Next Phase

While on this trip, God brought me complete healing of some junk I've been dealing with for 13 years.  It is totally amazing what He's done!!  But now, coming home, I realize that it's time for an all new season of my life.  Since God showed me in a lot more detail what I'll be doing in Uganda, now is time for training.  I need to learn some things before I can be effective in my mission.  So, my first assignment of training is a high school youth group.  I have volunteered to be a small group leader at the Free Methodist Church.  Crazy I know.  :)  But I guess if I can handle American teenagers, I can handle anyone.  : P   This isn't my choice of something fun to do, this is where God is sending me next, and I will obey.  Things always work out great when I do that.

New name, new faces

My new title is Praise the Lord!!  I can remember this one.  :)  The new faces on my profile pic are Alex and Violet.  They will be married in October and have been chosen to run Trinity Fields where I will be living too.  These are 2 amazing people with a passion for God and sports.  Alex is a preacher with the gift, he commands the attention of the entire room when he begins to speak.  We became great friends during my time in Uganda as Alex was able to travel with us to all the different villages we went to.  It's so wonderful to make those connections with people that have similar vision and passion.  I can't wait to get started with what God has for us in Buvvi when Trinity Fields gets built.

What is Trinity Fields?  Derek Stanton has a dream to build a huge sports complex with super nice fields. Soccer, baseball, basketball, netball, tennis...  It will be amazing!!  He wants to bring kids in from all over Uganda to have like a camp experience.  A chance to play on fields like they've never seen, and learn about Jesus at the same time.  He does this in the US at Camp Berachah once a year, but here we could do it all year round.  We all have ideas and dreams, and Trinity Fields offers the opportunity to see them all come true!  This picture is of our team walking the border of the 20 acres of land Derek has purchased in Buvvi.  It's a beautiful place with a great view.

London Day 2

Woke up with my knee still screaming with every step.  But I headed into town.  Nothing is open at 8am.  I got breakfast at McDonald's.  I know, I know.... but it's cheap and familiarish.  I swung thru Buckingham Palace and then headed for the Museum of Natural History.  Yuck.  Filled with so much mumbo jumbo "science" propaganda.  I got out of there fairly quick.  Tried the Victoria & Albert museum.  I only did the Europe section - old Catholic artifacts.  They just either amused me or disgusted me so I moved on again.  Thankfully those were both free museums. 

I headed toward the theatre where I'd seen the Lion King was playing (the stage production, not the movie)  :)  I got in on a standing room ticket for only £13.50!!  That's about $20!!  Wow!  So after walking around from 8-3, I stood up for 2 1/2 hrs.  It was totally worth it!  What a beautiful production!!  I was annoyed by little Simba's overly British accent, but otherwise it was great!!  Rafiki and Nala were my favorites I think.  Rafiki was a real South African woman and she did it very well.  This was a wonderful end to my African adventure!!  :)  I'd like to see it again though, in America.  : P

Time is up.  Tomorrow I fly out.  I leave here at 3 and arrive in Seattle at 4:45.   A nice short ...... 9 1/2 hr flight.  :(  With a stiff knee?  I hate these long flights, and the movies of this month I've already seen or they don't interest me.  But what else is there to do for that long??  Try to sleep. 

See y'all soon!!

London Day 1

I'm writing this because I had an adventure today, but also for my own memory so I know what I took pictures of since it seems I took 150 today!! 

I have no clock, there's not one in my room, nor anywhere that I have found in this hotel.   Even the computer I'm using doesn't show the time.  So I was apparently up very early, since I spent about 40 minutes online then caught the 7am bus to the airport.  I took the underground into the city, heading for St. Paul's Cathedral first.  I got all turned around, stopped for breakfast and asked directions.  My $6 breakfast was microwaved fried eggs and "bacon" - nasty, but I forced it down cuz I needed something in my stomach to take my malaria pill.  I walked quite a ways to St. Paul.  The first place I headed because it was big turned out to be the Freemason Library and Museum. 

Lots of cool random buildings on my way to the Cathedral, but once I saw it there was no doubt that was it.  What a beautiful, huge building!  Humanity used to know how to honor God with fabulous architecture that's for sure.   I didn't go in because there was no photography allowed and it was around $25.  I like pictures, and I figured the outside was cool enuf.  Headed over the Millineum Bridge to do the Queen's Walk down the river.  Hit Shakespeare's Globe briefly, then walked toward the Eye.  That thing is huge!!  Lots of strange people dressed in really random costumes with a hat sitting in front of them.  Really??  You want money for wearing a costume on the street?  I took a cool one for my auntie (you'll have to see it later )  and gave him a coin.  I walked all the way to Westminster Bridge where Big Ben is.  I'd seen him last time, but no pix, so now I got some.  :)  Across the street is Westminster Abbey where I did the tour last time. 

