End of the journey-2011

Dave:

I am still in Uganda. Just got word a few hours ago from Reinhard that they had a great time and are getting on the plane. Rick

Above are two photos; One is of the view at sunrise waiting for the ferry to take the Safari 3 across the Nile into the Park for wildlife viewing. The second is of sunset over the Nile taken from the dining area of the Nile Safari Camp which looks across the Nile river at Murchison Falls National Park.

We hope to have some of you with us next year!

Dave

New York team makes it home

The New York team made it home, four hours late, thanks to United planes needing modifications and repairs. Tired but excited about the past ten days of work in Jinja, Uganda.

They finshed the benches and somewhere soon we may post a photo of their good work.

The safari group should be seeing thing like pictured above!

Team heads to airport, Rick at Leper village

The email from Rick indicates that some of the team were ready sooner than others! Rick also visited a leper village along the shores of Lake Victoria.

Dave: Everyone is on the bus headed to Kampala/Entebbe. We left @ 9:30 am. Matt was nervous and on the bus @ 8:15. I believe everyone had a positive trip. They did not take the boat ride on Sunday due to NO life-jackets. I arrange for boat and ask that they make sure they have LJ or no one gets on boat. Hope you are feeling better. Rick

Reinhard, Gisela, and Craig head off to a four day safari at Murchison Falls, created when the Nile River flows over a precipice.

Florida Team, sort of

Now that the team is headed back to the USA and we never had a photo to show the entire team, I have attached a partial group taken during a trainning session in Florida in April. From left to right: Dave (who did not make it), Craig (our construction guru), Kathy Durgo (who happened to be visiting in Florida, Bethany (holding her Evangecube) and Sally (her mom). Matt happened to miss that meeting. Thanks for your prayers. Dave

Goodbye for now Africa~

We praise You Lord! Yesterday, the team worked together and finished the benches! It's amazing how much can be accomplished when a team is unified. Our devotion yesterday morning was on Ephesians 4:1-16 and taught us to be unified with Christ Jesus to do what the body was made to do. We must be humble, gentle, and tolerant of each other and work as a team. It is so wonderful to become more and more like Christ! Sadly, we said our goodbyes to the Pastors and many others who touched our lives, and went back to the hotel to pack our bags. It is so hard leaving. I think each of us will be leaving part of our hearts here in Africa. Please pray for travel mercies as we fly home today. Our first plane will take off from Entebbee airport at 5:00 tonight. Thank you for standing with us in prayer. Yesu aqua gala (Jesus Loves You)!

Sunday, a day of rest for Team

The team worshipped with Pastor Philip and his congregation from 9:30 till after noon. They had arrived an hour late due to transportation challenges this morning. No photos of that to share. Rick was off at a leper colony. MLI was given a chicken coop to begin a mini chicken farm. Sally, the artist, has revoered nicely.

The team had lunch at a resort called the kingfisher. All are tired. Pray for rest as the entire team will attack finishing the benches. Dave

"I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Yesterday was an amazing day. Thank you Lord! Craig, Reinhard, and Matt worked constructing the benches, and did so much! There is only 7 more benches to go before they can begin assembling them. Gisela, Kathy, Liz, Sally, and Bethany met their interpretors at Pastor Philip's church, split into groups, and went out into the villages spreading the gospel. It was so special having the priviledge to tell people who have never heard before about Jesus and how much God loves us to send His only Son. Many clung to the truth and have turned from their sins to Jesus. Glory to God! There is much rejoicing in heaven! Their names have been recorded so the church can follow up with our new brothers and sisters. Today the team will be going back to Evangel church to worhship with our new brothers and sisters. For those of us who had the opportunity to come last year, it is such a blessing to come back and visit our church family here. O how we missed them and have longed to come back to see them again! This is the day the Lord has made. We are rejoicing and are glad in it. Thank you for standing with us in prayer. May you rest in Jesus this glorious day and be blessed!

End of the day Saturday Matt's new hair-do

I am told that Matt's new 'DO' is falling apart aleady so I hope there are more photos, up close and personal.

Matt has a real gift for working with kids, neat to find those gifts as we grow.

Sally's eye is better and the team is eating dinner as I send this. She made the mistake of bruching her teeth with tap water, a no-no in most of Africa!

