Blair Finally Made It!

After a frustrating series of issues with our friends at the travel agency, Blair finally joined the team in Kampala. Unfortunately, it was after Doug had already returned home and the soccer ladies flew out the day Blair arrived. Once he got there, however, he had the opportunity to teach a course for MTI. The class was a historical overview of the New Testament. While it is hard to cover that much material in one weekend, the class was well-received and Blair really enjoyed presenting it. Meanwhile, Hunter and Casey helped Mark put the final (for now) touches on the road leading to his new property.

On Saturday afternoon, Hunter, Casey, Blair and two members of the church, Fred and Abel, had the chance to attend a VERY exciting rugby match between Uganda and Namibia. The Namibian team is a world cup qualifier and the Uganda Cranes came in as heavy underdogs. However, with the help of an exuberant crowd, including three very enthusiastic, trash talking mzungu, the Ugandans won 20-19. After the match, the crowd stormed the field and carried the players off on their shoulders. What a moment!

Worship on Sunday morning was lively and inspiring. The leaders of the church prayed over Hunter and Blair as they will be returning home on Thursday the 29th. Blair and Casey helped a singing group prepare a song for a Christian music festival. Casey and Hunter hosted an all church fellowship sports day where the Ugandans learned the joys of ultimate frisbee and kickball. What a kick it was to see Africans trying to catch and throw a frisbee!

On Monday, Blair, Casey, Hunter and Mark met up with Mark's fiancee Jamie and the ladies in Mbale and set out for Sipi Falls. After a long hike to some very beautiful waterfalls, followed by dinner and a rousing game of Mad Gab, they settled in and camped for the night. The next day, they had the chance to work at MTI in Mbale shelving books and organizing stacks in the library.

That brings an end to Hunter and Blair's time in Kampala. We are extremely grateful for the prayers and support they have received. We are so blessed to have been in Kampala where the Lord's church is alive and thriving. The people here are so warm and kind. Spending time at the resource center and going out into the field has given us a glimpse at the impact Mark and his team members are having for Christ in Uganda. What a great work we have had the chance to be a part of.

Mzungus play futbol?????

It's amazing what a celebratory reception a truck full of white people could have in Uganda. Filled only with a bag of soccer balls, a few cones, and the luxurious goal nets, our truck was constantly surrounded by little kids, excited for us to get out and play with them. Mckenzie, Emily, Casey, Hunter, Doug, and I have been able to enjoy the cheers, the smiles, and the energy of the schoolkids simply by kicking the ball around with them.

The first couple camps were unreal. Between the two of them there were about 400-500 kids that we were able to play soccer with. The first half of each camp was devoted to teaching the kids skills like dribbling, passing, shooting, etc. The whole concept of simple 'passing lines' was a little difficult for them to comprehend because they are just so used to playing with anything that can resemble a sphere. After lunch, we let them loose to play a huge game...usually "manchester vs. arsenal." I think my favorite part was after any team would score a goal... they would yell and scream and pound their fists all while chanting their team name. This is really what soccer is about and it took us back to the core of what soccer should really be like.

After the first two days of camps, we headed off for Fort Portal for medical missions. We loaded into a tight van (and by tight i mean ridiculously cool) safari-like van with a group of Texans. Besides the frequent arguments about how Texas reallly does not compare with the wonder of California, we really became great friends. The village we visited was small and humble and the doctors set up their stuff in the little church. About 500 Africans traveled to the clinic to get any medication or treatment that they could. The doctors were amazing and it was unreal to get to see the reality of life in Uganda. Many were suffering and weak, but it was a great opportunity to shed the joy in our own lives and the love that we have for them. Hunter, Casey, and Emily worked the vitals... and Kenz and I did some registration. After those two days, we took the long road home, got some cool pics at the equator, and saw all sorts of crazy African animals.

We ended that week with three more soccer camps. These were a bit more difficult, only because us girls came down with what Hunter has previously referred to as "hiroshima of the bowels." It was no fun, but it made for some risky adventures.

The last day of soccer camps we got to give away all the stuff that was donated!!! About 150 kids got suited up with jerseys, cleats, shinguards, balls, socks...the whole deal. It was hard not being able to give it to all the kids, but it was the greatest joy in the world to give to the ones we could. It was a pretty organized ordeal, but when we started to run short, kids started to mob. We loaded in the truck to drive away..kids pounding on the doors. We were able to leave these schools knowing that we have given all that we could. All of us got the opportunity to talk about Jesus and the hope we have in Him. I think I can speak for all of us when i say its our prayer that these kids have experienced the love of Christ through our visits.

OK! Now for the NIIIIILE. we river rafted and i was SOO scared, but the other four were all about it. The shirt says that it is "probably the best rafting in the world," so i'll just believe that. It was crazy and so relaxing at the same time. We flipped the raft 4 times and half of us fell out 5 times. Halfway through, we got a great lunch of the BEST pineapple i have ever experienced and some delicious "glucose biscuits." We floated along the Nile and took it all in. After the calm of all that, we hit some more rapids. I wussed out on the last grade 6 rapid, but the others took it like champs.

