We're Almost Home

Yes, we’re packing up getting ready to head to the Airport later today and then- it’s only 32 hours of airports and airplanes ‘til we touch down in our beloved San Antonio. It’s been so wonderful to be used by God. With people being saved every day it’s like we’ve been transported into the book of Acts when the church was in its infancy. Our team has been woven together through many unexpected twists and turns on this mission adventure and they have stepped up to each challenge and some have led their first person ever to Christ. This morning in our devotion we talked about how to bring the fire of evangelism home so please pray that our transformed team will bring transformation back to Castle Hills and be used mightily by God.

We have a special prayer request this morning that I share with a heavy heart. I have not said much regarding this up to now but Luzira Community Church is really at a critical juncture in their short history of three years. The church has done well and has had phenomenal growth especially in the last few months as Helen Schaper has arrived on the scene. The children’s ministry has grown from 65 children to 150 per week in that four month period. However, the church has also experienced some growing pains and controversy. This has been an unusually hard trip for me in that much of my time in the evenings has been spent meeting with the church staff and the elders to work through some of the problems. I have never spent even one evening away from a team on a mission trip and it’s been difficult but very helpful to spend this time with church leaders. We also invited the entire church leadership team to our guest house last evening for a leadership workshop with the focus on Jesus as a Leader. Please join us in praying specifically that the will of God will prevail for this situation.

We are so grateful for your prayers and support. Without you not one of the souls that came to Christ would have been headed for heaven today.

Fun in the Son Club on Steroids

I have been doing Fun in the Son Bible Clubs for over 20 years and we've done them in many places in the world but Luzira's Club set a new record today. Helen Schaper estimated from the exit gate count today that we had over 600 children in attendance. It was truly an amazing sight...a sea of beautiful little black faces (only children were allowed in the compound.)

The key, I believe, to taking the club to a new level was following the prompting of the Holy Spirit to take a group of strolling minstrels with a battery powered public address system through the slums singing and announcing the club which was about to begin. This is when I am the happiest- on the streets with the guitar singing songs about Jesus as kids fall in behind walking with us all the way to the club site. It just doesn't get any better than this.

It was so good to watch our missionaries in action and to see them pouring themselves out for these sweet sweet children. It was one of the only really hot days and as the sun beat down we did have a few team members that got light headed and had to take shelter under the tent. We forced each other to drink water regularly but it was not only hot but the task was monumental.

The days activities included our full praise team performance, three different lesson segments on the fruit of the Spirit, serving 600+ cups of porridge for breakfast, serving 600+ meals of rice and beans, 2 appearances by Bible Man, skits and crafts.

This activity definitely put Luzira Community Church on the map which is important since we are now in a new location that is not as well known in the area.

So many of the children that came today were saved in our school assemblies and it was good to spend time with them and encourage them as they take their first steps with God.

They were encouraged to invite their parents to our services tomorrow and we are praying for a great harvest. Please join us in praying to reach these families.

God bless,

Donnie

Shopping Galore!

Today was our fun day…a day to relax after several grueling days of performing in schools and doing street evangelism. We began by going the Bargain Market located adjacent some railroad tracks. It was similar to a flee market with multiple little shops consisting of approx 6 X 6 foot squares with the merchandize laid out on tarps and the merchants sitting on the ground. Most were under tents but many were not. All the merchandize was hand crafted. Some of the merchants were making their goods on the spot. Several had a small child (most about one year old) with them. All the children were amazingly well behaved.



Next we went to the African Village which was more upscale. These shops were all indoors but tightly packed. The prices were about 50 to 75 percent higher than the first market. After spending a couple of hours there we went to a nice restaurant called “Good African Coffee”, ate lunch, and just “chilled’ for a while. After that went to a really upscale store called the Banana Boat. It was very expensive but had some really nice stuff. By popular demand, we then went back to where we started at the Bargain Market for a couple more hours of shopping. Some of our team (the veterans) really knew how to shop and loaded up on bargains. The Girls out performed the guys with Katrina and Crystal topping the list followed closely behind by Beth. Stephen and Ryan were the top shoppers among the guys. By the end the day most of the team had “shopped until they dropped”.

