Our team had an incredible visit with our friends in Uganda.  Check out some of their impressions from their ministry.

Brandon

This trip has been everything I had hoped it would be, challenging, eye opening, worshiping, praising, helping, healing, and revealing.  I have never seen such a people filled with so much praise for Christ as here.  They have less than anyone in America could imagine and yet their joy doesn’t stop.  It was very difficult to see little babies and children in such conditions.  A little boy who was 2-3 years old walked over to me with his over-sized shirt on and sat down beside me for 30 minutes.  He didn’t really say anything when I tried to talk to him so I put my arm around him and just sat there with him.  He leaned into me because it was obvious he was wanting to be loved.  That is why I came to Uganda, to share the love of Christ.  I would bring so many children home if I could.  The Bible says we are supposed to take care of widows and orphans and that is what I plan to do.  I will do God’s work with God’s provisions and take care of God’s people and share His love.  I have been blessed more than I can imagine, and by His grace I will share those blessings with others.

Stephanie

The graciousness of the people here will always leave me in awe.  Everyone you meet greets you as if you were a long lost friend.  With either a handshake or a hug (usually a hug, which I love!), they welcomed all of us into their country and into their lives.  They are a wonderful example to me of what it means to truly show the love of Christ to others.  There are many other incredible things that were impressive, humbling, and influential to my life that occurred on this trip, but I must keep this brief.  There are no words to describe how grateful I am that God called me to go on this trip, and I am so excited to see what He is going to do in Uganda in the future.

Heather

Since the first day of vet school, our class motto has been ‘find the joy.’ This week, God has showed me the meaning of this phrase. Our friends that we met in Uganda are the most joyful people I’ve ever met. By American standards, these people have no reason to be joyful. Most of the people I spent time with here are orphans and live in poverty. They rely on God to provide food, water, clothing, and shelter every single day, but everyday when the miracle van pulls up to the school, they greet us with smiles and hugs. You can see the joy all over their faces and can’t help but to be joyful, too.  They have learned to go directly to God for their joy and have taught me to do the same.

Katie

Since coming to Uganda, I have been taught so much about what love means. The people here love the Lord with all their hearts. They worship with abandon and depend on Him for all there needs. Their love also spreads out of them to their neighbors, fellow church members and even foreigners such as ourselves. The people show their love in so many ways and to even be a part of it for a week was a joy. As we were leaving the children would come up to us and tell us how much we have blessed them but in reality the Lord has blessed me so much just to know the love of the people in Uganda.

Julie

Where to begin.  I left Texas with an idea of this place Uganda that I was going, and now I leave Uganda with a piece of my heart left behind.  This trip has been fast and furious from the start but when I stop to think about all the ways in which I have seen that God is good I am astounded.  For me this journey began one night after hearing the PCM team speak at a CVF meeting about the Cows for the Kingdom project.  Driving home in the dark that night I felt God calling loud and clear, He said “I am the God of the cattle of a thousand hills.  It’s time to sell some cows.”  One phone call to my mom and one to a friend that runs a cattle sale later and I had donated one of my heifers.  I thought my call was completed, my task done.  But I was wrong.  Both of the generous donors who purchased my heifer had ties to Uganda!  In fact, one was involved in PCM!  Wow, I thought, but surely my part is over now.  But I was wrong.  I knew the CVF group was going to Uganda, but the trip had been in the works for some time and I figured that while I would like to go I didn’t have the funds and surely they didn’t have room for me.  Then the e-mail came asking for prayer and reminding us that there was still time if anyone felt called to go on the trip.  A few phone calls and e-mails later (and most of the money that I had to live off of for the next two months) I was signed up for Uganda.  God is truly the Provider God.  So now here I sit in my nice comfy hotel room contemplating on my week here.  On the children sleeping on packed dirt floors.  On the families who struggle from day to day just to have a single meal.  On the children with no parents or whose parents simply can’t provide for them.  I think on all this and I begin to grasp just how unfathomably blessed I am to have two parents who love me, a house with a bed, a refrigerator with food in it any time I want it, a car to drive any time I need to, a place to get an education and a job to pay for the things I would just like to have.  Yet there are some things that they have here in Uganda that are priceless beyond measure and not readily found back home.  Pure unadulterated joy.  Love without conditions.  Faith like a child.

