Life in Uganda

We travelled a great deal while in Uganda and saw quite a bit of the country.  We thought that you would enjoy seeing some of the things we saw along the road on our travels.

The team in the Yesu Akwagala Van on the way to Crusade.  Vans were our normal mode of transportation here.  Riding in any vehichle here is usually referred to as a “Ugandan Massage”.

There are several modes of transportation in Uganda -  Private Vehiclies, Taxis, Boda-Boda/Bicycle, or walking.  We saw alot of each as we travelled the country.

 Taxis - vans with blue checkered borders – are used to transport people and their purchases – sometimes on the top!  Popular missionary game is “How many people are in the Taxi”  We saw  16 in an 11 passenger van, and that is a casket on top of this one.

They also ride and carry items on the Boda-Boda.  From seeing these on the roads,  not sure I would want to ride on one – and yes – That is a mattress.  The driver is in front of it!

If you need a ride, you can call a Boda-Boda as this lady did at the Crusade.

    

Bicycles are used the same as a Boda-Boda, except when they re carrying something, then the rider walks.  This one has a bag of charcoal, which is the main fuel used for cooking.

Or they walk.  This girl is carrying a jerry can of water.

 

 

 

 

 Electricity is not always available in Uganda, and when it is, there can be random blackouts as any time.  This young man is hand cranking the gasoline pump as there was no electricity.

 

 

 

 

 

Markets and shops line the streets in the villages and cities.  This is where most Ugandans will do their shoping, although there are modern malls and shopping centers for the Mzungu (White Person)

 

And the countryside is awesome…

 

                         

With this final glimpse of life in Africa, we say Good Bye to Uganda and it’s people.  We hope to return soon.   

Good-Bye

Yesu Akwagala

Jesus Loves You

Bethany House

The Uganda Missions team arrived back in Columbus on August 21st and want to share our final day, which was spent at Bethany House – a home for abandoned babies and orphaned babies. 

Right now only the first floor of the house are finished.  A second floor is under construction with bedrooms on the outside walls and an atrium in the center, with skylights to provide light during the random blackouts, that will be the playroom. When complete, the home will be able to house 50 babies up to age 4.  After they reach 4, they are then sent to the orphange and school in Kyamulibwa.

Right now there are 8 Babies at Bethany House. 

On the couch – Johnny,  Derrick, Peter, Becky and Michael.  In the baby seat is Jonah.  Not pictured are Hope and Mathew.  

There are not words to describe the feelings we have for these children who have already enduresd so much in their young lives.  The team spent the morning and afternoon playing with and reading to the babies, holding them and just loving them to pieces.   Holly was able to meet and play with the babies before she had yo return to the US. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

  Jan and Becky, with Becky’s favorite book.  She was on her first day of potty training and we celebrated with her several times during the day.

   Mathew is being adopted and spends alot of his time with the couple adopting him.  He is at Bethany house during the day.  He likes to reach for the camera!

 Playing with the babies – from left - Lynn, Derrick, Johnny, Jan, Becky, Mathew and Rita.  Rita is one of the on-site missionaries and she spends alot of her time at Bethany House playing with the babies and helping the house staff with their care. 

  Hope and her new denim hat – She really liked the hat.  She was not feeling well in the afternoon and did not want to join the group picture.

  Peter had a portion of his kidney removed last week and is just back from the hospital. He is doing well after his surgery. 

  Michael liked to swing himself in his chair while eating his porridge.  He is a very active little boy.

  Derrick with Phil.  Derrick is a quiet boy who was happy to sit and entertain himself.

  Lynn with Mathew and Becky, reading a book.

  Johnny is a happy little boy.  He came to Bethany House mal-nourished and sick, but is now a very healthy little boy.  He loved the flash of the camera.

  Dayna and little Jonah.  Jonah was being raised by his grandmother who could only afford to feed him tea.  He weighed 3 pounds when he came to Bethany House and is now at 7 1/2 pounds and doing well.

Prison Ministry

This post is delayed because we keep haveing power failures and lose the internet.  Even if the power comes right back on,  it takes 10 minutes for the internet connection to come back.   We are grateful, though, that the Guest House does have wireless.

On Wednesday we went with Pastor Mike to two prisons in central Uganda.  We had to leave the guest house early in order to get to the Nyiimba prison before the prisoners went off to work in the fields.  We left about 5:00 and arrived at the prison just before sunrise at 7:30.  The group going to the prisons consisted of Dayna, Lynn and Jan, Pastor Mike, James and Sylvia, who are students at the Bible College and assist with the prison ministry, a nurse to provide medical attention to the prisoners, and Ben, the driver.  Phil was not feeling well so he stayed back at the guest house (but he is OK now).  James also acted as our interpretter, translating our English into Bugandan, which most of the men speak.

