Mzungu returns

Recap Africa... as if I could...

So my team of 12 from Maranatha Chapel, my home church in San Diego, went to Entebbe, Uganda for a couple of days, then to Nimile, Sudan for 2 weeks. We worked with Far Reaching Ministry, which is an amazing ministry that works in Africa, Russia and China training native people to be pastors and ministry leaders to change the countries from the inside out. The base we stayed at is training 300 chaplains right now to be pastors in the army, which has already changed the Sudanese Army since it began (over 500 have already been trained). It's an incredible ministry that is so effective and powerful, since these men will have to fight soon (another war is about to break out in Southern Sudan between the northern Muslims who attack the mostly Christian south, or from the Lord's Resistance Army, the rebels who kidnap children to force them to be child soldier against their own people). Pray for FRM!

We worked with the chaplains to do a 3-day VBS in a local school, which was so fun and brought the gospel to over 600 kids. I had my own class of 90 kids and they all ate it up and prayed to accept Christ with me.. it was definitely amazing. The chaplains translated for us (they speak like 6 languages: English, Arabic, Swahili, and like 3 or 4 tribal languages each), but some of the kids spoke some English, too. One time Annie (my cousin who made the trip insanely fun) and I were trying so hard to sing a song with them and we thought we were learning their language, Mari, and we were so excited singing "beeah parling ooobly"... but when we asked a chaplain to translate, he was like, "umm it's in English!" and we realized they were totally singing "we are marching slowly"... and we thought we were so cool singing in African. Ha! The poor kids were jammed into a tiny little hut all day, sitting on benches which were just sticks resting on pieces of wood (ow, thats gotta hurt the bum) and it was sooooo HOT but overall the best time of the whole trip! I love those kids and never wanted to leave!

We also had 2 women's conferences, which focused on Jesus' character... local women from the villages who attend the churches FRM has started came, and we always danced for hours (more on that below), then they presented us with a goat or a chicken. Good times. The women were sooo appreciative of us, and I got to give my testimony too. It was heart-wrenching to hear the women's stories, some of them are so poor and so alone and have no value in their society as women. I have a whole new appreciation for the women's movement, even if I am not into feminism... we are not viewed as simply property here like the women in Africa are treated. It's not God's plan for them and it's been so cool to see how Far Reaching Ministries has been slowly helping the women of the villages realize His true purpose for them as women and not as property. His Word really is changing their society, one person at a time.

Overall it was an amazing trip.. we never got sick and nothing too terrible happened. The best part was seeing how much God is working there, with the people, with the kids, through Far Reaching Ministries and through the Calvary Chapels we visited (in Kampala and Entebbe, Uganda, and Nimile, Sudan).  Pray for their ministries, God is using them in big ways. I hope I return to Sudan soon, back with the monkeys and flying over the Nile in little bush planes and holding African babies... there are few feelings better than being surrounded by little African kids calling you Mzungu (white person) and teaching you songs about Jesus in their language! 

Thanks for praying for me!!! The best adventures are yet to come...

The tkuls (pronounced too-kle) the villagers live in. Wes told us a funny story about a man who got saved because there was an earthquake and he was afraid his tkul's roof would fall on him and kill him so he became a Christian the next day... Wes was like "a straw roof killing you? are you serious??" but now the guy goes to church so it works.

With the amazing women of the kitchen

Crossing the Nile

We got to visit Calvary Chapel Entebbe in Uganda, which was so encouraging. They just finished their new building (they met in canvas tents before) and have a Christian school.

The women of CC Entebbe taking tailoring classes to generate income. The women there have virtually no way to make money if their husband dies, leaves them or takes another wife, which is common, so the church wants to help them earn money for themselves. 

Bye kids!

After giving the kids their Love Covers packages.. each kid got a backpack, a school uniform, a t-shirt, a mosquito net and a notebook.. they were soooooo excited! Some of them had never ever had anything new in their lives, it was so fun to watch them open their backpacks!

:)

happy

The babies always found me!

At the women's conferences (we had two), the women always sang to us and presented us with a chicken or a goat... good times! Really though, the women DANCED for hours before and after each service, like serious booty shaking dance wars. It was insane. Annie (my cousin) and I were always in the middle of the circles laughing like "how did we get here??"

We bought food and supplies to bring to a struggling family of the church, and it was an amazing time. We went to pray for them and visit their home, and God also gave us a chance to minister to a neighbor who was there. Lily was a single mom whose husband took another wife from her same clan, which her dad didnt approve of, so basically she is disowned by them both and now has her brother's kids since he died recently. She told us she cant make ends meet and has thoughts of giving the kids and herself a poison to end it all, and we got the chance to pray with her, give her some answers from the Word of God, and helped her get a job on the missions base we stayed at, so she is now working and has support. God is good!

Some of these kids came to the base everyday to practice worship songs for Sunday, because its the only safe place they can sing and be in the village. So cute.

The chaplains are trained to be pastors in the army so when they have to go fight (theres always wars going on between the Muslim north attacking the more Christian south, or from the Lords Resistance Army)... and they live on the base, are trained for a year, and are prepared to do childrens and womens ministry, as well as trained in church planting and evangelism. Basically they are the most amazing men ever, they are willing to die any day to protect their families and villages, yet turn around and pick up crying babies and play with the kids with such tender hearts.. in a society where women and children have little to no value, this makes them true men of God and examples in their country.

We were in the schools for a few days, doing VBS and Love Covers (with the backpacks). It was the best time, we sang, taught them who Jesus is, and led them all to accept Christ. I honestly can't think of anything more fun or meaningful I have ever done in my life. One highlight was hearing like 500 little African kids all singing (actually screeching, they dont really sing as much as shriek) a song that goes, "I am a winner in the Lord", which they pronounce as "I am a weiner", which is honestly one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. Classic.