another video

video

almost home

we're in Minneapolis on a 9 hour layover.

hit up Mall of America to kill some time.

if all goes as planned, we should be at the Regina Airport by 11:49pm.

my heart

as I write this I am sitting at the small internet cafe I've come to know so well, just down the road from our guest house.

I am in Kampala, Uganda, Africa

as I write this my boy, Kai is lying in a bed in the General Hospital.

my heart is in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

if you pray - please pray for Kai. he's had an allergic reaction to something (the problem is we don't know what it was). he's been in and out of ER over the past little while on benadryl, epi, among other medications.

Lord willing, we will be home Saturday night at 11:58(ish)pm
- it can't come soon enough

our friends

We’ve had so many gracious people looking after us while we were here in Uganda.


Our hosts were Apollo and Paul. The quickly became our friends and brothers in the first few days. We laughed together, served together, and shared many experiences together. They both will be greatly missed.

Our drivers were Moses and Anthony. Two of the best drivers in all of Kampala. These two kept us safe during the many hours we spent on the bus all over Uganda.

Our guest house staff were Peter, Annette, Rachel, Rebecca, Andrew and Kathy. They served us so graciously and took very good care of us.

Thought you should know.

Today we say goodbye.

another thursday

We left our little piece of paradise at about 930am this morning.


This was a long drive. On our hot, stinky, dusty bus we played another round of ‘the game.’ Just so you know it was a tie all-round.

They were doing construction on a huge chunk of the highway, so there were speed bumps and rumble-strips everywhere. We all knew there was a lot in our 410km trek, but someone (not mentioning any names, Barb Barber) counted every single one.

293 speed bumps or groups of rumble-strips in 410km! Makes for a difficult game.

This ‘short jaunt’ ended up taking 9 hours to drive.

We were all pretty tired and worn by the time we returned to the guest house for our last night’s stay.

Tomorrow (Friday) – we’re off to the market one last time to pick up anything we may want to take home with us/ off to Watoto Central for stuff (not really sure, actually)/ a little lunch/ pack and internet in the afternoon/ then it’s off to Entebbe Airport at 6pm for our 11pm(ish) flight to Amsterdam.

I can’t believe it’s already the end(ing) of this journey. But we still have many miles ahead of us before we are home.

More to follow

wednesday

we had another great day here.

went for a game-drive safari at 6am - saw a bunch of beautiful animals
spent the afternoon lounging around (I was by the pool for most of it)

then we went for a boat-safari and saw a the hippos and elephants pretty close-up among other animals.

as far as safari's go - I'd say we pretty much saw everything we could or wanted to see (though I could've used more elephants)

pretty chill evening, hanging out.

if I haven't mentioned it - we have a team meeting every evening.
- we sing
- I speak
- Clay gives announcements
- someone shares their testimony
- someone else shares a devotional
- we pray

these are great times together and it's been great to see how we're growing together.

please pray for us as a team - we've had a bunch of people not feeling well (ie - don't poop your pants team is growing) and we still have a lot of traveling to do

thanks

a new game (at least for me)

something I forgot to include in the post about our trip to our safari lodge - so I'll include it now.

*warning* this story is immature and juvenile; those who are easily offended should discontinue reading.

a group of my friends traveled to South America a few years ago. they backpacked around and saw lots of sights. they traveled by bus often (not unlike ourselves)

on one such bus trip, my friend (who shall remain nameless) found a new game to play during the endless hours bouncing around the south-american landscape on horrible roads while hot and sweaty. the game was called the 'don't poop your pants game.'

I of course, upon hearing this story was far too mature to understand how this could be, laughing it off as juvenile myself. I thought he was exaggerating. I thought he was delirious.

but...

then I came to Africa.

yesterday, from 4am to noon, bouncing around rural Africa, I played the 'don't poop your pants game'

and for the record...I won!

dear God

thanks for today.


thanks for Africa.


thanks for elephants.


thanks for lions.

thanks for beautiful landscapes.

you're awesome!

amen

monday & tuesday

well, we went over to the Bulrushes (Baby Watoto) and it was an amazing time hanging out with the babies there.

