Uganda or Bust

Back to the USA

2008-11-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in the USA on thursday with sadness in leaving those who became like family to us. Now as our family gathers for Thanksgiving we remember with thanks those in Uganda who made a deep impression upon us.

There is Christopher, 8 year old son of Akello Grace who is the son of the 3rd in command to Joseph Kony (LRA leader). He stole my heart as we explored the new land for CVI together (he was my GPS man), taught him baseball, sudoku, and saw his skill in drawing pictures grow.

There is Pastor Nelson who took us under his wing to love and pray for. I believe his prayers were heard by God to open the way for Nick (our son-in-law) to land a great job at Children's Hospital in Boston.

And there are the dear staff at Child Voice, who labor tirelessly so that 30 mothers and their 38 children will someday go from the most vulnerable in the community to those who are leading the way in self sustainability and sharing the gospel of Christ's love.

I am amazed at some ongoing work of God from the Global Issues Internship in June. Esther in this picture is finishing up at Makare University and plans to do ministry with FOCUS next year. Andrew (on left) is starting an Art School with street kids displaced from the north with the help of Amanda from Wellesley College, a student for InterVarsity who came on the Internship.

May all have a wonderful time of giving Thanks this week

God Bless

tom

Visit to Kony's hometown and sacred rock

2008-11-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

Joseph Kony has been responsible for millions being displaced, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and over 65,000 abductions of children transforming them into child soldiers. For 20 years he kept the Ugandan army at bay and even now they still can not find him to force a peace agreement.

Where did this man come from?

The president of Child Voice International (Conrad Mandsager) and I journeyed to his home village today, Nov 13. We passed the school which he attended and saw his home plot near some tall trees. We traveled with a schoolmate of his, who is now the community leader, LC III.

Kony lived here until 1986 and then began his rebel activities at age 35. He was a normal cattle herder, but dabbled in witchcraft strongly which lead him to the rock mound we were hunting for.

This mound (200 high, 1000 ft by 500 ft) was one of his places of sacrifice and spiritual power. The president of Uganda flew local pastors and the military into this place for pastors to pray and break the stronghold here. After this event in 2006, Kony began to lose his hold and had to move to the Congo and DAR, where he is now.

Baby Thomas

2008-11-12T06:03:00.001-08:00

Here is the little guy name after me, Thomas. I have no claim to fame other than Nancy was with her when he was named, so the mother asked: "What is your husbands name?" So it was Thomas. He's a cute little guy. I do pray for and wonder about his future.

Lukodi Massacre

2008-11-12T05:49:00.001-08:00

On May 19, 2004 100 LRA rebels attacked the small village (1000 people) of Lukodi. They believed that one rebel had been killed by the soldiers in Lukodi a few months before, so they came for revenge. (Our friend Jackie (pictured and former child soldier) told us this story yesterday). So in the battle, the soldiers ran away, the LRA surrounded the village and burnt down every hut. Over 60 people were killed, with many burnt to death in their huts. We were on sacred ground in the picture. Many died horribly here. But we also are in a place where the villagers now have their land back and are beginning to rebuild their lives and this village one again.

James and Calvin (shown) both lost families in the raid.

Life back in Lukodi

2008-11-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

We are winding down our fourth week here. We will be happy to be home to NH but sad to leave this community of child mothers and the staff.

We have grown to love their humility, sacrifice and faith. We also feel like we have served Child Voice well by advising the country director James Lomoro and also served the CVI interns by helping them through some rough transition periods. God has used Nancy to minister to the women interns in deep ways. When one comes and lives for 3-6 months in another land many personal issues surface as all of your patterns of normal life are stripped away. These interns are very brave for moving out to a war zone, and living off of very little in mud hut for 4-6 months.

First Bible and Life Conference in Uganda was a success.

2008-11-12T05:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday November 8, 2008 65 staff, local pastors, and student leaders from six local universities spent the day pouring over the book of Luke, emphasizing the Lordship of Christ in our lives.

As I directed the weekend and two Ugandan FOCUS staff gave key talks on Following Christ and Growing to know Christ, we found that the material met two critical needs for Ugandan University students.

1. Friendship in relationship to sharing their faith is virtually unknown. We taught about the integrity and effectiveness of growing strong friendships and being natural in sharing your life in Christ with friends.

2. Students in Uganda are so strong in corporate worship and group activities but don't know how to cultivate a personal relationship with Christ. Thus we also exposed these students to this helpful concept.

During the day, one student also became a follower of Christ for the first time. He came unexpectedly (to the prompting of the Spirit) and told us all he would like to become a Christian at the end of the day. So he did.

The two FOCUS training secretaries who attended are very interested in using the Bible study material in Bible and Life to forward their student training.

Bible & Life Level ONE coming up

2008-11-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Please set aside some time this week to ask God to bless the first Bible and Life training in Uganda in Lira this weekend (Nov 8). I will be directing this Bible teaching in the gospel of Luke for the FOCUS staff and 40 student leaders from 6 plus campuses. We hope this training will be replicated through Uganda in the following years to train students to grow in leadership and character and use of the Bible as their source of guidance and truth.

Presentation of book for Fort Patiko Library

2008-11-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Nov 2, Nancy and I took a few of the CVI Interns up to Fort Patiko to visit this historic spot and for a Mid term mini-retreat to reflect upon what they are learning.

I had brought a book to present to the curator of the Fort, Into the Heart of the Nile, which tells of the history of this place and how Samuel Baker stopped the Arab Slave trade from moving south at this point in 1872. Mr. Constant was very moved by our gift, as he has very little resources.

Income Generating Projects

2008-11-02T22:34:00.001-08:00

I've also been learning much about IGP (Income Generating Projects) that many NGO's use to help the people to become self-sustaining. Northern Uganda and Gulu especially are packed with so many Aid organizations that the people now expect a handout and look for people from the west to provide for them. Child Voice is teaching these former Child Soldiers who are now mothers to bake, cater, and make cards which will sell in the west. These project have setbacks in teaching about quality work for western standards but soon will be making a profit to support the girls at CVI. They also work on the farm to produce their own food. In working on these projects the girls also earn a small amount of money and learn to save for the future.

Tom meets the US Ambassador to Uganda, Stephen Browning

2008-11-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

This last week has been a whirlwind of activities.

It would all be in the category of gaining information for our InterVarsity New England Global Issues Internship thru serving Child Voice International. I represented Child Voice in meetings with the following groups:

Invisible Children, where US Ambassador to Uganda, Stephen Brownings (pictured) was the honored guest. I hope to have him as a speaker to our group in June.

Gulu District Disaster Management Cooperative Meeting, where I learned about the resettlement process of the IDP campus. At present 40% of the 700,000 are still in the camps, but 30% have moved back to their traditional homelands, with another 30% in transitional stages.

I also met with the local Land Management Office and the District Water Resource Office to learn about sanitation, land resettlement issues, and water resource management.

The work of FOCUS in Lira, Uganda

2008-10-27T05:25:00.000-07:00

This is the FOCUS Uganda (InterVarsity Equivalent) in Lira, Uganda. Michael Eluku (left) is the Training Secretary for the north.

The office is in an old metal container.

As I worked with Michael to plan the Bible & Life Level I conference on Nov 8 I learned some amazing stories about how the ministry of FOCUS is literally changing the country and the church in the area.

Almost every pastor in this city was a student at the University involved in FOCUS. Focus trained them in Bible Study and leadership and they would not be pastors without the influence of the campus ministry.

In a place where seminary training is too expensive and time consuming, to be trained in there undergraduate work is crucial.

As we visited a campus (Uganda Technical) in town and met with the administration, FOCUS is clearly honored by all. It also provides a critical place of unity training as students from radically different Christian backgrounds: pentecostal and Anglican come together in worship and outreach on campus.

Brinks make the move to the north: GULU

2008-10-27T05:06:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday was the GULU WALK, all over the western world people set up walks to awaken many to the issues in northern Uganda and the children who had to walk to town each night prior to the war cease fire for safety.

