Shane's Email about Rachel

Note from Judy: I received this today from Shane in Kampala about the death of Rachel--one of her street kids that was rescued off the streets and living with Shane and Jesca. It is long and heart wrenching and yet, filled with hope and joy as you can see the lasting impact that Rachel will have on everyone who met her.



Hi Family and all that is CLD:There's too much to say and my strength is low for sure. However, we know you're home waiting for the update, the full story, and we want you to know that we wish we could have called to tell you in person, but we could only muster up thecourage to tell Morgan and then we couldn't say it again out loud, for saying itout loud just confirms the truth and I was still holding on to some dream that I heard Ann wrong, that Ben and Julius' text messages weren't true, that Wilfred's crying was just the bad network - you know that darn phone service always messes things up! So, although I know others will write their version, I'll give you this to start. It's okay if you can't stand to read it, I can't either, I'm just sending it. Last Wednesday, we left Nansana for the Rwandan boarder, for a long needed retreat. We do it every September and this time was going to be the best retreat of CLDhistory. Jeremy booked us all the tents on Lake Bunyoni, we were to boat and swim and read and pray for vision and restoration. And we did, but let me back up to last Tuesday night when we were packing all our stuff up, 10 of us in the Super Custom. Jamesthe Man had it serviced for us the day before, and Willy made sure it was so clean. Julie packed all the food and got us fueled up. And at about10pm, we all gathered in the main room around my laptop for our evening ritual to watch the next episode of CHUCK, our new favorite show. We were on Episode 5, Season 1 and we sat glued to the screen as a huge family, that was our last time to hangout. That night Jesca begged me to bring Recheal with us because they could swim together, but I reminded her,'Rechy has school starting Monday and has to get back to the Kidz house Sunday' and that school is the most important thing. Jesca was a bit sad, but definitely agreed. The next morning we woke up at 5:30am, cuz we were pulling out at 6am American time! But, of course we only have 1 bathroom and 8 girls - so that wasn't the exact schedule, but Recheal was wide awake with us, she helped pack the car, she watched us all run around with excitement yelling about all the things we couldn't find, or where we should hide everything since we'd most definitely get robbed while away. Recheal just watched and smiled and didn't for a second say she wished we didn't leave her behind. No way. Instead, she asked me so sweetly if she could go in the donationsbin and find a dress for her sister, Cathy's, birthday on Saturday. I said yes, thank God. But as I got in the van to pull out of the driveway, she came to my door and asked me for transport money back to theKidz house on Sunday, and I said, 'no, Recheal, you can find a ride from someone at church', 'but mama shane, they always have other plans, I need to get back for school', 'Rechy, you'll figure itout'. And I put on my seatbelt, probably told her to be good and helpful, but I just can't remember now. What I do remember is yelling to her to not leave the house alone. Then her and Jeremy shut the big gates, I watched her stand in the door of the gatewith her smile and wave good-bye as we drove up the hill and out of sight. That was it, the last time we saw her. We drove 9 hours away to 'get away'from it all. We had an amazing week of rest and learning about each other and what we're going through as the long-term vision needs direction and prayer. By Sunday morning we were so restored and ready to conquer the world ahead, or so we thought. We were sitting in some random place on the side of a hill, overlooking the most beautiful lake I've ever seen, the 'deepest lake in Uganda' -- so they claim, but I didn't check myself. We sat and just prayed for each other one at a time, and Julie's phone just kept ringing and ringing, she would silence it every time. Over and over, call after call, she ignored it. We finally finished and piled in the Super Custom, all 9 of us, minus Mike who had to leave the day before. There we sat, Julie in the driver's seat as usual, Jeremy as her captain, and all the girls loaded in theback (Deirdre, Laura, Torrie, Nicole, Susan, Mama Shane, and Jesca). Suddenly, Jeremy jumped out of the van with the phone, Julieturned around to say, 'Julius just text and it says: 'Rachel was killed in an accident.' 'Which Rachel?' I yell. Julie didn't know, Jeremy was frantically dialing and trying to figure out who would answer, no network, no minutes, no answer - what the hell? I was trying not to panic or hyper ventilate but I knew it couldn't be my Recheal, God wouldn't let that happen before we saw her again. 