First installment of Uganda Mission to Watoto

I am going to try to convey the essence of our experience so far... I have absorbed so much in such a short time I'll try to be brief and succinct so as not to lose your interest...

We're at our guesthouse this moment (called Maranatha) after having a late lunch at JavaCafe in a mall in central Kampala where I managed some WiFi time after a lovely lunch of Thai Peanut Chicken and steamed rice - not so traditional but good nonetheless.

Security in Kampala is very visible and widespread after the recent bombs - the African Union presidents are meeting here for a summit right now. We couldn't enter the mall without being searched (though Mzungus i.e. white visitors, have less inconvenience than locals) and the safari bus that is ours for the duration of our stay (which has a windscreen sunvisor emblazoned with GODisGOOD) was also searched WELL.

Along the streets it's so easy to clock various armed uniforms of the different security branches in Kampala all working together - these augment the usual armed security at gas stations and strategic infrastructure like embassies and the bridge/dam across the Nile at Jinja etc. (oh, and if you take a photo of these and the Military Police expect trouble!)

We arrived at Entebbe after a good flight on Friday morning a little late. We had been met at Heathrow by Josephine and Roger Willliamson, lovely South Africans attending Hillsong Church Leatherhead who brought 12 large rice bags (we might use them for laundry but the Africans use them when they travel) packed full of bras, underwear, toys and such. We already had 5 of our own plus a guitar so they helped us to check-in.

I had intended in going through all the bags personally (I didn't fancy spending any of my life in a Ugandan jail) though when Roger showed me the inside of one to ease my conscience I quickly understood there was no way of doing this. I figured that the names of Watoto and Hiilsong were at stake...as Roger put it "Yes we're South African, that's why we just do things..."

One of these bags seemed to have been left at HRW though Brenda @ Watoto will organise it's retrieval - the bags were received very gratefully and are destined for Living Hope in Gulu. Here Watoto serve about 900 ladies affected by war by accepting, loving, educating, cosmetically restoring those mutilated by the LRA and providing start-up capital so they can re-build their lives. 40% of these women are HIV+ and there's another 1200 Living Hope ladies (who are all HIV+) in Kampala where they also have production facilities for peanut butter in order to support themselves - this is within the church building - we're going to some spend time with them while we're here too.

At Entebbe we met out host Moses, a 22 yr old student who is with us until we leave. He's so great with the children and has such maturity - it was so great to pray with him during the church service today. His job is to serve us, make sure we have everything we need and ensure our safety. Steven, a humble more mature man drove us and over lunch we spoke about his 5 children and their schooling.

Friday afternoon we visited Bulrushes - the Kampala babies home. There are three of these now - one in Gulu (new) and another in Suubi Village, Kampala (transl. Hope Village) where we'll be building a much-needed pathway connecting the newest cluster of homes to the primary school. This starts tomorrow, alongside a Canadian team.

We had a tour - Moses likes coming here - and we spend about 90mins holding/feeding the well babies. Nikki has a knack of remembering the babies names and was holding three at once! Joan spent time feeding a couple of babies as did Hope and Livvy. I cuddled one (called Hope) who buried herself into my chest the whole time and refused to allow me to put her down. When we had to go she complained by mourning loudly face down on the blankets spread out on the short elephant grass in the garden. We'll be back here later in the trip - or at the one in Suubi to assist the full-time carers.

The Saturday we had a trip to Jinja, to see white-water rafters and the source of the Nile. There's a dam across which the traffic flows from Kampala to the east of Uganda - the only road joining the 2 halves of the country -  so strategic they forbid anyone to take photos. From the bus we saw fields of tea and sugar cane - there only needed a field of cows to make the perfect cuppa!


Our first visit to Watoto Church was moving. Having seen relatively little of the country it struck me how much we've absorbed. Worshipping with our African brothers and sisters, in that city, surrounded by the harsh realities of life in Kampala and then giving enthusiastic thanks and praise was awesome. For me The Word is so much more alive. This is Christ in technicolour! This is where the rubber hit the road - in my humble experience. Christians here have to cling on to each promise in each line of scripture. There is little else that can dull their need. I often here of people being "desperate" for God - here there is no other option.

Out build so far has been very hard work. We are completing a much needed pathway connecting a new cluster of homes to the primary school. The gradient is fierce and the children have so far had to clamber up dirt paths often cutting through the bush creating other unsafe routes....and there are snakes too.

Our job has been to carry cement mixed with small rocks water and sand in barrows down to where the path is being laid...and then push them back up. The first 2 days we were working close by the mixing albeit down a steep descent of about 10m however, yesterday we descended three times as far! It's not just the descent with the full barrow, trying to stay in control but it's very tough when we push a barrow up to the top again. Tomorrow we are back on site and we hope to have a better location for the cement mixing!

Today we have spent a morning at the Bulrushes babies home. We helped folding laundry and feeding and changing babies. The Bulrushes is located next door to the opposition HQ - and there is an election due in February next year. We witnessed a disturbance where police arrived in riot gear and with prison vans. Ladies from the offices next door were arguing very loudly and the police, over the wall of our compound suggested we took the babies inside. From inside we saw it escalate though no shots were fired and seemed to then plateau and then even with police and media presence seemed to dissipate.

Next post I'll talk about Mama Miriam and her children and add an excerpt from Nikki's journal.

All in all though, a most wonderful experience so far. Every moment is precious.

Final preparations...

The night before we leave and the children have gone to bed extremely well!