No Spirit of Fear

There are few experiences as exhilarating as leading someone to Christ for the first time. Today one of our youngest team members overcame her shyness and fear and led two Muslims to Christ. As we were talking about it later Melissa Slayden related just how it felt to overcome a fear that had hindered her for years. She said, "it was really, really scary but I was able to do it anyway." Melissa is 16 and hearing her say that reminded me of the very first person I ever led to Christ at age 18. It is so encouraging to see our young people have such a heart for the lost to come to Christ.

Another student on our team is Ryan Ramirez who is 17. Ryan was on Kat's evangelism team and began the day feeling tentative about speaking up. Later as Kat was already sharing Christ with a 50 year old man, two ladies approached Ryan and he began to boldly share the gospel. Kat shared with us that as she was finishing her witnessing encounter she thought that Ryan was simply waiting on her to return to home base but was excited to see that he was actually praying with these ladies to receive Christ and His free gift of eternal life.

Tonight was reunion night with several of the young translators from previous trips coming to our guest house for dinner. When dinner was over they wanted to hear some of our new songs and we ended up all singing and praising God together in a time of anointed worship. It reminded me of the scene described in Revelation 7:9 in which people from every tribe, tongue and nation gather around the throne of God to worship Him together.

We are truly feeling your prayers. Thank you for clearing the way for our mission.

God Bless You,

Pastah Don

My heart is so full. I am rejoicing with God my Savior for what He has done today! What an amazing time I had during our prayerwalk and street evangelism. God works through us when we allow Him! I led two 16 year old girls to the Lord today, Gladys and Caroline. They walked up during the Gospel presentation as I shared the Helping Hand with an older gentleman. Though he did not wish to pray @ that moment, he pointed to the 2 girls and said, “Why don’t you ask them if they are interested”. I shared the Gospel with them with the help of my interpreter, Christine. At the end when I said, “Do you have any questions?” they said “we want to pray and put our trust in Jesus”. So I led them in a prayer of salvation. With big smiles they thanked me. I invited them to Luzira Church and went on to the next divine appointment. We approached 3 women gathered together—a Catholic, a Muslim, and a Christian. By God’s grace, we made it through the presentation despite many interruptions including cell phones ringing, music blasting, and a seemingly disinterested group (at times the women would turn away and began talking and laughing amongst themselves). Christine began to speak to them very passionately about Yesu Cristo (Jesus). She was preaching ! Alice perked up and listened intently. By the time I reached the end of the Gospel presentation, Alice wanted to pray to receive Christ! She thanked us profusely for talking with her. She smiled for the first time since we had been together. She wanted us to go and tell many others the Truth. Wow!!! We made several other visits and prayed with many people bringing their needs and concerns before the Lord. We made many new friends and many said they would come to church on Sunday. I pray they will. This has been a great day!

-Blanca

Today was another amazing day. I love the school presentations more than I can say. Personally, as a teacher, these schools and the precious students have touched my heart more deeply than I can express in words. I am constantly amazed at how little these schools have and yet how much the children are learning. These children value the gift of education so much-I know that our sponsorships are literally changing lives. After lunch, we ate fried chicken and chips at Ms. Helen’s, then rested a bit before hitting the streets. I have been praying that the Lord would use me and make me bold to share his grace and truth. I have had many opportunities this week to do just that, as everyone we meet says “You are welcome here” and wants to hear what we came to say. Today, the Lord opened the door for Jackson, my translator, and I to share with a young shopkeeper about God’s gift to her. She came to know Christ today, and I can’t help but thank the Lord for the boldness he gave me. I know this trip is nearing its end, with Fun in the Son and Sunday service closing our journey out, but I truly do not know how to leave these people behind. I have lost my heart…to Uganda.

–Laura

Wednesday!