The people I met here know God in a way that we never could in the states.  We learn that we must rely on God in Sunday School and that we need to pray to God to provide for us, but here they have to rely on God because there is no other option.  Here when they pray it is with an assurance that if that need is met it is through no other hand than God’s.  Here when they worship God they don’t worry about what their neighbors might think if they feel like dancing or shouting or singing or kneeling or raising their hands.  They just worship.  At home we worry about giving exactly ten per cent for our tithe, about how much the church budget is for the month or about if we have any extra at the end of the month where we might donate it.  Here if the spirit moves someone they give out of their heart, they give what may be their whole savings, meager by American standards but monumental for them.  I’m not one to get emotional generally and I was doing well with all the goodbyes until my last encounter with one of the girls from the school.  She was living at the school during the break which I understand means that she is an orphan, either in actuality or just by merit of abandonment.  As I was getting in the van to leave the school she ran up to me and presses a coin into my hand.  It was a 100 shilling piece, about $0.05 if I do my math right.  Not much by American standards and I know she knew that, but as she clasped my hand she whispered “Bless you” in my ear.  That simple gesture brought this experience into focus for me.  I have been blessed so that I might bless others in return.

Kaylie

When Justin asked us to write a small paragraph about our impressions of the trip, I was immediately overwhelmed. How could I possibly make this a “small paragraph”. So I will do my best to not to make this a novel and just touch on a couple of the things most important to me. 1) Church. I have heard several sermons before about how the church is not supposed to be the building, but rather the people within the building that make up the church. I thought I understood this and I thought I was living it out. Boy was I wrong! The first day we were there when we went to the church, I was just blown away. There was no building, no projector, and no big screen to read the words on. It was a simple makeshift structure made from wooden poles and tarps as a roof. But it was not about the things or about the “building”. It was simply about a body of Christ getting together to serve and worship their creator. It was beautiful! 2) Friendship. I never knew one could come to love and befriend someone so much in just one week. I have met so many people and made so many dear friends this week. One friend, Josephine, was so sweet and served as a translator for us some of the week. When we were about to leave she handed me a letter. This sentence just touched my heart: “Your being with us has blessed me a lot and that’s why I thank God for creating friends without price tags because if he did, I wouldn’t have afforded such a loving friend like you.”

Kim

There are several things that stood out to me on this trip, it is hard to pin point just one thing. I think I could write a novel! I came on this trip with an open heart and an open mind. When we all started packing I was so excited because I felt I had so many things to give, but now I realize I did not give them much compared to what they gave me, a new joy in my heart. Their overwhelming love and joy for us greatly touched my heart and soul. I’ve never met a group of people with such joy in their heart! In fact I don’t think I really understood what joy was until I met my new friend as seen in the picture. I thank God so much for this blessing. I can’t wait to go back to Uganda, but I am so glad to return to the states and share my new gift of joy with everyone!

Melinda

If you would have asked me why I was going on this trip a week ago, my answer would have been something selfish I’m sure. I had hoped to meet new people, finally experience a trip out of ‘the States,’ and learn about how to stay close to God in times of struggle. Whatever I may have expected was turned upside down. I made lots of new friends, learned about a different way of life, and realized that life is so much better when surrounding yourself with joyful people. If I’m being truly honest, I’ve left a piece of my heart here in Uganda. It may seem like a simple lesson but I have realized on this trip that there is absolutely no reason for there to be any restrictions on my outward love of the Lord. There are no reasons for complaints or regrets when living with Christ in your heart. Whatever the case may be, as a servant of God, everything is as it should be. I pray to keep a servant’s heart and to continue to be a support to this ministry now that I have seen first hand the miracles that it has brought about.

Crystal

They say the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it. No I didn’t learn to speak Lugandan in a week, but instead I learned something greater. I learned the languages of true love, true faith, and true joy. Half way around the world I was surrounded in love, faith, and joy continually and it is undoubtedly the greatest feeling. In EVERY single person I met I felt the love they had towards us, I saw their faith they had in God, and the joy they had in every moment they lived. It is an indescribable feeling to have these things affect your soul so instantly, like lightening striking. Everywhere we went people were thanking us for coming and telling us how much they loved us. I don’t think I could ever explain to them how grateful I am for everything they taught me and how much I love them. But…THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU.

