Group One Arrived!

Pardon the delay in posting, but group one of the team (Pastor Dave, Deb Breeden, Greg and Kelsey Stiers, Sue and Michaela Hammel, Donna Coulter, and Dorothy Hampton) arrived last evening on time, with every piece of baggage fully in tact, and only slightly grouchy! The Lord was clearly guiding our path, because we only encountered a couple minor hiccups -- a monsoon attacked us coming through Lafayette, Michaela had boarding pass trouble in Chicago, and Dorothy's bag got flagged in Heathrow for an inappropriate liquid. Who knew SOLID deodorant was considered a liquid?! She made it onto the plane just before the last boarding call...phew!

On a positive note, British Airways must have been trying to butter us up, because they gave everyone but Donna and Greg upgraded seats...real silverware and a beef filet for dinner! The extra seat room, foot rests and noise-canceling headphones were a nice touch too.

Today, we all woke up to the warm welcome of a shining sun, feeling quite refreshed and french toast for breakfast prepared by the house ladies...nom nom! We have spent a lovely day getting aquainted with the Stevenson home and their staff. All of our extra luggage and donations (thanks to all of you) have been sorted and prepared for our weeks ahead.

Tomorrow morning, we will pack up and head to the village of Chai for a couple days. We will be spending the weekend visiting the people of Chai and their chuch. Thanks to the donations of the Joy Circle, we will also dedicate a house to a jja jja (grandmother).

Thank you all for your prayers and support! After we return from the village, we will update y'all again.

--Kelsey (and a little help from the peanut gallery :) )

A Change in Attitude ... by Deb Breeden

Two years have come and gone between my last journey to Uganda and the one soon to come. During that time, my life has been full of adventure and discovery, as well as, disheartening circumstance.  But when I think about my life in comparison to those that suffer or go without on a daily basis I am reminded that in my life I have the choices and resources that can make a difference in my circumstance. I need to be occasionally reminded of what is necessary and what is want, what is an inconvenience and what is survival, what is temporary and what is permanent. All too often I find myself in the need of an attitude adjustment. Returning to Uganda is part of that reminder.

Recently, I read this definition of Joy, by Kay Warren, "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all of the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things." Great in theory, more difficult in daily practice. As Holy Week unfolded on Facebook, I read many posts about living in the Saturday, not rushing from the emotional sadness of Good Friday to the euphoric celebration of the Resurrection without the time spent in the heaviness of  not knowing of Saturday. Not knowing that everything is going to be all right. I think many people live life in the Saturday. Returning to Uganda reminds me how important it is to live in community. To share the burden of Saturday living while we wait for Sunday.

Like all trips before, it is necessary to do lots of fundraising and I don't know why, but Ed and I always take on more than feels comfortable in the two months prior to my departure, just in case, I haven't raised enough money to pay for the trip. At the same time, I usually want to slow down and try and focus on getting into a different frame of mind. One that takes me away from the hustle and bustle of this life to one where I will be intentional about being present in the moment. Being more still and listening to what God and others are saying to me. Kind of hard to do both at the same time, but God used different illustrations while we were working to remind me of important lessons to remember for this journey back to Uganda. An accidental head piercing from a single thorn and the split blood; a heavy tree limb laboriously moved from it's place on the low lying edge of the property, to it's place up the hill on the burn pile; the smell of burning straw and wet magazines; the expectation of more than what we were given; the voices and stories of those that dwell most days in the loneliness and despair of Saturday...all reminders of where my head and my heart need to be. Jesus...and his people. The widow... the orphan...the poor.

There are 27 days until departure ... and 28 days until arrival. The difference between those dates are not nearly enough time to transition to a place of mission mindedness. One must constantly be aware of the signs before us that lead us to life of service. I need this trip to Uganda to be reminded to slow down and be present in the moment so that I can be a help to those who are having trouble finding their Joy, even if it's me. I need to feel the pain of the piercing thorn and the breathlessness of the walk up the hill to be reminded it wasn't a privileged life... or death. That the Lord I serve was a servant, himself and I have been called to go serve with the hope of Resurrection Sunday.

Heartbreaker, Dreammaker

In 2010, Africa and its people captured my heart. I left a piece of my heart there. That happened again this past June.