We arrived on Monday to Gulu and then on to Lukodi where we are staying with 30 child mothers, their 60 kids and various staff and american interns who run the center.

We live in a mud hut next to an IDP (internally displaced People Camp).

I was talking with a young boy yesterday who lived in Lukodi and went to school here and had to rush into Gulu right before the town was burnt down by the rebels and 60 people killed. He now goes to school here once again. His father is a teacher here.

We do get electricity via generator from 7-9pm

Nancy is caring for the Interns and helping them to do their jobs, like nutritian assessments, income generating activities and the clinic.

I go into town most days and work in the Child Voice office advising the Ugandan Director James.

Pray that we will have wisdom as each day there are significant issues that arise with the girls of the center. ie. One child mother was expelled last week for biting another girl three times. They have lived like animals in the bush and even to see how far they have come is truly due to God's grace.

The Source of the Nile: Jinja

2008-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

On a fun note: We finally put to rest the question of the source of the river Nile.

Nancy points to it as the river comes out of Lake Victoria in Jinja.

Love to all

tom

Brinks move on to Nansana with Come Lets Dance

2008-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

After the Focus conference, last weekend we moved in the White House with Come Lets Dance (the young NGO we worked with in Kampala)

We were grateful to see the CLD regulars of Shane, Jeremy, Julie and Nicole, as well as our Ugandan friends. They are dealing with the grief of loosing their dear Rachael, but God's hand is upon them.

Solomon is still faith at the sewing ministry. James the Man helped me buy a bike for a leader in an IDP camp up north.

We also got to go to Katanga slum again and check on our charcoal business micro-finance loan the Internship invested in last summer. We gave JAJA Anne (upper right) a loan of 85,000 schillings or $50 to buy a bag of charcoal, selling point and storage.

It took 4 months of hard work of working long hours, saving but she is making the last payment for the loan and now is on her own in the business. Praise the Lord. Now we are investing in another personal business with that money. This was the first micro-finance CLD had done in the slum and now Jeremy is doing this with numerous people.

Uganda travels with Tom and Nancy

2008-10-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

We had asked to see God at work each day and this first week in Uganda has been incredible in that aspect.

We arrived to attend a FOCUS Uganda conference for over 200 university Christian student leader from all over Uganda. We were reunited with our Global Issues Internship partners: Peter and Andrew, Vincent, Michael and Uncle Sam.

We have been traveling with Uncle Sam (FOCUS training secretary- second from left) visiting Kampala campuses to see what God is doing. Did you know that on Ugandan campuses Christian Unions compose 10-30% of the student body? One campus we visited on Thursday has a CU of 300 out of 800 students.

We got to spend an afternoon with Esther and Christian, who were Ugandan students on the Global Internship. Because of the summer mission they are now both planning to serve with FOCUS next year in campus ministry as STEM (Short Term Experience in Ministry) for graduates.

We have seen Peter a few times and spoke with Saul and Rogis over the phone (other FOCUS student) They are well.

At the FOCUS conference, we met a couple from south Boston who work with FOCUS Uganda in caring for staff, John and Cindy Norton. They are part of a "finishers" program through CBA which places retired couples with missions opts.

Campus Integration

2008-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Marie from BU

Hmm, a few things I'm integrating in my life back here.....

The more I am taking time to step back and think, the more I am realizing my life has...dramatically changed. Of course, there are the little things...like how I'm still barely turning the knob on the faucet when I wash my hands so I can save water, only using a few sheets of toilet paper and how I've only been clothes shopping once since I returned.

But these little actions are just a trickling of what really changed - God grew my heart for people in poverty more than I could ever have hoped for. I am beginning to understand what it means to have a heart for injustice. I am looking onto my campus with a new pair of eyes - eyes that are popping out of my head when I see how people need God just as badly as people needed God in uganda.

Marie :)

Campus News

2008-10-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Before leaving for Uganda on Oct 9, I've had the privilege of at least visiting a few campuses and hearing what our dreams are for our campuses and our futures as a result of the Internship.

Here are some recent posts from your partners:

Teresa of UMaine

I'm hoping to set up a table to sell coffee at a few morning classes and taking the profit to buy a stethoscope(s) for the CVI clinic. Hopefully the coffee will be fair trade and people will pay whatever they normally pay for their morning coffee!

Meredith at Brown University

Back at Brown..I have joined the Uganda Action Movement group on campus (as the 6th member( and am hoping to infuse some new life to it. I'm planning to create a photo gallery that can be installed at Brown Hillel in November which has a space that rotates. The president of the group works there and has some connections. Along with the gallery, I might potentially sell some of the bead necklaces made by the women at Come Lets Dance.

I'm also looking into doing a shoe drive for black shoes that I can give to CLD when I study abroad in Uganda and Rwanda next semester (God willing- I haven't' been accepted yet).

I am also dreaming big and looking into the possibility of Betty Bigombe speaking and Brown. But that's just a thought I had last week, so we'll see.

Ken at MIT

As far as bringing Uganda back to campus, the beer bottle collection didn't really pan out. We tried it for a little bit but found that nobody was really motivated enough to make it sustainable. I realized that I could do it, but that kinda defeats the point of trying to get others involved. Instead, I think the biggest way I'm bringing it back is through my fellowship. I'm on the exec team for it, and we've been focusing a lot on this idea of a bigger gospel - how Jesus calls us to actually go out and advance the kingdom, as opposed to a one time decision of accepting Christ. We're still kinda in process of forming that foundation, but we hope to begin talking about broader applications, such as missions work, social justice, racial reconciliation, and the like. Maybe the biggest change though has come through evangelism. Continuing this idea of a bigger gospel, we've been trying to take more of an approach of "oh, you're really passionate about women's rights? (or whatever) So is Jesus" (that was a gross over-simplification, but the idea is everyone is doing something that advances the kingdom, we just need to show them that.) It's sparked some very interesting conversations, and looks like it got a seeker committed to coming to a Bible Study and Large Groups.

Fall Campus integration of Global Issues Internship

2008-10-09T07:46:00.001-07:00

Kancamagus Child Voice Ride

2008-09-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings NEGII crew

Here's Charles just before taking off for 63 grueling miles for our Kancamagus Child Voice Ride on Sept 12.

We rose 2400 ft in 10 miles and then decended 2800 ft in 22 miles. On the return, the last 4 miles we climbed constantly and arrived at the top of the notch to rain and 50 degrees. Therefore the trip down was very tough for the last 10 miles.

As I road I kept thinking, for children like Charles, they had to carry equipment and guns for this far on foot in the rain and suffer for an evil cause. We were allowed to suffer to help others. In all Child Voice raised $8000 through our 11 riders. Wow!

Nancy and I leave on Oct 9 for 6 weeks.

I hope to use this blog to update you all to our travels with Come Lets Dance, FOCUS and Child Voice. So tune in once a week to see photos of these places and friends.

Tom

Final Words from the Directors

2008-07-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all

I know I speak for my Co-Director Tom Sharp when I reflect upon the virtues of this year's New England Global Issues Internship.

First of all, we had a exceptional group of IV Staff and New England Students on this trip. To travel with the daily challenges without a complaint is close to miraculous. Joy and hope were hallmarks of the team.

We feel that each of our objectives were accomplished in exceptional ways in the past 5 weeks. Our goal was to expose our students to Global Issues of our day with academic "heavy weights" speaking to us and by experiential opportunities to learn on the ground in Africa. Throughout our five weeks together we heard from worldwide experts such as, Betty Begumbe, Lamin Sanneh, and Antoine (Chair of Rwandan reconciliation commission), and many other national leaders.

At the same time we traveled to the slums of Kampala, IDP camps of northern Uganda, and the center of the Rwandan genocide. We interviewed and worked alongside of former child-soldiers, survivors of the Rwandan genocide, former HIV AIDS carriers, and street kids in Kampala.