Dave: Matt feeling better and came to the job site. Lady's, though some dysentery, are all evangelizing at phil's church. We are planning to go to kingfisher with team tomorrow but cannot do the buffet. Will invite Phil and bride.
If you have any questions or if I am not giving you enough details let me know. I thought pictures would be worth a thousand words. Rick

Are they taking Cipro? Dave

Yep - I will but they are taking mess (dinner) . Reinhard has a combination of drugs. FYI regarding pre-trip instructions...you may want to drill into the heads of those next year about keeping hands washed, away from mouth/eyes and use antibacterial wipes. Also, more emphasis on the water. Sally rinsed her tooth brush under the faucet. Rick

We miss Rayna, our nurse! Dave

Saturday photo update- photos of Matt Lucas

Matt in the yellow tee, meeting with staff Matt and new friends

Dave: Many team members are having stomach problems. Matt is in bed. We are moving to check on him. Last night reinhard did not have number. I will try to find to confirm. Rick

I failed to attach a photo of Matt so here are three. In one he is giving his testimony at church the first Sunday. In another he is just "hanging" some of our helpers from Uganda, Sally and Bethany. In the last one he is meeting with the mission staff.

Matt had not had his "hair-do" in any of these shots. Just natural. Eat your hearts out ladies!

Time to break out the Cipro gang! Dave

well doreen tried to do with matt hair however she sat for along period of time so she is feeling much pain in the chest ,and this happens whenever she does some work or sits for so long some pains come back to her so for the past three days she has been really feeling much pains but today she is out of the bed and she walks around most of the time i encourage her not to be in bed so that she can at least do some simple work and moving around so that she cannot be weak in the body.thanks hope to hear from youyours john

This (above) is a typical email from Bossa John, who we have known for three years now. He was excited to meet the team at the airport, has served as translator, is finishing his first year at the Lubs school for pastors. His wife, Doreen, had a miscarriage several months ago now. The baby was too large and she suffered major internal organ damage as a result.

Doreen was going to give Matt Lucas a Ugandan hair-do. Not sure how far she got with the project? Dave in USA

Photo Update of widows working on sewing

Love to everyone. I wrote you all a message yesterday and when I hit send it dumped. Pray for Sally. She has an eye inflamation. Stephen took her to the doctor this afternoon and he gave her some anibiotics and drops, but she could use prayer.

Yesterday was our final day with the widows and we saw the power of the Lord cast out demons and heal several women. I am always learning how amazing the Lord is when I am here.

This evening we watched the sunset over the Nile river (Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile River which then flows all the way to Egypt) and the fishermen set out their lights on the river. It was really beautiful.

Today we taught the widows to sew on the sewing machines (photo above) at Lubas. Pray the men will finish the benches on time. They are planning on working Saturday.

Gisela, Liz and I walked around Jinja today. Had lunch at The Source Cafe and stopped at Faith's for souvenirs.

Love you all. Kathy

Photos are not as good, different camera. Dave

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Today, everyone went to the Lubas site to do either construction, or teach widows to sew on the sewing machines. Kathy and Gisela had a fun time sewing with the women, while the rest of the team helped to build the benches. We enjoyed our time together serving the Lord, and got a lot done. Glory to God! There is still so much we need to do and in such a short time, but "God is the builder of everything," so we are truting Him with the project. Thank you for your prayers. We are so grateful! ,"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23

Photo update

School at Itukulu at left.
Widow sewing lessons above



Piggery site

Update from Rick Sadler, June 15 report, out of sequence

Hey Dave: Thank you for the good report. There were some healing that took place through the ladies today as they prayed over the sick. There were over 70 widows present. Matt had a positive time with the kids in the school. All in all a good day.
Construction making progress...3 benches covered. I think they have a system down, things will move forward. Sincerely ... Craig and Reinhard cannot be beat...great people!
FYI: Candy (Rick's wonderful wife, back in USA) needs a new knee. It is bone on bone. Also, Candy has made an appointment for me as the doc said something was very wrong if I am still suffering from my replacement. So maybe I can find relief.
Have a good day...Rick June 15th

Dave:

I hope you are recovering well. I have given Reinhard a USB card reader, so they can use the computer in the hotel which is available 24/7. I am using Ipad to send you pictures, but I have no way to know if they are getting to you (it doesn't tell me except it make a sound when it sends a picture.) Today at Itukulu I sent you a number of photos (6 I think...but I am not sure). I did not hear a sound so I wonder if you are getting them.

Rick finally got to see the blog site yesterday and was amazed. Also to see the photos were making it.