At the Nyiimba prison the prisoners were assembled on the porch of the cell block buiding  and began singing as we came into the courtyard.  We were able to talk to about 80 men in the prison.  The second prision we visited was the Butuntumula prison.  Most of the men were already lined up to go out on work detail when we arrived so we passed out bread and booklets to these men before they left for the day.  We had picked up some packets of biscuits in a town on the way to the prison that we also passed out.  We then went inside to the men and women who were not going out on work detail.  There were about 60 men and 5 women, one with her baby, that we worshipped with and spoke to.   The nurse also saw about 25 people at each prison, including the Mama and her baby, and provided medicine to the warden to give to the men.

Nyiimba Prison

Team Outside Butuntumula Prison

Dayna, Lynn and Jan each gave a brief testimony before sermons by James and Pastor Mike and altar call offered by Pastor Mike.  Pastor Mike’s message to the men and women was about Psalm 126.   James spoke on several bible selections, including John 14:6.

Sixteen of the men at Nyiimba and 4  at Butuntumula accepted Jesus and many more reaffirmed their faith.  There was an older man at the second prison who had what appeared to have high blood pressure and was treated by the nurse was one of the men accepting Jesus.   Afterwards, the men lined up in rows and we passed out bread and soap to the men and provided booklets in English and Bugandan (the local  language) to the men depending on which language they could read.  Men at Butuntumula also got buiscuits as well. 

James and gifts purchased for the prisoners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Butuntumula Prison (only photo we could take inside)

 

Mpigi Worship Center

The Mpigi Worship Center is located on a hill overlooking the valley and town of Mpigi. 

The land was formerly a location for the local witch doctors to come and perform rituals with the spirits. The witch doctors are opposed to bringing the church to ‘their’  hill in Mpigi and have been trying to discourage the people from coming to the church.  No one wants to live on the hill because of the presence of these spirits so land was inexpensive and about an acre of land was purchased by WOMF to establish this church.

The Pastor of the new church, Pastor David Samanda, is a graduate of the Yesu Akwagala  Bible College in Sseguku.  After his graduation, Pastor David felt a calling to bring the Word of God to Mpigi and has been working in Mpigi to establish the church.  He has been working with the children and visiting homes in the area.  The week-long crusade and medical mission, both sponsored by GCUMC, helped let people know that the church was there.  Pastors were available to talk with people at the medical clinic and in sessions held inside the church during the day.  Pastor David spent a lot of time with the people and children.  As they say here in Uganda – Pastor David is a good man.

Each evening, the crusade Praise Team lead singing and praying on the hillside.   One evening, the people shouted for the spirits that were living on the hill to leave and that the hill was now belonged to the Christians and to God.  Each evening there was a message presented by one of the Pastors and an altar call.  Many people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior during these times. 

The last night of the crusade, one of the highlights was Holly singing “Mighty to Save”.  Enoch, one of our drivers, said “it is almost as if she has the voice of and angel”.  We tend to agree with him. 

Holly singing "Mighty to Save" at the Mpigi Crusade

 Pastor Papa Ron Devore introduced Pastor Dan Hammer, from Seattle, Washington, who gave the sermon on John 4 – The women at the well.   (Note – Holly had read this in her morning devotions the same day)  He made a powerful alter call and more than 50 people responded to the call.  After all of the pastors and missionaries present laid hands on and prayed over them, their names were recorded so that Pastor David can maintain contact with eveyone who accepted the Lord during the crusade – estimated to be over 100 people. 

Final highlight ws the dedication of the Mpigi Worship Center and the official ordination of Pastor David.  We were not able to be there, but we undertand that it was a very moving and inspiring service.  Future plans for Mpigi include the construction of a worship center, a children’s worship center and a medical clinic.

Pastor Steve Mayanja, Pastor David Ssamanda and Pastor Ron DeVore at Pastor Dave's ordination at Mpigi Worship Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Update

The crusade and medical missions were a total success!  We were truly blessed to be a part of this mission in bringing the Word of God to the people of Mpigi.  The medical mission saw over 700 people needing medical care and medicine and over 50 people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior during the last night of the crusade.  A church has been planted on a hillside over looking Mpigi and will be dedicated on Sunday, August 14th.  Pastor Dave, who has been working hard to bringing Jesus to this community, will be officially ordained on Sunday also.  Please pray for Pastor Dave and the Mpigi Worship Center as they begin their journey with God.  The GCUMC church family should be proud of their role in helping to form a new church family in Mpigi by bringing people together with the medical mission and crusade.