Being in the middle of such pain and suffering was debilitating at times but in each case the common theme was hope in the middle of suffering. The character of the God we knew, expanded each day,as we saw resurrected Christ being the only Hope to pain and suffering and reconciliation and forgiveness in the world.

We learned much from our partnerships with local NGO's (Child Voice International and Come Let's Dance) and FOCUS Uganda (the Student ministry on college campuses).

Thanks to all who followed our journey and for the power and encouragement of your prayers and interest.

God Bless

Tom Brink (for Tom Sharp) Director

What We Learned

2008-06-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

For the very final post, I asked NEGII team members to write a brief reflection describing what they learned, where they saw God, or what struck them most from our month together. I hope you will be as moved as I was by what they had to say!

Many thanks,
Sarah

Greg: On this trip, I learned about the importance of community in discovering and releasing our gifts and calling. I also learned about the importance of going into missions with nothing to bring except myself and Jesus. We’re often tempted to take something with us, like money or resources or expertise, but often what Jesus asks is that we bring nothing with us except the power and love of God. Then, when we interact with people, we see his power, and those whose lives we touch meet Jesus, not us.

Danielle: This trip has been amazing. I have experienced so many new and eye opening things. God has shown himself to me again and again and in many places I did not expect. I am so happy to have learned from the people around me and I can’t wait to share. It will be sad to leave this beautiful place but it will be great to spread this love to my friends and family whom I have missed dearly.

Abby: I know it would be pretty cliché to say that this trip has changed my life, but to be honest, there wouldn’t be any other way to describe it. God has revealed his calling for me on this trip: to love on people. This trip has been my beginning of God’s mission for my life, and there is no other mission I’d rather be fulfilling. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible.

Becky: On this trip I have learned more about life then I have in the last 19 years of my life. This trip has opened my eyes to the reality of the world. I have spent the last month conversing, listening, and learning about the suffering in the world. I have seen God’s presence and His work in situations even I thought there was no hope for. This trip has allowed me to witness God’s power and the future He has for His people.

Amanda: During my journey throughout this beautiful and rich land called Africa, God has made clear the impact Christian community makes when it models His heart for mankind. Christ has left us with an incredible responsibility to care for the underprivileged and I have hope that by facilitating peace, reconciliation and sustainability in individuals and in nations holistic healing is achieved. God has used my time in Uganda to challenge me to be an instrument of His peace, an advocate of His justice and a vessel of His love.

Teresa: Ugandans are a people who have witnessed more destruction and have more reason to despair than much of the world. To realize that these same people have a seemingly reckless hope in Christ is more than surprising – it is disarming. I have been truly disarmed by these beautiful people and by their trust that needs no material thing to assure them. I have been so blessed to serve them as a nurse, to learn from them, and simply to walk among them.

Maghan: Psalms 33:3-4 says, “For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything He does. He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.” I believe this, and I now believe this unfailing love of the Lord fills Uganda and Rwanda. In the midst of all the pain, suffering, sickness and injustice, I have seen the love of God, maybe more here then any other place I have been.

Miranda: I’ve seen a spectrum of people in Uganda—the kids in the slums to the leaders of NGOs. Jesus is the answer for all these people in every aspect in their lives. Only He has the power to heal the neglect, malnutrition, and alcoholism in the slums and provide guidance to leaders in how to bring reconciliation to Uganda.

Tatiana: I have had such a fantastic time here in Uganda and Rwanda. God has reworked my conception of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ through the hope of the folks I’ve encountered here. The people working in the NGOs and the children they serve have shown me facets of Christ’s character I have never experienced. Lovelovelove!

Marie: Where is your hope based? So many global problems in one place can easily seem overwhelming; contrary to my ‘typical’ American response, money and organizations are only a temporary solution to a deeper problem. Money will run out, and outside organizations cannot provide everything for everybody. Thankfully, I’ve realized the eternal hope in Jesus.

Tracy: Uganda for me marks the beginning of a journey towards complete reconciliation, reconciliation of myself to God, myself to others, people to other people and people to God. I learned much more about how God will form my future and even though I do not quite understand it all, I am excited. From working with abandoned street kids and AIDS/HIV orphans as well as ex-child soldiers, God showed me his role as a Father. In this he also challenged me to model his example, as well as the many examples I have of parenthood I have in my life. I am beginning to realize that my testimony is essential to bringing reconciliation through Jesus to families.

Meredith: This journey has challenged me in so many ways. I am coming home with a far greater understanding of Christ’s heart for Uganda and for his children. My world has been stretched! I want to thank everyone who has followed, supported, and prayed for this group. May the wonders of the Lord be revealed to you as they have to all of us this month, and may His grace shine upon you. Love and Blessings!

Ken: God has been teaching me a lot about security on this trip, and how much we tend to value it back in the States. Whether it’s the way we spend our money and time, the way we relate to others, the way we share the Gospel, or even the way we try to limit God, we put so much value in being secure and in control. This trip has really shown me how much of an idol that has become in my comfortable American life – not that security is inherently bad, but it can easily become a hindrance to doing God’s work. I have been learning about boldly stepping out in faith and meeting God in what, by human power and logic, is “impossible.” I am so grateful for the countless ways God has been speaking to my heart this trip. Thanks again to everyone at home for your support.

Kelly: The underlying theme of the many lessons I have learned on this trip is reconciliation. First I had to reconcile my relationship with God. I have always struggled with the idea of a loving God coexisting with Evil. On this trip God has revealed to me that He doesn’t just coexist with suffering but that He is in suffering. Jesus embodied suffering so that humanity can be genuinely reconciled with one another and to our Creator.

Tina: In the love I’ve experienced through the street kids, the passion and faith of former child soldiers in the IDP camps, and the reconciliation witnessed between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda I have heard His gentle yet strong voice saying, “See. This is who I am.” And in Him, I put my hope and trust…

Yeona: This past month in Africa has been an adventure, and it’s been a blessing to take part in this God-ordained experience. I’ve learned so much from the local Ugandans and Rwandans—the faith with which Ugandans trust in the healing and transformational power of our God and the humility with which Rwandans have taken the wounds of their genocide to the foot of the cross have led to an expansion of my picture of Jesus. …and the sky here is beautiful. I will always cherish the moments of uncontained worship under the bright African stars.

Sarah S: Every time I experience trips like this one, I am struck by the dignity of the poor: their compassion for their community, their perseverance, and their ability to retain faith and humanity in the midst of intense suffering. I have so much respect for the people and the NGO’s we’ve encountered and am convinced more than ever that while the privileged have a clear role to play in fighting injustice, true and full justice will not come until the poor too rise up and reflect the image of God as defender, protector, and hope.

Katie: Despite the injustice in the slums of Kampala, the darkness in the lands of Northern Uganda, and the tension and fear in Rwanda – God has shown me again and again that He is able. The day of justice will come and His river of life will flow to all the lands and bring healing to the nations. There is hope for East Africa and that hope is found in God.

Sarah CJ (your friendly blogger): To return to Uganda after six years, to meet God again in this place, and to share it all with Greg was an incredible gift. What struck me more than anything on the project was the unique discipleship crucible that resulted from our partnership with FOCUS. I may have learned more on this trip about American "missions" culture, servant leadership, cross-cultural partnership, the power of God, and the relevance of the Gospel to a broken world than in all my previous years of ministry. Thank you, FOCUS!

The Final Week

2008-06-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Today I am writing from my couch in Providence, RI—we are home safe and sound after another long but remarkably glitch-free travel day. The team parted ways gradually over the last 48 hours or so. Tati stayed in Kampala to begin another adventure, and Tracy and Marie left the group in London. Some of us traveled from JFK by car; others of us waited (and waited and waited, in some cases—I hope you are home by now, Mere!) for connecting flights. Thank you so much for your prayers for safe travels!