Watoto is doing amazing work with these little ones and we were blessed enough to be able to spend some time with them - I'll have to post pics of our time there.

after, we headed to a market to do a little tourist shopping.

we rounded off the afternoon by going to the Lwanga's house for ice cream - it was so great being able to go to a friends' house in Kampala - they have a very nice house and we very hospitable.

today, we work up at 3:30am to head out on a safari. first, we had to drive about 8 hours to get to where we're staying.

a surprise to all of us when we pulled up and checked out our digs: www.mweyalodge.com. It is immaculate and far more than we could have imagined. the views are breath-taking.

we'll be here until Thursday morning, when we head back for Kampala for our last full day, as we'll be flying out on Friday evening.

messages from Teicroebs & Eftodies

Cam, Jan & Josh, Curt, Kelsey in Regina/ Walt & Lou/ George & Vern in Mexico
"We are having an amazing time in Uganda! Visited the Nile Rive today and even got a boat ride on the Nile."
- John & Thelma

"Having a wonderful time - still can't believe I'm here." - Sandra Eftodie

"Rooster woke us up 1st morning at 5:15am with the chant from the Mosque. Haven't heard the rooster since we had chicken for Dinner" - Ron Eftodie

why watoto?

I asked Lorenda Selinger to write a testimonial about Watoto.

here it is:

Two years ago I saw the Watoto Childrens Choir perform at our church. The children were happy and very talented. I decided to take a look at the Watoto website to find out more about the organization. The Watoto model and vision were well laid out and sounded like a ministry that we should be supporting.

However, there is always that nagging doubt, "Is Watoto really what they say they are?" I have been in Africa for 11 days now, rubbing shoulders with Watoto staff, house mothers and children. Is Watoto what they say they are? YES and so much more!

The choir is coming to our church again in May. This time I won't lok at them as a bunch of cute, talented kids. This time I will see future leaders of Uganda who are being nurtured in an amazing, God-centered environment.

Have you checked out Watoto? If not, do it today: http://www.watoto.com/

pic

our guest house - 'home'

sunday

2nd time back to church today. we went to the south Watoto location.

it was a beautiful service.

after the service we headed to Bbira village - which is one of the Watoto villages.
- there we split up into 9 groups and ate in 9 homes.
- each home has a mom and a range of 5-8 kids.

it was a great afternoon being their guests and meeting them.

it was also very special to see how Watoto works and see real kids as they experience life their compared to their lives previously as orphans.

I loved meeting the girls in the house I was placed in. they were full of joy and wonder.

I'm not much of a hugger (if you know me very well) and today was the most hugs I've given in a long time - but so very special.

tomorrow, we're heading to the Bulrushes (which is baby Watoto)...the team can't wait, but I know already how hard it will be to leave.

more pics

the work-site in mid-production

jinja

On Saturday, we drove a couple hours out of Kampala to Jinja.


Jinja is where the source of the Nile river is – pretty cool, right? I always just thought about the Nile being in Egypt.

When we first arrived in Jinja, we went to see this beautiful river with its white water rapids – a majestic sight. There were people rafting, kayaking and a few locals getting tourists to pay them to go down the rapids solo.

After seeing the rapids, we headed to a hotel in the area for lunch. Groups of us had little private cabana-type coverings as we sat and ate lunch overlooking the Nile – pretty spectacular.

After a relaxing lunch, wishing we could all jump into the outdoor pool at the hotel, we headed to the exact source of the Nile – the place where Lake Victoria dumps into the Nile.

We took 2 big canoe-looking boats and toured around, making sure to document our adventure.

We got back in the bus (we have grown very used to spending a lot of time on the bus) and started our now 2.5 hour trip back to the guest house.

Sunday – we’re off to Watoto Church South. There are a few different locations – South is a small one I’m told by the Senior Pastor’s wife, Martha – only 1000 or so. Can’t wait…

pic(s)

the worksite before work started.

sorry - internet keeps bumping out.

a story

So, let’s say hypothetically, you’re on a short-term missions trip to Uganda to build a couple of classrooms to support the ministry of Watoto as they change the face of the country by raising up a new generation of leaders.


Ok, you with me so far?

And let’s say you’re travelling back and forth from your guest house to the work site through the busy streets of Kampala in the bus your hosts have designated for your team.

And let’s say that this bus is full of white people (musingoos?) who stand out very readily in this hypothetical story and draw a lot of attention regardless.