From there I headed for Trafalgar square.  I stopped at a McDonald's and got a Coke.  Wow!  Coke has never tasted so good as after 6 weeks of strange pop and Coke that tastes all wrong.  This was good!!  A familiar flavor at last!!  As I left there, I heard a faint sound of music.  This was really a cool thing.  I couldn't quite make out the song, but I knew it was familiar, and I knew it was Christian.  My heart was leaping and I started running, dodging buses as I headed toward the Square.  I finally got close enuf to recognize the song as "Dancing Generation" and I found a parade of Jesus people following the music.  I joined the parade singing for joy!!  LOL  Yes I did!  They were holding some massive outreach in the square with a big stage and prayer stations and all sorts of music!!  It was pretty cool! 

From there I was very tired, and it was only 12:30 or so.  My knee was killing me and my foot was hurting.  I kept seeing buses advertising movies, so yes, I set out to find a cinema, and yes..... I did pay £12.95 which is about $22 to go see Eclipse!!!!!!!!    You may think I'm crazy, but do you know that is the most comfy seat I've had in 6 weeks!?!?!?  I absolutely loved this movie!!  I was bummed I missed the opening at home, so I paid that ridiculous amount of money to see it here.  I thought New Moon would stay my favorite, but this one was definitely better!!  The series is picking up!! 

From there I got a Burger King kids meal and headed for home.  I stopped one more time to wander a bit, but my screaming knee was begging me to go back to the hotel. 

So tomorrow..... Betsy, you'll cross your fingers for me....  I saw a lot of half price ticket shops selling theatre tickets.  I'm going to check that out for a matinee tomorrow of Lion King.  My sister loved it, and I know I would too, so if I can swing that, I am going to try.  I saw the theatre where it is playing, so I can find it again I think.  We'll see!  I also saw that Jeff Goldblum is doing a show here right now.   It was funny to me all the American shows they were doing like Legally Blonde and Grease....   Other than that, my plan is the Natural History Museum, dinos and all you know?  and then whatever.  Maybe the Tower of London, maybe nothing.  I'm just winging it, exploring, getting lost, and spending ridiculous money.  Everything is double priced here!  ick! 

Just for the record, I don't like this city.  Yes, there are some amazing things here, but way too many people, and waaaaay too expensive.  I know it's a saturday, and these are mostly tourists, but still, not my thing. 

Just 2 more nights here then fly away home!!!  I'm looking forward to being back.  I miss a lot of things, all of us spent a lot of time discussing food throughout the trip.  Food in America can't be beat!   I need my Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Red Robin, Wendy's......  and milk and cheese!!  It's funny the things I craved and couldn't get.  I really want milk.  OK, enough.  I gotta stop that!

Goodbye Africa :(

It was very sad yesterday flying out of Uganda.  I just don't want to leave there.  We had a wonderful 5 weeks, we saw amazing numbers and God did a lot of things in me personally.

 I was hoping to write more blogs on here from my journal once I got home to faster and more frequent internet use, but my journal got stolen in Kampala about a week ago, so not going to happen.  I will be posting pictures when I get home, adding to the old posts, and then maybe adding some new ones if my pictures spark a story. 

The safari the last couple days was awesome!  If you know me - you know I love big kitties!  Last time I was there I got to see a leopard up close and personal, and that was awesome, but I had no camera at the time.  :(  This time we were hoping to see lions, and on our first game drive we found a lioness with 2 cubs sitting under a bush with a fresh kill.  They were sooooo beautiful!  We got within 15 yrds of her and just watched.  Then.... the evening game drive, we'd just gone a little ways down the road when we saw a male lion right along side the road!!  Then, as we watched him, 2 more walked across the road and joined him!!!  That was so incredibly cool!  As I saw the one that was walking straight towards me, I said it awe "Aslan is on the move."  The male lion is the coolest animal ever!  So beautiful, yet so terrifying.  I think CS Lewis picked right.  The awe and the beauty of God is so clearly represented in him.

