"We Bless The Rains Down In Africa"

Greetings,

The team talked, and it was decided that the lyrics from the tune "Africa", originally by Toto, should be used as the title for today's blog entry. Though we're in the midst of the rainy season, we've only had one day of rain and it only lasted for about an hour since our arrival in Africa - that was until today . . . A wicked thunderstorm, torrential rains, and hail were just some of the amazing natural phenomina that we expreinced today. However, thanks to John Cassels and his amazing "off-roading" abilities, the team arrived safely to his house for dinner, which is being cooked as I type.

The last two days have been busy busy busy. Yesterday, the morning began with the eating of an amazing birthday cake baked by Rachel and Krys - thanks to everyone for making my 30th a great day! From there we went to Pastor Ben's church where we packed 25 family kits. The family kits in Arua were different than those in Jinja. Pastor Ben, along with the Cassels, created a list of items that best suited the needs of the community. Items such as salt, sugar, matches, soap, cooking oil, reading material, and a small cash donation were some of things that were packed into bags. Everyone on the team had a chance to pray for at least one of the people to whom we delivered a kit. Along the way, we met many other children who we enjoyed engaging with. Steve has introduced a new handshake to the Ugandan children and it seems to be taking the area by storm. Throughout the day we also witnessed some of the construction work that was being done on the church floor and on the Pastor's house. Ben is extremely grateful for all that has been done and wants us to extend his thanks to the Grandview family. In the late afternoon, we met a man who shares his passion for God by managing a local Christian radio station. His personal story from being Muslim to becoming a Christian was quite interesting. Please check in with one of the team members upon our return to hear the details.

Today, multiple projects were underway. In the morning Monika, Steve, Steph and Brad met with a local Senior teacher, named Rosemary, who gave a brief session on curriculum. Tomorrow Brad, Steph and Steve will be teaching a lesson at Rosemary's school. While they were receiving a crash course in Ugandan Religious Education, Ashley Dan and I were out delivering more family kits. We me up at the church for an amazing lunch. It was a true Ugandan experience as we ate our meal (rice, beans, meat, eggs) with our fingers. Though not the most graceful team when eating, we thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of our Ugandan hosts. In the afternoon the teams switched. The team that met Rosemary in the morning headed out to deliver the last of the family kits while Dan, Ashley and I took part in a prayer service. Singing and drumming, the delivery of a short message and then sharing of prayer requests all happened in a small "payout" (Lugbara for a small cement hut). Dan, Ashley and I, as the guests, were all asked to pray for the needs to those in attendance.

Well, it's about time to sign-out. I know I keep saying this, but I'm not sure when our last blog will occur, so if this is our last, thanks again to everyone for your prayers a well-wishes.

Regan, on behalf of the "Uganda July 2009" team

Arrival in Arua

Hello Blog Followers,

Lots has been happening since our last update.

Before leaving Jinja, we were able to make some purchases for an auction we will be hosting in the future, so please stayed tuned for updates about how you can obtain some authentic Ugandan art, pottery, carvings and more!

If you're into trivia, here's something that may interest you. On our travels from Jinja to Arua we not only came across some spectacular wildlife (giraffes, elephants, crocodiles, hippos), we also met up with a 1980's Christian musician. Here are some clues to help you figure out who we met.

1) This musician was specifically a female singer.

2) While she did sing Christian music at one point in her career, she also branched out to do a few secular albums - one of which contained the hit "Baby Baby".

If you think you've got the answer, or even if you're not too sure, read on to find out who we met!

After a number of hours on the road involving a few "interesting" adventures (including a "routine" pull over by the local authorities and a stalled van due to a dashboard that was smoldering) we arrived in Arua to be greeted by the Cassels. It is wonderful to see some members of our Grandview family in their African home. After visiting the church in which we will be working in the coming days, and taking a walking tour of the local market, we travelled to the Cassels' home where we met a woman named Pamela for tea ans snacks. She gave us a lesson in both language and cultural in addition to sharing some of her life story. She has led a life filled with struggles, but her joy and passion for Christ shone through as she spoke, and her words were a powerful testimony to the entire team. She was an outstanding teacher and the information and training she provided us with will be extremely useful in the coming days as we meet people in the community and deliver family kits.