'Julie, just drive, cuz whoever it is, we're driving home right now.' Jeremy got back in the van and kept dialing. We were trying to get to our campground to pack, Jeremy was NOT moving fast enough for me, I almost ripped the phone out of his hand, God must have held it down, but violence was welling up. I looked at Nicole and said, 'if he doesn't hurry, I will explode!' She agreed, pain everywhere. Then, we heard Jeremy yelling to Wilfred, he was hanging out the window trying to get reception. 'Rachel who? Which Rachel?? RechealTendo? Oh no.' and that was it. Julie slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the van. Jeremy jumped out of the van too and left us all in the back stunned, paralyzed. That was it. The day everything stopped. The day I fully questioned what the Hell I've gotten myselfi nto?! What will I tell Jesca? Her sister and best friend,her bunkmate won't be in the top bunk anymore. What happened?! I should have given her the transport money. I should have lectured her one more time to be careful and use those words my mom always said, 'it's not you I'm worried about, Shana,it's all the other people on the road that I don't trust.' but I didn't say that, I just drove away and waved. But if there's one part of the story you must know, it'sthis. On Tuesday, she had to have a new hairstyle, I gave her 10,000ugs which is what I usually gave her for back-to-school hair. But this time she needed a special jarof hair relaxer and it cost 5000ugs. I told her that she better conserve it and not to lose it as usual cuz 'I'm not going to buy you anymore'. That day, she got the most beautiful long braids, all kinds of colors of brown, and she really was smart for school and for Cathy's birthday party on Saturday. But then, Damalie came and told me she needed 14,000 more because we got the nice ones. If you know me at all, you know my response, 'WHAT?! 14,000? Recheal, get in here right now!!!' We were sitting in the garage office, me and Dam andFlorence . In she came, head hanging. 'I only had 10,000 to spend. You just can't have the most expensive hair everytime you want it, Rech!You better help around the house this week, I want to see you working it off with Mommy Ann.' 'ok, I'm sorry,' she said - and if I could go back in time to any moment in my life, that would be the moment - I would say instead, 'you look so beautiful, Rech, and you deserve the most expensive hair and praise God for that!' But, nope, I yelled at her over $15 - and God knows how much I spend on my hair, we need not ever mention it out l oud. But, typical Mama Shane move right there. And later that day, I remembered that she won't always be with us and one day when she's died of AIDS, I'll regret that moment, so when she came to me that night with a huge note and an apology I remembered to hug her and say it looked awesome. But then laying in bed she told me that she needed blackshoes for Monday and I promised last school term and she didn't get any. She was sharing with Edith and now Edith was going to school too and they both couldn't wear the same pair. AND YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID? 'Rech, first look through the donations bin for something,if you really can't find any we'll deal with it next week when I'm home.' At least I didn't say 'no' to that too. But I was thinking it! I get like that at the end of a day and I forget they only want the shoes so they study hard and not get caned, but I was tired. And didn't think for a second I would have to revisit those moments in my life. So, now that you know the details, she looked so beautiful on Sunday with her new long braids and she saw her family on Saturday for Cathy's birthday, and she packed up her school bag and everything important toher. Ritah was with her that day. They somehow found transport money, they somehow got to Wakiso and could afford a boda, no thanks to me. But something happened, as I always have feared and now will Forever Fear. Something horrible. I think she must have been on one of those bodas with no back, the kind you can just fall off, the fast ones that all the guys think are so much cooler, but that Ihate! As the driver was pulling off the main road to go to the Kidz house, she fell off the boda and in front of a taxi, we don't know the exact Truth, but she was instantly crushed. Her body was left in the middle of Hoima Road with hoards of people gathering, but no one helping, as usual. Recheal wasn't there for that, I know know know God took her instantly and she didn't feel anything. The boda driver just dumped Ritah and drove away. She was crying seriously, some people from the neighboring church picked her and somehow knew to call Wilfred. Wilf, Philip, and