk. Afterward, we helped them change and put them down for their afternoon naps. It was an interesting experience for the group of us who had no previous hands-on experience with babies! But a great experience at that. From the Orphanage, we went over to hand out sweets and to pray for patients in the Mulago Hospital in downtown Kampala. Being a free hospital, it was very minimal in hospitablity, but it was apparent that every patient was more than thankful to be there. We were also able to visit those in the Burn Ward- Uganda has a high rate of people who are burned due to the fact that fires are used in place of electricity, which is present in only 4% of the country. It definitely brought some of us to tears to be there. We also got to walk around the indoor mall called Garden City, and actually met a Muslim girl who accepted Jesus into her heart upon hearing 2 of our team's testimonies.
Thursday, we were introduced to the students that attend the school that is sponsored by the ministry we're working with. 45 families are sponsored in total. The kids put on a performance for us involving lots of dancing and singing to songs that they had written. We passed out outfits that we brought from the US to the students. Each girl recieved a dress, and the boys recieved shirts and pants. Later, we headed over to the Acholi Quarters; the place where the Acholi people have found refuge from the war that went on in Northern Uganda. There we passed out de-worming pills and got to know the people. The man in charge of helping us with the Acholi people actually worked for the organization, Invisible Children, that has helped improve life for those involved with the war.
Friday, HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO BRIANNA!!!! We woke up to a major thunder & lightening storm- it gave us cool temperatures for the rest of the day. We traveled over to a part of the city called Mengo, to visit the "Uganda Jesus Village." Little did we know upon arriving that the 60 kids who live there (who have escaped from the town of Gulu in the North) were still recovering from a terrible previous month. A couple of days before Christmas, the corrupt management in charge of the village, sent all of the children back to their homes. Most of them went back to living conditions so bad that they were living off of grass as food, and one of them had no guardian to be taken care of by, so he was living under a tree. The 2 Canadians in charge came to Uganda to rescue them- 57 out of 62 were able to come back. The last bus of them had come back only just a few days ago. It was a reminder of how real the war still is for us all. We spent the rest of the day at a church close by, putting on a medical clinic, where we tended to about 250 people.
Today, (finally!) we went to a slum area of Kampala to spend the whole of the day tending to people at a medical clinic. We saw 130 families who needed medicine for all sorts of ailments ranging from one child who clocked in at a temperature of 105 (we assume Typhoid fever) to children who had to be sent to the hospital to be treated for Malaria because they were close to dying. This slum area is home to the Uganda Hands for Hope (look it up on Facebook!), a place that sponsors children for preschool and reading development. Afterward, the head of the organization, a British man named Joseph, took us to some of the homes that his sponsored children live in. The homes we saw were about 9 by 11 feet long, had no lighting, were hot, and were made of mud and scraps. Not only do they live in bad housing, but they also live near a sewage pipe that floods the lower areas of the slum. Some days, parts of the village are up to three feet in water.
We have all been seeing and learning so much, it's hard to take in at such a fast pace, but we are enjoying every moment of it. Tomorrow is finally a rest day- we will attend church, visit the New Creation Home, and go to the African Market to buy authentic gifts!
We are thinking of you all, and hoping you are doing the same. Pray, pray, pray!
God Bless :]
We've been doing going and going and going, finally we're able to catch up with you!
It's the end of Saturday, and we are currently listening to a Ugandan wedding reception that's being held on the lawn where we are staying. It's so festive and lively!
Our days have been filled with de-worming and medical clinics! On Tuesday in Jjakulara, we held our first clinic. What we do is take in a certain number of families in need of medical assistance, check up on their vitals (i.e. temp, blood pressure, and heart rate), then send them to a volunteer doctor to prescribe what they need. From there, a big group of our team works in the "pharmacy" to hand them out their free medicine. We also handed out de-worming pills, along with biscuits, candy, and crayons and coloring pages to the children. Those who weren't being tended to or working in the medical center played outside with the children waiting. Soccer was a huge hit! At that clinic, we tended to 125+ families.
Wednesday, we went to tour the Sanyu Baby Orphanage, which is currently taking care of about 44 babies ranging from months old to a few years old. We were able to feed the children their lunch of matooke (mashed plantain) and milk. Afterward, we helped them change and put them down for their afternoon naps. It was an interesting experience for the group of us who had no previous hands-on experience with babies! But a great experience at that. From the Orphanage, we went over to hand out sweets and to pray for patients in the Mulago Hospital in downtown Kampala. Being a free hospital, it was very minimal in hospitablity, but it was apparent that every patient was more than thankful to be there. We were also able to visit those in the Burn Ward- Uganda has a high rate of people who are burned due to the fact that fires are used in place of electricity, which is present in only 4% of the country. It definitely brought some of us to tears to be there. We also got to walk around the indoor mall called Garden City, and actually met a Muslim girl who accepted Jesus into her heart upon hearing 2 of our team's testimonies.