Although today is Wednesday, I must share one fabulous story about our prayer walking/street evangelism from yesterday. In the photo above, is a man named Alex. Brenda and I, along with two Ugandans, James and Ruth, walked together yesterday. As this is my first trip to Africa, and my first street evangelizing I was quite apprehensive. So, here’s how it began…James told us we were approaching an area which practiced witchcraft. We walked down through sugar cane fields, where witchcraft rituals are common. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to take back the land and rid the land of the evil and darkness. The walk was long and downhill and we ended at the location you see pictured of a beautiful river with two boats. Brenda then witnessed to Alex, who had been approached by Jehovah’s Witnesses before, and was confused. Alex recommitted his life to Jesus and it was an amazing way to begin our afternoon.

Now, what happened today:
Wednesday, July 21…we began at Bright Angels Junior School



where we met many precious children. We shared a much shorter program of our songs and our dramatic reading of John 3:16 due to the very young age of most of the children. They danced with us and we were able to interact more with these children than the day before. They screamed and cheered when we presented them with pencils, sharpeners and a soccer ball for their class.
We then visited the Rock Hill School – I bet you can see where it got its name! Donnie did a fabulous job with the team with music and sharing the gospel, as usual. We weren’t able to interact with the children unfortunately.



After Rock Hill School, we returned to Helen’s for lunch (delicious pizza) and rest. Then, we went to Luzira Community Church and played some very fun games with our new Ugandan friends. You’ll need to ask us about the “I Never” game. It was quite fun, and thankfully, nobody was hurt. I will mention, I was humiliated when my new Ugandan friend Kristine, showed how she calms a crying baby by picking me up and carrying me over her shoulder. YIKES!
I suppose I should say it was…GASP…Aggie day. All of those who went to Texas A&M wore their Aggie shirts today. (I am mentioning it, even though I am a Longhorn.) It was quite painful ;-)



Finally, it was a VERRRRRY long ride back to Adonai this afternoon with many traffic stops. Unfortunately a few of our gang very desperately needed to use the “SUSU” (aka bathroom). As you can see by the photo below, Ryan was particularly uncomfortable with each and every bump! I believe his phrase was “waves of mercy…”
Well, it was a very full and fulfilling day. Looking forward to sharing more of God’s love tomorrow.
Debi Watson

A note from Donnie

The Wall!

Any short term missionary knows what I mean. It’s something you hit midway through an overseas trip when jet lag has left you but a dulling haze hits you as you finally get still. You find yourself nodding off with you head bobbing even sometimes bouncing off whatever’s close frightening you back into reality.

This is the time group leaders dread. It’s the zone when some groups begin to devour each other as tired spirits spew emotion with little provocation.

But, I am so grateful that our group has not succumbed to this deadly disease. They have worked so hard and stayed on task without grumbling or snapping at each other.

This is a "Clevers" Title for a Blog

Oliotia? Or, "How are you?" in English. What an amazing day for school assemblies, prayer walking, and street evangelism. We left Adonai around 7:30 this morning and were a little late to our first assembly. We're on Uganda time, though, so it wasn't a problem at all. We pulled up to Clevers' Origin - with a school motto of "Mean What You're" - and had a blast with the 1234 kids. That's right, almost 1300 kids were all worshiping with us and being attentive listeners when it came time for a message and skits. Donnie did an amazing job preaching throughout our worship and we ended the program with two skits: an explanation of John 3:16 and clowns! We got to go through our previously rehearsed skit describing our favorite verse with the trusty translations of Pastor Enoch. Then the kids had a chance to laugh while the clowns performed. Everyone did such an amazing job and we believe that many children were saved by the end! We did the same program at one more school and even had the time to take a picture in the middle of all of the kids. The coolest part had to be when the kids remembered a song that we taught them in a previous year. Some of you may know it: "It's a Great Day." We had all of the kids "Walkin' in the light of God's love." After the assembly, we were able to take a group picture with a bunch of kids around us. It was so sweet spending time with those kids and watching God do some amazing things with our little time at those schools.