Justin

To be anywhere in Uganda is to be with friends.  It is amazing how many people we see that we know no matter where we are.  We can drive 2 hours off the beaten path, stop at a mud hut, and see Joshua who I’m with here and several of his family members that we know.  It is incredible to be among friends who are also unafraid to wear their faith where everyone can see.  I am always encouraged and always challenged to live my life more like theirs.

Blog Day 7

This morning we were extremely excited at the opportunity to work with Pastor Joseph and the livestock at Katyazo. When we arrived, we were informed of a goat with an abscessed eye. Pastor Joseph and the veterinary students determined that the best form of treatment was to remove the eye. The students had acquired many supplies, much of which were donated by 3M, before the trip to bring and donate to Pastor Joseph.

However, we were missing a few key things in order to perform the procedure. A few members of the team went to town to procure these supplies while the rest of us went to see the cattle. They have a mixed variety of cattle that are healthy, except for a few that have minor eye issues which the herdsman treated as we looked on.

After the girls returned from getting supplies, we prepared for the necessary procedure.  We were able to remove the eye without any complications and Pastor Joseph believes the goat will fully recover. He will check on our patient in the next few days to monitor the healing process.

While we were finishing the morning procedures, Deuce was already in Mbarara at the Youth Conference.  As part of the conference they were commissioning some pastors who had just finished the Ezra school of learning.  This is a pastor training school that Pastor Emmy began.  Twelve pastors were graduating from this school.

It was wonderful to be able to pray for these pastors as they go and live the life that God has called them to.

The entire conference waited for the arrival of the rest of the team in order to start the feast that we had seen processed the day before.

Our group helped purchase the cow and several other things for them, and had the opportunity to serve the meal. We served rice, matooke (cooked, mashed bananas), cabbage, beef, g’nut sauce, chipati (think thick tastier tortillas), and sodas.

We were told this was definitely “the best” lunch! At our schools, the children typically only have meat a few times a year.  Add in chipati and sodas and they had a bigger feast than we have ever seen!  After lunch, we spent the afternoon with the kids. We sang several songs including many popular repeats such as “Jesus Loves Me” and “Little sally walker”. We also played lots of fun games. The favorites were “Hot potato”, “Four corners”, “Duck, duck, goose”, and “Simon Says”.

They also taught us a game called “The cat and the rat”. The kids absolutely loved all the games we played. We loved just getting to spend time with them.

Supermom came by with some chickens to be donated to some of the families whose children were at the conference.

We were having so much fun that we quickly lost track of time and before we knew it, it was time to start saying good-bye. We walked back to the school and went to the front of the church for us to say good-bye. After Justin and Brandon said a few words of gratitude (as the girls were too emotional to talk), Julie got up and sang a song for them. They loved it.

They still had one more gift for us. Supermom came up and sang a good-bye song for us. It was so touching and Faith got up to dance with her.  Once Faith was dancing, Stephanie decided she would join in.

Before we knew it the whole team had joined in with the dance!

While we were saying our final good-byes, Pastor Emmy was wearing a Hawaiian UT shirt…after being harassed and us telling him we will be sure to send him some better clothes to wear, he quickly went inside and picked a better color.

We all love Pastor Emmy and consider it a great honor to have met him and so many other wonderful friends this week!

Hey it’s Brandon (also known as Big Mzungu!).

We had a fantastic day filled with preaching, singing, dancing, soccer and the slaughter of a bull for food.  It was awesome.

The day began in African time at 10:00am, which means we were supposed to be there at 9:30am.  We are flexible here in Uganda.  When we arrived at the conference I had not even sat down when Pastor Emmy asked me to start preaching.  It was great.  I spoke on “How to share Jesus with and without words.”  Justin Hayes was my acting sinner in the skit that I made and the youth really enjoyed it. 

Immediately after I spoke, a little 5 year old girl sang and captured everyone’s hearts.

Next, a visiting pastor named Pastor Willy gave a message about un-thankfulness.  He was great.  He captured the crowd and revealed so many truths about the way we perceive life.  He said that we should be grateful that we are not made a dog and that we were made a human, because the same creator has made us both.  He also spoke about how his father continually told him he would never become anything that he was worthless.  He said it hurt him terribly.  It hurt him so bad that he left home and held a grudge against God.

