Days in Nakibole

From John: 

We had an amazing couple days meeting Rose, Gertrude and Joy, along with the other Hope + Sisters in that area. 

As we drove up to Nakabuli we were immediately greeted by Joy who was jumping up and down laughing and waving at us. As we exited the bus, Joy greeted each of us with a huge hug! She sure has a fitting name.   Joy is Gertrude's foster daughter.  Joy is a child who was horribly, horribly neglected and desperately in need of a mothers love.  Gertrude is one of our HOPE+ sisters with Project HOPEFUL who stepped out in faith and was willing to be a mother to Joy.  

We made our way into Rose's house and she introduced herself and her family. Then we headed out back to inspect the grounds and the work project. There were several aspects to the project including: 1) Tearing down the old condemned pit, goat pen and bath station, 2) leveling out the massive mound of dirt that was left from digging a 50' pit for the new latrine, and 3) erect and build brick walls and plaster the sides of the pit latrine. We had a great time learning from the local handymen and having fellowship with each other. After 1 1/2 days, mission complete!  

We also had an opportunity to visit the church where the walls and new roof were installed. We were surprised to find that the entire church was inside and greeted us with applause and joy-filled clapping. After some introductions and prayer, we were able to take a group photo. We then headed over and viewed the old shack, previous church building that the ladies took shelter in during the hail storm (team of ladies from Grace last September) to see the comparison of what they have. It truly was a blessing to see the Lord's work in such a tangible and powerful way! 

The men are continuing to be amazed at the work God is doing here in Uganda and have a new and fuller understanding of this beautiful country, people, and church community. I doubt any of them will ever be the same, in a good way!

Hello from Jinja!

The guys travelled to Jinja today which is the source of the Nile.  The took a boat ride out to the very source but because the waters were high, they had to take off their shoes, roll up their pants and walk in the River Nile!  

From the team:

We had a wonderful day of rest and fun as we took the team to Jinja. We headed straight for the Nile river and enjoyed a great tour of the Nile and the Source, even saw a 10' cobra swimming across the Nile! The Nile was swollen with recent rain so we had an adventure rolling up our pants and walking out to the sign barefooted. What a scene it must have been for the locals as they watched all these big Muzungu's  taking baby steps and walking gingerly over sharp and slippery rocks. Afterwards we headed over to downtown Jinja for lunch and gift shopping. As much as a group of men can enjoy shopping, we had fun bartering for the lowest prices as we went from shop to shop. All in all, we survived shopping and enjoyed some great fellowship. We ended the day with a soda at the Jinja Nile Resort before heading back to Pastor Stephens. 

As expected, we have been met with amazing love and hospitality. We are all in good spirits and excited to get to work on the pit latrine tomorrow.

They were also able to FaceTime so I was able To grab a shot of each guy.  It sounds like they had a great night I rest and everyone is having a wonderful time so far.

Tomorrow they begin construction on Rose's latrine.  Please pray for the men to be vessels of Christ's love in Nakibole (pronounced Nach-i-bol-a) and for continued bonding and fellowship.

In Christ,

Dawn

They are in Uganda!

We are so happy to report that they guys have made it safe and sound to Uganda.  The flights were great.  John said that they were able to rest a little and are pretty tired but everyone is in great spirits and incredibly excited to be there.

They have about a 2 1/2 hour drive to their destination.  When they arrive at the Kibriango home, there will be a wonderful Ugandan meal waiting for them prepared by Mama Jesca.....such a treat after such long travels.  They will likely have irish potatoes, matooke, rice, chiapti and chicken.  Mama Jesca is an AMAZING cook.

When the men wake up, this will be there view in the morning.

Please pray for a wonderful nights rest for the men.

Blessings,
Dawn

They are off!!

There is a lot of excitement from this team.......it should be a wonderful time of fellowship for these men.  What a great group.

Please pray for safe travels and for the men to be able to rest on the flights.

We will try to update every day so be sure to check back often.

 What an awesome crew!

 Prayer time

 Airport bound

Aaaaaaaand they're off!!!

To Uganda they genda ((GO))....

In just 6 days, a team of wonderful men from Grace will be making their way to serve in Uganda!  You know the excitement is brewing when you get text messages from a team mate in Luganda (one of the primary languages spoken in Uganda). 