We stopped at the Schapster's condo to eat our delicious lunch - sandwiches, Pringles, and pineapple - and had a chance to take our shoes off and rest a bit. We promise that we were completely prepared to "rough" it the entire trip, but it is definitely nice to be able to plop down on a leather couch and feel the breeze from Lake Victoria off the balcony. Helen has been such a blessing to us this entire trip and we are so excited to spend more time with her.



The afternoon was full of prayer walking and street evangelism. We got a chance to get to know our new translators from Luzira Community Church (our past translators are members of Gaba Community Church) and use them in our time with the community. One team prayed over an area where witch craft is being practiced, another team prayed over a street where crime is prevalent, and other teams prayed over other various things in the community. It is definitely apparent that Satan is working all around, but God's light is beginning to show through and transform peoples' lives everyday. Praise the Lord for what He is doing and that we get to be a part of it in this time. Street evangelism was a truly amazing experience that some of us had never experienced before. God equipped us with so much strength, though, and even the naturally timid team members were stepping up and talking to different people. Some lives were saved and even more said that they would join us at church on Sunday. We hope to see more children at Fun in the Son Club on Saturday also! All-in-all it was absolutely eye-opening to talk to random people and share the gospel. We can't wait to do it more this week!

So what's to come? School assemblies again tomorrow morning, more prayer walking and street evangelism, preparing for Fun in the Son, and even preparing Sunday lessons. We thank you all for your prayers and encouragement and can't wait to see what God has in store for us the next few days.

Your sister in Christ,

Kate Emery

Wind of the Spirit

Notable Facts:

Today we had the most amazing day of ministry.

We ministered in the women's prison and went to the Loving Hearts baby home.

Keep these facts in mind as you read these touching blog entries from team members:

1) The beautiful african lady who translated for us today and led the ladies in singing praises before we ministered is herself a convicted murderer who is on death row. She was saved in prison.

2) Most of the babies in the Loving Hearts home are babies that were abandoned at birth in public places, a practice that is quite common in this third world country.


I received some instruction about the “filling of the Spirit”…being like a wind that fills the sails on a boat this past spring. When you are filled, your sails are working and moving the boat smoothly, efficiently, but when the sails are not catching the wind, the boat just floats adrift. Since then, literally the wind of the Spirit has been very apparent to me…..like today. Sitting with 5 women prisoners who are imprisoned with HIV…..as I began to sit myself onto the mat on the ground under the trees, the wind picked up, the leaves began to rustle, and I got goose bumps on my arms. Their eyes will never leave my picture memory. Their openness to share their hearts will always change my heart. Only by God’s presence and the coveted prayers by hundreds of Team Uganda members praying for us did a miracle occur….these dejected, depressed, downtrodden women opened their hearts to us and we opened God’s heart back to them. Many women prayed to receive Jesus, many women gave an awesome testimony of how God had worked a miracle in their lives already while in prison….their repeated prayer was that they would not die in prison so they would have the chance to have reconciliation with their families and give a testimony of Jesus to their loved ones before they die. So much more, but I am in a tear storm now so will share more when we return…God Bless.

-Diane Elrod

Second verse: Long before we came, I felt so strongly that, in some way, God would allow me the opportunity to minister physically to someone abandoned by their family due to AIDS. Today, that became the integral part of the tremendous witness time we had with some of the inmates at the Federal Women’s prison. First, we were blessed by the guards saying, “Bless you”, and seeing spiritual posters in the guard shack. The female head guard called the group to order with a Christian greeting, and they responded with same. Compare that to our country! As we stood to present our program, this brisk wind began to blow over us all- a sign of what was coming. Their enthusiastic singing and drumming to both their and our songs made for a great experience in worship. We presented John 3:16, and Donnie preached on the meaning. Many raised their hands to ask for salvation. THEN, the ministry really began. The group of ladies was divided into pregnant and new mothers in one group and the “clients” (HIV/AIDS) in another. Many of the second group have been abandoned by their families and friends. As Donnie divided our team, all those who felt really led to work with the client group were all in the right place! It was so wonderful to minister and pray, even with an interpreter, with 7 ladies, one of whom prayed to accept Christ before we left the group time. Two of the three condemned women in the client group were with me. What a privilege to talk with them about the difference in dying with HIV or LIVING with HIV, dying with sin or LIVING with Christ, and that our eternal lives started here, and would be enriched in heaven. And, there, we would all be whole, instead of just having our sin covered by the blood of Christ. As we prayed, there was a lot of love shared, as well as tears, and for once, God made my tears brief. God will have to be very creative to give us an experience that will show more of His Love and Power in the lives of His children than what we experienced today.