Thursday, we were introduced to the students that attend the school that is sponsored by the ministry we're working with. 45 families are sponsored in total. The kids put on a performance for us involving lots of dancing and singing to songs that they had written. We passed out outfits that we brought from the US to the students. Each girl recieved a dress, and the boys recieved shirts and pants. Later, we headed over to the Acholi Quarters; the place where the Acholi people have found refuge from the war that went on in Northern Uganda. There we passed out de-worming pills and got to know the people. The man in charge of helping us with the Acholi people actually worked for the organization, Invisible Children, that has helped improve life for those involved with the war.
Friday, HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO BRIANNA!!!! We woke up to a major thunder & lightening storm- it gave us cool temperatures for the rest of the day. We traveled over to a part of the city called Mengo, to visit the "Uganda Jesus Village." Little did we know upon arriving that the 60 kids who live there (who have escaped from the town of Gulu in the North) were still recovering from a terrible previous month. A couple of days before Christmas, the corrupt management in charge of the village, sent all of the children back to their homes. Most of them went back to living conditions so bad that they were living off of grass as food, and one of them had no guardian to be taken care of by, so he was living under a tree. The 2 Canadians in charge came to Uganda to rescue them- 57 out of 62 were able to come back. The last bus of them had come back only just a few days ago. It was a reminder of how real the war still is for us all. We spent the rest of the day at a church close by, putting on a medical clinic, where we tended to about 250 people.
Today, (finally!) we went to a slum area of Kampala to spend the whole of the day tending to people at a medical clinic. We saw 130 families who needed medicine for all sorts of ailments ranging from one child who clocked in at a temperature of 105 (we assume Typhoid fever) to children who had to be sent to the hospital to be treated for Malaria because they were close to dying. This slum area is home to the Uganda Hands for Hope (look it up on Facebook!), a place that sponsors children for preschool and reading development. Afterward, the head of the organization, a British man named Joseph, took us to some of the homes that his sponsored children live in. The homes we saw were about 9 by 11 feet long, had no lighting, were hot, and were made of mud and scraps. Not only do they live in bad housing, but they also live near a sewage pipe that floods the lower areas of the slum. Some days, parts of the village are up to three feet in water.
We have all been seeing and learning so much, it's hard to take in at such a fast pace, but we are enjoying every moment of it. Tomorrow is finally a rest day- we will attend church, visit the New Creation Home, and go to the African Market to buy authentic gifts!
We are thinking of you all, and hoping you are doing the same. Pray, pray, pray!
God Bless :]
Monday, January 18, 2010
UGANDA
Hey guys!
We are here in Uganda! We arrived late Saturday night/Sunday
morning into Entebbe airport, and drove an hour and a half
or so to our guest house, "maria's place."
On Sunday, we were taken to a nearby church. The more
adventurous members of our group were taken by motorcycles,
or "boda bodas," a very unique experience! The church
service was full of dancing, singing,praying, and rejoicing.
The people were so friendly and so full of life.
After church, we went into the city to exchange money, and
ordered 20 pizzas to take to the orphanage that the ministry
we are working with sponsors. the orphanage is called New
creation home; it houses 12 special children who are being
sponsored by the ministry as well as others who want to
contribute to their lives.
We all sat down to eat pizza for lunch (which was
delicious), and enjoyed a presentation by the children of
singing and dancing. We spent the rest of the day playing
any game we could imagine; soccer, baseball, hair-styling...
(pictures come later).
On monday, we took a long, bumpy bus ride to the Nile River.
We were all amazed by its beauty, and the fact that we were
seeing something a part of the Bible. We were able to go on
boats around to see different rapids, and saw a few kayakers
going down the river.
After the Nile, we drove over to a village church to put on
a de-worming clinic. This village only sees "muzungus"
(white people!) about once or twice a year, so hundreds of
children showed up. A few members put on a play for them, we
sang with them, and played with them for a long time. It was
hard saying goodbye to the children- they were all beautiful
kids, had so much love in them, and connected with us more
than we could have guessed.
We drove down a ways to a Baby orphanage. There were 30-40
young babies there that we all fell in love with as soon as
we got there. It was heart-warming to see that these
children, who were most likely treated in a broken way in
the past, were able to recieve love and care by the workers
and by our group. We only stayed for about an hour, but were
exhausted by the time we were finished. We have so much
respect for those who work full time there.
Today, we are going to a village called Jakolara, a place
run down by HIV/AiDs, to put on a larger medical clinic than
the one that we did yesterday.
We are all doing well, in good health, and finally catching
up on sleep! We're all drinking as much water as possible,
as it is very, very humid and about 75-80 degrees every day.