Ben got there as fast as they could, they had the farm truck, they thought it was just an accident and Rechy needed to get to the hospital. But it was instead, our worst nightmare. It took all Ben's strength and all he had in him to get her broken body into the truck. The guys had to get police letters, get her to the mortuary at Mulago, call Cissy, text us, and who knows what else. It was the worst day in Nansana historyf or everyone and we weren't there. Instead we were driving for 9 straight hours in the worst state of shock, I don't know how Julie dodged 5000 potholes and bikes without once complaining - we had to get home to our family and that was it. We had spent 5 days asking God what we were doing in Uganda, why are we here? What are we really doing? And in that moment - we all knew all the answer. This was our family that was hurting and our van couldn't go fast enough to get us there to help. So, we arrived at midnight and everyone had fallen asleep by then, so we also tried to sleep, but we bounced right back and were ready by 8am to start planning a funeral, or whatever it was that we needed to do. We all grew up a little faster than we wanted on Monday. When we arrivedat Wilfred's to see Cissy and Jjajja Recheal, all the older girls were sitting outside. They just started crying again. When I finally made my wayinside to see Ann and our family, Cissy was down in a ball on the groundholding Jeremy and wailing like I've never heard in my life. Nicole just started too, and Ann, thenme. Once I couldn't deal anymore, I started just planning and taking over thesituation like I have to do to stay sane:'Jeremy, get Ema to pull the taxi's off duty so we can runpeople around'. 'Ann, is everyone here? Who's in what car?''Jesca, Jeremy brought some books for Cathy, so show her thepictures and distract her outside.' It was Monday morning, school was starting. Recheal was suppose to be showing offher new hair, maybe some 'new' black shoes from the donation bin. But instead, Wilfred was meeting us atchurch with her in the back of a truck in wooden box called a coffin, and itwas the worst nightmare I've ever dreamed. We all met at church. Wilfred was amazing, he organized everyone, he neweverything he had to do to keep the sanity for the day. It was noon now and the burial was at4pm exactly - no African time. Wehad a 3 hour drive out to her father's village. Ben drove the Super Custom and told me everything as wedrove. It helped me process thestory a bit, I think, and he's so calm that it worked more than the loud voicesin my head of: Recheal asking me to play Twister with her and Jesca, but I wastoo tired. Ben talked and Iimagined it and realized that day, on Monday, I lost a child and it reallysucks! So we got to the village - all the vans packed, all thetrucks loaded full of bodies. Weunloaded. They moved Rechy intothe mud house where they opened the coffin and all the women wailed and cried,it was horrible. The raincame. We all lost our shoes in themud and didn't care what we looked like anymore. It rained and rained and the sky was black. All the men dug the hole in thebush, they placed bricks in the ground, they stirred up the cement. All the women made huge pots of cassavaand beans, sooo many beans you can't imagine. I paced around. Then, at 4:00, right when it was time to speak and bury the wood box inthe ground, the sun came out and shined down on us. Wilfred told me that I was speaking right after him. I didn't know what to say, my throathurt so bad from clenching my jaw. But time came and Ben called me forward to represent all of Recheal'sfriends - that's a huge responsibility, she has A LOT of friends! Now that I think about it, I think shehas more friends than any 13 year old in the world. And they're from all over the world and they're every ageand every ethnic group. All I kept thinking was what Julie said when she was drivingthose long 9 hours home. 'Recheal was just starting to enjoybeing a kid. She grew up beggingon the streets, then finds out she's dying of AIDS, and then somehow justlearned to look past all that and be everyone's friend anyway, love Jesus andteach everyone else to love Jesus. It's so unfair'. So, I decided to tell a story instead, my favorite thingabout Recheal which I didn't even know I knew until I was standing there withmy one shot at confirming Recheal's life publically. 