The (number of) widows increased in size after my photos. They are (working) in the gardens in the morning and were coming at noon. I had Pastor Phil get all of the supplies and Pastor Willy was head mobilizer along with several staff under him. Supplies were purchased based on 70 widows at each site. We spent somewhere between 900 - 1000 dollars for feeding and for giving each widows 3-5 kilos of maize flour. Phil, who did all the purchasing, has all receipts, if you need them. He has placed on a spreadsheet (we had him trained to do this) and it is given to Kathy. If you have any questions regarding the spending of those funds, before you come to a conclusion, please ask me and I can ask Phillip to try to find an answer. If we should go under 70 widows as planned, nothing is wasted...we will just give widows a little more flour.

Dave, the food situation for Ugandans is critical. Kenya is much worse as we have a feeding program in the slums of Korogocho (maybe one year you would like to take a few days and visit our national their in that slum (500,000 in 3 square miles...the figure quoted is not exact, it is different depending who sharing...but that is the figure I have heard.)

We hit it our number of widows within 6 at Jinja Hill and today we were under at Itukulu unless a larger amount came after I left. Tomorrow, the numbers will be greater due to the word getting out about the positive time, but bottom line...the widows were blessed by the ladies. Also, they spent the afternoon sharing with the students of Itukulu Baptist Church (the first property purchased and first church built by MLI back in 96 and 97...MLI was still being hammered out at the time.) Pastor Jeffery of Itukulu Baptist Church had Polio as a boy and had to learn to walk. Several years ago MLI purchased Pastor a home that was already built. Presently, Jeff is working on buying more and more land so he can build a school. He has a piece of land beside the church he hopes to buy to expand the work of the church. I am hoping to buy the back half for a piggery. The land is selling for one million (shillings about $500). However, don't hold me to that figure, because prices change with the white man buying. (I am just trying to give you an idea of ministry going on with MLI)

We are beginning this week on a piggery. We purchased land (which took us a little longer to buy because the owner thought we were to meet on Sunday and we thought Monday and it ended being (I think) last Wednesday (I think I text you when I was there). The LC-1 who is a government official wanted 10% of the value. This was the first time we had to pay an LC for land purchase. It was a battle...and he won. Though he came down on price, he was very strong in his opinion. Our staff member Ronald is going to oversee the construction. Some of the team members are buying pigs at 100,000 (shillings- one US dollar= 2,000 shillings) (I got that price from Ps Willy). Smaller pigs are 50,000 but this is suppose to be a good breed and healthy size at 100,000. We have raised $2,400 for the project plus we pulled funds from "crafts" we sold in the USA (unless there is another area that we can pull 3.3 million from). Please, some of the above figures may change...even as I was given the budget for the project by our staff, I discovered they had the walls too low and had not place a "center" walk-way between pig stalls...hence, the cost changed.

I hope this helps Dave.... Please fix the grammar (only did spell check) if you post...as I've not had the time to go back and reread.

God bless...Rick also June 15th

(PS...the team is doing well and all are healthy. Steve Hoyt was out again today (malaria) so I think John was filling in for Steve...though I am guessing being I did not see John (Sauder) today. He wears many many hats (EMI director of all of East Africa) is one of the hardest workers and finest missionaries I know on the mission field.)

To God be the Glory! we are only grateful our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life

First, we must thank God, and update Liz's mother that her knee is doing great! Do not worry, we are taking good care of her and it seems to be healing well. For those who do not know, Liz hurt her knee before she came to Uganda. Know that her testimony has touched many. Well, today was a bit different than normal. The widows and orphans team had Matthew joining them as we went to Itukulu church to minister to the widows and also Vision For Africa school to encourgae the children and teach them from the Bible. The children loved playing with Matthew and with their new soccer balls. God did a mighty work at the church. Two demon possessed women were delivered in Jesus' name and many were healed in Jesus' name. Glory to God! ...He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation...In my name they will drive out demons..and will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18.

"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9

Jambo! Sorry for not updating you yesterday..the team was exhausted from a long day. The men continued working on the benches yesterday and today at Lubas, and have done so much! Today, they finished building the backs of the benches and are now in the process of varnishing them. Praise the Lord for giving them the strength they needed to do this work! Yesterday, the women spent a second full day with the widows at Jinja Hill church. This was such a special day of fellowship with the ladies. O how much we have fallen in love with them! We spent time in prayer and in the Word, and singing and dancing to our Lord. The Ugandans taught the women how to dance the traditional African dance, which gave them so much joy. They really loved this. Today, the widows and orphans team drove an hour out to Itikulu church to minister to another group of widows. This group was much smaller, and but we are expecting the group to multiply by tomorrow as we are feeding them breakfast and lunch. These women did not understand the problem of sin, so it was a great privilege to be used by God to teach them so they can see their need for Jesus. We then walked through the corn field to visit Vision for Africa. This is a school of orpan children. The children at this school know Jesus, so we encouraged their walk with Him and shared some of the Bible. We will be visiting this school and group of widows again tomorrow. Praise the Lord! We are so excited for what He is doing to bless the people.