I never did get to write about Kigali before I left, so I wanted to fill you in on our last major adventure. As I mentioned before, we drove from Kampala, Uganda to Kigali, Rwanda for the weekend. (Any Ugandans reading this, it's okay to laugh!) The travel was much longer than anticipated—almost twice as long, in fact. We were hoping to make it in 8 hours, but it ended up taking more like 14. Somewhere along the way our faithful blue bus was dubbed "Eternity" by the group. ☺

The drive was absolutely breathtaking, however. Rwanda is known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills" and I'm sure we saw at least several hundred of them. We drove past brilliant green tea fields with huge "hills" (to a New Englander: mountains) cropping up out of nowhere on all sides, every one of which was cultivated patchwork-style to the very top. Here are some pictures of the drive:

Once in Kigali, we engaged in a jam-packed weekend of learning that reminded me in some ways of the Institute at the beginning of the project. From some previous travel and experience in Rwanda, I tried to line up a series of experiences that would help us understand Rwanda's history—in particular, the bloody genocide of 1994—and the remarkable ways that God is at work today bringing reconciliation between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.

Because of the short amount of time we had, the schedule was extremely tight. After 14 hours on the bus, I was sure that our Saturday evening program—a 6pm survivor story at the Genocide Museum—was toast. It was already a little past 7pm when we pulled into the parking lot, but we decided to try it anyway. And what we became fond of saying was that God provided us with a time change. It was an hour earlier in Kigali and we were right on time! Amazing.

The story we heard was heart-wrenching and painful, but helped us to ease into the reality of a post-genocidal society in a personal, tangible way. What became a theme for us throughout the weekend, and a helpful framework for thinking about our entire project, was the reality of suffering and pain (the "groanings" mentioned in Romans 8) punctuated with very real flashes of hope. When this young man was asked whether the nation had turned away from God after learning that several Catholic churches were complicit in the genocide, he described his own journey back to faith in recent years. He told us he came to a realization that though people and institutions in Rwanda had failed miserably, God never did. Through it all, God had been faithful. That kind of faith—a deep conviction of the goodness of God in the face of unimaginable suffering—was challenging to all of us and stayed with us long after we parted ways.

The following day, the miraculous provision of a taxi out of thin air when "Eternity" broke down meant that we were still able to visit the Genocide Museum as planned. We walked through exhibits detailing the various factors that led up to the genocide, the horror of those 90 days in 1994, the impotence of the international response, and what life in Rwanda has been like since. A mass grave outside (pictured below) provides space to mourn and remember loved ones, though only a fraction of the remains buried there were ever identified:

Needless to say, it was a heavy afternoon. Many of us left the museum with more questions than we had when we entered. Some of us wondered how we would ever find God in this place...

...and then we met with Antoine.

Antoine Rutayisire is the National Director of AEE/Rwanda (African Evangelistic Enterprises) and pastors an Anglican church in Kigali. He is also a genocide survivor and serves as the Vice-Chair of Rwanda's National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. As a college student, I worked with Antoine in 2000 and remembered his deep heart for reconciliation and contagious passion for Christ. I figured he would be the perfect person to speak to us about healing and reconciliation in Rwanda—but I had no idea just HOW perfect. Antoine was just exactly the person we needed to hear from. Our time with him was the highlight of the weekend and, for many of us, a highlight of the entire project.

He spoke to us about healing, about genuine repentance and forgiveness leading to lasting reconciliation, about the hope he sees for Rwanda's future, about forgiveness in his own life, about the cross of Jesus being the one place where both pain AND sin (from Isaiah 53: "sorrows" and "iniquities") meet and are lifted. I could never hope to do his words justice in this space, but suffice it to say that we were on holy ground that afternoon. We were deeply inspired, challenged, moved, and more aware of God's power and the reality of Ephesians 2 reconciliation than perhaps ever before. It was an incredible afternoon. We thank God for Antoine and for his ministry to the nation of Rwanda—and to us that afternoon.

From Rwanda, we traveled back to Uganda and spent the final three days of the project at a charming little place called "Banana Village" in Entebbe. We enjoyed hot showers (!), flush toilets, and a slightly slower pace as we debriefed together and prepared for reentry to the US. Here are a couple of shots from Banana Village:

One of the most exciting parts of this project is that reaching the US does not mean the end of NEGII. In many ways, this is just the beginning! Students were asked to come on the project with the expectation that they would bring what they learned back to campus in tangible, practical ways. We believe that there are many things we learned in Uganda—about God, about His people, about His purposes in the world—that our fellowships and campuses desperately need. And we also believe that there are resources on American campuses that could be leveraged and released to bless our brothers and sisters in Uganda. So part of our time together in Entebbe was used to brainstorm practical ways to serve as bridges between these two cultures for the mutual benefit of everyone involved. It was exciting to watch students dream and ask God how to use them in this process. Please pray for them as they bring these ideas and dreams back to campus!

I can hardly believe I've reached the end of our adventure and the final chapter of my journalism! It has been a pleasure keeping you updated—thank you so much for reading, praying, and walking with us. For my last and final post, I want to let the team tell you more about their individual experiences so do stay tuned for that!

Thanks again,
Sarah

Gulu, Murchison Falls, and Kigali

2008-06-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post! I tried the other day, but the internet was too slow. We are in Kigali, Rwanda at the moment, about to head back to Entebbe, Uganda for our final debrief before leaving the country on Thursday. It's been a whirlwind trip to this stunningly beautiful country—14 hours of driving each way for a 40-hour visit—but it was so worth it! I hope to get a chance to tell you about it at some point, but for now I wanted to catch you up on the past week.

This is a post I wrote on June 19th. (Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! :)

It’s been a full week! We had a fabulous time at Murchison Falls National Park, and I’m excited for the chance to fill you in on our adventures.

But first: Some of you may have heard news of LRA activity on the Sudan/Uganda border earlier in the week, and I wanted to let you know we are absolutely safe. We were already in Gulu when the attacks occurred and have continued moving south throughout the week. It seems that it was a small band of LRA soldiers who carried out two small attacks. They did not actually cross the border into Uganda and the rest of the LRA troops are still in the Central African Republic.

If you would like to pray, here are some specific requests: One LRA commander was captured during the attack—please pray that he will give up any critical information he knows. Please also pray that this will prove to be an isolated incident and not representative of a larger LRA strategy to move back to northern Uganda. Finally, please keep our friends at CVI in your prayers—for safety, protection, and for God’s perfect peace to reign over the girls and the CVI staff.

Thanks!

Now for what we’ve been up to: Tuesday was our final day in the IDP camps. We met first with a Survivors Club of former child soldiers who shared their experiences with us—from their abduction as children, to their years in the bush being forced to fight, to the long process of reintegration into society, to the current reality of life in the IDP camps. Their stories were eye-opening and extremely moving—we were so grateful for their willingness to share with us! Here’s a shot of Tom and Nancy with some of the group members:

They also taught a few brave “mzungus” to dance:

In the “afternoon,” we hosted an open-air worship service in the Cho-Pe Camp. As we have learned, however, time is elastic here. Things like rain, finicky generators, and a thousand other factors we don’t always understand frequently take the schedule and throw out the window—a good growth edge for task-oriented Americans! By evening the event was finally underway and it was a great way to wrap up this chapter of our project. Here are some pictures:

On Wednesday we headed to Murchison Falls National Park where we enjoyed some recreational time with our friends from FOCUS. Highlights included a boat-ride down the Nile, an early-morning game drive, and some spectacular views from the top of the falls. Here are some of the creatures we’ve marveled at. (Please keep in mind that I don’t have a crazy telephoto lens or anything on my camera—just a regular zoom. We really were this close!)

