[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[2015] Our Mission

When preparing for and going on short-term mission trips, it is important to have a long-term perspective. It is silly to think that we are going to Africa to bring Jesus or that we will change the world of the people that we meet. Instead, we believe that we are taking part of the work that God is already doing in Uganda. There are already people, churches and movements happening. There are dedicated Christians and full-blown ministries that are reaching out to the poor and needy of Uganda. 

With that said, our team does hope to bring some skills and training that might not be available to our friends there. This year, we are bringing along Moses, who is an Ugandan that now studies agriculture at UC Davis. We met him last year (as he is a friend of our resident Ugandans) on our adventures as he was doing research in some of the areas that we visited. He will be providing some agricultural workshops for the local people. Additionally, Jenny and another new team member Cindie will be facilitating a chicken project that will include education, vaccination and some chicken coop building! Due to their work with chickens, these two have received a 4,000 grant and FREE airfare/travel expenses. Additionally, Uncle Greg, our team leader again this year, will be continuing his positive parenting discussions. Last summer, he started training some of the elders and pastors about the "Family Hui," a creation of his nonprofit that focuses on bringing together families into a larger community. He hopes to continue this training and spread the information to more people this year.

We will be returning to the village of Bukigai again as we witness more of the church construction! After returning home, one of our team members applied for a grant that would help with the building costs. And God provided! We received $9,000 that will completely cover the cost of the roof! There is no doubt that God's hand and blessing is over this project and the church in Bukigai. 

We will spend about half of our time in the village, doing our various workshops, as well as continuing the relationships we started last year! This is also where we will build a chicken coop, with the help of Jenny, Cindie and Moses. The other half of our time we will be stationed out of Mbale, the closest major city. From there, we will take day trips to other local churches that are under the care of Pastor Richard, our Ugandan liaison. Depending on the need, we will do more workshops and trainings, as well as relationship building! Again, we believe that the most important and lasting impact we will have will be in the relationships we form, not the things we produce or the knowledge we share.  

Please continue to pray as we move forward in fundraising, planning and final preparations!

Love,

The Team

Mission Team Report: 2014

Here is part of the team report we sent out last year. Its only about 9 months late!

We left Davis the morning of June 17, arriving in Kampala the evening of June 18.  We ate a late dinner at Milly’s Aunt Irene’s guest house, and were ready the next morning to drive the 5 hours to Bukigai.  Unfortunately, a tire on one of our vehicles had other ideas, so we were delayed until noon leaving for Eastern Uganda.  After a couple other stops we found ourselves in Jinga, about half way there, late in the day, so we stopped for the evening.  The next morning we met with a representative of the Amazima Foundation, founded by the young American woman, Katie Davis, whose story is chronicled in the book “Kisses from Katie.”  This was an opportunity to learn more about the Ugandan culture and her approach to addressing the needs of orphaned children.

We continued the trek to Bukigai after our meeting, and gradually made our way allowing for roadside stops for mangoes, bananas, papayas, watermelons, live chickens, and even a couple turkeys.  But once again, a flat tire slowed one of our vehicles.  As the other van continued on, even the spare on the first vehicle went flat.  So after two flat tires another 1 am dinner ensued – but we were in Bukigai at last.

The next day we had time to meet our hosts, including various members of the Revival Mission Church in Bukigai.  Milly’s brother Richard – one of our guides and drivers from Kampala – is actually not only the pastor, but the Bishop overseeing the church in Bukigai along with several other churches in the Mbale region.  We took a tour of the area, got settled into the rhythm of Bukigai and checked-out the construction of the church/community center which was one of the major initiatives of our mission trip.

As it turned out, Alex – who had preceded us by a week – had enlisted the assistance of his brothers and cousins (who are skilled construction workers) and church members in Bukigai, and the walls were already 6 feet tall by the time we arrived.  The hope was to get the walls to the point that a “ring-beam” could be installed to tie all the walls together.  But as a result of your generosity, enough funds were raised to not only get the ring-beam installed, but finish the walls to the height that the roof can now be installed. This exceeded what we thought was possible.

In the meantime, on Sunday we went to the top of “Prayer Mountain” for our worship service.  Our vehicle got us half- way up, but after getting stuck in the muddy roads once (requiring the assistance of local farmers to help dig us out), the roads simply became too steep and muddy to proceed.  This meant hiking the rest of the way.  Two plus hours later, we arrived, finding several church members from Bukigai who had started hiking up the mountain at 6:00 am, and after a 4 hour hike had been waiting 2 hours for our arrival.  This became known to us as operating on “African Standard Time” – humorously accepted by our African hosts, and contrasted with “North American Standard Time.”  We all had our first taste of providing a “preachimony” – sharing about our faith and what had called us to come to Uganda.  This would be repeated on several occasions.

After our descent back to Bukigai, and a good night’s rest, Monday started a couple of our other activities – working with kids at both the primary and secondary schools on art projects, and doing some positive parenting “training of trainers” with a group of leaders from the community.  At the end of the week, both schools had murals on external walls that can be seen from the main road through Bukigai, and about 8-10 people were trained to help pilot three positive parenting family cooperatives.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights were part of evening outdoor crusades sponsored by the local church.  At each meeting our team shared favorite scriptures, testimony, encouragement, greetings from UCC as part of building a long-term relationship with the Bukigai church, and even some singing.  This pushed most of us out of our “comfort zones,” which occurred continuously and actually was one of the great blessings we received during our trip.  And we cannot forget Richard’s leading of “Morning Glory” every day at 5:00 a.m. during the week, a time of prayer, Bible study and getting ready for each day.  What jet lag?

We left on Saturday to go to Alex’s village, which normally would be about a 3-4 hour journey.  But the day before, a heavy downpour had resulted in a large petrol truck being stuck in the middle of the road.  In essence the road going into and out of Bukigai was blocked for about 36 hours.  But here we learned about “Kingdom Standard Time,” as when we arrived – not knowing if or how long it would take to get through – a tractor showed up and pulled out the truck.  We waited only about 30 minutes and then were the second vehicle through and on our way.

The greeting we received in Alex’s village – Muganja – was unbelievable. Muganja is a more remote village and much smaller than the Bukigai area, and had last been visited by Mzungus (us white people) 15 years earlier. Most of us felt like rock stars mobbed just for showing up, not doing anything.   But this reception was real and genuine, and represented their desire to show their appreciation for our coming to visit and provide a message of encouragement from UCC.

After a wonderful dinner with Alex’s brother Geofrey and other family members, we drove back to Mbale where we spent the night.  The next morning we worshiped in Richard’s now “home church.”  We should say something here about worshipping with African Pentecostals.  You have not worshipped until you have experienced the genuineness, joy, enthusiasm and sense of the Spirit found in the African Pentecostal church – at least in the services we attended.  Once again, we were provided an opportunity to share our stories and bring a word of encouragement from UCC.

The next day we returned to Kampala to prepare for our departure on Wednesday, July 2.  We did have the occasion to visit the source of the Nile on our way to Bukigai, and once back in Kampala, finding ourselves with an extra day due to travel conditions, we ventured to the wilds of Murchison Falls National Park north of Kampala to view wildlife and see the Nile squeezed through a ravine 10 feet wide with a 140 foot drop – hence considered the most powerful waterfall in the world.  This was an unexpected adventure which capped our trip.

More information on this summer coming soon!

Love,
The Team