We are so excited to finally be here though!! Uganda is
absolutely beautiful and green, and the people are all very
unique.
We'll be checking back in often, as our place has a (slow)
computer and internet : )
Please continue to pray for our health and safety, and for
the people here. Some of the girls here are still waiting
for a few checked bags to show up, so please pray for that
as well.
God Bless!
We are here in Uganda! We arrived late Saturday night/Sunday
morning into Entebbe airport, and drove an hour and a half
or so to our guest house, "maria's place."
On Sunday, we were taken to a nearby church. The more
adventurous members of our group were taken by motorcycles,
or "boda bodas," a very unique experience! The church
service was full of dancing, singing,praying, and rejoicing.
The people were so friendly and so full of life.
After church, we went into the city to exchange money, and
ordered 20 pizzas to take to the orphanage that the ministry
we are working with sponsors. the orphanage is called New
creation home; it houses 12 special children who are being
sponsored by the ministry as well as others who want to
contribute to their lives.
We all sat down to eat pizza for lunch (which was
delicious), and enjoyed a presentation by the children of
singing and dancing. We spent the rest of the day playing
any game we could imagine; soccer, baseball, hair-styling...
(pictures come later).
On monday, we took a long, bumpy bus ride to the Nile River.
We were all amazed by its beauty, and the fact that we were
seeing something a part of the Bible. We were able to go on
boats around to see different rapids, and saw a few kayakers
going down the river.
After the Nile, we drove over to a village church to put on
a de-worming clinic. This village only sees "muzungus"
(white people!) about once or twice a year, so hundreds of
children showed up. A few members put on a play for them, we
sang with them, and played with them for a long time. It was
hard saying goodbye to the children- they were all beautiful
kids, had so much love in them, and connected with us more
than we could have guessed.
We drove down a ways to a Baby orphanage. There were 30-40
young babies there that we all fell in love with as soon as
we got there. It was heart-warming to see that these
children, who were most likely treated in a broken way in
the past, were able to recieve love and care by the workers
and by our group. We only stayed for about an hour, but were
exhausted by the time we were finished. We have so much
respect for those who work full time there.
Today, we are going to a village called Jakolara, a place
run down by HIV/AiDs, to put on a larger medical clinic than
the one that we did yesterday.
We are all doing well, in good health, and finally catching
up on sleep! We're all drinking as much water as possible,
as it is very, very humid and about 75-80 degrees every day.
We are so excited to finally be here though!! Uganda is
absolutely beautiful and green, and the people are all very
unique.
We'll be checking back in often, as our place has a (slow)
computer and internet : )
Please continue to pray for our health and safety, and for
the people here. Some of the girls here are still waiting
for a few checked bags to show up, so please pray for that
as well.
God Bless!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Writing from London
Hey guys!
We made it here safely. Our plane got in yesterday afternoon at about 3pm, we checked into our hotel, and toured around downtown London last night via the Tube! We all made it to the airport early this morning after some sleep, and we board in an hour for Entebbe, Uganda. We will be getting in around 10pm Uganda time, and will be settling in to our housing there. We're all doing fine and well!
Hopefully be writing again in Uganda.
Keep the prayers coming!
We made it here safely. Our plane got in yesterday afternoon at about 3pm, we checked into our hotel, and toured around downtown London last night via the Tube! We all made it to the airport early this morning after some sleep, and we board in an hour for Entebbe, Uganda. We will be getting in around 10pm Uganda time, and will be settling in to our housing there. We're all doing fine and well!
Hopefully be writing again in Uganda.
Keep the prayers coming!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The day has come.
We have finally reached this day! We're going to Uganda!
We leave tonight at 5:25pm, will stay a day in London, and then we'll be off to Uganda. We will now be there for 12 days instead of 11 days, because of date changes. This means we will be coming back into the United States on the 29th of January.
We hope to be able to update this as much as we can while in Uganda!
Thank you so much to all who are supporting us!
Your prayers are always a blessing.
-Team Uganda
We leave tonight at 5:25pm, will stay a day in London, and then we'll be off to Uganda. We will now be there for 12 days instead of 11 days, because of date changes. This means we will be coming back into the United States on the 29th of January.
We hope to be able to update this as much as we can while in Uganda!
Thank you so much to all who are supporting us!
Your prayers are always a blessing.
-Team Uganda
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Delayed!
God seems to have different plans than what we thought... due to extreme weather conditions at Heathrow airport in London, we will not be leaving tomorrow night, the 10th. As of now, we will be leaving on Thursday, January 14th. It is possible that we will be leaving earlier, but for now we are shooting for Thursday.
Keep praying for us!
Keep praying for us!
Friday, January 8, 2010
We're going to Uganda!