Here's what Craig and Reinhard are doing

Monday the two guys (our small but creative and hard working construction crew) started to work on the seating for the new Conference Center at Lubas (Lubas is the name of the street the Pastor's School and Conference Center is located on, brilliant!). Steel frames had already been built by prior work crews. As you can see the guys are working on the seating (plywood with vinyl covered foam) and backrests (wood) which will be mounted on the frames, which will be anchored to the floor.

Photo shows them hard at work, as usual. Dave from the USA. Thanks again for the photo Rick.

Photo catch-up from Monday

Prayer time with widows at Jinja Hill New hats for workers at Lubas Conference Ctr.

Benches for Conference Center in early stages

Monday was a first busy "work day" for the team. A couple of photos are attached above thanks to Rick's IPod! Dave

Sunday photo catch-up

Sunday, Reinhard and Craig preached and taught an Adult Christian Education class. I failed to get the photos included. Craig is shown on the left, with interpreter. Dave

"For the Word of God is living and active." Heb. 4:12a

Jambo! Today has been such a blessing from the Lord! The construction team continued working on the benches for the Lubas project and got so much done. Praise God! They are building the bottom half of the benches and will be soon working to build the top half. Some of the plywood had bubbles in it, so they will be purchasing more to continue their work. Presently, Craig is conjested by all of the sawdust, as sawdust went everywhere! They are excited to further their work tomorrow. Continue to pray for their safety. The women went to Jinja Hill church to serve a group of about 60 widows. This was a wonderful time of fellowship with our Ugandan sisters. We begun our time at Jinja Hill in prayer and thanksgiving, and then gave some of the ladies an opportunity to share with us their stories. In turn, we shared ours. The Lord led us as we taught them from the Word, and we were also able to feed them breakfast and lunch...Thank you Lord! Glory to God, we have two new sisters in Christ, a muslim woman and catholic woman surrendered to Jesus. Thank you all for your prayers. We are truely blessed by you!

Sunday 6:00 (Uganda time)

"Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord" Psalm 113:1b

Praise the Lord! This morning the team was blessed with the opportunity to worship at Bossa John's church with our Ugandan brothers and sisters. This was a lovely time of worship and we are so grateful. Craig led the bible study and Reinhard gave the message. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in His Presence. Tomorrow is a big day for the construction team and the widows and orphans team. Continue to pray for us. The construction team will be working on the Lubas project constructing the benches and anchoring them down. The widows and orphans team will be at Jinja Hill church ministering to widows. Thank you for praying for us. We are so blessed by this. We miss you Dave! Many are sending their greetings to you. God bless you.

Snippets of email comments and photos, I hope; Sunday

Sunday: Craig teaching

From what i can see the blog site is growing slowly so thought I would add some things sent to me via email:

From Rick: SaturdayThe team ended the day at 4:30. I met a little boy at john's church this afternoon who walked with his hands (polio). He wanted a football (soccer). I will send his picture.

Mission link also works with a leper colony. They grow corn (three acre field in photo) to help feed them. Thanks mostly to the USA subsidizing and promoting Ethanol (made with corn), corn prices have skyrocketed around the world. One of the chief struggles in Uganda is feeding families. Those who grow their own corn on small plots can grow their own corn. Those who live in urban areas are not as well off. Dave

I am concerned that due of the price elevation and hunger, that we are going to be flooded with widows as the word gets out.) We will have to package it as well. We also had to purchase rice, beans, corn and bread to feed the widows for 4 days. This means purchasing plates and cups. Delivery made this evening to Jinja hill as the church will help package corn flour in 4 kilo bags and to begin to prepare for the lunches (most Americans do not know what a production it is to prepare food ...even to the point of having to pick out stones so teeth are not broken. Rick

Sunday "Funny" report from Rick: Craig is teaching out of Jer 1; this morning I had arrived 15 min. Before We were to leave to find out nassar (Nassar is the bus driver who usually takes good care of us) had left. I sitting in the hotel lobby drinking Coffee only to find out later they have left. I have just instructed nassar Never move (change of plans) unless you talk to me first. However all is okayI am typing on iPad with remote. This is real time so u can feel you are Here. Sorry for all the mistakes, but it is hard typing. More to come. Rick