He said he kept asking “Why, why God did I not get an education.”  He said, “Now I am here speaking to you in English and reading God’s word.  I have become something.  I am used by God.”  He was one of the best speakers I have heard over here.

One of the new structures coming together at the Mbarara school is the new kitchen.  The old kitchen was just made with mud walls and had no ventilation.  So, thanks to a generous donation they are constructing this one to be ready in time for school to start this month.

They completed it up to this point in just one week, but have taken a break for the conference.  Over the next couple of weeks they will complete it.  I am sure Elsam, the cook, will be so excited about his brand new kitchen!

After the conference we went to the soccer field and watched the guys battle it out for bragging rights.

After leaving the soccer field we headed to Katyazo to slaughter a bull for the conference. 

It was certainly eye opening as to how they do it here.  They used banana leaves under the hide on the ground to keep the skin from getting dirty.  They cleaned out the bull quickly and efficiently and we all watched intently.   The meat is to be used for the youth at the conference.  The children in this area only get meat 3-4 times per year.  This will be a special treat for tomorrow for them!

Overall it was a super-fantastic day.  We had a young man named Edson come down to accept Jesus as his savior, and Justin got to pray with him.

Both Justin and I preached and we spent a lot of time with the kids.  Praise God for being great.

Hi friends! This is Heather again and I wanted to let you know how things have been going with the children during the day, while the youth are at the conference. The first day, we shared the story of Noah and the ark with them. They were very polite and attentive, but I wasn’t sure how much they understood what I was teaching. They participated in the activities and games, but said very little else.

For yesterday and today’s lessons, we each picked a different animal in the Bible and told the children either a story with that animal in it or an attribute of God that can be related to that animal. We taught them about how God was their fierce protector like a lion, a sacrifice for their sins like a lamb, how God will always provide for them because He is the owner of cattle on a thousand hills, to Fully Rely on God (FROG), how the Holy Spirit is like a dove, how God is strong and swift like a horse, how God will always provide for you like when he used a few fish and loaves of bread to feed 5,000, and how God can carry your burdens like camels carry the burden of man.

We taught them many games. Today we taught them the three-legged race and heads up, seven up.

Yesterday, you could see how excited the kids were to see us and talk to us. I felt like we really got to know the kids yesterday. Most speak English well and do understand most of what we say. Today, we are like old friends. We know each other’s names and a few things about each other.

I was worried that our lessons wouldn’t relate to the daily struggles these kids face, but God showed me that the Bible is always relevant. It doesn’t matter where you live, His Word is always perfect and is always exactly what you need to hear.

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and spend time with these children. I can’t wait to see them tomorrow, but I’m already sad at the thought of saying goodbye.

Hey everyone, it’s Deuce.  After a couple of days of traveling around the countryside, we had the opportunity to spend the whole day at the Mbarara school.  So, our team split into two groups with some of the members taking part in the youth conference and others spending time with the children.

On the way to the school, however, Pastor Emmy stopped to show Driver Jude welding the windows for the buildings at Katyazo.

Jude is a master welder and has trained James, who is one of the youth that switched from the typical school to learning welding.  He had just finished the doors for Katyazo and after he makes the windows he will move on to making the bunk beds for Katyazo.  Katyazo will be ready soon!

The youth conference officially started on Monday, and Brandon and I have had the opportunity to take turns preaching.  So today Brandon started off with a great sermon on how to live the Christian life within the workplace and the community.

After Brandon finished Pastor Reuben told me that one of the other pastors had not made it, so could I preach.  I was planning to preach tomorrow but quickly looked to see if I had something in my arsenal that could work on the fly.  So, with about two minutes of preparation I enjoyed teaching on the necessary elements to discipleship.  I hope it made sense!

During our break we got to walk around the school a little, and Pastor Emmy showed me a couple of things that they are needing to update.   At this time their P7 class is needing to split into two classes.  There are some students that learn faster than others, so they need to split the group up so that the faster learners aren’t being held back.  The building they want to expand is presently being used for the nursery kids.  Unfortunately, the walls have just been pieced together with tarps at this time.