While at Murchison, we also spent some time lending closure to our partnership with FOCUS—praying together, blessing each other, and attempting to distill what we’ve learned from one another over the past ten days. From my perspective, working with FOCUS has been one of the most fruitful and beautiful aspects of the entire project. It is obvious that God has used each fellowship’s culture to speak into the other, helping us see ourselves and Jesus more clearly. Despite—or, in some cases, because of—the inevitable challenges we faced along the way, God has knit our hearts together in a remarkable way. We have come to love these brothers and sisters so deeply and we will miss them! Here are a couple of group shots by Murchison Falls:

FOCUS/InterVarsity Staff...

...and Students:

So that’s the update! It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of the project! Please pray that God will continue to speak to us and lead us during our debriefing in Entebbe as we prepare for reentry to the US.

I will not likely get a chance to post again until we are home, but I look forward to communicating the final chapter at that point. Thanks again for your prayers and for continuing to travel with us in spirit. We love you!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T23:17:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! First of all, on behalf of the entire group, I want to wish all of the Dads reading this a very happy Father’s Day—we are so grateful for you, we miss you, and I have been asked to send lots of love from people who wished they could have called you all yesterday!

We’ve come to the end of our time at Child Voice, and the goodbye was very emotional. The girls sang us a hauntingly mournful farewell song and few of us managed to stay dry-eyed. We learned so much from them in such a short time—we were captivated by their joy, and in awe of the remarkable healing process they are engaged in. Our team was the first group of visitors to stay with them at the CVI compound, so the depth of emotion was mutual—most of them didn’t make it through the song without dissolving into tears. We will miss them! Here are a few goodbye photos:

Since leaving CVI, we’ve had some time to chill out and kick back with our new friends from FOCUS, the highlight being an impromptu dance workshop by Peter and Rogers. I wish I got a picture of “the Toms” dancing to a special Father’s Day song, but we do have it on video! Here are some other shots:

Last night, we had the privilege of attending a FOCUS fellowship meeting at a nearby Clinical School (a university specifically for pre-med students). It was so fun to experience a Ugandan “Large Group” meeting! Their passion for worship and prayer is downright inspiring—and their ability to run a synthesizer, mics, and lights without electricity is so impressive! Maghan gave the message and reminded us of the critical centrality of the gospel in the efforts to rebuild and heal this war-torn land. It was a great evening. Here are a couple of pictures:

For the next couple days, we will be staying at a hostel in Gulu as we continue our work in the IDP camps. We are hoping to spend some significant time learning and listening to camp residents in an effort to determine how to bring what we’ve learned back to our campuses. If you think of it, please pray for natural opportunities for this to happen.

On Wednesday we head to Murchison Falls National Park to enjoy a few days of safari (yes, we will see big game!) as well as time to debrief and discuss what we have been learning with and from FOCUS. God has been doing deep things through our collaboration this week, but we have had little time to reflect and discuss amidst the flurry of activity—so this will be a critical time to digest and integrate the significance of our unique partnership. Please pray for our conversations and our last few days of fellowship together, that God would continue to teach us, mold us, and knit our hearts together in partnership and love.

FYI, I’m not sure when I will next have internet access—to give you some perspective, the internet in the entire city of Gulu was down the other day!—so it may be a while until my next post. ☺ But thanks again for walking with us and keeping up-to-date on our adventures. We love you all so much!

Wa Pako Rwot (Praise the Lord!)

2008-06-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again! We are having a great week here in Lukodi. Let me catch you up on where we are and what we’ve been doing:

As I mentioned before, our combined FOCUS/InterVarsity team is being hosted by Child Voice International (CVI). We are staying just outside the CVI compound, which houses 30 child mothers and their 42 children. CVI’s mission is to help reintegrate these young girls into society, many of whom were taken captive by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to be the child brides of rebel soldiers. CVI provides counseling services, education, and job training for the girls, as well as primary school education for their children. (For more info, please visit: www.childvoiceintl.org.) Here are some pictures from the compound:

The last picture is of Sam, FOCUS Uganda’s Training Secretary and a third tri-director of this portion of the project. We love Sam!

When we arrived at CVI, the girls welcomed us with a short program that included traditional Acholi songs and dance. These girls can sing! It was beautiful and, again, I wish I could upload sound files but you'll have to settle for a visual:

The CVI compound is on the edge of an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp—our huts are between the compound and the camp. There are IDP camps scattered literally everywhere in the Gulu area—people moved in when the war began, the government provided “temporary” housing, the UN and various NGOs provided aid, and most people never left. For one thing, the “temporary” structures that were provided are traditional Acholi huts—no more “temporary” than what people lived in at home. Additionally, even though the weakened LRA has fallen back from Uganda to the Central African Republic and the region is peaceful now, many people fear that it is still unsafe to return to their villages.

Here are some photos of the Lukodi IDP camp, adjacent to the CVI compound. The last shot is of a church inside the camp.

In terms of our work here, some of us have been staying at the CVI compound, getting to know the girls, assisting with childcare, slashing the land (intense yard-work with machetes), and eventually helping with chicken-coop construction. ☺ It has been deeply meaningful--and a lot of fun!--for the team to spend time with the girls and to watch them play and laugh together. Here are a couple of shots from the compound, including a hilarious relay race. The yellow cans are "jerry cans," the means of transporting water from the bore hole to the compound.

The rest of us have been traveling to the IDP camps and nearby colleges to meet people, engage them in spiritual conversations, talk to them about Jesus, and pray with them for healing and deliverance. Ministering cross-culturally with a bi-cultural team has been fascinating, challenging, and incredibly growth-producing. The vast majority of the FOCUS Uganda team members are as unfamiliar with the Acholi language and culture as the American team members are, and we have found that we bring very different evangelistic methodology and styles to the table. For many of us, however, talking through these differences and learning from one another has been an extremely fruitful process. The conversations are challenging at times, but it is clear that God is using this experience to stretch and widen our view of Himself. We have been deeply encouraged and blessed by Ugandan partners who are patient, loving, and willing to engage in a mutual learning process with us. We give thanks to God for our new friends and partners! Here are a few pictures from our outreaches in the camps:

Tina praying with a woman who wanted to know how to begin a relationship with Jesus.

The woman's family, including several orphans she took in during the war, and lots of kids living nearby.

Some members of our team.

I think that's all for today -- thanks again for journeying with us! On behalf of the entire team, I send lots of love from Lukodi!

Life in Lukodi

2008-06-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! I was finally able to upload pictures today to this and the previous post (hooray!) so please have a look!

We reached Lukodi safe and sound on Saturday after an 8-hour drive. Lukodi is a village about 15 kilometers outside Gulu, a small city near the Sudanese border in northern Uganda. The trip was beautiful—gorgeous scenery, pretty birds, monkeys and baboons—but just a little bumpy. Check out these rockin’ potholes:

As of Saturday, our team has expanded from 20 to 36. We picked up 14 FOCUS students and staff (InterVarsity’s sister movement in Uganda) and met Tom S. (NEGII co-director) and Nancy (Tom B’s wife) at the airport.

Here’s the happy couple toasting their reunion:

And here’s Tom S, starting the trip off right with some road-side meat sticks:

We are very excited to begin this unique partnership between our two ministries. Because of the war and other stigmas about the region, most of the Ugandan students themselves have never been this far north. The language is different, as well as some of the customs. So this will be a cross-cultural experience on many levels!

Here in Gulu, life is much slower and simpler than in Kampala. (For those of us that enjoy being out in the boonies, it feels like heaven.) We are staying at the Child Voice International compound, which is adjacent to an Internally Displaced Persons camp. There is no electricity, so daylight has become extremely valuable to us all of a sudden!

Here are some shots of our accommodations for the next 10 days. We are living in traditional Acholi huts—mud/concrete floor and walls, covered with a thatched roof:

Inside the huts, we are sleeping in hammocks with built-in zippered mosquito nets. Very comfy actually, once you get the hang of it!