'Recheal had the most unique giftI've ever seen. See, she couldwatch you dance and then mimic you exactly. She could do any dance of anyone in our family, anyone atchurch, in the choir, she could even do Ben. She would entertain us for hours doing dances while we wouldsit and guess who it was! She knewher friends so well that she could do their dance!' And I just smiled as I remembered that, and just got reallysad at thinking that I couldn't see her mock Jeremy's Calypso anymore, or seeher bounce around as James. Shecould especially do Uncle David's walk so perfectly that we'd all just stopdead in laughter no matter what we were doing. God, I loved that! Anyways, Wilson and Wilfred did awonderful job remembering all her moments. Wilson reminded everyone the amazing reason we have Hope andElijah and many of the kids - because Recheal would pick them from the streetsand beg the guys to help her friends. They all owe their lives to Recheal and they were all there too tocelebrate that moment and recognize who she was. Then, when all the words were said, the wooden box came outof the house and the wailing began again. The crowd rushed to the huge hole. We couldn't see anything. Iwas the last one there because Ritah was asleep in the Super Custom fromsadness and I decided to lock it up instead. When I arrived at the grave the crowd was 10 or more deep inpeople yelling her name and crying, but somehow I was flagged to comeforward. I was to take a handfulof dirt and drop it down. I'm sograteful Wilfred was standing with me, everything got really shaky and he heldme up. The dirt dropped in thehole. People started tocollapse. Some werehyperventilating and we all had to kick into high gear and get these peoplecalmed down. Jeremy carried one limp body backto the van, totally passed out, he poured vitamin water in her mouth until shestarted coughing and woke up. Istarted passing out aspirin in large quantities and getting all the girls awayfrom the grave and into the vans to calm down. Diana and Teddy were the worst of it. Deirdre kicked into counselor mode andstarted planning all the things we have to start doing this week to start torecover. It's going to be aprocess, it's not going to be fun this time. So, after everyone was situated, Iwalked back to her grave. Ema putthe finishing touches of cement on top, Jeremy stood by. Julie hung with Elijah and Ssalli, herbest guys. And I asked Willy toget me a stick: 'a good one that'snot too wet'. I had to carvesomething on the grave. You can'tjust have wet cement without leaving your final mark, right? So, there it was on the side of thegrave: WE LOVE YOU TOO. That's all that seemed to come outof my brain, I tried other things, but that was all we had to leave herwith. And right on top I carved: Tendo Recheal 11.7.95 - 21.9.08 as Susan repeated the dates over and overto me since I couldn't focus very well and Jeremy kept making sure it wasperfect, redoing each of my letters and checking that it was perfectlycenter. It was perfect in the end,then we stood there. All the wailingwas finished. Everyone wasgone. Just us. And we recalled all the funny namesRecheal had for us like 'strong stubborn boy', and most importantly we knew alltogether that this girl showed us who Jesus really was. She was an amazing example of what weall want to be, 'she was too good for this fallen world', Julie said, 'and Godreally didn't want her to suffer through anything more' - She's ourChrist-figure in the story, she's the great soul we never forget. Rechy captured us in our first days inAfrica and she'll be binding us together forever. Just so you know, Recheal left us notes that week. Jeremy got one in his bible. Jesca andI had one left on our bed. Shegave us verses to remember, she asked me to forgive her for anything she's everdone wrong and told and Jesca that she loved us so much and so did God. Then she wrote, 'Bye Bye'. At the burial, Deborah also told me sheleft a note for me in her book bag listing all the things she would miss,things we used to do together, I haven't seen it yet. And just do you know, if you ever wrote Recheal a note, shenever threw it away! She hasphotos and notes all stored up as her personal life treasures of all herfriends, she would reread them and recite them to us in our room, I've seenthem all. You were always withher. This morning I woke up with Jesca asleep next to me,Recheal's empty bed above me and I wondered how the day would fare. Jesca woke up to say, 'I miss Recheal,but she's in Heaven now.' And Iknew the day would fare well, we all have each other and that was what Rechyreminded me to live for. I hadforgotten that in the mix of school fees and no money and corruption anddisease. I had forgotten all thereasons I've called Nansana home. But this morning we all woke up, we moved slow, we ate some toast and westarted our day. I'm assumingtomorrow will be the same. I'massuming I'll wake up tomorrow and have the choice to tell someone they'rebeautiful or yell at them for spending too much money. That's life, right, and one day soon Iwon't have to worry about making thewrong decisions, but tomorrow I'll hope to be a little better at it, a littlemore like Jesus, and I'll remember Recheal doing all our dances in Heaven andentertaining the masses.