After having experienced Uganda already, what exactly drove me to choose to return to a place filled with so much heart-break, desolation, and evil? At first I would have given you a true, but simplistic, answer that I enjoy mission work, and I love knowing that I made a positive impact on the Ugandan people's lives. But really, it's much deeper and more than that. Yes, I have been called by God, but it's more than just my obedience. It's more than just spreading the Message throughout the world. It's about having my heart broken, being stripped of personal comfort and security, and being humbled. Over and over again. Forcing myself to step into a place where I know I will be left completely vulnerable to emotional turmoil is by no means easy. And even sometimes terrifying. But it is necessary.

After that, you may be thinking, "That still doesn't sound like something that would drive one to take the leap...", which is true. The beauty, joy, and life of the people and the culture is unlike any I've ever experienced.
Seeing the people constantly praising God--spending hours singing and dancing, loving each other, and rejoicing in everything, then traveling home with them to see their one room shack, in which 8 people live and finding out they, along with several family members, are living with HIV/AIDS and don't get enough food each day.
Watching children run around without pants, worms in their belly, flies swarming them, and not knowing where they will get there next meal, but seeing them laugh and giggle and skip around in the school yard, just grateful they get to come and learn.
Spending an afternoon in a jja jja's brand new house, while we hear her story of how she has no income and poor health, but all her kids are dead, so she has 11 grandchildren who live with her and are completely dependent on her. Yet she feeds us a traditional African feast (more than enough food), serves us cake, and she can't stop smiling, singing and dancing.

Each of these things brought so many tears to my eyes, happy and sad.  But in that jja jja's house, as we sat on mats in the empty home and sang Jesus Messiah, I felt the presence of God stronger than ever. It was in that powerful moment, surrounded by my team and the jja jja that I had my heart broken again. That's the moment where I remembered what it's all about..."He humbled Himself and carried the cross, love so amazing...The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven, Jesus Messiah, Lord of all." 

Kelsey Stiers

Me?

 I have been received well since returning to the States. Everyone is excited to hear my stories and see pictures.  I am thrilled by these responses. I have to admit though, I have found it difficult to say anything about my trip. I have to assume I am experiencing culture shock, although it looks differently than I anticipated.

People want to know, "what was the most.... the best... the one thing..." I couldn't answer these. After two weeks in Uganda, I felt that the vast experiences could not be compared. Which is "better"? A woman I met once, never knowing her name, but when I gifted her a mattress she hugged me so closely, pressing her cheek against mine? Or, the group of 22 educators that I bonded with over three days of laughs over language barriers? I can't call one better than the other, or more meaningful even.

I am gradually becoming more "myself"... if that's possible. Many will say things like, "I could never do that!" or "It takes a special person..." Maybe many of you feel the same way? That it takes a special person to poop in a hole and eat weird food? For me, that is the easy part. The challenge is coming back home and finding balance in my life. Discovering the new "myself," how my life will change, and how to let loose of these memories and experiences I have been holding tight and keeping private.

The trip was amazing! Indescribable in many ways., but I will keep trying to find the words :)

Maybe God is nudging you to do something. Overseas, around the US, in your city, in your home. Maybe your return question to God is, "Me?"  Get up! Go, do, experience. The one thing I know for sure, as Christians we can't afford to keep quiet and sit still.


Laura Willowby

Last night, a friend asked me how this trip was different from my first two trips with the Park Place teams.  I heard myself say something like what follows and it occurred to me, "Hey!  This is what I need to post as my blog reflection!"  So here goes...

I went to Uganda for the first time in 2008.  I can now look back and say my experiences were primarily physical in nature, with all the senses barraged by new things.  There was so much to take in with my eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.  To list all of those sensations is content for another post:)

Missions trip #2  in 2010 was more emotional.  I kept asking myself Why?  Why am I here?  How can I help?  Why does such poverty and disease continue?  What is God saying to/ asking of me?

This trip felt more spiritual for me.  Physically, not that I wouldn't have new sensations, I went more familiar with what I might encounter.  Emotionally, I was more at peace with the questions of the two previous trips.  I didn't necessarily have specific answers , but I was more OK with NOT knowing exactly  why I was going or what it all meant.