–Barbara Wright




Loving Hearts

Today was full of new things for Team Uganda. First, as mentioned above, we had the opportunity to go to the women's prison. Second, we were able to spend time holding precious babies that were up for adoption at the Loving Hearts Baby Home. We got the grand tour of the facilities and then we were let loose in the playroom to hold and play with these babies that ranged from one month to about 2 years old. Immediately we wrapped each baby in our arms and loved on them for a good hour or so. Oh my goodness it was so fun! My favorite was this baby boy named Aidan. He was probably one of the biggest babies I've ever seen because he had to have weighed at least 30 lbs. I had just finished holding this sweet baby girl and Stephen had just put Aidan down on this little toy truck. Aidan rode around on this truck and headed straight to me. He stopped in front of me, grabbed my dress and raised his arms for me to pick him up. How could I resist that? So I held him and loved on him for a while until my arms were literally about to give out because he was so heavy so I passed him on. Another favorite was this little boy named Peter who was a cell phone talker already! He held a cell phone in his hand and pretended to talk and text the whole time we were there. He definitely had a mind of his own. I know for a fact several people on the team fell in love and would have taken one of these babies home if they could including me. It was definitely hard to leave but I loved watching the team play with these babies and I loved watching the babies enjoy the love we were giving.

-Crystal

WOW!!

What a privilege to be in the house of the Lord today! I was thrilled and blessed to watch the Luzira believers’ worship. Their joy is so infectious-they sing and dance and praise with all their might. Even a downpour didn’t dampen their spirits. Everyone just crowded in a little tighter and kept on going!
The children are so loving and precious. Driving up, they begin yelling “Mzungu!” and crowd around you immediately. They all want you to hold them and hug on them constantly. They love to sing Sunday School songs. I am amazed at how quickly they learn not only the motions, but the words, to the songs we have begun teaching them. As we left today, three children ran alongside the bus for quite a ways-it was so sweet to see how excited they are to have Mzungu visit!
Yesterday, when they were told they would be receiving a treat sent by their sponsor family, the children erupted into applause. They sat patiently, as patiently as little ones can, while each child was called to get their gift bag. They had been told that once they had their gift, they were not to open their bags until they got home, and so they sat clutching those bags waiting for their relatives to come take them home. It was a real treat for them to receive new clothes, toothbrushes, and even some toys. Many of the children showed up for church in some of their new clothes!
Praise the Lord for his loving kindness!
In His service, Laura





We have an awesome team. That is all there is to it. I was so amazed to see our team in leadership all over the grounds of the church compound today. Watching one group coral children, another teaching the adult women's class, our men multiplying disciples as they sat in a circle with the men of the church, and all hands on deck to serve the piping hot porridge to children in this slum who otherwise would have gone hungry today. We also did songs with over 100 children crammed into a room smaller than our grace kitchen and I was blessed to preach both services and lead worship with a team headed up by Crystal Gulley and Stephen Hokenson. And, the Lord rained down both spiritual blessings and much needed rain as we sat and worshiped in the little tent. It was quite the site to see all the children scatter when the sky opened holding their plastic chairs over their head as they made a run for their little room. They had been seated outside because the two tents that had been joined together were completely filled by the adults alone. PLEASE PRAY FOR LUZIRA COMMUNITY CHURCH TO HAVE THEIR OWN LAND AND A BUILDING. After supper last evening our team sat around prayerfully brainstorming as to how we could see God do a miracle and send a team from Castle Hills to pour a slab and raise a building within the next year. IF ONLY WE HAD A PIECE OF LAND. Please join us in praying for this miracle...please let this mental image of these beautiful black orphans running for cover with plastic chairs for umbrellas serve as a reminder of how great the need is here.