And here are our brand-new restroom facilities—"long drops," followed by the bathing area. To bathe, we carry big yellow jerry cans full of water and pour them into a shallow tub for a refreshing (i.e. brisk!) bucket bath:

While here, we will be partnering with Child Voice International, an organization that serves child mothers, former abductees and child brides of the Lord’s Resistance Army. There are 30 child mothers, ages 14-24, living here on the compound with their children. We will also be working with the Anglican Diocese on various outreach projects in both IDP camps and nearby college campuses.

But maybe most significantly, we will be doing all of these projects alongside our brothers and sisters from FOUCS. We are so excited for the opportunity to build relationships, to learn from one another, and to invite God to do his work among us!

If you would like to pray for us, one of the best ways you could pray right now is for healing and protection from illness. Several of us have gotten sick this week—everything from sinus infections to stomach bugs. Nothing serious, but we’d really love your prayers for everyone to be able to participate fully this week.

Thanks so much for following our journey and for upholding us in prayer! I’ll be in touch again soon!

Oaks of Righteousness

2008-06-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

(Written June 7)

Before plunging deep into Gulu, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on one of the most significant elements of our week with Come Let’s Dance (CLD). Each of the teams was privileged to work under the leadership of one or two Ugandan men and women who have given their lives to ministry in Kampala and are connected in some way to CLD—some work with orphans, some pastor churches, some organize outreaches in the slums week after week. We were amazed, inspired, and challenged by them—and many of us formed deep bonds of friendship with them in just one week.

Here are some photos of just a few of them:

Yeona with Wilfred, Florence and Julius.

Tina with Julius and Wilfred.

Greg and David.

Julius and me.

Our entire group with the CLD leaders.

To hear their stories—of how God rescued them from the streets, called them to himself, and has led them into ministries that are impacting literally thousands of people, you might assume they’ve had years and years of experience—and yet most of them are only in their young 20s!

To tell some of their stories, I enlisted Greg’s help. This is what he had to say:

“One young man who led us is named David, pictured here:

David grew up as an orphan whose parents were killed by AIDS. He lived on the streets with malaria for several years. He was ‘adopted’ by a couple who ran a secondary school. In this school, David met Jesus. A few years later, God gave David dreams of becoming a film-maker. Even though many of his peers scoffed, God made a way. Shane, of CLD, who happened to be an American film producer before coming to Uganda, helped David to make his first short film. Though it didn’t win any award in Uganda, they entered it anyway in a pan-Africa film festival and it won first place. David then spent a summer in the US at an elite private high school and this summer he is going to Calvin College in Michigan on a full-ride scholarship. He has resided for the past two years in the Kids Home (where some of us worked this week), taking care of the children. David has inspired many of his fellow Ugandans, both in his church, and in the Katonga slums to not be afraid to have dreams and to partner with God in seeing them come true. We were moved as he challenged Ugandans not to miss the opportunities God was placing before them right now. David’s life is a profound challenge to all of us as American college students and twenty-somethings—because many of us do not have any idea what we’re doing with our lives, even though God has given us a great deal of resources and opportunities. We realized that in America, it is possible to become mediocre and comfortable, and to give ourselves to small dreams instead of the Kingdom of God.

Another young man is Phillip, pictured to the right of Florence and Julius:

At age twenty-four, Phillip pastors a church of well over a thousand (maybe two or three thousand). Phillip became a Christian when the Prime Minister of Uganda, a Christian man, took him in and sent him to secondary school. He has powerful evangelistic gifts and has led most of his best friends to faith in Jesus. One of these friends is a famous gospel singer; another heads up the Kids Home. As Sarah and I got to pray with Phillip before we left, we were awed by the sense of calling on this man’s life. At age twenty-four, he is doing more than most us would ever accomplish in an entire lifetime. Phillip’s great grandfather was one of the leaders of the first East African revival which broke out in the early 20th Century in Kampala. Phillip is praying that God would use him and others like him to instigate a second revival that would sweep East Africa and the whole world.”

There are many others we could talk about, and I wish we had the time, but this gives you just a little glimpse of what God is doing to raise up a new generation of young leaders in Uganda, despite all odds. We are overwhelmed by God’s power and in awe of the mighty “oaks of righteousness” he is planting in the nation. Please continue to pray for them, and for others like them!

In Their Own Words

2008-06-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! We are having a fabulous time here in Nansana! In case I didn’t explain earlier, Nansana is a “village” just outside Kampala. Now, when I say village, what I really mean is a smaller city on the outskirts of a big city. Last time I was in Uganda (in 2002) Nansana felt much more quiet and rural than Kampala, but the sprawl from the city has reached far and wide.

For me, being in Nansana feels like a homecoming. I lived with a family here for almost five months in ’02 and I’ve been longing to visit them again ever since. The village looks so different now; all the landmarks I used to navigate by have changed. “MaTractor Road” is where I lived, so named for a giant tractor that used to sit on the corner. The tractor is gone now, but thankfully everyone knows where the tractor used to be, so finding my way "home" the other day wasn’t difficult (reminds me of Rhode Island!) Words can’t describe how wonderful it was to see my family again. I have been teary-eyed ever since, wishing it didn’t have to be so long between visits…

The team has been split into three this week, working with Come Let's Dance (CLD) on various projects in Nansana and beyond. The group reaching out to vulnerable women and children in the Katonga slum has probably had the most challenging experience—they have been going door-to-door with medical supplies, playing soccer with the kids, treating minor cuts and scrapes, and working to set up a sewing shop that will train and empower vulnerable women and girls from the neighborhood. The stark reality of life in the slums has been shocking and painful for many of the students. Please keep them in your prayers.

Here are some pictures from the slums:

The group that has been running a youth leadership development program through a local church has probably had the most hopeful and exciting experience. They have been meeting daily with about 25 “youth” (ages 16-25) from the neighborhood to, among other things, give them a forum to express and articulate their dreams for the future, study Scripture inductively, and lead their peers in discussion and Bible study. They have had some wonderful conversations with the youth and have been enjoying the program thoroughly. Please pray for them as they continue to invest in these relationships.

Some shots from the leadership program:

The experience of the last group, working with abandoned or orphaned children at a “Kidz Home” in the neighboring village has been somewhere in the middle. We have grown very attached to the children and have enjoyed lavishing love on them at every opportunity. We also love the mission of this home, which intentionally does not call itself an “orphanage.” In conjunction with the sewing shop and other CLD-affiliated community development programs, their long-term goal is to reconcile these children with parents who have abandoned them and/or family members that refused to take them in when they were orphaned. But the days are long and exhausting and we have felt overwhelmed at times by the immensity of the need and the shortage of hands, by illness, and by the painful stories these children carry with them. Please pray for us too!

Some shots from the Kidz Home:

Every night (almost) we have been practicing the discipline of the “Examen” together, asking each other when we felt close to God during the day and when we felt distant. What has struck me each night is how easily we are able to identify the places in our day when we felt close to God—He seems to be showing up everywhere! We have seen Him in the beauty of this land, the warmth and hospitality of the people we’ve met, His power to heal and transform—in a million little ways every day that I could write pages about.

As I thought about this post, however, I began to realize two things: First, those of you reading this most likely have one or two specific people you are following and you might like to hear a little something from them. Second, my view of our adventures is obviously limited by my perspective and experiences—so allowing others to express what they are experiencing may help to “flesh out” the picture a little more.

So—in their own words—this is how the team members have chosen to sum up their experience thus far. (I limited them to one sentence each, so they asked me to include a general “shout out” to parents, friends, and family—they love you so much!)

Meredith: My heart is awakening to the beauty, love, and courage of these people and our God—“Mukama ye bazebwe—Praise the Lord!”

Teresa: We have seen the span of hope to despair and I am being shown what it is to find Jesus at each point along that continuum.

Miranda: I have a fuller understanding of what Jesus must have felt like when he said, “Let the little children come to me,” and to my loving, yet concerned, family—I have contracted no obscure diseases. 

Tracy: If ever I have seen the might of God, it is now, through the rescue of precious children and the empowerment of young people. Momma and Dad, have no worries, I am doing well.