It's hard to believe we've been here for 10 days already and will begin to travel back home to Canada at the end of the week. We look forward to seeing our Grandview friends and family again soon, but until then we will continue working on projects for, and building relationships with, the people of Uganda.

So, I know many of you have been waiting for the "big reveal" of which musician we met on our travels. If you guessed Amy Grant - you were right! For those who remain skeptical, both Steph and Monika had pictures taken with her so please feel free to check in with either of them for confirmation :)

A huge thank you to the Cassels for letting us use their computer and internet to update the blog. We hope this message finds all of you well and we're wishing each of you back home a wonderful start to the week!

Yours,

On behalf of the "Uganda - July 2009" team, Regan

Last Full Day In Jinja

Hi Everyone,

It's hard to beleive that it is already our last full day in Jinja. We've been working on many projects and it's been very exciting to see the excitement on the faces of all of those with whom we have come into contact. Yesterday the Canadians, wearing the amazing shirts bought by Dan and Ashley, played two intense soccer, more commonly called football in Uganda, games. While everyonegave 100%, it quickly became evident that a quick and easy win would not be in the cards. After losing 2-0 in our first game, we took part in a breakfast feeding. It's amazing what the woman do to prepare food for so many hungry mouths,. It was a blessing to serve the chidlren and talking with them over a meal after a great game. At the same time, the pen-pal program was underway at Pastor Robert's school and I was able to witness the impact that the writing program for 550 children was having on the lives of the students. We will be bringing letters home for the Canadian students, which will be very exciting!

That afternooon, after a "coaching" meeting (not to mention loading our team with Ugandan's and bringing in our own referee) we had a second footbal game, this time at Pator Robert's school. Thanks to the impressive goalie work of Brad Watson, and the stellar soccer skills of Monika, Dan, Steph, Ashley and Steve, we were able to win 1-0. The children had an great time cheering and everyone took part in a time of prayer afterwards - which was a blessing to us all. The evening was spent in fellowship with the pastors we have met thus far. Afterwards, Baby Justine came by the inn and we purchased additional items to help support the mother-care network she has created for women in Jinja.

There is more to tell, but unfortunately we must be off as there are many loose ends to tie up today. We will try to update when we can, but we are unsure of the e-mail situation in the coming days.

Thank you again for uyour coninued support.

Regan on behalf of The Uganda July 2009 Team

Busy Day

Greetings from Jinja!

The team has been in the sun for over 8 hours today so my apologies in advance for any typos you may encounter :)

Today was the first day we were delivering family kits to families in communities set in the jungles off of Wakisi Road. I think saying that it was a moving statement would be an understatement. In addition to the team delivering the kits to families, setting up mosquito nets and talking with the families, each of us had personal experiences that will have lasting impacts on our lives for years to come. Steph enjoyed singing with a woman, who sang at our church service on Sunday, while walking from house to house. Ashley and Monika led the children in a number of games - Duck Duck goose was a huge hit! I also enjoyed leading the children in a few songs/games - thanks to Steve for such enthusiastic participation (photos to come). Dan, Steve, Brad and I prayed for familes after we had set up the kits and all have commented about how powerful of an expereince it was - it truly is amazing to witness the impact that sharing a few of God's gifts had on the spiritual lives of those who were receiving items today.

Your continued prayers are very much appreciated. Everyone has commented on how this has already been a life changing opportunity and we want to extend our thanks to the Grandview family for all that you have done for us.

Off to put on some Aloe (everyone is looking a little tanned)!

Yours,
Regan (On behalf of the Uganda - July 2009 Team)

Exciting Projects

Hi Again!