The question most asked is "what will y'all be doing".  Several things will be taking place on this trip.  The first thing the men will be doing is completing construction of a pit latrine for one of Project HOPEFUL's HOPE+ sisters, Rose.  Rose has been the leader of Wamama Watumieni (Mamas of HOPE) before Project HOPEFUL every came into the picture.  She gathered other HIV+ women together and taught them to "live positively".  So many women live in shame from HIV and Rose helped give them a voice and encouraged them to live in Jesus truth and have no shame.

As with many families living in rural areas of Uganda, toilets are a pure luxury.  Rose, a mama to 5 children did not have a  proper latrine.  When this was discovered, I asked my dear friend Richard if that would be beneficial for her.  I forgot that I was speaking to someone who had their PhD in enviornmental health with an emphasis on water & sanitation in HIV+ households.  Needless to say, he agreed it would be beneficial. 

We hired a Ugandan foreman to dig the pit and pour the concrete slabs.  The men will be assisting in laying the brick work and putting on the roof.  As they are working they will have the opportunity to meet with and minister to the families living in Rose's community. 

The men will also have the opportunity to visit Bibbo school & church that was funded by Steve Sanchez and several of his friends.  This will be an exciting time of fellowship and.....breaking ground on the new building for the school!  The school and church will be dedicated to the community during this visit.

On Sunday, the men will attend church and dedicate the new church building!  This will surely be a joyous celebration.  Gary Wallis, Garrett Jackson & Ben Reading will also have the opportunity to lead worship in church.   Remember this day?

Well, that dirt mound is gone and there is a beautiful church building in it's place!  We can't wait to share photos with you!

On Monday, Steve Sanchez will have a teaching time with the social workers at Victors Christian school on grief and loss.

As most of the team returns home, John will be speaking at marriage and disciple ship conferences in Eastern Uganda.  This is very exciting as John will get to see parts of Uganda he's never seen.

We would love you to join us in prayer for the team.  Here are some things we'd love you to pray for:

1.  Safe travels
2.  No illness
3.  For each person to be able to hear what God wants them to hear and see what God wants them to see
4.  For God to be glorified in all that they do
5.  For the mamas who are staying behind with the children.
6.  For minimal jet lag and good sleep for the men while they are in country

Last...but certainly not least....the Kibirango family that will be hosting the men.  This family is an absolute god send.  They treat their guests like they are kings and queens.  Please pray for God to bless them and bless them abundantly.

We are hoping to get daily updates and will be sure to share as often as possible.

In Christ,
Dawn

My birthday wish...

I remember my 40th birthday well.  Prior to my birthday, I had been doing a lot of soul searching.  I knew that God had given me skills and talents but I had no clue what to do with them.  I'd never been to Africa and although a mission trip to Ethiopia was a possibility, Uganda was never part of "my" plan.  Oh how thankful I am that God's plans are always better.

On March 24th, I will be celebrating my 44th birthday.  Every year, I like to raise funds to donate to a ministry or adoption.  This year, I am hoping to raise funds for Uganda.  But specifically, for St. John Medical clinic that was built through donations from wonderful friends of Grace Covenant church.  But, here is the really AWESOME part.  An extremely generous donor has agreed TO MATCH up to $16,000!!!!  We have the potential to raise $32,000!!  What would $32,000 do?  Well, for starters, it would provide every single piece of medical equipment the clinic needs.  Although the clinic is up and running, there are still many things they can't do and patients have to be turned away.  It would also pay for salaries for an additional year and give the clinic a firm foundation to be self sustaining.

One of the reasons I am so passionate about getting the clinic fully funded is because of Project HOPEFUL's HOPE+ sisterhood.  All 51 of our sisters receive FREE medical care at the clinic.  Poverty often prevents people from receiving the medical care they desperately need and when you are HIV+, sadly, this often leads to death.  Death leads to more orphans and that is something we are actively fighting to prevent.  Children of the sisters also receive FREE medical care.

It doesn't stop with the sisters and their children though.  When our Ugandan friends find out about a dire situation....they act.  When they found out about a widowed father of 5...they acted.  This is Christ's love being shown in a beautiful and tangible way.

We are so thankful for the way so many people have stepped out in faith and helped support all that is happening in Uganda.  We know that God is in control and He knows exactly what the clinic needs to be a light and a vessel of Christs love to the people of Mukono, Uganda.

If you haven't had a chance to watch the HOPE+ sisterhood video, please take just 6 minutes to watch.  These are just some of the precious women the clinic serves.

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation and have your donation doubled, please click on the button below and select HOPE+ St. John medical clinic.  Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers.