Comment from Dave; I can get the photos on but not where I want them! Perhaps John Begy(yes another John) from USA, our computer guy will help me Monday. This is weird. blogging reports from Uganda here in the States. Forgot one comments from Kathy for Liz's folks:

Liz's knee has been doing well, so please pass that onto her parents specifically. We have been praying over it and the Lord has been keeping her strong and pain free. Everyone is settling into all of the unique things in Uganda. Matthew and Liz are very excited about everything

"For, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" Romans 10:13

Praise the Lord! Today the team spent the day in the village near Pastor John Bossa's church spreading the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each team member took along two interpretors and faithfully went out to share the good news. The harvest is plentiful and many, realizing their sins, turned to Jesus for forgivness and have been saved. Glory to God! The names of those drawn by the Father to the Son were recorded so the church can continue to follow up and disciple these new brothers and sisters of ours. Praise God! They were so thankful to hear of our hope and clung to the truth. Thank you for your prayers~ O how much we appreciate your interceding for us. May God bless you richly.

Friday, 12:10pm (Uganda Time)

"The Lord will go ahead of you, and the God of Israel will also be behind you." Is. 52:12b

Jambo! We made it! Thank you all for your prayers! O how we appreciate them all~ There were some difficulties with the luggage in Tampa, but our God made a way, as He goes before us, and everything and everyone made it to Uganda safely. Bless His Name! We went to sleep at a decent hour last night and are well rested for today. This morning we met with President Rick Sadler and the staff of Mission Link and enjoyed this time of fellowship and discussed what we will be doing for these next couple of weeks. For those of us who have been to Uganda before, it was so refreshing seeing these familiar faces. The men have already set out to work on the Lubas project. They will be anchoring benches to the ground today. Pray for the Lord to give them strength as there is so much to do. The ladies are getting ready to meet with Pastor Willy and Pastor Phillip's lovely brides to discuss how we will be serving the widows here while we are in Jinja.

Grace and Peace in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Eagle has landed

This is Dave again. The team is having difficulty getting their computer up and running. They made it to the hotel and are sleeping soundly as I send this. The trip from the airport through Kampala to Jinja was uneventful. Nothing else to report.
Dave

They are in the air!!!

The original team, minus Dave, is in the air as I send this. The Florida team made their 39 minute connection, thank you Lord.

Please pray for safety and proper connections, expecially at Entebbe. There is a protest scheduled for tomorrow in Kampala. Rick Sadler, Mission Link Director, will be sending the bus to the airport early to hopefully get it there on time. Then there is only one road from The Entebbe aiport to Jinja and it runs right through Kampala. It may be good we scheduled an extra day?

Liz, who has a swollen knee, has managed to leave her knee brace at our home last night. It may have something to do with getting up at 4 AM this morning. Take care Liz!

Hey, it's hard enough makiing certain everyone has their passport with them.

Dave

We fly tomorrow, most of us

The enemy has been busy but most of the team will fly out tomorrow. Liz survived a serious hyper extension of her knee a week ago and will be using a brace for long walk days. We will be staying at the Triangle Hotel which will be different for all of the team. Dave's doctors told him to stay home, ongoing lung problems.
Dr. Rick Sadler also has kneeproblems so he and Liz can support each other.
Bethany has agreed to keep this blog site updated. The team arrives in Entebbe at 1PM Friday and will check in with Laurie, of the famous broken ankle, at a decent hour Florida time. Perhaps about 8 AM.
Reinhard will be the keeper of the phone 011-256-701-926320. Jinja here we come, Lord willing.

2011 What's up June 8-21 in Jinja, Uganda

Our mission trip in 2011 will have a team of 9 participating. Four from last year's team and five first time mission folks. It should be both fun and rewarding! The construction team will be finishing benches for the newly completed Lubas Conference Center as part of the Lubas School for pastors. The widows and orphans team will be visiting a selection of ministries connected to Mission Link International. One weekend the team will be working in Pastor Phillip's church and community (Gospel presentations on Saturday as we go house to house with our Evangecubes). This will be our second time with Pastor Phillip. The other weekend we will be visiting Pastor Ronnie's church in West Njera (just outside of Jinja). During our first visit to Jinja in 2009 we met Ronnie, Bossa John, and Bulime Joel along with several fine young men with a heart for our Lord. John has spent the past year studying at the Luba pastor's school. Please pray for safety of our group as Uganda has also struggled with protests, so far, with less severity than elsewhere in the world. Maranatha!