Saturday, July 11, 2015

[2015] Home.

We have arrived safely back in Davis! Or at least, most of us. The Wori family has extended their time an extra week, and Moses will be staying an extra two weeks to visit with family. The remaining four of us (Greg, Jenny, Cyndie and Liz) traveled 30+ hours over the past two days, and returned to Davis last night exhausted! We were thankful to once again have paved roads, hot showers and our own beds!

With that said, we already miss the green landscape, the bright smiles and warm hearts of our brothers&sisters in Uganda. It is always bittersweet leaving behind these things, and returning to the normalcy of everyday life. All good things have to come to an end. And like our friends in Bukigai remind us, if we didn't live here, we wouldn't be able to fund all the things God is doing there.

We thank God for His provision, His glory and the chance to participate in His work across the globe. We are excited for what God is doing and will continue to do through us, through UCC and the churches in Eastern Uganda. Here are some pictures from our time there!

The very bumpy road to Bukigai

Almost to the village (Bukigai)

There are always lots of kids to play with!

Jenny and Ramich 

Ezra and Emmanuel working on the roof.

The construction crew!

Apparently, we will be going back next year for the next annual seminar! ;)

Since our seminar in Bukigai was three days long, we had a lot of time to break into groups to increase discussion and participation. 

Baby Jaden...we fell in love with him!

Ezra, Alex, Ramich and Jenny
The church and its beautiful view!

The River Manafa 

One of the many schools we visited! 

J. Chillin'

Greg looking (unintentionally) pensive.
Moses planning his next move. 

The seminar group in Bukigai with their certificates!

James and Jessica with their adorable baby Jaden. 

Just a typical visit to a school- lots of introductions, sharing and smiles!

Every school had a song to share!

Justine, Ann, Robert, Jenny (baby Kaleb) and Pastor Jessica. 
We were joined for a few days by Denis (left), who works with Greg and his non profit organization, Lead for Tomorrow. He brought a lot of fun and joy to our team during the middle of our trip. 

The villagers in Ikiki were very excited about their certificates, as well as taking pictures!

Jenny with Pastor Ruth (left) and Sarah (right), who is holding one of her new baby twins.

The view from our hotel in Kapchorwa! 

Greg is presenting a special soccer ball to Pastor Charles at Faith Community Church in Kapchorwa. The money for the balls was raised by a youth in Davis. We were able to give away six of them, and each time the people were beyond excited!

Hanging with some babes in Kapchorwa.


The group in Kapchorwa.

Clouds and cows.

The green in Kapchorwa just seemed a little more bright!

We stopped at Sipi falls on the way back to Mbale. 

Jenny did her very first seminar lesson. We were so proud of her!
Since Liz did not teach a seminar, she had a lot of opportunity to hang out with the kids! She often visited schools and shared with the children. This is in Miganja, at the New Vision for African Child school. 
In Miganja, the local District Veterinarian Officer join us at the seminar! It was awesome to make this connection, and hear from a local expert on the veterinarian issues and barriers in this region. 

Our time in Miganja was very special! It is unique place, full of joyful, Spirit filled people! Our seminar ended with a full blown dance party!

More pictures, updates and information to come! 

Love, 
The Team

Friday, July 3, 2015

[2015] one week down!


So it has been a week already. Time is a weird phenomenon- it moves simultaneously slow and fast. Our five days in Bukigai were beautiful, joyful and too short. We have really cherished the time and the people  there.

I don't have much time or internet, so I'll keep this short. Our program in Bukigai went fabulously- we trained and taught around 100 locals on the topics of positive parenting, poultry management and agriculture. The information was well received! By the third day, the people were teaching one another! 


Moses doing his thing!
On the last day, the group built a chicken coop from the left over roofing materials

We also have a fully roofed structure!! It was awesome to watch them finish the rafters and put on the roofing!! 


The construction crew!
The view of the church, before the roofing went on.

 This week they will be putting in doors and windows so the entire structure will be enclosed. Praise God!! We had a little taste of how wonderful that will be- each afternoon the tropical rains came and poured down and disrupted most everything. This sunday, our friends will have their first worship service in their new brick building! I have no doubt there will be much rejoicing.


From here, we will be visiting other churches under pastor Richard's care and offering a shortened version of the three day seminar we gave in Bukigai. The goal will be to expose them to a little bit of information, but mostly just to encourage the church members. We will be traveling a lot so please pray for travel mercies!

This is what we see a lot of as we travel around the country!


Please pray for these requests as well:
-successful completion of the church building 
-effective trainings and sharing of knowledge
-continued health and unity of our team (we have really been enjoying each other's company!)
-establishing and continuing relationships with the people we encounter
-discussions with pastor richard and team about future plans and directions

Thank you!

Love,
The Team