Reg and Nancy on their trip

From us both: We both enjoyed seeing how God moves HIS people to different parts of the world to accomplish Kingdom work…after all He owns the chess board and is just looking for us (His chess pieces) to join Him in His work! We were proud to be a part of the team – Bill, Judy, Donna, Mary & Bill Brown, Charity and really blessed that we get to be in Africa full time!

Blessings Reg and Nancy

sidenote from Judy: Having Reg and Nancy on this trip with us was one of the greatest gifts we could ever receive. Oh--how we have missed them and their beautiful caring souls and abundance of love. it was like "old times" and we relished each and every moment. I cannot wait to meet and serve with them again. THEY ARE FAMILY.

Thoughts from Reg

Thanks, Reg, for these inspiring words:

My heart breaks for the people of Uganda as well as Africa. It seems as if the grip of poverty can never be broken. Corruption is rife and pervades every segment of life on this continent. What was truly amazing was the amount of JOY and HOPE and a profound dependence on God that is sometimes lacking in the western world as materialistically the west is pretty well off. Survival mode is evident. The strategic planning aspects of the Ugandan people are somewhat lacking and this is strength of the Come Let’s Dance ministry and the western “lets get it done” attitude. Of course, God is at the helm and as Proverbs 16:9 says ” In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” It’s fun to watch who God brings to help His beloved and in the process He teaches those who teach even more than they give of their knowledge. The prison we visited in Uganda was a real eye opener as compared to the prisons I work in here in South Africa. The inmates had no issued uniforms, shoes and some went without food as the soup pots were not large enough to make soup for the numbers of prisoners. The prison was what I imagined an old west prison to be…brick and iron gates, dirt courtyard, no activities to pass the time, just work detail. Yet there was such a hope when the inmates began to sing praises and listened to our message of Jesus’ Love and our coming to visit! I got to witness Pastor Phillip’s first time to speak to prisoners as this was a calling God had given him and he had not yet had an opportunity to go to the prisons. Pastor Phillip had been wrongly accused as a youth and arrested when he knew no one and release seemed impossible as no one would believe him. God intervened and orchestrated his release. That experience had given him an understanding of the fear, helplessness and loneliness that prisoners face whether properly accused or not and I got to see how God used Pastor Phillip to really connect with the inmates and to give hope and love to those guys! The other really impactful experience was the school dedication on the island on Lake Victoria. Children HAPPY about school??? YOU BET!!!Here the kids were SO PROUD of their ‘new” school and writing books and pencils! What a joy to see first hand how a donation will change the lives of these kids and at least give them a chance to better themselves and they knew Good had provided! Those teachers were so dedicated and just pour love and dedication into their work and they too were so happy to have that facility.

Thoughts from Nancy

Thank you Nancy for sharing from your heart:

Nancy’s musings: I fell in love with the incredible people of Uganda! They are humble, hardworking, entrepreneurial and very warm. The entire team and partners of Come Let’s Dance (CLD) where an expression of Christ activated in their community-we praise God for this wonderful work he has begun! My heart was really touched by the women of the slums and their micro businesses were so inspiring. It is only through the love of Christ that they can live with so little and be filled with such joy! I could see what a tremendous impact the opportunity to make a living with a very small loan produced. The slum church and pastor Winford’s testimony of being delivered from a life of crime and AIDS to go on to care for the prostitutes and homeless kids of his community also touched me deeply. They are so blessed by knowing God cares for the poor, sick, widow and orphans and shows it through bringing others to express His care… this is the work that Shane, Jeremy, Julie, Torrey, Rachael through the hospitals and the entire CLD team is involved with - it really exemplifies putting hands and feet to faith. Watching the CLD girls organize and hold their first women’s conference and see hundreds attend, seek counseling, participate in crafts and enjoy all the speaker,…this was also a real highlight! The team showed they were really eager to share the fullness of Christ in their lives with other sisters. I hope to visit this event again in future years and am already praising God for the growth they are sure to experience as they develop leaders and ministries. Visiting the island school was an eye opener and very touching. It’s still hard to believe that some children in the world are deprived of an education because of location, but the Island is in the world’s second largest lake (Victoria) is remote! What a joy to see the families and children gather to thank God for the land, buildings and teachers for a school for their young children. We pray that funding will be secured for older kids as the concern for their schooling was spoken of, but not able to be met. It was very moving to hear the beautiful young children sing their school & national anthems. I believe some of our friends from CA will one day go there to teach and share the good news-praise God for His provision!

Thoughts from Charity

Thank you, Charity, for this beautiful summation of your experiences in Uganda:

Where to begin? I will try to put the trip into words, although the words and photos do no justice to how amazing the experience itself was.

First of all, I cannot wait to go back. I absolutely fell in love.

I have never been to a place that felt like home so quickly. Ugandans adopt you as family right away. The people are the most inviting, gracious, giving, hopeful, and joyful people I have ever encountered. I feel blessed for meeting every person I did because you really learn what it means to live a content and joy-filled life. I know that every person I spoke with was chosen by God, you cannot walk away from anyone without learning something from them.