He also showed me several of the boards on one of the classrooms that are rotting badly and needing to be replaced.  This is one of the problems with having temporary structures.  They meet the short-term needs of the school, but do not stand up to the wear and tear of 300 students.

While he was showing me the timbers we got some help seeing where the holes are.

They have made some improvements at the school with the landscaping, and they’ve put up rails so that the children don’t trample on it.

During this break, I also got to show some of the team where they used to fetch water everyday.  They decided it was worth a picture with Moses.

They do still use the river water for washing and other things, so I decided Brandon needed the experience of carrying the Jerry can.  I offered to help by taking his picture!

The other members of the team had a great time spending time with the children.  Here is Heather with her new best friend Precious.

And the children loved showing off their masterpieces.

The pinnacle of the day was taking a trip up the mountain.

With the youth conference, they plan to spend time up on the mountain praying and praising God.

There is nothing like the sound of hundreds of young adults crying out to God all over a mountainside and hearing the joy of their worship.

We were all very blessed to be a part of this worship time!  At the end of the prayer time they had our team gather up in the middle and pray for us.  Many of these people were crying out to God for basic needs that we take for granted, but they chose to thank God for us and pray for our safe journey home in a few days.

After the prayer time Kaylie got to take one last shot with her new friend Derrick.

We are looking forward to spending another day at the school with the children and youth tomorrow!

This is Katie and Stephanie reporting live from Sanga, Uganda!  We are here to fill you in on our adventures today!

We’ve got cows!

As Vet students, we have been really excited about today because we knew we were going to get to see a lot of animals!  Today we met Pastor Joseph, the veterinarian for PCM.  His practice is focused on cattle and goats, because they are important for production of milk and meat.  While there were a few dogs and chickens and even a cat around, Pastor Joseph said that people are more willing to pay for their cows due to their daily provision.

Pastor Joseph traveled with us to several of the pastors’ lands to see their cows, including the ones that have been provided through the “Cows for the Kingdom” fundraiser.  It was great to meet some of the pastors and hear how the cows have benefited their lives.  We also got to meet some of their families.

One of the homes even had a milk and cheese making room.

Pastor Joseph (yes, he’s a vet and a pastor!) spoke to us about common diseases seen in cattle and goats.  We learned a lot about how they are educating animal owners in order to prevent disease spread and maximize resources gained from their animals.  For example, they use the cow manure for bio-gas, which they can use to power their home appliances.  Then, the leftover manure is used for fertilizer.  Nothing goes to waste.

He spoke about how preventative measures, such as vaccines, in the long run are more cost effective.  However, the most prevalent management practice is treatment of disease, not prevention.  Pastor Joseph has been trying to educate owners in order to change their point of view, but it is proving to be a bit of a challenge.  We also discovered that he has numerous other challenges with clients, like client finances and medicine availability that are the same as what we face in the U.S.  It turns out that veterinary medicine is veterinary medicine, no matter where you are.

And, of course, wherever we went, we had company.

Hey, this is Kim and Julie reporting to you now.

After meeting all the cows, we went and visited three families in one of the small mountain villages that surround the Minekye school.  The first family consisted of 5 children, Patience, Catherine, Paul, George, and Ivan.

For work, the father digs for other families. They live in a two room mud hut that is very small, but filled with lots of joy and faith.

The second family was a Grandmother and her grandchild, Ashirat who goes to the school provided by Parental Care Ministries. She has been raising her grandchild since his father passed and her mother left the village when he was just 5 months old.

The grandmother had to sell her four goats to finish the roof on her hut, so now she has no source of food or income for her and her grandson. She is also very sick, but despite her struggles she continues to walk in faith with our Lord. She was truly an inspiration to us all.  Thank you to Deborah Hull for sponsoring sweet Ashirat.  We know the sponsorship is going to bless him and his grandmother so much!

The last family we visited was a mother, her son Kiiza, and her granddaughter. The mother sold her inheritance to provide the small plot of land and mud hut that they all live in. She is an extremely hard worker even though she is going blind and she can no longer do the work she used to.

Everything she does, she does for her children. She is extremely grateful to Parental Care Ministries for providing an education for her children, and once we are able to start providing a meal program at the school it will be very helpful for each of these families.  Please pray with us that Kiiza will be sponsored soon!