Now I am in London, I have 2 more nights here.  I was hoping to be able to walk to the tube from the hotel and travel into town, but it looks like I have to take the hotel hopper bus back and forth and it's £7 round trip - which is about $12 I think.  :(  Plus the tube price which I don't know yet.  I hope to go to St. Paul's Cathedral today, then walk around the river walk to see the Eye of London, maybe ride it, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey....  Lots of cool stuff in that area.  Then tomorrow I want to go to the natural history museum.  At least it's free.  We'll see.  I think I'll be lonely, but I'm happy enough just walking around looking at old architecture and taking pictures, so hopefully I'll kill the time. 

My hotel room has a tv, but there isn't much on.  I ended up watching Friends last night.  :P  I will say it's nice to have a hot shower, real bed, and sink water I can brush my teeth in.  It's been a long time.  Although in Africa a cold shower really isn't a horrible thing.  :)

I fly into America on Monday, I'll be back in Wenatchee on tuesday.  I have no cell phone anymore, I'll update y'all with new info when I get a new phone.  Chau!  See you soon!

Masaka

We've been in Masaka this week.  The second largest city in Uganda, and the pretty much Muslim central.   That means we get some dirty looks driving down in our bus that says Jesus Loves You all over it.  But the kids still wave and smile.  Most days we go out to a school to preach the gospel and play with the kids.  We have been able to do some basic wound care, there are some nasty owies here.  It's kinda funny, but also sad to see what kinds of things they put on their wounds.  We found a girl with a nasty infected wound on her foot, and it was covered in what looked like bird poop.  We asked her and found out it was toothpaste.  ???  Today we treated a large nasty smelly infected wound on a girl's let that she got from the exhaust pipe of a motorcyle (taxi)  It's sad that we can't do a whole lot more, there is so much need, but we don't have the supplies or the ability to help them.  We're praying for all we can too.  I sat with two boys today that had malaria. 

We have so much fun when the school sends out their choir to greet us.  They all have a bunch of songs to welcome visitors, and also to say goodbye.  We've been treated like royalty  -  Being a mzungu here is like being a celebrity.  Everywhere we go, people run after us and wave, they gather around cheering and just wanting to touch us.  It's amusing, kinda fun, but at the same time, very strange.  Once they get close to us, we become a petting zoo.  They want to touch our skin, play with my fingernails, touch the hair, everything that is different about us is fascinating.  It's just a lot of fun to see their wonder and amusement at us mzungus.  We are so alien to them.  :) 

Amazing!

Yes, I'm still alive folks!  I just spent a week in the bush.  We stayed in a place I like to call the Bates Motel.  :)  Because Derek has sleep apnea, we needed electricity for his mask, so instead of camping in the jungle, we were in this "motel" place.  And as God works in weird ways, there is a great story for which we can thank this sleeping disorder.  The manager of the hotel was a Christian, and he set us up to go to a bunch of schools in the area.  At one secondary school, after the message and the altar call, we were doing a general Q&A.  A girl with a scarf (a Muslim) stood and asked a heavy question.  If she were to get born again, her family would kick her out, so would we support her?  We were just floored at this situation.  We took it outside the classroom to a private conversation with the headmaster.  The weight of what must be going on inside this 16 yr old girl!!!  We gave her 2 days to think about things and then we returned.  She had talked to her mom, who told her she was betraying the family.  The girl did make the decision to accept Jesus and we got to pray with her and welcome her into the Kingdom!!!  The headmaster went with her to tell her dad and get the official "kicked out" verdict.  We set her up to be transported out of her village to Masulita, where the pastor we stayed with at the beginning of the trip will take care of her and we will pay her fees for the next couple years.  :)  This was such an amazing story, and I'm cutting it short on here, sorry.  We were all so blown away by it, but we now have a new sister and that is so awesome!!

Besides that... We've preached the gospel to almost 5,000 people, and over 900 have accepted Jesus!!!  These Ugandans are so open to the message, it's so cool to see the responses.  Today we got to go visit Derek's land and pray over the vision we have for Trinity Fields.  It's a beautiful place!  I can't wait to move there!  And the Ugandan guy that Derek has chosen to run the place is awesome!  He and his future wife are wonderful people and we get along great!  Alex and I have been talking and he fits into my vision too, and he tells me Violet will also.  This is going to be so cool!!

I've now eaten the African food, for a few days, used the squatty potty, and am just loving every minute of this trip!  This country is amazing!!  I have what? 3 more weeks??