Team Leaders:
Tyler Poe
Brianna Machowsky
Team Members:
Alyssa Reece
Lydia Gardner
Kayla Vandekamp
Kris Tauson
Kellyn Arii
Kristin Jewell
We will be partnering with the ministry, One by One, which is based in the capital city of Uganda, Kampala.
What we'll be doing:
• Volunteering in a babies home where babies have been abandoned. These little ones range in age from newborn to age 3. Our time spent at the Sanyu Babies Home that houses 45 – 50 little ones is so needed - not only by the children but the staff. There are never enough loving arms for these precious gifts from God.
• Ministering to the children in the hospital ward – many just before they are to have surgery. We distribute toys, cookies and lots of love. Painting finger nails and face painting in a highlight for the children. Almost every family gladly welcomes the prayers of our team members – praying for their sick or wounded child.
• Conducting several medical clinics in the city slums and rural villages. Here whether you have medical training or not – each person will have a specific taste to do. Ugandan doctors volunteer their services and work alongside our team as we set up three separate stations: 1) vitals 2) seeing the doctor 3) pharmacy.
• Spending time with the 13 orphans in our New Creation Family Home – even taking them with us on the bus as we go to the Nile River. The children love this time together with their new friends.
• Distributing de-worming tablets to the children in the Acholi Quarters. This is a slum area on a side of a hill where over 10,000 people fled Northern Uganda in order to spare their lives. Many of them have gone through horrific atrocities having many loved ones killed by the rebels in the north.
• Ministering and conducting a medical clinic to the Sudanese people. Most of the children in our school come from this slum area and they will perform by singing and dancing for those in attendance.
• Volunteering a day at our school, New Creation Centre – where we will hold a clothing drive for the children - letting the children pick out their own outfits – should be lots of fun! Also, spending time with them in their chapel as they worship and dance before the Lord. Breaking into their classes, teams of 3 or 4 people will go to each class talking with the children – giving them a little insight to who you are. Maybe your group will do a craft with the children or a geography lesson or math bingo. No matter what you do with the children – they will enjoy spending every minute with you.
• Lots of singing, sports, giving out of cookies and small toys, and Bible puppet show to be done where we minister.
• Each morning we will start the day with worship, devotions and tidbits about Uganda. We will end the evening with an informal “wrap up” time of the happenings of the day and what the day meant to you.
We hope to be updating this blog during our trip when we can. Please keep checking back while we are there!
Please pray for us. God bless!
Tyler Poe
Brianna Machowsky
Team Members:
Alyssa Reece
Lydia Gardner
Kayla Vandekamp
Kris Tauson
Kellyn Arii
Kristin Jewell
We will be partnering with the ministry, One by One, which is based in the capital city of Uganda, Kampala.
What we'll be doing:
• Volunteering in a babies home where babies have been abandoned. These little ones range in age from newborn to age 3. Our time spent at the Sanyu Babies Home that houses 45 – 50 little ones is so needed - not only by the children but the staff. There are never enough loving arms for these precious gifts from God.
• Ministering to the children in the hospital ward – many just before they are to have surgery. We distribute toys, cookies and lots of love. Painting finger nails and face painting in a highlight for the children. Almost every family gladly welcomes the prayers of our team members – praying for their sick or wounded child.
• Conducting several medical clinics in the city slums and rural villages. Here whether you have medical training or not – each person will have a specific taste to do. Ugandan doctors volunteer their services and work alongside our team as we set up three separate stations: 1) vitals 2) seeing the doctor 3) pharmacy.
• Spending time with the 13 orphans in our New Creation Family Home – even taking them with us on the bus as we go to the Nile River. The children love this time together with their new friends.
• Distributing de-worming tablets to the children in the Acholi Quarters. This is a slum area on a side of a hill where over 10,000 people fled Northern Uganda in order to spare their lives. Many of them have gone through horrific atrocities having many loved ones killed by the rebels in the north.
• Ministering and conducting a medical clinic to the Sudanese people. Most of the children in our school come from this slum area and they will perform by singing and dancing for those in attendance.
• Volunteering a day at our school, New Creation Centre – where we will hold a clothing drive for the children - letting the children pick out their own outfits – should be lots of fun! Also, spending time with them in their chapel as they worship and dance before the Lord. Breaking into their classes, teams of 3 or 4 people will go to each class talking with the children – giving them a little insight to who you are. Maybe your group will do a craft with the children or a geography lesson or math bingo. No matter what you do with the children – they will enjoy spending every minute with you.
• Lots of singing, sports, giving out of cookies and small toys, and Bible puppet show to be done where we minister.
• Each morning we will start the day with worship, devotions and tidbits about Uganda. We will end the evening with an informal “wrap up” time of the happenings of the day and what the day meant to you.
We hope to be updating this blog during our trip when we can. Please keep checking back while we are there!
Please pray for us. God bless!
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