As we were meeting these people in the village, we were able to see the Minekye school up on the mountain ahead.  It was so beautiful! 

We went up there to see it and of course were followed by many curious kids.  As we arrived at the top we went into the church which is also being used as part of the school.  What we found in there kind of surprised us.  There were actually cows in the church!  We were guessing that’s where they were preparing the cows for the kingdom to be holy cows!

Naboth, the Minekye child sponsorship coordinator in Uganda, showed us around some of the rooms.

At this point the church building and some older temporary structures are being used for the school classrooms, but they are termite infested and will need to be torn down soon.  So, we prayed as a group for the future of the school.  As we prayed, we noticed one small boy with a hat on that showed that he is a muslim.  Fortunately, he is now attending our Christian school!

The children loved being with us at the school and even chased the miracle van back down the mountain!

After our visit to the school, Justin and Supermom surprised us with news that an 8 year old boy from the USA asked Santa Claus to give  some chickens to Ugandan children for Christmas.

We were Santa’s helpers today and were able to purchase some chickens for the first family we met. On our way back down the mountain we stopped and purchased one of the chickens through the window of the miracle van

and gave it to the family. They were so grateful!

After our eventful afternoon we were on our way back to town when we came on a large truck stuck in a large muddy puddle (or some may say pond) on the road.  The guys trying to get the truck out waved us on on the other side of the pond, but we got stuck, too!  Immediately twenty-five or so guys ran right over and tried to rock us out of the mud, but eventually we decided we were stuck.

After trying to pull us out with a rope, which resulted in a busted rope, we all carefully piled out of the miracle van to wait on a wire cable.  After the cable arrived we were successfully removed from our predicament!  We were all very grateful to pile back in the van and head back to Mbarara for dinner with Supermom, Driver Emmy and Naboth.

Hey everyone, it’s Melinda. This morning we were able to get to know a lot more of the children at the school. The majority of the time we spent sharing the story of Noah, since he was placed in charge of the animals and that’s near and dear to our hearts.

The kids were able to color and make bracelets, which tell the story of salvation through Jesus Christ and so they can remember to look to Jesus and share the Good Word with their friends and classmates.

To spend more time with them, and to get to know some of them individually, we played games such as volleyball, monkey in the middle, and Frisbee as well as blowing bubbles outside. We also were able to sing songs like Father Abraham and Rise and Shine with the kids.

We ended the morning with a spontaneous mixture of hot potato meets dance party!

The kids were so wonderful to be around! They were so genuinely excited to be spending time with us, and they all had tons of smiles on their faces. Appreciating everything we had to share with them, they were eager to learn the songs and lessons we had planned for them. They were so much fun to be around and we were so blessed to be around them.

After leaving the school, we had a chance to stop by Driver Emmy’s house that he is building.  He was so proud to show us all that they had accomplished with help from many friends in Uganda and the US.  His wife Mary and daughter Fortunate were there helping as well.

It was great to see this young family building this simple but beautiful home.

In the afternoon, we were able to tour the ministry’s new land at Katyazo. We learned about planting bananas, papayas, and corn (as well as carrying it on our heads)

and Kaylie was able to discover the wonders of building and construction – Uganda style!

It was fun to meet with Supermom more and talk about the goals for the ministry and the big plans they have to expand the schools and churches.

It was also great to have Pastor Charles show us around all the buildings.

It’s amazing to think that in just about three weeks these buildings will be finished and they will be starting school for secondary students for the first time!

After seeing the dorms and the classrooms we went down to feed the fish.  Of course, we had to stop for a quick team photo!

As you can see, the children that were following us loved taking pictures and were pretty funny as you can see with Kim!

The tilapia ponds looked great and as they threw some food out we could see the swirls of the thousand fish grabbing the food.

After visiting Katyazo we had the opportunity to visit Pastor Charles’ home that he is building.  He is overseeing all the construction at Mbarara and Katyazo, but he has never had the opportunity to build a home for his family.  So, the excitement on his face was evident.

We asked him what his wife, Grace, thinks about the new home and he said that she is so excited.  She is ready to move in today!  This will be a wonderful new home for them and their five children.  He has been building his home as God blesses him with funds, but he is very patient and excited about finishing the work.

