Both Pittsburgh AND Tomball teams are home!

(Written and posted Thursday around 2pm)

Thank you all so very much for all the prayer coverings over the last two weeks of our mission travel!  BOTH teams have arrived to their respective homes and families!!!  The Pittsburgh team (Bill, David, Larry and Dee) was picked up at the airport by Nancy and Elizabeth (Bill's wife and daughter) and delivered to our homes.  We arrived in Pittsburgh luggage-less (I can think of worse things to happen!) AND we are VERY happy to be home!  

(NOTE: It is now several hours later than my original writing... and our luggage has arrived... time to start washing!! ;-) )

I received a text from Ann about 2 hours after we landed in Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon, saying the Tomball team (Don, Reggie, Drew, Jennifer and Juliana) had landed in Houston, and all were good there.  Praise the Lord!!

Again, thank you FAITHFUL PRAY-ERS, for all of your prayers regarding our Uganda trip - before, during, and returning.  I would ask you to continue keeping the entire team in "mission trip" prayer for another week or so as we all ponder AND process the trip in our hearts AND our minds.  Pray also, that as we adjust back to our lives here, living our daily lives and loving our family and friends in the States... that we live in, and extend all the more, the grace that's been extended to us as we went, in obedience to Him, to share encouragement AND the life saving message of Jesus Christ to those we shared with in Uganda.  (sorry for that major run-on sentence... I couldn't figure out how to break it up! lol)    May we never be the same as we were 2 weeks ago!    

I will be posting more pics (or links to pics) here (on the blog) in the next few days (hopefully!).  For those on FB, I will post the pics or links there as well!    Stay tuned!!

With much love in Christ Jesus and on behalf of the whole team,
dee

We are in Dubai!

We've made it to Dubai and we will be boarding the plane for Boston in about an hour.  We will have a connecting flight to Pittsburgh from there.  Please pray we make our connections in Boston... we have a short layover and have to collect our luggage, go thru Customs and Immigration... and recheck our luggage for the Pittsburgh flight.  

I will post Monday's post from Pittsburgh later!  Thank you for prayers!!!

Sunday, July 31, 2016 - Field Report

Sunday Service at Musese Village church:

The whole team except Juliana (she was feeling a little puny) headed out to Musese Village today for church service. Drew led the men's Sunday school and taught on the responsibility of men to lead their family and to teach their children.  Drew did a great job of tying it in to Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 and a great question and answer session followed where some of the other men taught out of experience, quoted scripture and gave advice. The message was welcomed by our friends in Musese.

 

Dee taught the women's Sunday school and spoke about what God’s Word says about Sin, Confession, Forgiveness, and Restoration in relationships, specifically with a family member.  Dee shared her own testimony of restoration in her life, and referenced Joel 2:12-13, and Joel 2:25.

Jennifer led the children's Sunday school with the help of our artistic David teaching on three different subjects (Esther - courage, David and Jonathan - friendship, and Eljah - sharing) and led them in multiple worship songs. The children over here are very polite and eager to learn.

Following Sunday school we went back in the church and listened to more worship music and then Larry preached a sermon on Marriage and the effects of sin in marriage, the need to put Christ first in our marriages, and then each other secondly for our marriages to be as God intended it.  The message was as important here as it is in the states as many struggle here too.  The sermon was very good and we finished our church service a little after 1:00 PM. After eating lunch and going back to Mbale, most of the team headed to Sipi Falls where we got to climb up the hill to go behind the falls and then up the hill further to go to another falls, and then up even further to go above the falls and to see the beginning of the series of falls which started at the top of the mountain. Bill climbed up to the first set of falls, but it was too steep for him to go any further. Our guide climbed the mountain like a goat and seemed to be in a hurry.  We stopped him a few times to take some pictures, but we weren't sure where the trail headed and before we knew it, we were almost back down the hill without getting a chance to take pictures of the upper falls. The ride over to and Sipi Falls was a bit bumpy at times, but the scenery as we went up the mountain was spectacular and coming back, God was demonstrating some of His beauty with the sun setting behind the clouds.  Artists only dream of painting something like that.

The week has flown by.  It was such a pleasure to serve alongside this whole team. Everybody was very busy every day and we all were stretched, but over 100 people came to Christ and many more were shared with.  Our constant prayer was that we would be a reflection of Christ as we visited each and every person, that we would in a graceful manner correct bad theology, and that we would only see people as people either being lost and needing to hear the truth, or being our brother or sister in Christ (in which case we could encourage and pray for them).  We all know that we didn't deserve to be here representing and sharing God's Word, but we were thankful and blessed to be allowed to do it. 

Saturday, July 30, 2016 - Field Report

Team Report for Saturday... (sorry for the delay for Saturday, Sunday and Monday... we've been a bit busy and internet was not stellar... wasn't available for Monday as we left Mt. Elgon Hotel for a stay in Jinja ... a little closer to the airport.)

The whole team went to the orphanage today.

Upon arrival, Dee and Bill rounded up the older kids that had been brought back to the orphanage from their secondary schools and continued taking photos.  While the kids were waiting to have their pictures taken, they broke out in praise and worship songs, both in their language and in English using their hands to keep the beat on the table in front of them. Those of us that were there all said we could have listened to that all day. It was a very sweet sound to our ears. Music is such a part of their culture and those who are Christians use it to worship God all the time.  Everywhere you walked there, you heard a group of kids singing worship songs.

Others latched on to one or more kids and just hung out, talking and sharing. When Dee and Bill were close to finished, we were called to lunch.

After lunch Dee and Bill finished taking the photos (around 110 total kids for the week) and then the Crocs that Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church purchased were presented to the kids. The Crocs were very much welcomed and needed as the ones they received last year were falling apart. Next on the agenda was a performance the kids put on for us - singing, dancing, sharing their favorite Bible verses followed by a word of encouragement from the administrator, Simon, and Larry to the kids and thanks to the team for the visit, Crocs, etc.

 

Time to get crazy.  The water balloons came out and started flying everywhere. The kids and the team had a blast. After that everyone grabbed one or more kids again and started doing various things.  Drawing on the basketball court with chalk, asking the kids about what they are doing in school and what their plans are for the future, discussing God's gifting of them and encouraging them to use those gifts to glorify God, looking at pictures they have drawn, walking with them seeing all that is going on at the orphanage, taking pictures, playing soccer and just loving on the kids. It is amazing to see how well they are all doing educationally, physically, and spiritually. It is easy to say that the kids were a huge blessing to us.

At the end of the day, we said our goodbyes and drove off watching the kids at the front of the building dancing to worship music. It was pondered, what would America be like if we gathered every day after work with our neighbors and sang worship songs and danced for joy in the Lord instead of going home, going inside and turning on the TV. We will all be singing to our Lord someday, but we do not know when. Perhaps that is why we were so joyous today, seeing a glimpse of things to come.