We are taking a few days of R&R and will give you a more detailed update soon.

Medical Mission/Crusade

The whole team is having a great time learning about the Ugandan culture. Yesterday, we began helping with the medical mission in the village of Mpigi. (pronounced mmmmmpeejee) There is a new church starting here and next to it is a small brick building  for the medical mission. In this small building, people are given a post-it note with a number on it, which they gave to one of us so we could take their blood pressure and temperature. Many of the kids cried and screamed as we took their temperature underneath their arm. It was very difficult to describe how to put the thermometer in their mouth with the language barrier. We wrote their blood pressure/temperature on their post-it note, then they waited to see the doctor. Dayna spent most of the day taking blood pressure readings and was surprised by all the higher numbers.  There were so many people seeking medical attention, that most waited for over an hour. The doctors recommended medicine on another sheet of paper, and the people take this recommendation to where Jan and I (Holly) sorted out pills into baggies. The Ugandans receive all of this medical care and medicine for free, which was paid for out of the GCUMC missions committee budget. We were so excited to give out medications for ear infections, flu, cough, stomach aches, multivitamins, and beyond! A few of the Ugandans spoke broken English and told us they appreciated us being here, they had been praying for us and “God Bless You”.

During the day, we also passed out soccer balls, frisbees, bubbles and marbles to the kids around the medical building. The kids were fascinated to play with us. They also really like it when we take their pictures, because they have never seen a picture of themselves. Phil ran around with boys playing soccer and about got run over by them on a big hill. I think he realized he was a little older than the boys! Holly taught a lot of the girls how to throw a frisbee and Jan blew bubbles for the kids to chase around; the kids really enjoyed the fun! They are fascinated with white people because most of the young ones have never seen mzungu (white people) before; they point at us and say “mzungu!” while waving wildly.

Yesterday evening, we experienced our first crusade. This consisted of about 2 hours of singing and dancing outside on the hill. The people were very energetic and got us moving and singing along with them. There were about 10 people on stage who all had an opportunity to sing while another echoed and the rest danced. It was completely continuous; the music NEVER stopped. After 2 hours, the sermon started. The pastor preached in Ugandan while another woman translated on stage for us. This went on well into the night. There were lots of “HALLELUJAH”s and “AMEN”s!

Our time here the past two days has been full of energy and life with the Ugandan people. We are all completely exhausted at the end of the day as we come home to eat and sleep. Between the medical mission and crusade, we also had the chance to visit the equator yesterday. Around the equator, we also bought some authentic African drums, purses, and other little souvenirs. As you can see, we have done quite a bit in just our few short days here. Look for more exciting things this week!

Welcome to Uganda

Over the past two days Dayna, Phil, Lynn, Jan and I (Holly) have traveled from Columbus to Chicago to London (with a 12 hour layover) and finally to Entebbe, Uganda. We arrived on a Monday morning at 7:45am where our driver, Simon, and one of our hosts, Brian met us after we went through customs. The flights were uneventful except for a few bumpy spots as we got closer to Uganda. Both longer flights were overnight flights, so we tried to get as much sleep as possible. In Uganda we are 7 hours ahead of Ohio time.

After we arrived in Entebbe, our driver and host drove us on the World Outreach Ministry Foundation (WOMF) bus about 40 minutes to our “home”for the next 2 weeks in Seguku. The main paved road (Entebbe road) was great, except a little busy with the morning rush. We discovered that the Ugandans drive on the left side of the road just like Great Britain. There are motorcycles called Boda Boda all over the roads that zoom in and out of traffic and scared us a bit. Lynn was in the front seat and about had a heart attack with the craziness of the cars, camels, pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles. Once we arrived at our host family’s house in Seguku, we had breakfast, then freshened up. In order to try and stay awake, we went to the local mall in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. We went to a few stores and ate lunch in a food court. In Uganda, the different restaurants in the food court come right to your table as you sit down and they try to sell you their food. It was quite an experience! Afterwards, we wanted to go to a market, but it rained most of the afternoon and the shops were outside. So, we headed home, rested a bit and ate dinner.

Tomorrow we start on our crusade with the local team that is already there, as well as start the medical mission. We will continue to update when we can. The power here goes out a lot at various times of the day. If the power works, we can post. Thank you all for your prayers for our safe travels and for our time here. We feel so blessed to be here and look forward to the experience!