Prior to this year's journey, our team could be seen wearing t-shirts that read, "Shaped by the Moment" with the shape of Africa in place of the A in "Shaped."  With this frame of mind, I went into this trip looking for God, paying more attention to what He wanted me to see, hear, and do.  At least three experiences spring to mind where I really noticed God at work.

          1)  In the various times we shared a testimony, scripture or Bible study.
          I should not be amazed that God was in these experiences because we and MANY others
          prayed for them.  I just smile at how scriptures rose to the surface that had something
          significant to say in THAT place, in THAT moment.  I know I was touched and I trust that
          those with whom we shared were, also. ( Exodus 4: 10-17, esp. v17  God said to Moses,
          "Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.")

2)  At the dedication of Jja Jja Maria's new home near Entebbe.  We had visited Maria at her former home located in a Kampala low-land.  Whenever there was a heavy rain, Maria's home often flooded, sometimes bringing bugs and snakes, and always damaging her few material possessions.  The day we dedicated her new home, we were preparing to pray and cut the red ribbon when the rain we’d observed building in the clouds began to fall.  We quickly crowded into her new 2 room brick structure with a corrugated tin roof.  It was hard to hear, but we listened intently to the jja jja and members of her family express their joy and gratitude for their new home.  It did not go unnoticed by many of us that perhaps God sent the rain to remind us all of His faithfulness.  “All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided.  Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”  (Lamentations 3:23)

     3)    The noticeable absence of anxiety in my heart and mind.

On the past two trips to Uganda, I struggled to determine what gifts I had to offer this team and the people with whom we would serve.  As I said before, I don’t necessarily have specific answers to the questions that weighed on me in 2008-2010.  What I do know is that God gave me a peace, peace of mind and heart, a lack of anxiety or worry regarding His plan for me in Uganda.  I simply knew I was to go and make myself available to love and be used by God.  “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with all of you.”  2 Thessalonians 3:16

I will end my reflections by highlighting a couple of themes that surfaced for the 2012 Uganda Missions Team.

HOPE.  Several months prior to leaving, Deb Breeden gave each member a Mudlove bracelet inscribed with the word HOPE.  One reason this word is so special to us is because of the relationships we build with people in TAPP, the Tumaini AIDS Prevention Program.  Tumaini is the Swahili word for hope.  Some may think we go to share hope with these friends living positively with HIV/AIDS.  What we find is that they personify the Hope we all find in Jesus Christ.  May the God of HOPE fill US with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that We may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)

JESUS MESSIAH.  Our team prepared several songs for the trip, anticipating that we might be asked to share in various settings.  One of the songs, “Jesus Messiah”, seemed to become our Team Song, as we shared it repeatedly.  Several phrases from the song played over and over in my mind as we traveled throughout Uganda:

·         Love so amazing, LOVE SO AMAZING!

·         EMMANUEL (God with us)

·         LORD OF ALL

·         All our HOPE is in YOU; All our HOPE is in YOU;

·         All the GLORY to You, God, The Light of the world

Perhaps you may never travel to Uganda or to anywhere outside of where you live.  It will be my prayer that no matter where any of us may be, we will all know this HOPE that is in JESUS MESSIAH, and that we will be unable to keep it to ourselves!

Sandra Overstreet

Uganda, is that place for me

How does one begin to reflect about an eighth trip to a country so economically poor, but to a people so unselfishly generous?  

By saying it was a journey, with a group of individuals, uniquely gifted, tender hearted and with the desire to improve the lives of others if there was any way possible, but also saying each day was a gift to us from our Father who desires for us to love, as Christ loved. To seek our inner most thoughts and find the person He desires for us to be. To continually reach for our full potential and sometimes that means we must leave who we are in our comfortable places and . . . go.

Go . . .

 to the unknown,

the uncomfortable,

the different. But go.

It is in these places and moments of time that we place our hand in the hand of Shepherd and allow Him to lead.

It is in these places and moments of time that who we have been is being molded into who we are to become. And that is why this is trip number 8.