Tati: The faith and hope of these people have both humbled and inspired my walk with Jesus; I want to know Him like they do. Mommy, I’m great and there’s still a 90% chance of me going back to school in September!

Marie: I knew God was great, but to see how He is working in the lives of the Ugandans as well as our own is transforming and expanding my love for and amazement of our Lord Jesus.

Abby: In only five days my whole understanding of faith and the power of God has changed. The Ugandans will continue to inspire me day after day.

Danielle: This trip has started great and has kept getting better, and I miss you very much but am very happy at the same time.

Sarah S: The sweetest song I’ve heard so far: the sing-along cooing of an orphan baby to “God Is So Good” as he drifted off to sleep in my arms.

Tom B: I am exceptionally happy with how the trip is going. The Team is awesome. We are hoping to help a women to start a charcoal business and also invest in a sewing business for street women. Brink Family, send my best to Chris and Yanna. Love.

Greg: I have been profoundly inspired and challenged by what God is doing among Ugandan youth and in building his church here, and I am finding that I feel very free to be myself in this culture.

Katie: In the past few days, God has shown me the despair in the Ugandan slums – children running around in muck without food or clothing, Ugandan women desperate to survive to the next day, and ridiculous amounts of disease. But God has also shown me the beauty of the Ugandan people – their joy and their hope. God is good.

Kelly: By all human measures the Katanga slums are a place of despair, sickness, and starvation. I have never encounter people in such a desperate situation, nor have I encountered people of such great faith.

Amanda: Since my arrival in this beautiful place, God has used Uganda and its people to teach me that God’s timing is purposeful, His will is perfect, His presence is comforting, His goodness-abounding, His Spirit-with me, His reign-mighty, His kingdom-victorious, His love-unending and His grace-amazing.

Becky: This country is so beautiful, the people are so friendly and God has been showing me his love and joy for the orphan kids and I really wish to bring one home with me.

Maghan: I now understand what it means to play in the rain, I now understand what it means to dance when worshiping, I now understand why my friends from Africa yearn to go home.

Ken: Working in the slums I have seen enormous poverty and injustice, but seeing Christ amidst the brokenness has led to an enormous amount of spiritual and intellectual growth.

Yeona: It’s been inspiring to see the hand of God upon this beautiful country—the stories of redemption in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations have led us to sing praises alongside the Ugandans. “Katonda mulunge—God is so good!”

Tina: One of my favorite parts of this trip has been seeing and hearing God through the local Ugandans—some who are former slum community kids, some who are former orphans, most of whom are no older than 24 years old, and all whose lives and stories of hope and faith inspire my own.

Thank you, friends! We leave Saturday for the North, and I'll update you again from Gulu! Please pray for safe travel and for quick bonds of friendship to be formed with the 15 Ugandan college students from IFES chapters throughout the country who will be joining us for this leg of the journey.

At Home in Nansana

2008-06-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

(Written Sunday, June 1st)

Our first full day in Kampala (in a section known as Nansana) was full and fabulous! Highlights included worship at a local church—we were invited to perform the song we learned yesterday in front of the congregation!—and an orientation to the Come Let’s Dance philosophy and programs.

CLD is an American NGO that intentionally does not own or run any of their projects solo (orphanage, slum outreaches & job training, youth leadership development programs, etc.) but works intimately with local folks at every level of planning and programming to empower young leaders and ensure sustainability. Essentially, they want to make sure that their presence in Kampala is not necessary to keep the programs running long-term. Sometimes this means trading in Western ideals of “efficiency” or “success” for a longer, messier process—but the long-term value of developing a generation of Ugandan leaders that will carry on the mission effectively and sustainably into the future is of much more value!

Just to give you a little glimpse of some of our reality for the next week, here are some pictures from the “Kidz Home” orphanage that CLD works alongside. Some of us will be spending each day this week with them, and we can’t wait! Another group will be helping with CLD’s various programs in the slum communities, and a third group will be assisting with a youth leadership program through a local church that CLD is connected with.

My goal, by the way, is to get at least one picture of every team member up here in the days to come…

Thanks for keeping up-to-date on our travels! I’ll try to write again before we head North on Saturday...

Traveling Mercies

2008-06-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

(Written Saturday, May 31^st)

We have arrived safe and sound here in Uganda, after a brief 24-hour stopover in London. It was by far the smoothest travel I have experienced in a long, long while! No delays, no cancelled flights, no mad dashes to make connecting flights, and no lost luggage! As I commented to Greg at the baggage claim, “I am so incredibly impressed with God right now!” Thank you so much for all your prayers.

So, a few traveling shots. Some friends on the plane:

The day was a blur for many of us:

Carrying our luggage through Heathrow and the Tube took some creativity. We are all carrying some pretty random (and heavy) supplies that we will leave here. My bag, for example, has two full toilet seats in there along with my clothes!

Anyway, our brief time in London was great. We had a little bit of time to see the sights…

Tom, Teresa, and Big Ben:

Westminster Abby:

Buckingham Palace. (You can’t tell in this picture, but the royal flag was being flown—the queen was in!)

This is me, your friendly blogger, posing for the classic tourist-in-London shot:

We then spent some time with Mike Morris, reflecting on the Spirit of Empire that drove Great Britain to colonize, oppress, and dominate places like Uganda. Mike has been involved in a world-wide movement in which representatives of former colonial powers repent on behalf of their forefathers to former colonized people groups around the globe.

Our arrival in Entebbe this morning was fantastic! We were met by the Come Let’s Dance team, whose joyous welcome made us feel like we were long-lost family finally arriving home.

After lots of greetings and introductions, our luggage was loaded into a truck…

...and we were loaded into a bus and off to Kampala (about an hour’s drive).

As I finish this up (I am drafting here in the Guest House and will post to Blogger when I have internet), the team is out in the living room worshipping with our new friends from Come Let’s Dance. I wish I could upload sound! At the moment they are learning to sing “God is so Good” in Luganda and the harmonies are spectacular. I have goosebumps!

So, thank you for your prayers, and praise God for his faithfulness! Talk to you soon…

Learning in New Haven

2008-05-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends! We are nearing the end of the Institute portion of the NEGII project. It’s been a whirlwind of activity as we have begun to familiarize ourselves with some of the historical, social, political, and spiritual issues surrounding this type of cross-cultural work. Already the team is being knit together in partnership, and we have felt incredibly privileged to hear from such a top-notch lineup of speakers. Here is a very brief overview:

Jim Tebbe, Urbana director and InterVarsity’s VP of Missions, spoke to us about the changing context of world missions. He helped us to think critically about some of the common pitfalls of various missions paradigms—long-term missions that concentrate power in non-local leadership, the “new mission compound” of short-term American teams, etc.—and provided us with a thoughtful (and challenging!) framework with which to think about the project that has remained with us through the week.

Betty Bigombe—who, among other highly distinguished credentials, has been the chief mediator and peace negotiator in Uganda’s ongoing northern conflict—helped us to understand more of the 20-year history of this war and the extremely complex issues involved. She also detailed the psychological manipulation of an estimated 88,000 children who have been abducted from the region and forced to fight for the Lord’s Resistance Army, as well as her role in peace negotiations with LRA leaders over the past 10+ years. The region has been in a ceasefire since early 2007, though formal peace negotiations have recently come to a standstill.

Jeff Neal is the co-founder and president of World in View, a grassroots capacity-building organization that supports indigenous leadership and community development programs in several African nations. Jeff introduced us to some of the stark realities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and the thoughtful, sustainable work that organizations like World in View are doing. He also talked about meeting Christ in the midst of two-thirds world poverty—he described being “born again, again” when he discovered God’s heart for justice and the poor—encouraging and inspiring us from his unique and transformational experiences overseas.