Just a quick update for the Uganda team to share a few more of our experiences/projects. Yesterday morning the team attended 2 church services at Pastor Simon-Peter and Pastor Robert's churches. The worship music was lively and was great to hear the voices of Africans praising God. We saw a performance by the children's choir which was amazing! After that we spent the afternoon at Damali's "Sonrise" Baby House. She has nine beautiful children in her care and the team spent time with them during a feeding and going on a walk. Today, Monday, the team travelled to Pastor Robert's school where Dan and Steve joined the 550 students as they met up with other primary school's for a sports day. The rest of the team will be heading to Baby Justine's shortly and this evening we will attend a dedication ceremony back at "Sonrise"Baby House. It is an amazing country with extremely welcoming people. Thank you for reading this blog and please tell your friends and family how to access it for further updates.

Yours in Service,
The Uganda July 2009 Team

Bob's reflections from home

Yesterday afternoon I (Bob MacGregor) returned home having connected briefly with the rest of our team at gate 5 in the Nairobi airport. We basically switched planes and proceeded on our respective paths. Our cohort of African pastors met faithfully over the 3.5 days of learning together. Our study had to do with the "Heart Habits" of believers. We exhorted each other to cultivate personal, family, church and community habits that keep us focussed on the love of Christ. Pastor Campbell, John Cassells and I each took turns teaching and leading in animated discussions. The lead pastors were very grateful to receive Bibles in the local language of Luganda. These Bibles were donated by a member of the last team with excess funds raised. We were surprised to hear that two of our cohort members are establishing a second generation cohort in Rwanda. They are doing this at their own expence and with a great burden and sense of responsibility for their African brothers. We have set the third week of January 2010 as a tentative date for our next session. Our learning objective at that time will be to understand the basics of the gospel. The title of the booklet is "Becoming a Disciple" and is actually the first in the "First Principles Series".

We Have Arrived!

Hi Grandview Family and Friends,
The Uganda July 2009 team has arrived - and our luggage has too! We ran into Bob MacGregor in the airport in Kenya and also met up with Pastor Ian earlier today. We travelled from Entebee to Jinja this afternoon and we are just getting settled in the city. Not much else to report. Thanks for all of the words of encouragement prior to our leaving and for your continued prayers. Stay tuned for updates!!
-The Team

Who you're hearing from (and not)

Just to clarify things for those who might be under the impression that it's John Dinner who's posting all these blogs; it's not (except for this one). I (John Dinner) created this blog to share experiences of the January team. It (this blog) has now been adopted by the June/July team and so you're actually hearing from Ian Campbell, Bob MacGregor, Brad Watson and a host of other characters, but definitely not John Dinner (except this once!!). Wish I was there. Blessings to those who are there or on their way.

Here We Go

It has been great to hear from Ian on this blog about the theological training going on as the rest of the team prepares to head off today for Uganda. I am always a little anxious before heading out to Uganda, not least of which because of the two days of travel we are about to undergo, that always takes a toll on you.

We are excited to be heading to Jinja though to carry on exciting relationships and partnerships we have built there and to do more work in hand with the pastors and churches of Wakisi village. We will try to post back on here as soon as we can get to the internet in Uganda. Thanks for following along, we hope you will be blessed by reports of what God is doing here in Uganda and the role Grandview is playing in that. Blessings!

Brad and the July 2009 Uganda Team

Wakisi Pastors

Well, we are 2 days into our 2nd round of pastoral cohort training with 25 Wakisi pastors. This is a dynamic group of village church pastoral leaders who are highly motivated to learn Scripture and transferable discipleship concepts so that they may equip more of these largely untrained and forgotten brothers. We have had days full of animated discussion, laughter and serious stretching to learn and grow in Scripture. Pray for our last day together tomorrow for these pastors and for them as they leave with homework assignments to be completed before our next session in January 2010. I'm looking forward to a morning of connecting with the rest of the team on Saturday as I debrief with them and give them the results of our several consultations with the pastors as to the ways our team can be a blessing to them in the village of Wakisi. Thank God for growing, healthy relationships with these our brothers and sisters here at the "source of the Nile"!

Ian