The living conditions are heart wrenching, especially in the slums. But that is where I saw Jesus the most. They are lucky if they can get clean water. They are lucky to find a bathroom. They are lucky if they can pay school fees, and even luckier if they can afford the uniform and shoes to attend class. The list goes on. Every day needs that are so attainable for us are not for these people, but they still sing to God louder than I have ever heard. They can still celebrate and dance in God's goodness for He will provide. They laugh with no inhibitions. They pray with faith and hope knowing that God hears them. Everything they have, even if it seems little to us, they attribute to God.

It is a love-hate relationship. You love the people and how God is moving in that place, but you detest the way they government leaves these people in the most desperate and destitute situations. It breaks your heart to see how satan has a hold on so many of their lives, but God is mighty to save and has His hand on those who love and call out to Him. And the anger you experience, I think, is a righteous anger though; knowing that every human is a child of God and deserves to be treated and treasured like one.
Despite the hardships and desperate situations you encounter, you experience a level of hope, joy, and grace that I did not think possible. I learned to love in a way I did not know I could. In every smile you see Jesus. There is just a simple and pure love, joy and hope they have that is contagious. You look around and almost cry thinking this is what heaven will be like: singing your heart out to praise God, dancing, even if you are uncoordinated because God's goodness makes you want to get up and celebrate, laughing without inhibitions, with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The best way I could sum up the entire experience is this: I fell in love and had my heart broken in the same moment and it changes how you live your life forever, and I thank God for every moment

As written by Charity

Back in the good old USA

After a looooong 38 hours, the 4 of us arrived home last night around 10pm. Mary and Bill are still in Uganda and doing more teaching in Kibaga, about 3 hours north of Kampala. We need to continue praying for their health and safety. They leave on Wed, the 17th. And of course, Reg and Nancy are safely home in So Africa/
We will get some pics up soon and of course, the famous pic of Bill being carried to the boat! That is classic. I will also ask each person to post some thoughts over the next week as we process the trip. I can only say that God is indeed at work in Uganda. And by us partnering withg Come Lets Dance and Gospel Tabernacle and other Christian NGO's (non government organizations) we can really make a difference.
The trip next year is Sept 9th. Anyone want to join us??????

Waiting in Detroit

Just got a call that everyone's safe and waiting out the remaining 3 hours of their 8 hour layover in Detroit, MI. The group should be home tonight!

Entebbe Airport

Just said goodbye to Shane and gang and our dear friends Philip and Ema from Uganda. Many hugs and tears!

Winding Down

Received this morning from Judy...

We are all packed and ready to leave for airport. We leave Entebbe at 10:30pm. We just discovered we have an eight hour layover in Motown, yuck! Today we said goodbye to the Browns who are traveling to Kibota to do more teaching to nine hundred Pastors. So now we are down to four of us. I gave my bible to Barbara who served us at the guest house. She was so overjoyed and cried. It was humbling. We went to java cafe and had really good coffee for first time. A slice of heaven. We all had some very good american food; some last minute shopping at the local Friday craft market, too. Then to the new salon to prayerfully dedicate to God. Everyone spoke and shared and it was a wonderful celebration. Sodas all around as this is a big deal for Ugandas. All the Come Let's Dance folks will be taking us to the airport as well as our special Ugandan friends. I am sure it will be a bittersweet goodbye. Until we come again and, God willing, we will be back next September.

It's All Business

The last couple days have been mostly business, but that's good! The group has been reviewing business plans of Thread of Life, which Generation Church has graciously sponsored, and other businesses that have been lent money from micro-loans. The group has also been speaking at business seminars, where Bill, Judy, Reg, and Donna have been teaching at.

Reg and Nancy were scheduled to leave today and return to their home in South Africa. Judy says that Nancy has been exactly in her element; a warm and powerful spirit amongst their group. They're sad to see them go! Also today was a scheduled visit to a salon's dedication, yet another business start-up... God is good!

Judy says there's also been rain every afternoon, which has actually been a blessing, since it's kept the dust down!

Please pray for Charity has she has been feeling under the weather over there. Otherwise, the group has stayed healthy!

Bota Botas, Boats, and More!

Received at around midnight last night:

Ema drove fourteen of us to Jinja on a three hour bone jolting drive on very rough roads. We then we're carried by a very strong man and put into a large canoe so that none us would get wet. What an experience. You should have seen him carry Bill! We took an hour boat trip to remote Buvuma Island and got carried again to the shore. We hopped on bota botas and drove to the new christian school that Daybreak Church funded. The only school on the island of seventeen thousand people. We were greeted with love and gratitude by all the parents and kids. It was very emotional as we dedicated the school. We took tons of video.