In Christ,
Dawn

What is God doing?

Just when I think I have it figured out....Just when I think I really have a good grasp on what God is doing in Uganda....He blows me away.  Every. Single. Time.

I apologize for the delay in this blog post.  It's long overdue.  We returned from our trip 2 weeks ago and I'm still a little behind.

We had another amazing trip.  The first part of our trip was spent with Sole Hope.  Oh how I love this ministry.  They are making such an impact in so many lives by the simple and humbling act of footwashing....and the not so simple act of jigger removal.  Friends, here me when I say removing jiggers out of a child's foot was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  My heart broke as these children cried out in pain because of the pain I was inflicting.  It was so necessary, but truly heartbreaking.  All the children received new shoes (240 pair were distributed), they were educated about how to take care of their feet and left with smiles on their faces.

 

The next part of our trip was visiting our HOPE+ sisters.  If you don't know about this amazing ministry, you should.  It's through Project HOPEFUL and the changes in the lives of the women has been tremendous.  I think my moment I was  most impacted by was visiting Edith.  Edith used her funds to start her own hair salon.  She has done so well and we are so proud of her.  We discovered during her visit that she had not had her children tested for HIV yet.  As the tears streamed down her face, my heart was so burdened for her.  She was truly terrified of finding out that one of her children might be positive.  We encouraged her, prayed with her and pleaded with her to get her children tested.  Several days later, Mama Jesca received a text message and said "Mama Dawn, do you know enough Luganda to read this text?"  I looked at it and didn't even need to read the Luganda when I saw the word NEGATIVE in the text.  We simply rejoiced.  

Another thing we had the incredibly privilege of doing was visiting City of the Lord church.  City of the Lord church is the church that many of our HOPE+ sisters attend.  I've visited this church on many occasions but the last time we visited, well....it got a little crazy.  It's a very, very small and dark building.  When we got there we got stuck in a hail storm.  It was so bad and we were scared enough that one of the team members said "we need to pray".  Later, Mama Jesca shared with me that she feared the roof was going to collapse.  3 years ago, Pastor Dan created a budget to build a new church building.  When we were there in January, he shared with me that the budget they had would take 13 YEARS to finish their church.  13 years.  This is the old church.

In October 2013, a donor offered to fund their new church building.  We visited the church on January 23rd.  On February 2nd, they had their first church service.  Many villagers who had never attended church came and 4 PEOPLE ACCEPTED CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR.

Again.  I'm just blown away.

We also visited Bibbo school and church.  In April 2013, a team visited Bibbo school.  Steve Sanchez was very moved by Agnes, a widow who is running the school and felt drawn to fundraise to finish both the school and church.  In just 4 months, the funds were raised and construction immediately started.  This was one of the original "classrooms".

This is their new classroom.

How awesome is our God?  Bibbo school isn't finished quite yet and we hope to raise funds soon to build the last buildings.

We also visited the beautiful new church.  This photograph of Cathy & Richard inside the church is one of my favorites.

We we asked to plant trees near each of the new buildings.  What an honor that was.

Now I want to tell you about Sam and Ronald.  They are brothers who attend Bibbo school.  Sam had one of the worst cases of jiggers.  After most of the children left we spoke to Agnes about these boys.  Their father is a single parent.  He sells charcoal and is gone all day long.  The boys are left to fend for themselves and Ronald does the cooking.  Since he is 8 years old, he only knows how to cook posho which is basically corn meal cooked like mashed potatoes.  The boys are lacking in nutrition and many other essentials.  We have committed to finding sponsors for these precious boys.  Sponsorship is $35 per month per child.  If you are interested in helping with these boys, please email Cathy Clark.

I did update the Project HOPEFUL blog while I was in Uganda, so if you are interested in reading about some of our other experiences, please be sure to visit it.  They start just after the Fundraising posts.

Looking forward to 2014 there are definitely some things that God is putting on our hearts such as more child sponsorships, Village of Grace (more info coming soon) and finishing Bibbo school.  A team of men will be traveling to Uganda the end of April and will be building a latrine for one of our HOPE+ sisters as well as visiting some of the newly constructed churches.  In June a team from Project HOPEFUL, including 2 board members will be traveling to Uganda as well.  We are so excited about this awesome opportunity. 

If you would like any additional information about the work happening in Uganda, please email me.  We are so excited about all that God is doing and look forward to sharing it more.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

In Christ,
Dawn