I want to be transformed daily into my full potential in Christ and sometimes that means I must leave those that know me, leave that which is familiar and go. In Uganda, there are women who know me and challenge me to be a better person just by their witness. There are men who get up early to take care of their families needs, then go off to work for hours tending to the needs to travelers and their employer with never a negative remark, only kindness and generosity. . . those men challenge me to be a better person. There are grandmothers tending to the needs of their orphaned grandchildren without a steady source of income. . . these grandmothers challenge me to be a better person. I think you get the message. Sometimes I need to see that my life with all of its tests are minor compared to those living in Uganda. . . and I’m challenged to be more grateful.

I need to sit on a mat on the ground inside a mud hut or handmade mud brick room and listen to the life story of a woman living with HIV/AIDS and have my heart broken.

I need to sing with my fellow travelers about Jesus, our Messiah as we celebrate the gifting of a new home to a grandmother caring for eleven grandchildren and feel the Spirit move in my heart afresh.

I need to go,

I need to be challenged,

I need to be broken

And I need to feel the spirit afresh in me.

Uganda, is that place for me.

Deb Breeden

Love Means Never Having to Say Goodbye

What an exciting day!!

This morning and afternoon was spent in celebration with jja jja Maria. We drove about an hour to Entebbe (where the airport is) to dedicate a new house for a grandmother. Dark rain clouds followed us the whole way there, but the first drops didn't fall until we were standing outside her house ready to cut the ribbon. Sandra and Denise helped Maria ceremoniously open her home, and then the rain began pouring down. We all rushed inside the concrete structure and listened as rain pounded on the tin roof. That did not stop the celebration, however, as we sat on the floor singing songs of praise. The rain actually signified a great blessing... it was a sign of cleansing of the past and preparation for a brighter future. Maria's former home flooded every time it rained and bugs and snakes often found there way into her rooms. In her new home, she can stay dry and snake-free.

Our time of singing was full of joy and smiling faces. God's presence was all-encompassing as we sat on colorful mats and watched Maria soak in her new home. We enjoyed a traditional meal to celebrate the opening. Maria began preparing the food early this morning (probably while most of us were still sleeping), and she took care to maintain certain traditions. Our table consisted of two pieces of cardboard and carefully laid banana leaves. Many of the dishes were steamed in banana leaves. Maria unwrapped the food in a traditional fashion and laid it carefully aside. The first dish she opened was the "cake," which was really a pumpkin cooked with rice... interesting to say the least. Individual "chicken luwobos" were served, meaning we each got chicken and potatoes that had been steamed and wrapped up in a banana leaf. Other foods served included rice, matoke, ground nut sauce with and without mushroom, and eggplant.

We had a visitor crawl in during our meal... a large red bug about 2 inches long. We watched as it crawled slowly onto the banana leaves and food, but it then took a turn toward Sue and Carma. Sue swiped it back toward the food, but it returned with a vengeance. Its speed doubled and chaos ensued. Alex, Sue and Carma jumped up, knocking over Mountain Dew and Coke in the process. We chased the bug toward the door where it was squished... or so we thought. It could not be killed. But we were able to get it outside and return to our meal.

When we told Maria we were leaving soon, we asked if she wanted to say anything. And she replied, "Why do you have to go?" It was such a sweet time we had with her, and she was so happy to celebrate her home-opening with us. She also sends her greetings to all of you!

After saying our goodbyes, we heading for the Botanical Gardens. We had an hour to walk around the gardens/park, and we saw beautiful flowers and hungry monkeys.

Tonight we had our final devotions together where we spent time affirming one another. It was a wonderful way to end this journey and challenge ourselves to think about our next journey... returning home. We also took time to pray over Colleen (and Tim in spirit) as they continue their ministry in Uganda.

This is our last blog from Africa, but each team member will be posting a reflective blog over the next two weeks so be sure to keep checking for those! Thank you for your prayers and support for these past few weeks... we would appreciate continued prayer as we adjust to life at home.

We are leaving for Entebbe Airport tomorrow morning at 5:45 am (10:45 pm your time), and our flight leaves at 9:10 am (2:10 am for ya'll). We should reach London by 4:00 pm (12:00 pm). We will spend the night in London (warm showers and pizza!), and we leave from Heathrow Monday morning at 11:45 am and arrive in Chicago at 2:15 pm. Our plane departs Chicago at 6:05 pm and lands in Indy at 8:00 pm... where we will be looking forward to seeing many of your smiling faces!!

Signing Off,
Alex and Laura
YBC-2012-UPPT