Saturday, June 27, 2015

[2015] We made it!


Malembe! (Greetings!)

We arrived safely in Uganda last night at around 10:30pm. We only lost one piece of luggage, and luckily that didn't include any of our necessities! We were greeted by part of our Uganda family as usual!



We are currently at Anderita Beach Hotel in Entebbe, which has beautiful views of Lake Victoria!





We are waiting for our dear friends Pastor Richard and Alex Wori to come pick us up! From here, we head to Bukigai, in time to have Sunday worship with them tomorrow. Please be praying for safe travels along the road here!

We will probably won't have any internet in the village, so the next update won't be until later in the week (Thursday). Please pray for our workshops and trainings that we will be conducting- that they will be fruitful and lead to positive discussions. Also pray for the relationships we will continue to build and the new ones we will create!

We appreciate you!

Love,
The Team

Thursday, June 25, 2015

[2015] First Update!

Here is an update from Milly we received a few days ago!

We (Alex, Ramich and Milly) arrived in Uganda safely on June 16, 2015. Glory to God and thank you for your prayers. We also give thanks to all those who have supported this Mission both financially and through prayer. We look forward to receiving the rest of the mission team members on June 26, 2015.   
On June 18th, 2015, the Roofing materials that had been purchased  mostly in the capital, Kampala, were transported safely to Bukigai Village. On June 19, 2015, the carpentry work, led by Ezra (the Chief Carpenter-Alex's brother),  begun. Today, June 20, 2015, is when we took the attached photos as the timber for roofing was being joined before it is put up on the building. The community is very very pleased and very grateful for the support and they all send their greetings.
Below are the photos:

Alex, Ramich and
Ezra 
(Alex's brother and the head carpenter for the construction project this year)

Milly, Alex and their daughter Ramich


The construction begins!

Every thing is cut and done by hand to save costs! 
We hire Alex's brothers, cousins and family friends because they are carpenters by trade in Uganda.

That is all for now. We leave TODAY! Please be praying for the rest of the team as we travel to join the Wori Family. Our flight leaves SFO at 1:50pm and we should arrive in Entebbe by 10:40pm the following night in Ugandan time. They are 10 hours ahead of us, so our arrival time in CA will be around 12:40pm Friday afternoon. 

Thank you for your prayers!

Love,
The Team

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

[2015] We've been GRANTED much!

This year we have been blown away by the way God has provided funding! Over and over again, people and organizations have come forward and awarded grants, extra support and and abundant blessing over this upcoming trip. I wanted to give you all an outline of some of the organizations we will be partnering with as we continue our relationship with the Bukigai church.

In the fall, one of our team members Kelly Huff found an organization called the Paraklete Foundation. This word "paraklete" means "to come alongside" in Greek. Their vision is:
The Paraklete Foundation proclaims, demonstrates and expresses God's love by supporting those in need of education, training or experience in life skills, spiritual nurture, and/or Christian service in lower economic communities.
We submitted a grant proposal to fund the next critical phase of construction of the church: the roof! It is vital that we add the roof to the structure soon so that the walls do not get worn down. Praise God- THEY GRANTED US THE WHOLE AMOUNT! Nine thousand dollars later, and we will be providing this community, the preschool, and the church with a brand new, leak-free roof.

This spring, our new team member Cindie encouraged our team to apply to the Blum Center at UC Davis. They mission statement is:
The Blum Center for Developing Economies addresses the needs of poor communities in developing countries. We prepare students with the theoretical understanding, applied skills, and experiential learning. Our courses and grants programs enable students to become agents of change in the war against world poverty.
We found out about this possibility at the last minute, but Cindie and our other team member Jenny worked hard to make sure they got it in by the deadline. Praise God- they received a four thousand dollar grant for their chicken project! Not only will this cover the cost of supplies, but will also cover some of the in country travel costs.

Lastly, our team has somehow (thanks to Jesus) gotten connected to Veterinarians Without Borders (VWB). This organization has initiatives in various countries, including Uganda. Their goal in Uganda is:
implementing regional trainings to teach smallholders to recognize signs of disease and report them to their District Veterinarian so steps can be taken to control disease before an epidemic occurs.
Another woman from our church has volunteered with VWB and encouraged us to contact them. Within weeks, we had set up a partnership between VWB and our two team vets, Jenny and Cindie. This organization has agreed to cover nearly the entire cost for these two, including airfare! That means all the financial support they have raised will now go to help the rest of the team!

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!? God is so good, and has continued to provide for us and our brothers and sisters in Uganda. We cannot wait to see what He does next.

Love
The Team