The kids put on a great performance with songs and dances. Very inspiring! Without Daybreak Church there would be no opportunity for these kids at all. We went back to the lake and carried to boat. We had late lunch at Jinja and then drove over four hours back. Total exhaustion last night. Nancy preached at street crusade after that totally tiring day. She is awesome.

Sunday Morning

The day of relaxation:

Today we went to Pastor Bernard'ss church and the worship was amazing! We were all moved to tears. The people were so gracious and loving. We so enjoyed meeting them. This afternoon we relaxed at a restaurant for lunch and did some souvenir shopping. Tomorrow we take a boat ride to a remote island to dedicate a school that Daybreak funded. Please pray the boat doesn't sink. Its just a large canoe with a motor. Everyone healthy and falling in love with the people.

Saturday evening update

I received a call from Judy (my mom) this morning at around 11:00am. It seems that they are still having email issues, so she talked about as fast as she could to update me on all they have been doing. Trying my best to remember them, so let's see how fast I can write this down before I forget anything.

• The ladies visited Thread of Life's new facility and are so impressed at how professional everything has become. Each lady sews about 20 aprons a day, so they should have lots to bring home again to sell! The bead making is amazing to watch, Judy says. She is really impressed at the progress and momentum they have made for themselves in the last year.
• The men have been visiting prisons each day, bringing soap and sugar in with them as they minister. Reg, who works regularly in prisons in South Africa says that the prisons there look like "palaces" compared to the prisons in Uganda.
  
• Each guy on the team has also spoke a night at a nightly crusade. Each night the guys go out with local churches and help with crusades on the streets on Kampala.
  
• The women's conference was a huge success. Generation Church ladies will remember the prayer cards that they signed for the previous couple weeks, right? Well, they had exactly the perfect amount of cards to give to each woman present at the women's conference. There was lots of tears, but according to workers in the slums, they've received word that each woman that attended felt extremely special and loved. Shane's team from Come Let's Dance did a tremendous job on the conference; Judy saying, "It was as professional and smooth and well planned as any conference I've been to."
• There is some sadness and anger about the treatment of people in the slums: Judy says that the women who live there drink a minimal amount of water, living in constant dehydration, since using the restroom costs 200 shillings and no one can afford to pay that.
• Some ladies also visited a new salon that Global Partners in Development has extended a loan to. Judy was especially happy to see Huntington, one of the young male leaders in the community, taking charge of the salon, overseeing the planning and remodeling himself. It should be ready to open in a couple of weeks!

Tonight is a night of rest, it's about 10pm over there I think, and then the group is going to head over to Pastor Bernard's church for a morning service. The group is tired, emotionally drained, but excited. They appreciate everyone's words and prayers!

"Working on Adrenalin"

Received 7:00am this morning:

We are all ok. Working on adrenalin at this point. Men doing street crusades last nite and tonite. They visited a prison this afternoon and brought soap and sugar to all inmates and prayed with them.

The ladies went to Thread of Life where there's a huge difference. Only a year and they have a larger facility and the women are really accomplished sewers. Lots of hugs and praying. More later.

They've arrived!

Received this at 10:30am:

We have arrived safe and sound in Uganda.

Now the real work begins!

Away We Go

As I am getting ready to catch a few hours sleep tonight (I hope) my heart is filled with excitement, fear, anticipation, dread, nervousness, love, hope etc... You get the picture. We leave tomorrow at 8:30am on Tues, the 2nd from San Diego--fly to Detroit and depart at 5pm EST. 8 hours to Amsterdam arriving at 7am and a 4 hour layover and then another 8 hours to Entebbe, Uganda--arriving at 8:15pm on Wed the 3rd. (that would be around 10:15 am Pacific time). It will be a very long flight but we have much to do in preparing for our week. We have multiple speaking and preaching engagements so the long flight will allow us time to pray and see what God wants us to say. We leave with about 200 prayer cards for the women of Kampala--many of these women live in the slums and are HIV and work as prostitutes to support their families. We just want to lvoe them and let them know that a woman here in the US is praying for them and loving them. More later. I really gotta go to bed now!

Love, Judy