Good night for now, I'm ready to crash!

Masulita

I made it to Uganda.  Right now I am in a village called Masulita.  It's a wonderful place!!  The pastor's wife Robina is feeding us a ton of amazing food!!  The sun is ridiculously intense, so I'm a bit burnt, heat exhausted, but  still I'm having a blast!  The fun thing is the kids that just stare at us.  It's like being a celebrity.  They don't see many mzungus (white people) so they just stare.  All we have to do is smile and wave and they become all smiles!  At first they surrounded us, and any time we turned, they inched closer until we were totally trapped.  This morning a new group saw us, and Amber and I got dogpiled.  That was freaky.  We're just having fun playing with the kids and loving on them.  They won't leave us alone, so naps are impossible.  We laid down yesterday for a siesta, only to find little faces peeking through our window pointing and  giggling.  No naps for us poor tired jet lagged mzungus.  We've hit a lot of little glitches, but God is good, and everything is working out.  We had our first game last night - outside, projected on the side of the school.   Not too many for the first one, but word will spread quickly.  Tonight is the US  / UK game and Derek is totally pumped.  Should be fun, sounds like the Ugandans have fans on both sides of this match.
Keep the prayers coming, we need and appreciate them.  Chau friends

Jessi

London Chaos

OK prayer warriors.   I need you now.  There was some mess up when I checked in in Seattle and when we got to London and tried to check my bags into that detour airline to Dubai, they didn't allow my 3 bags - they wanted like $1400 for the extra.  British took care of us, since it was their fault, but the only answer leaves me here alone - catching a later flight to Johannesburg South Africa - then up to Uganda just a couple hrs. behind the other 3.   This is a bit nerve wracking.  I have full faith that God is taking care of things, and this is a great adventure.  JBurg will be crazy though since the World Cup starts there in a couple days.

the first flight was uneventful.  Long, tiring, no sleep - I'm not sure, but I think I've been up over 24 hrs now.  I am a bit brain dead.  This keyboard is a bit different, and it's jumping around on me and frustrating me.  I'm going to end here. 

So yeah, I'm in London, I'm fine, but I have a 10.5 hr and a 5 hr flight ahead of me before I reach Uganda.  I'm tired. 

Leaving on a jet plane

Today I fly away, I will be in the air or at airports for the next couple days.  I will be taking tons of pictures, but I just don't know if I'll have a way to upload any of them until my return.  I hope to take a ride on the Eye of London tomorrow - the world's largest ferris whell.  We have a 9 hr layover, so hopefully we'll find some fun stuff to do there. 

I am all packed (I hope) -- It's a pain trying to remember which suitcase I put things in as I try to get ready this morning.  Reading all the TSA info on what I can and cannot carry with me, and how it must be packaged... it's really annoying that because of a few stupid freaks the rest of us get hassled to death when we fly.  Sad that my travel sized shampoo bottle is threatening to someone.  Why can't we all just get along?!?!  :)  Or like the beauty queens say "All I want is World Peace!"  HA HA   Don't we know there's only one Way for that to happen?  Oh well, we do what we gotta do. 

Goodbye my friends.  I am so grateful for all your suppport and all the generous donations I received over the last few weeks.  I appreciate that so much!  This has been a huge financial undertaking for me so I am so thankful for everyone who helped me out.  :)  I will write short updates on here whenever I get a chance, but I don't know when that will be.  They have internet cafes in Kampala, but I don't think I'll be there until the end of the month.  Don't worry about me, I'm in the Lord's hands and He's promised that no harm will come to me, so trust Him.  Psalm 91:9 -- God is Good, All the time!

Chau friends!  I'm off to be a MZUNGU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updated Flight Plan

OK - because of the British Airways cabin crew strike, they cancelled our flight from London to Uganda.  Now here is the revised travel plans.  All times are local to the airport.

June 7 - Leave SEA  6:45pm on British Airways Flight 48
June 8 - Arrive London Heathrow at 11:50am
             Leave London 8:40pm on Emirates Airlines Flight 4
June 9 - Arrive Dubai 6:30am
             Leave Dubai 8:25am on Emirates Air Flight 723
             Arrive Entebbe Uganda 2:45pm

July 16 - Leave Entebbe 9:05am on British Air Flight 62
               Arrive London 4pm
July 19 - Leave London 3:10pm on British Air Flight 49
              Arrive SeaTac 4:45pm

So, there it is.  Hopefully the finalized flight schedule.  Now let's hope the crew doesn't decide to strike during my return home.  :)  I will be staying in London over the weekend alone on my way home.  Time to explore the city and take lots of pictures.  :)  I will come home to Wenatchee on the evening of July 20 hopefully, and be back working the truck the next morning.  We'll see how that goes.  :P

I fly out in a week!