Let’s say you’re a male who happens to have his ears pierced and you enjoy observing the world with the window open, of course.

Still with me?

And hypothetically you notice on a few separate occasions that there are groups of men making kissy-faces and blowing them at you.

And let’s say that you later find out that it’s because it’s a well-known ‘fact’ in Uganda that any male with pierced ears is obviously and opening homosexual and the common way to communicate back to said males is to make kissy-faces and blow them at them.

…yeah – just a story I thought you’d enjoy.

random thoughts

The Ugandan people are wonderful. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Life is bustling, but there is a slow-flow to it if that makes sense.


As I’ve said before, I wish you could experience life here with us:

- the smell of fresh samosas and coal fires.
- the sound of morning prayers and 3+ million people in ebb and flow.
- the feel of the warm/hot sun beaming on your face and your skin sticky from the humidity.
- the taste of those delicious samosas you were smelling before and the matake made fresh for breakfast this morning.
- the sight of pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, cabs, trucks, buses, cows, goats and everything else weaving in and out as if in a choreographed dance and the precious children with faces smiling as they greet us as we go by.

You know those people who travel – the ones who automatically become far better than everybody else because they’ve ‘travelled’? Yeah – those people are annoying.

I can honestly say, for us here in Uganda – we’re not those people. We’re just the average ones blessed enough to be able to come and experience.

Thanks for continuing to read and journey along with us – we don’t take that for granted.

friday

Today, our paced changed. Our ‘official’ work is done.


The majority of the team went back to the worksite to dedicate the classrooms

*note of clarification

- we raised funds and came here to build 2 classrooms. As I had mentioned earlier, plans changed on-the-fly and we ended up tearing down a partial wall we had already built, thus forming one large multi-purpose room instead of 2 adjacent classrooms. This new multipurpose room will be used for plays, assembly-type gatherings and also for classes. So rest assured, the funds raised are still going to a wonderful cause.

Back to the day.

After the dedication (which a handful of us missed out on – more about that later), the team was able to visit the Watoto children between classes – they were absolutely slammed with kids from all directions.

They then got to check out some markets and then we all gathered for an appreciation supper at Fang Fangs Chinese Restaurant (a wonderful meal at a lovely restaurant in downtown Kampala)

While the rest of the team was at the dedication, etc - Christine Lwanga, Laureen Rich, Marilyn Driedger and myself went to a Small Group Leadership training day (where the key-note speaker was none other than yours truly – funny, I know) that Jabez Ministries had put together. One personal highlight of the day – I ate a full fish head (eyeballs, gills and all)

Tomorrow, we are off to Jinja for the day – where the Nile River begins.

I hope these pictures will help you ‘feel’ a little more of life for us here.

I'll try to upload a few more later

the building is done

at least the part we were in charge of.

every brick has been laid, all the mortar has been set.

it is a great feeling.

Elaine Caswell and Marilyn Driedger got the chance to go to a Watoto classroom for the day (ditching out of the work, I might add)

Lorenda Selinger, Darlene Toews and Donalda Rodhe got the chance to go to a Watoto clinic for the day as well (no comment - haha)

I wish you could see this place through my eyes. I wish I could record everything I see and hear.
I wish you could experience this with us.

As we left the worksite today, pleased with our completion, we set off back to the guest house. the trip takes about 1 hour plus. with the windows open and a gentle breeze blowing in, we cruised down the road winding through traffic. with my ipod on and sigur ros singing in my ears, the world slowed down.

uganda is a beautiful place.

- sorry no pictures yet, the internet is being tempermental.

more to come - keep praying

wednesday

today was hot! the sun was scorching us today.

but apparently we are working too fast. the crew had us stop at lunch so that we'd have enough to keep us busy tomorrow. they also changed the plans on us - planning to knock down a wall tomorrow that we built already.

all in all - building's going great and we should be all done tomorrow.

we used our afternoon to enjoy an italian ice cream shoppe and relax - complete with internet cafe.

hopefully I can throw some video and pics up later this evening.

cheers

monday and tuesday

the work begins.

this is why we came. there have been so many other reasons that God is revealing to us as we journey - but this was our primary task.

to build 2 classrooms for Watoto.

the concrete pad had already been poured and workers there were awaiting our arrival.

we didn't know what to expect - some thought it would be a cake-walk, others knew better.