I will not likely have time to blog about our final speaker, Lamin Sanneh, before we depart the country, but we are very excited to hear from him tomorrow! He is a world-renowned author, thinker, and Christian leader who has written extensively on issues surrounding missions, gospel translation, and the relationship between the West and the global church. It is an incredible privilege to meet with him face-to-face. He will be speaking on the topic of “Current Issues in Global Christianity.”

For your viewing pleasure, here are some other snapshots from the week:

Next up: We depart New Haven around 3AM (YIKES!) on Thursday and head for JFK. We will spend a brief 24 hours in London studying the impact of colonialism on Africa before traveling on to our final destination. The first portion of our time in Uganda will be a week in Kampala working alongside Come Let’s Dance, a ministry serving street children and families in underprivileged neighborhoods of the city.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your interest in our journeys…Much more to come!

NEGII Institute: Day 1

2008-05-25T19:46:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! I am happy to report that the team arrived safely in New Haven, CT yesterday, and that the Institute portion of the project is well underway. Here is a picture of our happy team, together at last!

For the next four days we will be learning, growing, and preparing for this adventure through a jam-packed lineup of world-class speakers and teachers, cross-cultural training simulations, and opportunities to reflect on what God is doing in each of us, and in the team as a whole.

Like any good InterVarsity experience, we began our time together with some good food, lively tunes, and—of course—several ice-breaker games. The favorite by far was the “write a 3-sentence skit to be acted out by another group” game. This writing of this particular skit was significantly influenced by Tom S’s 7-year-old son, Isaiah:

(In case it wasn’t immediately clear, Nancy and Tracy are demonstrating the awesome power of crime-fighting “Bionicals.”) All in all, a great first evening.

Today, Sunday, has been a full day of spiritual development with times spent in prayer, Scripture, a two-hour retreat of silence, and worship at a local church. Pastor Ken Janke, who will be with us all week to help us think about our development as a team and what God might be doing in us as we prepare, led us in a discussion this morning of various ways to encounter God as a team. One way is to practice what he calls “Mutual Christ”—in other words, to share what we know and experience of Christ personally with the group, so that each individual’s picture of Jesus will be stretched and expanded throughout the month. What a rich picture we will surely paint together!

Later in the morning, Jim Tebbe, Urbana Director and InterVaristy’s VP of Missions, led us through a manuscript Bible study of the book of Ruth. Here you can see Yeona deep in thought.

After a very engaging “communal discovery” style discussion, Jim shared his thoughts on Ruth as a book about the Mission of God. In Matthew’s genealogy of Christ, Ruth and three other non-Jewish women are included. Not only is this a beautiful foreshadowing of the New Covenant—the unity of Jew and Gentile in and through Jesus—but it is also a striking reminder that the Mission of God will go forward at all costs. No matter the unfaithfulness of humans (marrying outside the Jewish community was forbidden by God), God accomplishes his purposes anyway—and even brings honor to these women in the process as they are welcomed into his family and given a crucial role. As Jim put it, “God…and no Plan B.”

Deep stuff. Much more at a later date. I am off now for some silent retreating…

Adventures in Packing: The Essentials

2008-05-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! Thanks for checking out our blog. As this is my very first post, and you will be hearing from me a lot over the next month, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Sarah, one of the staff for the NEGII project—or, I should say, one of the Sarahs on the NEGII staff team. So you can call me Sarah C.J. A tiny little bit about me: I’ve been on staff with InterVarsity in RI for five years. I’m married to Greg. This is my second time to Uganda (I studied abroad in Kampala in 2002) and my third time in Africa. In my spare time I like to work on house projects, create things, and marvel at the birds that come to our birdfeeders. You could say I’m a pretty meticulous packer. More on that later…

First, a little more about the team. We have an amazing team of IVCF staff and students from around the New England Region, and I wanted to quickly introduce everyone. The co-directors for the project are Tom B. and Tom S. Tom B’s wife Nancy will also be joining us! The other fabulous staff are Sarah S, Tina, Maghan, and my hubby Greg. And here are the students: Kelly (UConn), Meredith (Brown), Teresa (UMO), Becky (UNH), Danielle (UNH), Abby (UNH), Miranda (BU), Katie (BU), Marie (BU), Tracy (Wellesley), Amanda (Wellesley), Tatiana (Harvard), Ken (MIT), and Yeona (MIT). What a spectacular group!

Those of you that feel inclined, please feel free to pray for each of these students and staff by name throughout the month. ☺

So…for my first post, I thought I would give some brief reflections on packing. Like I said, I’m a pretty thorough packer. I have been making lists and crossing things off for a couple weeks now. We were asked to limit our packing to one half of a medium-sized suitcase and one small backpack—the other half of our suitcase will be filled with supplies. As you might imagine, when part of the personal half will be taken up by sheets, a blanket, a towel, and a pillow, clothing and other belongings are limited to the bare essentials! This can be challenging, but it is such a great exercise for those of us—myself included—that have become deeply attached to our “stuff.”

Here are a few of the things I consider “essentials” for travel in East Africa: Sturdy shoes, Ultrathon bug cream (34% deet!), anti-diarrheal tabs, a good flashlight (mine’s a headlamp), and hand sanitizer.

As I’ve been packing, however, I’ve realized that about 99% of my pre-departure energies have been focused around these physical preparations. But what about my spiritual packing, so to speak? What are the “essentials” I need to ask Jesus to fill up the bags of my heart with—today, and throughout the trip?

So, like any good packer, here is my spiritual packing list. I am sure it is not complete—feel free to add other “essentials” in a comment or two.

*Openness to God’s work in the world, and in each of us
*Daily confidence in the presence of Christ with us
*Agape Love—for the team, for our Ugandan brothers and sisters
*Humility
*Flexibility & Grace
*Compassion
*Selflessness
*Honesty & Trust
*Confidence in the power of God to bless, redeem, and heal
*The Whole Armor of God
*Our unique Spiritual Gifts
*The Word of God, a light to our feet

Lord Jesus, would you fill me and each of the team members to overflowing with these “essentials” as we prepare for this adventure. Amen!

Money given for Land and Teen Leadership

2008-05-21T07:59:00.001-07:00

The Internship has just received monies that will allow us to to expand our ability to serve in both Kampala and Gulu (the north)

Leadership Seminar for Teens

Money was given towards a leadership seminar with local youth in Kampala June 2-6

We will be able to feed and train these teenagers in Godly leadership and character development

Feeding program in IDP camp in the north

Money was given that will allow us to do a feeding program in one of the IDP (Internally Displaced Camps) north of Gulu, the war torn area in northern Uganda June 8-17

Rebuilding the village of Lukodi

Monies have been given so we can begin clearing, planting and fencing in the land for the new village of Lukodi which was destroyed by the LRA during the war.

Lamin Sanneh will be speaking on Wednesday!

2008-05-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Lamin Sanneh has officially agreed to speak to the New England Global Issues Institute on Wednesday May 28. Lamin is Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School. His books include West African Christianity and Translating the Message (The Missionary Impact on Culture)

Lamin is a world renown expert on the Church in Africa and has been a prophetic voice in the academic world in proving the positive impact of Christian mission on culture.

10 Days to go

2008-05-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

The New England Global Issues Internship meets in New Haven 10 days from now.

We will start the learning process from leading authorities.

Jim Tebbe, director of Urbana, will lead us in understanding the new thinking in missions

Betty Begumbe, UN negotiator for the peace talks in northern Uganda, will be helping us to understand the issues of war.

Conrad Mandsager, Director of Child Voice, will help us understand our work with former child soldiers

We fly out of JFK the morning of May 29 and on May 30 meet with Mike Morris at Westminster Abby (at the Wilburforce grave site) for a discussion on the effects of the British Empire on present day Africa.

Our Living Accommodations

2008-05-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

12 Days Until Departure!

2008-05-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!
Welcome to the InterVarsity Uganda Team '08 Blog! This will be a way for you to check our status and get updates from us while we are in Uganda. It should be updated probably once a week while we are gone. Thanks for visiting!