It's on to our next assignment,the Prison tomorrow. The largest prison in the country of Uganda is located in Luzira and tomorrow we go to share the gospel with not only the hardened criminals but with ladies who are pregnant and some who actually have their children living in prison with them. Cover us as you have already and I know God will move mightily. (Col 1:29)

Thanks for being on Team Uganda 2010

Donnie

Celebration for Sponsored Children

Approximately 160 of the 180 Children sponsored by CHFBC came together today at Luzira Community Church to receive gifts packed by our church with great creativity and lots of love. Last year when we were here these kids were on the other side of the fence...looking in...wishing they would have a chance to have a nice uniform and warm meals on a regular basis and the chance to learn. I must have asked at least 50 children today if they liked school and every single one responded with a big smile and a grateful statement about how wonderful it is. For a few moments there I tried to picture myself asking any 50 children in the states that same question.

And even as we were laughing and meeting our kids and watching them eat a warm meal of beef and beans and rice, there were other kids hanging on the fence outside the church compound. Our church currently meets in the very middle of a slum and so the chances of these children receiving an education apart from our continuing to adopt them out to families in our area is slim to none.

It was so awesome to watch our team members when they saw their sponsored child for the first time. I will not forget my first hug today from Joshua the little boy our family is sponsoring. It was so fun to hold him and play with him and explain how that in his gift bag were letters to him from my three "other" sons.

The amazing thing was that after the long arduous task of calling out each name several times and locating the kids that hours into this ordeal they were still sitting quietly with their gift bags in hand and THEY HAD NOT OPENED THEM! That's right- they sat with their gifts and admired what they could see through the clear freezer bags but I did not see a single child disobey their teachers instructions to only open their bag at home.

We cried tonight as we sat around the table at dinner and thought about the day and about all the opportunities and challenges that we face and mostly about what God is already doing to each of our own hearts.

It looks like God is going to keep a promise he made to me when I became Missions Pastor several years ago and started planning trips like this one: "You will never bring home the same people you take overseas!"

Here Safe & Sound

We were so excited when our feet finally touched African soil that I almost kissed the ground! But, for you health conscious types I do want you to know that I refrained.
We are settled in our beautiful guest house Adonai 1 arriving in the wee hours of this morning. It is a very secure compound with a 24 hour armed guard in a safe area that has had no problems with unrest or crime in general.
It is so modern and ornate that we almost forgot we were in Africa…until they told us that a main water line had broken and that after 24 hours of traveling that the showers were not working.
I was so proud of our team. It was hard news to hear but I did not hear one negative comment. Our devotion this morning was from 1 Thessalonians 5 which contains my second favorite “two word verse” in the Bible; “Rejoice always”. (second only to “Jesus wept”.”
We have been like bees this morning buzzing around unpacking the 18 foot lockers filled with bibles, and arts and crafts and the gifts that each of you so lovingly packed for the kids of Luzira who have been sponsored by our church.
Kat and Brenda and Beth are leading the way in getting all of this organized for our celebration this afternoon where we will get to personally give a gift to every sponsored child.
Without you, this could not happen and we promise to give a hug in your name to every child as well.
Thank you for sending us and praying for us moment by moment.
God Bless,
Donnie
p.s. Oh yes…I almost forgot to tell you that the very first person we met at the airport was a police officer named Joseph. He was so friendly and asked Stephen and I if we might have a bible he could have. We shared Jesus with him and he prayed to receive Christ right there in front of the security station. Praise the Lord…He has already been at work with several of our team sharing Christ on the airplane.

We're On the Way!

What a sendoff! It's always such a blessing to have so many people get up soooo early to come and pray for us as we leave on a mission adventure. Special thanks to all of you who came. Pastor read Psalm 91 over us and it has become a blanket of grace for our group.

We are about to board a flight to Chicago then it's on to London...Nairobi...and finally on to Entebbe.

Pray for travel safety.

God bless,

Donnie