God's Faithfulness

Monday, March 09

Today’s blog has nothing to do with me directly, but it is a testimony to the unity in the Body of Christ. Brent a past GSM volunteer and friend, made a quick stop in here on his return flight from Ethiopia. He had met a young man named Paul from Missouri who was volunteering in Kampala. Brent told him about Bringing Hope to the Family. Paul talked to the director of the organization that he was working with and decided to come check it out.

The short story is that in about 5 days time we had 14 construction workers from a vocational school in Kampala asking, “How can we serve you best?” Scott, the director of the vocational school has a true servant’s heart and desires to see the body of Christ serving each other. He asked his crew if they would come and work for free. They agreed, and now 3 or 4 rooms in the old orphanage have plastered walls. What a blessing!

To back fill this story, on Monday of last week Faith told the staff that they needed to spend more time seeking the Lord and believing Him to provide. One week later, smooth walls! Also, Scott desires to come back sometime in the not too distant future to put in a metal front door and two front windows in the orphanage. God is amazing and so is His body!

The Kids at Home Again with Brent and Paul.

Be encouraged and be blessed,

Chris

Bad Water & Mosquitos

Friday, Feb 27

So today was another chapter in the adventures of three men on a motorcycle. I wasn’t planning on writing about it again, but the situation presents writable material.

We head out further into the Kyongera village than we did last week. I was able to look at two of the local water supplies. The first one (the photo with the kids getting water) was in really bad shape, with all sorts of goodies living in it, but it was at least flowing. Later today I went to see another source of water and it was terrible. (that would be the completely green water photo) That water didn’t appear to be moving at all, but it has to have some source.

The reason I went to see these water supplies are that they can and probably are breeding places for mosquitoes. We also need to know what areas have the most need for future wells.

We finished our initial visits to the homes today. We have given them two weeks to make any repairs necessary to their homes. (Fill in cracks and holes in their walls and floors, as well as make any needed beds) These families are so grateful that someone would think about them and their needs. We received 6 eggs, a bunch of bananas, a large bag of mangos and a sack full of sugarcane. But, I will explain that ride in a minute.

In case anyone was wondering why we needed a driver for the bike it is because this has to be the worst bike I has ever tried to ride. It has to have just the right touch, which I obviously have not figured out at this point. And more about this special bike, about an hour and a half into our travels the clutch line to the motorcycle snapped. Moses was trying to drive it without a clutch basically just trying to jam it in to the next gear as needed. It wasn’t working out so well. So, for about 30 minutes we attempted to get the line tight enough. We couldn’t. Moses banged the gears all the way back home to fix it. Baptist and I went out on foot. An hour and a half later Moses was back with a fixed clutch line. We ended up so many gifts that we left Baptist at his house in the Kyongera village. I sat on top of a bag of Sugarcane on the back seat while Moses drove. I received many strange looks from people on the trails, which is odd because I’m sure most of them have done something on a motorcycle far crazier than this.

Over the last 2 weeks I’ve gone along to drop 8 kids off for senior high school. The village here has a primary school (elementary, which is P1-P7), and a secondary school (high school, S1-S4), but they do not have a senior 5-7. (which is an advanced high school) So, they are forced to send the students to boarding schools. It was such a neat experience, the kids were so excited. It was kind of funny, because they were trying to act serious and not look too excited. I’m not sure exactly why.

On another note I added some new photos of the house. After five and a half weeks here I am excited about the idea of trading my bucket and a hole in the ground for our fancy new bathroom.





Be blessed,

Chris

Loving Africa

Today was one of those days where you realize you are in Africa and you're loving it. We made our first visit out to see the families and their homes for the Mosquito Net Distribution Project. Three grown men riding one motorcycle half an hour away down soupy mud trails. Good times to be had. To my surprise I had actually been here before.The village is called Kyongera. (pronounced Chyongera) The first house we arrived at was one that I visited on my first trip to Uganda. For those of us on that trip we refer to this house as the "Happy Door." The picture is self explanatory. This home actually belongs to a lady named Mary, who is called by everyone who knows of her "Man Power." She is such a hard working lady that everyone couldn't help but recognize it. She's a sweet older lady, who when she saw us coming proceeded to take us to each house on our list of the day. I've added photo's of a few of the homes. I think they speak for themselves. Most of them are the equivalent of a 20'x20' house. The majority of the houses have around 5-6 people living in them. It is customary here for the host to offer some sort of food to all guests who invitedly or uninvitedly show up at their home. So we left the village today with 29 eggs (amahuli), 4 stalks of sugar cane(ekikaka), and half a dozen large mango's, I can't recall what they are called right now. But, yes if you recall we are 3 grown men on 1 motorcycle, now equipped with enough food to feed an army. I wish I could of taken a photo of this sight. Moses, our driver, is a little bigger than me. He is sitting on the gas tank wearing my backpack full of eggs on his chest. I'm sitting in the drivers seat with my legs pushed back on the passenger foot pegs so as to not get in Moses' way of the gears. Baptist, pronounced Bopteest, is squished right behind me with his legs flailing everywhere. Baptist is about 6'2"I'd guess. And yes, right behind him is a sack full of chopped up sugarcane and mango's barrelling down a mud trail for half an hour. I am pleased to say that only 2 eggs were broken. What a day! Now last time I wrote about having to inform people that they were HIV positive. After talking to the nurse at the clinic she decided that she, with a counselor, would be the one to inform them. I must admit I was quite relieved. We on the other had, had the privilege of telling everyone whose results were negative. So we enjoyed many hallelujahs and small dance session!