Every day has been full and wonderful and we can hardly wait to put our vet experience to work tomorrow!!

But now it is time for us to rest.

Heather:

Today I attended the most interesting church service I’ve ever been to. Church is held outside under tarps for shade. The service had already started when we arrived. They stopped service to welcome us and led us to our seats in the front. Then worship started, and it was totally different than any worship I’ve ever seen. The Ugandans worship by singing, dancing, and yelling.

It’s completely uninhibited praising God. I wished I knew the words because I wanted to sing with them so bad! I also really wanted to take some dance lessons from the worship team.

After worship, we all stood up and introduced ourselves and shared a few words with our new friends.  We were all really nervous to speak in front of a crowd, but they were very nice and it went well.

Then Justin and Brandon both gave messages. After that, Pastor Emmy had 2 surprises for everyone. The first surprise was announcing an engagement of one of Pastor Emmy’s adopted sons, Moses. (He is the one who was in the motorbike accident that we blogged about on Trip 15)

The second announcement was a birthday party for Grace, Pastor Emmy’s oldest daughter. We sang Happy Birthday to her, and she handed out cake and sodas for everyone.

The church service lasted 4 hours and not one of us checked our watches once. We were having such a good time, we didn’t even realize that much time had passed. The most amazing part of today was how welcoming the people were. They stood and greeted us as we walked in.  After the service, they all hugged us and told us how welcome we are there. They also told us they loved us. Complete strangers they had just met, and they told us they love us. How often do we tell the people closest to us that we love them? I hope I can learn to be as welcoming and loving as the Ugandans are.

Kaylie:

After the church service, we went back to the hotel to change clothes and get a few snacks for lunch.  Then Emmy D picked us up and took us back to the school to spend some time with the children. We took some different types of sports balls with us to play with the kids. The soccer ball we had quickly turned into a volleyball after it was aired up and the kids loved it!! We had so much fun passing the ball around and hitting (or kicking) it in any way we could.

After seeing a group of us playing volleyball, Daniel (Pastor Emmy’s son) and Bruce decided we needed a net to play a real game. If I were back home I would just run to the store and buy a small net. But we are in Uganda and that’s not how they do it. They just pulled out some twine and started making a net! They took about 8 long pieces and stretched them out and nailed them to stay in place. Then they took smaller pieces and tied them across to finish. It was so cool and it didn’t take that long at all because so many people started helping! My favorite part about this was not the actual making of the net but the conversations I was able to have with the people helping. I learned that Daniel loves Biology and Chemistry way more than Physics! It was so much fun!

After the net was finished the boys took it over to an empty space next to the new church that is being built and put it on some poles so a real match could begin. The kids formed teams and we played several games until we were told we must leave so their conference could start. It was so exciting and I think everybody had a great time.

A few of the other girls on the team played Frisbee with some of the girls who did not want to play volleyball. They played a few different things with it, such as monkey in the middle and just tossing it back and forth. After that, the Ugandan girls taught us a few of their games. We played their version of Duck, Duck Goose and Red Rover. It’s funny how half way across the world, the childhood games are still pretty much the same.

We loved our first day with the kids and cannot wait for the rest of the week!

Team 17 woke up today to a beautiful view of Lake Victoria in Entebbe.  Lake Victoria is the large lake in the middle of Africa that helps you find where Uganda is.  It’s also the source of the Nile River.

After the team loaded up, it was time to make the trek across Uganda to Mbarara where we’ll be spending the rest of the week.  After braving the traffic of Kampala, we made our first stop at the equator.  I mean you just have to stop at the equator for a photo op, right?!

We also saw a new friend hanging out at the equator that I haven’t seen in Uganda before.

After that short stop, we loaded up again and travelled on towards Mbarara.  However, since we have a special team this time we had to make a little detour to meet someone special.  That someone would be Pastor Reuben’s cow.  She is about 8 months pregnant and has had some health issues.

On the drive to meet her we went through several bottoming out potholes in the miracle van before we parked in the middle of the village and decided to walk the rest of the way.  This is where our team had the first opportunity to meet some local children.

This is also where Julie was able to take a cow by the horns!

You may think that the rest of the cow is missing, but if you look closely you can see it in the background.