The clock is ticking....  Last week before I leave, lots to do, details to finalize...  I bought 2 big suitcases at thrift stores today, hopefully they're enough.  I found out I will be staying in London a couple days on my own at the end of my trip, so I'm surfing the 'net looking for what to do while I'm there.

I'm so ready to just be in Uganda already!  I have 2 more days of work and lots of little things to take care of.  Checking and double checking my finances is getting annoying.  Guessing at how much my paychecks will be for the last couple weeks of work.  I received about $900 this weekend between the yard sale and a couple generous friends / family.  :)  God is amazing in showing me how He can provide so far outside my realms of possibility.  I believe I am set now for all my traveling expenses.  :)

I am very much at peace as I head into my trip.  Some may find it scary to go to Africa, but I'm not scared.  Yes, there is danger, but I know God has called me, so what do I have to fear?  I sprained my ankle last friday, and I need my feet to do a sports based mission.  I am confident that it will heal up in time.  What God asks us to do, He provides for.  I believe it.  I may feel a little stress at working all these details out, but not much.  Mostly just because of my obsessive need to have all my ducks in a row.  Always learning to trust.

10 Days to go!

The time is getting nearer.  For those of you who want to know - I'll post my basic schedule on here.

June 7 - fly out of Seattle in the evening
June 8 - land in London around lunchtime - 9 hr layover to play - fly out at night
June 9 - Land in Entebbe, Uganda in the morning

First week in Uganda is unsure location now.  There have been bad rains that have destroyed the roads, so we won't be going to our original destination.  I believe we'll be spending about a week in each location from here on out.  Our actual mission work will begin on June 11.
June 18 will find us in Masaka - I went here last time too.
June 25 - Soriti - never been there
June 29 - to Sseguku, the home base - we'll be here for the remainder of our time
July 11 - Finals of the World Cup = final day of mission camps
July 12 - Safari -- this may or not be happening now.  I hope so, but finances have been tight for everyone.

July 16 - Fly out in the morning - arrive 4pm London

From there - I'm not solid yet.  I'm trying to change my return date to the 19th.  As it sits now, I am scheduled to fly in the 26th.  I need that extra week back at work, and I don't need to stay in London for a week.

Please be praying that all the details work out here, I'm a little up in the air right now, and if I get the change, I'll be flying home alone.  That's not too bad when coming into Seattle, it would be much worse if I was trying to do it to another country.

Finances are a bit tight right now.  I need to do well at my yard sale to be comfortable.  I have the trip money, and my bills are covered as far as I can tell, it's just the transition back, getting back to work and being able to  cover the next set of bills that will come in.   God is good, and He's always provided for me in the past, so I'm positive that He will continue to do so.  :)

Israel & New Breed - Not Forgotten

Today I wanted to post a piece of my vision for the future.  Anyone who knows me knows that I've always loved kids, especially in the 2-5 age range.  Last time I was in Uganda, the hardest thing to see was when mothers brought their babies to us and handed them over saying simply, "take home?"  It was heartbreaking.  So much love these mothers had for their babies.  They knew that they could not provide well enough for their kids, so they were willing to sacrifice to give the kid a better life.  Obviously we couldn't just take these precious infants home in our suitcases, but I know we all wanted to.  

That said, I know that I have to create some sort of home for kids when I live in Uganda.  In the US, we have systems in place to take care of kids who lose their parents.  Not so in too many other places.  At first I thought of doing a school, but now I am feeling more like a home is the best thing.  I don't want to use the word orphanage, I don't want that label stuck on anyone.  God has offered to adopt us all, and I want to share that wonderful news with any kids who come into my life who don't have parents.  I want to have a non-orphanage in Uganda.  A place where children can learn that God knows their name, they are not forgotten.  :)

Almost Here!!

With just over a month to go, I am getting both excited and nervous.  I am a major planner, which does not go well with African culture.  They are so much more relationship oriented, time and schedules often go out the window.  I remember how difficult that was for me last time.  I finally relaxed and settled in for the last couple days though.  :)  Hopefully I can get in the groove quicker this time.  I feel like I need a big checklist of things to pack and I have to get all my ducks in a row soon.  I just don't really know what those things are.  I have purchased a lot of supplies that I think I will need, hopefully I thought of everything.