Be blessed,

Chris

Mosquito Nets

Hello from Kampala,I will be in Kampala for the next few days. We have a volunteer leaving on Wednesday, so I will be here to see her off. While I am here I will be pricing many items for the house. I spoke with the contractor earlier this week. He plans to be done with the inside of the house by the end of the month. So, I should be painting by the first week of March. This past Thursday was a monumental day for Kaihura. We all received our power poles!!!! Now, I am not sure what that means exactly, when it comes to a time table for power, but it is a great step in the right direction. This past Tuesday, I with the help of some of the Bringing Hope staff began a mosquito net distribution program. We had 21 families from a nearby village come to the clinic to begin the project. This village was chosen because they do not have a well yet, so they are getting their water from some sort of surface water, which is probably a breeding place for mosquitoes. We had a questionnaire that we filled out on each of the families. We also had about half the families tested for malaria, typhoid and HIV. The rest of the families will be tested this week. On Thursday we will be visiting the village, looking at the conditions of their houses and beds, as well as looking at their source of water. This has turned into a fantastic project, because each family’s home will receive some much needed repair. The encouragement of mosquito nets and blankets for every bed in their homes in enough motivation to get their houses in order, which will help prevent their homes from being breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Now, this project is going to be a blessing for many homes, but with it comes the need for God’s guidance and wisdom. Out of about 15 people that were tested for HIV two of them were positive. And, next week when we go to their village we have to inform these people of this. This is new territory for me. So please pray for God’s direction for us as we head out there on Thursday. On Monday, the week before last, we had a party in honor of Faith. Here in Uganda they celebrate Hero’s Day, which is actually in June. But, for some reason some of the staff decided to have it in February, something tells me we will probably celebrate it in June as well. Either way, it was a good time. Hero’s Day, if I understand it correctly is similar to our President’s Day. But, I guess when it comes down to it you can honor whoever you want whenever you want. At this point I would like to thank everyone again for your love, prayers, support and concern. You are a blessing to us. Thank you for standing with us as we serve the people of Uganda.

Be Blessed,

Chris

Burial

I went to a funeral/burial today. It was an odd experience. The man who died left behing a wife and six kids under the age of 18. Which unless their extended family is able and willing to step up high scool and college is all but out of reach for these kids. The sad thing is this isn't an uncommon story here. What was odd for me is that outside of the mans immediate family and his mother I didn't see any cry or even overly upset. Which I fear is do to a culture that is a too familiar with death. Now, I didn't know the man, so I don't know what kind of man he was, and most of what was said there was lost in translation. I do have to wonder how many funerals I will have to attend while I am here. Please understand I am not saying this for my sake, but for the sake of the hurting and the ones who would become financially destitute in a day. I don't write this to depress anyone, but to share with you the realities of life in Uganda.

Be blessed,

Chris

Game Day!

Today we hosted a game day with the kids from around the village. About 150 kids showed up for the event. Armed with our trusty translator Andrew, we attemptted to entertain. The event turned out great. We passed out candy, balloons, painted faces, and blew bubbles. We decided to try to teach the children a few games. After translation Red Light Green Light became Arm Up Arm Down. The Hokey Pokey became do what the crazy Muzungu's (white people) are doing. My personal favorite was Duck, Duck, Goose which became Ente, Ente, Enkoko (cow, cow, chicken). The girls running in the photo were playing ente, ente, enkoko.

Mud Oven

Hello from Kaihura. I finally have the opportunity to write about what I have been doing over the last ten days. First off I would like to share with you a little about my experience here. Uganda is as beautiful as I remembered it to be. It seems it is so easy to appreciate God's craftsmanship here. There is a hill I can see from my house. I have climbed it twice since being here. I sat on top of it for about half an hour both times. First to catch my breath, but also to just enjoy God's creation. This hill is centrally located in this area. It is surrounded by valley's and in the distance I can see other villages and hills. It truly is an awesome sight. Another bit of God's handiwork I am enjoying are the stars. Without the conveniences of electricity you can really appreciate this overwhelming sight. I don't know any constellations, but it is still a great view.

Today we built an oven for Home Again's (Bringing Hope to the Families orphanage) outdoor kitchen. The one they were using was in terrible condition. I have to admit I felt like an Israelite back in Genesis while doing this project. We collected straw, tore down a termite hill for clay, and carried buckets of water and sacks of bricks to our location. Then to add to the adventure, we mixed the mud, water and straw with our feet to make the mortar. The end result was a fantastic new wood burning oven for Home Again. This is a major blessing for them, because Home Again is currently home to about 50 children.

Chris

From Kaihura

(this picture was taken at the Detroit Airport)

Greetings from Kaihura! I have been in the village for 3 days now. It is just as beautiful as I remembered. It is great being back, but it will be far more complete when Katie and the boys get here. We have hit the groung running. Yesterday we built an outdoor oven for the orphanage. The house is coming right along. The roof is being plastered this week. The windows are being put in as well. I purchased a bath tub, hand washing basin (bathroom sink), toilet sitter (self explainitory), kitchen sink, and the conduit for electricity! I assisted in the mapping out of indoor plumbing today as well. That was an interesting time, 2 Ugandans and a muzungu (white person) debating the finer points of gravity.

Be blessed,

Chris