Our team had been crammed into the two vehicles for a while so we were excited about the opportunity for a hike.

We saw some very nice locals on the way.

About 5 minutes into the hike it began to look more like an episode of survivor.

Or wipeout.

However, it was worth a few wet shoes to make it up to Pastor Reuben’s family.

Here is one of his boys pulling the youngest in a sled.

And then all the kids wanted to have their picture taken.

Once we saw the cow the vet team got right to work.

They diagnosed that she was healthy and that the calf was progressing well.  She had a small problem with one of her eyes, but it was nothing too bad.  So, meeting number 1 with a cow was a success!

After that we got to hear a little bit about Pastor Reuben’s story and how many of the people in his village were into different kinds of witchcraft and demon possession.  Pastor Reuben started preaching the Gospel and as villagers got saved or had demons cast out their families also came to get saved.  Pastor Reuben now has a church of about 200 in a very remote village.

Reuben and Hallen have 8 children and they all live in the house you see behind these kids.

However, they have been very blessed to build a new home that will be able to accommodate their family better.

They have the shell of their house complete and now need windows, doors, and some other finishing things.  They are so excited about moving into their new home when they get the funds to finish.

After visiting with their family we raced the rain clouds back to the vehicles.  We were able to stay ahead of the rain and even saw some familiar friends up close!

Finally, it was 6pm and we saw a very welcome site, our hotel where we will stay for the week!  Home sweet home!

Ready to meet us of course were our good friends Dora, Milton, and Edward.  We have a wonderful family in Uganda that even includes the hotel staff.  We’re ready for a great week of ministry and kicking off the new year!

Team 17 is getting ready to make the well known trip over to our friends in Uganda.  They will be travelling with me (Deuce), who will be making my fourth trip.  However, this trip will be unlike any other.  We have made several trips to visit the children of PCM (which will definitely be a part of this trip).  We have also made several trips to visit some of the pastors and churches (which will be one of our main focuses on this trip).  We have even had a trip that was to be a part of a youth conference (which will also be happening on this trip).  However, we have never planned and orchestrated a trip for the purpose of meeting cows!

It takes a special kind of person to want to travel 15,000 miles to meet a bunch of cows.  However, we have found those special people.  These people are students at the Veterinarian school at Texas A&M.   They are members of the Christian Veterinarian Fellowship, which is a Christian club within their vet school.  If you are a veteran blog reader, you may remember these students because they did a fundraiser to help raise money for our Cows for the Kingdom project.

Through their fundraiser they raised money for six cows!

However, they didn’t want to stop with just sending money for some cows.  7 of their members are going to be meeting these cows and the pastors who own them.   They will also be taking time to examine the cows that we have at Katyazo as well as some of the other animals.  It should be an incredible opportunity to be a part of yet another aspect of our trip.

It is always exciting to see the different ways that God uses his people to meet needs in our ministry.  One of the students traveling with us, Julie Pack, felt God leading her to donate one of her cows in order to further our ministry.  Now obviously we can’t ship the cow over to Uganda.  (It would be a little over the 50 pound luggage weight limit!)  So, she decided to auction it off at a cattle auction.  Since she was auctioning off the cow for a fundraiser she included a flyer sharing what the money was going to go for.

Because of that flyer a doctor from Florida decided to buy the cow.  However, what was even more surprising was after he paid for the cow he told the auctioneers to auction her off again!  It turns out that he also has some connections to Uganda and wanted to be able to do his part to help.  So, the cow was then auctioned off again which ended up making double the money that Julie thought she was going to make.  And as if that wasn’t enough, the couple who bought the cow the second time volunteers for PCM!

God has really shown how He can and will meet needs in a variety of ways as long as we are ready to listen to His voice.  I am excited to see what else God is going to do on this trip.  I have been talking to Pastor Emmy about what we are going to do with the cows and it has been rather funny because neither Emmy nor I know anything about cows!

However, between this team of vet students and two others from Tyler, the cows, children, pastors, and youth will be very well taken care of.

Vet girls packing up for the trip

Heather Wiese packing a lion to bring to a child

I can’t wait to introduce you to some more of our team members, but you’ll get to know them as we arrive on the ground in Uganda.  One last PCM first is that we will get to ring in the new year with our dear friends.  So get ready!