We got to stay the night at a hostel on the Nile and met a bunch of people from various countries. SO many people are just traveling through and there are so many stories to hear. The showers there were the coolest because the fourth wall was non-existent. You could just look out onto the Nile in sheer nakedness. Wonderful. But dont worry, no one could see us. =)

Well, the time has come for the three girls to leave and we will miss the company of Hunter and Casey SOoooo much. They have been awesome. They take care of us like we were their sisters. They have some time to keep on doing amazing things, so we will be praying for them for sure. This opportunity was unreal and we only hope that the fire we have for our sport, and ultimately for Jesus, has caught onto the kids of Uganda. Thanks for all your support!!!

By: Jenna Shay

Soccer Camp

Jenna, Mckenzie and Emily have arrived and yesterday they had their first soccer camp. We started the day by visiting the school that the children attend. After seeing the kids in their classrooms we walked about a mile to the field that we used for the soccer camp. There was about 120 children there and they were having a blast! The children worked on passing, dribbling, heading, and controlling the ball. After lunch, everyone participated in one HUGE game which ended up in a 5 to 5 tie. It was a great day.

There is another soccer camp today. Mark and Doug will be travelling to Mbale this afternoon and will worship with the church there on Sunday. Casey, Hunter, Emily, Mckenzie, and Jenna will be leaving on Sunday afternoon for Fort Portal with a group of doctors and pre-med students to do a 3 day medical clinic.

Earlier in the week we made some chairs for a dental clinic (a better name for it might be "tooth pulling clinic") that took place on Thursday and Friday of this week. We took plastic patio chairs and used some scrap wood to extend their legs, and tilt them back. We also added headrests. Last night, at dinner, the dentists (mostly from Lubbock, TX) kept going on about how cool the dental chairs were. :)

The Trip to the North

Casey and Hunter got the opportunity to take a trip to Northern Uganda and it was incredible. It was about a 5 hour drive from Kampala to Gulu. They arrived there on the 26th and met up with other missionary groups from Mbale and Jinja, a total of about 16 people. After having a meeting about the objectives for the next few days, they settled in for the night. On sunday the 27th they were able to meet with a church located in Padera in an IDP camp. IDP stands for internally displaced people. These people have been displaced mainly due to the rebel uprisings of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony). The church had around 70 people in it with the majority of them being childred. Despite the pain and unrest these people had experienced they were full of the joy of the Lord. Hunter and Casey were extremely encouraged by this group and the church service which was held beneath a tarp and a mango tree, lasted for about four hours. 7 people were baptized in the river that afternoon and about 7 others rededicated their lives to Jesus. The missionaries were able to give out over 2000 lbs of food to the people in that camp as well as 3 others like it. On the 28th the missionaries had some time to meet with a Christian group in Gulu and worship with them. From there they headed Lira, stopping by Okelo James' property (one of the native missionaries with them). There they got to climb a mango tree and eat all of the mangos that their stomachs could handle. They also were able to witness to the village there and a number of the people decicated their lives to Jesus. The next day in Lira, the missionaries visited three more IDP camps to encourage the christians there and to hand out some more food. That about wrapped up the trip so Hunter and Casey were back in Kampala late Tuesday night. Little did they know they would be strongly reminded of some of the food that they ate on the trip the next morning. Hunter described it as "Hiroshima of the bowels". He and Casey were laying around and walking to the bathroom at Mark's house all day Wednesday.

Language Lesson for Northern Uganda:
Opak Lubanga- Praise God!
Opak Rwot- Praise the Lord!
Kopango- How are you?
Kope- I'm well
Tok catan ibol wa cen - Scoop satan up and throw him away
Wabineno deyo pa Rwot- One day we will see the glory of the Lord.

Casey and Hunter up north

On Saturday morning Casey and Hunter left with Ellen and Darla and some Ugandans to survey Gulu, a region about 4 hours drive north of Kampala. They are going to check on the possibility of planting some churches in the area. They should be back on Wednesday and I expect that they will have some great pictures and stories to share. I stayed in Kampala with Mark. We we able to sketch out a design for a water tower and start cutting metal on Saturday, although our workday was cut short by the loss of power. We spent the remainder of the day chatting and reading books (Mark teaches a class on Sunday mornings and I will be teaching a class on Women in the New Testament later this week).

Mark and I worshipped at the Kampala Church of Christ on Sunday. After worship we had a typical Ugandan meal which consisted primarily of cornmeal and rice with some soup poured over the top of it. We both had a full plate of food and a bottle of Coke and it cost us less than $3 total--awesome!

Mark is out in the garage today doing some metal work. I am inside typing up an outline and preparing material for the class I'll be teaching this week.

Everything is going pretty smoothly so far. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Doug

We Made It!

Hello Friends, Family, and Supporters!

Yesterday our plane landed in Entebbe, Uganda at 7:30AM and it is now 9:00AM the next day. Mark picked up three of us (Doug, Hunter, & Casey) from the airport. We got all settled into Mark's house and hung out for a while. We went out to Mark's new property to see where we'll be working on building his house. We also went to the mechanic, Kirite, to find out when Ellen's car would be fixed. We had dinner at Darla's house and met Erica Ross, a new medical intern. We were finally able to sleep in beds last night after the long flights and we woke up around 4:45AM thanks to jet lag. Hunter will be going to a children's rehabilitation center today with Ellen; Casey will be driving out to Jinja to pick up a truck and drive it back to Kampala with Darla; Doug will be heading back out to Mark's land to do some work on it with Mark. Our time has just started here and we are being put to work. We will continue to update this blog when we get the chance. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for us as we embark on this journey.