I will be having a big yard sale in a few weeks to get a bit more funds for the trip.  I'm cutting it close, and not working for 2 months will be a chunk.  This is an expensive trip, but so worth it.  I've been saving and preparing for 3 years now for this one.  I am soooooo excited to be back in that beautiful country that I fell in love with!!  I know that my heart has been joined with a nation of people I haven't met yet.  I have stayed in touch with Ronald, a young man I met on my last trip.  He's helped me to learn about some parts of the culture that are not familiar to me.  He's been such a blessing to help maintain my connection to Uganda.  If you're wondering about my new blog title, Ronald helped me with the translation - it is "garment of praise" out of Isaiah 61, my prophetic passage, the call on my life.  Thanks friend!

In this last month, I will be trying to lay out all my financial obligations, how to get them all paid while I'm gone, making sure there is enough in the bank.  :)  I will pack my bags, hopefully collect some more donated medical supplies from my friends, and most important, press hard into Jesus to build my faith, strength, hope, joy and all the other stuff I can only get from Him.!!  I need to be filled up and overflowing in order to be able to serve people as best possible.  It's only through Jesus that I can have any impact on their lives.  I also hope to gain a clearer picture of what God has for me in Uganda in the future.  Right now my vision is pretty vague, 3 main ideas, but not any details really.  I pray for connections with people in Uganda that I can network with and create good relationships with.  I don't think I can just go it alone, I need to connect with God's other team members.  I would appreciate the prayers of my friends and family as I enter this final month of preparation.  I want to be prepared to serve as God leads me.  Thank you!!

2 Months

2 months from today I board the plane from Seattle to London!!  That seems so close!  If I remember, the flight is 9 hrs to London, then another 9 hr flight to Uganda, and this time I think we have a 9 hr layover in London.  I hope we can go exploring a bit.  Last time I went we only had 2-3 hrs, yet we jumped on the Tube and did a mega fast run-by of Buckingham Palace and experienced the briefest moment of pouring down rain so that we were drenched by the time we got back to the airport.  A slower paced sightseeing tour would be nice.  Derek is a Brit, so hopefully he'll have some good ideas on where we can go.

I got my 2nd Hepatitis A shot and took the Typhoid pills.  Got sick from the 3rd pill, but I survived.  I guess it's better than getting Typhoid right??  I haven't received many details yet as to the finer points of our travels, hopefully someone will give us that soon.  I think I have what I need for the most part.  Now I just wait and continue to contend in prayer for the people of Uganda and for our team.

Uganda Pix from 2004

This is one of only 2 pictures of me in Uganda. :) Proof I was there! With me is my good friend Ronald.

Cute kids that were part of the group that we fed at one of our stops.
One place had an albino kid. I'm thinking the equator is not the best place for him. :(
Derek and Julia Stanton - our fearless leaders. Derek's vision is so much like mine, just with soccer instead of baseball.

Uganda is on the equator.These are some boys we met while playing soccer our fist day.

Preparing to fly

I am creating this blog with the intention of communicating my plans and travels to Uganda. I am leaving June 7 for almost 2 months in Uganda during the World Cup soccer championships that are being held in South Africa. A group of us will be doing soccer camps in 4 villages and showing a game each night. This will be my 2nd trip to Uganda. I'm not sure how much internet time I will have, so I wanted to create a place where all who are interested could read any updates I am able to send during my time away.

About 3 years ago I believe that God called me to long term missions in Uganda. This came as a shock as I never had any desire to do anything of the sort, but when the call came, so did the excitement for it. I have been preparing for this particular trip since that time, and I have plans to move there in the near future. Basically I just have to finish paying off debt, save/ raise the money, and head south. :)

My basic idea was to do baseball camps, and also maybe some other sports. Baseball is my passion, so I want to bring that to the people of Uganda, but as most of you know, that isn't the ultimate goal. The baseball will provide a pathway for relationships to be built. From that place, I can share God's love and life with people who may never have seen it before. Ultimately I want to have a place where people can come for worship every day. Worship is another huge passion of mine, through music, rhythm, and dance. I want to establish a force in the nation of Uganda, an army of worship warriors plowing through for breakthrough and freedom!