this is tough work:
- mixing the mortar by hand on the ground, shovelling and shovelling.
- hand-bombing each brick to different locations
- carrying scaffolding
- and then laying brick.

but rewarding.

after 2 days, we have what definitely looks like 2 classrooms.

the group is gelling well (for those who may have been concerned - haha) and we love our uganda brothers that we work alongside.

we will have many stories for you when we return about our building experiences.

it's evening here now and we are about to have our daily team meeting (the poor team has to listen to me speak every night - bahaha)

tomorrow - we're back to work at the site and should (Lord willing) complete our classrooms on thursday - a day ahead of schedule.

blessings.

ps- luggage update - when we arrived 'home' at the guest house after work today, Darlene's bag had arrived.

until next we meet

sunday

slowly I am trying to catch up with what's all happening.

a few sentences here and there cannot capture even the slightest glimpse of this experience.

Uganda is beautiful! more beautiful than I imagined.
the people are beautiful as well.
I love this place and the people more everyday.

on Sunday, we woke and went to Watoto Church (central location) where we worshipped our God together with over 1000 people. we were honoured guests there as well.

after the service, we began our orientation (letting us know what to expect during the time that we are here) though we had already experienced so much.

following orientation, we went to a mall: exchanged our american dollars to ugandan shillings (1 dollar = about 2000 shillings). we then enjoyed a wonderful lunch with our hosts and met the founders of Watoto.

all in all - a blessed day

cont'd

we have an internet cafe close to our guest house - so hopefully I can update this more often now.

after arriving at Entebbe airport, we spend quite a while dealing with the missing luggage.

luggage update: Darlene Toews is still missing hers.

we arrived at our new 'home' - the guest house about midnight. we were all ready to sleep by that point (having a days turn to nights and our nights to days)

the next day was anything but planned.

on Saturday we attended a funeral for Christine Lwanga's brother and his wife who were murdered last week.

God, words escape.

the funeral was in Masaka, 160km out of Kampala and took us about 4 hours each way to travel, as the roads are so horrible and the traffic is so congested.

upon arriving there, we were escorted in front of about 300 people to the front of the ceremony, as special guest from Canada.

unknown to us until they called us up - as special guest missionaries we were asked to sing a song at the funeral!

more to follow. keep checking back and keep praying for us.

thanks

day one

I had an eloquent blog post all written up on the laptop, but alas - it is not with me.

so, let me recollect.

when I left you last, we were in Minneapolis. we left there and flew into Amsterdam. we had 4 hours layover there (found a starbucks straight-away)

we flew out of Amsterdam on our 7.5 hour flight to Uganda. we arrived in Kampala at about 10:30 on Friday night.

Luggage update: we just today had 4 of the bags returned to us - it's been a long few days for the Selingers, Ulmers, Oldhams, Darlene Toews, and Laureen Rich who have been without their bags.

time is up now, more to follow

we're alive

I'm sorry. We've finally been able to get on the internet at an internet cafe - we do not have internet at the guest house where we're staying as we thought we would.

Firstly, we made it and we're alive.

So much has happened since I updated you in Minneapolis.

We do not have long here, so I will update you with more as soon as I can.

But know that we're alive and are in Kampala - we begin building the classrooms tomorrow.

More to follow...

minnesota

after our 1.5 hour flight to Minneapolis, we've got a 6 hour lay-over.

the team is wandering around the airport. I have already found a Starbucks and wireless - so I'm happy.

luggage update: out of 52 checked bags, 5 did not make it to Minneapolis, as we were too full.
- Delta assures us that they will catch up 'at some point' in our journey. time will tell.

we're off to Amsterdam next and if all goes as planned, we should be landing there at 6:40am local time (11:40 SK time, I think)

until next time...

and so it begins...

as I wrap up the last few details before leaving, I am struck that this is actually happening.

so much planning
so much anticipation
so much unknown

but this is actually happening. we leave tomorrow (even writing that feels odd) at 6:50am.

I have been wanting to go to Uganda for years now, we as a team have been planning for over a year now, and tomorrow, we shall go.

I don't think we're going to change the world - but maybe we will.

what if we change the world for 1 person? 1 family? is that success?

this will change my world and I believe it will change the world for each of us 26 who are going.

only God knows.



and so it begins...

team intro