We've checked in on-line and are bringing together the last elements of the luggage and books....how many books do you take? - especially when there's no TV. It's going to be really refreshing!

With 4 children our experience of holidays is that you don't get much time to read - though as the sun goes down earlier (Kampala being near the equator and all) and with the culture shock / new environment I reckon the children will get off to sleep pretty quickly.

Reflection times and early morning devotions are planned and Yellow Fever certificates and passports have been scanned into my laptop in case of emergency.

Malarone (anti-malarial) has been taken for the first day - and we're so wrapped that Samuel took his normally just like his sisters! DUDE!

Really grateful for all the well wishing, scriptures and telephone calls we've received - we're touched and know we go with the love of many.

And something else to give thanks for - I received an email from a couple who gave a significant gift to the project in response to an article in the Oxford Mail. I had to study the email in order to take it in - thank you SO much - you know who you are!

Whilst we've not (yet) raised our target, we have raised over £5000 between us and Mat for the project - rather, we have been supported by countless generous people who have given sacrificially to see the lives of the Watoto children changed.... and the nation of Uganda changed, hopefully forever.

As we've been "facing" this trip for a while we have often imagined what we'll see, who we'll meet and what we'll experience and I find myself growing deeply in gratitude for the life we and our children are able to live...and I wait with "heart-open interest" to how our children will react to the realities of life in Uganda.

Please pray we don't get bitten by the mossies (or lions!) and that we stay healthy and safe to enjoy serving everyone we meet.

Next time I write we'll be there (this time tomorrow we'll be over the Sahara). Be blessed!

Is it less than 3 weeks to go....?!

So much has happened since the last post that I have neglected to update everyone as often I would have liked - I sincerely apologise.

Today we have been jabbed with the Yellow Fever vaccine - much less traumatic than the Hep B that's for sure! The children were pretty cool about it this time.

The nurse giving us the jab has spent some time in E Africa working for an NGO - she suggested we look up a song that teaches basic Swahili - this is going to compliment the children's learning of the Watoto children's choir repertoire. I had no idea the Hakkuna Matata song from the Lion King was genuine! Have a listen and learn - écouter et repeter!



This Sunday was our official sending from the church - so wonderful to have Abu praying for us in "Ugandan" - and moving too. We were at both services and felt equipped in prayer with a whole section of the church praying for us.

Fundraising


The Gala Dinner raised all the missions teams a shared out £3k - Joan's Ugandan Evening raised a few hundred - the Cake sale rasied over £400 (one precious lady bought a cake for £100!) - Fun day (was a great deal of work and was disappointing save for the wonderful support of our lovely pastorate)- with another Joan special evening coming up on the 14th July...

We are over the £3000 fiundraising mark for the project - this takes into account the gift aid (less Justgiving's fee) and Mat's Iron Man sponsorship - his site can be found HERE.

Preparation


Nikki has been working out a schedule of devotions for the trip - Nikki Joan and I taking turns to lead - and Hope and Olivia are leading the children's devotions using a book given to us by the Clarks in Washington State.

We have enjoyed great support from Watoto's co-ordinator, Ope Saola, based in Dagenham and she has hooked us up with a lady from Hillsong Church, Leatherhead who has been so successful at accumulating baby clothes for Baby Watoto Gulu that she has had to rent a warehouse. We have secured 6 extra bags from BA(and some assistance at HRW and Entebbe!) - we already had 12 as a family - which will be full of supplies for the little ones........ Please can I take my guitar......please.....?

So, whilst I'm juggling work and mission prep, Nikki is busy with laundry and packing already. She has already sorted my Crocs - arrived today and they're a dream - I've no idea why I held out for so long! And she's also liaising with Ope closely to ensure clarity of costs, itinerary and logistics.

We're getting so close - we feel like we're already there...

If you'd like to be included in the prayer group and receive updates whilst we're there please click HERE.

Moving forward - with only 11 weeks to go!

Finally we have had photos taken ready for the mailing of our press releases (if only the politicians can make a decision I could send them - I need some more peace in the media!)

However, we have the ball rolling with our justgiving site - you can see the widget to the right of this blog (sorry Facebook users - please go to the blog at http://bit.ly/cjQKy6) - if you click through you'll be able to read a little and see a great video by clicking on "My Videos" on the JG site.

A friend of ours has agreed to donate his sponsorship for an Iron Man competition this Summer (more below) so I am working with him to maximise his reach too.

Regarding vaccinations, Nikki and I only have Yellow Fever left, the children have that and the last of the three Hep B's.

Joan, our team-mate, is also circulating the press releases throughout her network too - she'll be hosting a Ugandan meal for approx 25 people at her house this Friday! A great deal of work - but she knows just what she's doing as a caterer!

As well as this she is leading the initiative for a cake sale at church on Sunday 16th - watch out for some lovely cakes to raise funds for the Ugandan team costs.

Other fundraising initiatives that are forming are a World Cup Widows Pampering Evening (I think a few guys round for a match will be a good antidote!) that Nikki is organising - and my 10k - a feable event in comparison with our friend's Iron Man:

On August 1, 2010, the city of Regensburg will host the inaugural IRONMAN Regensburg. Only 4 months after opening registration, over 2,000 athletes from 54 countries have entered the race to tackle the race distance of 3.8 k swim, 180 k bike and 42.2 k run.

Ha - a walk in the park! He has joined the growing number of people engaging with this mission - offering garden and dinner parties and their houses for pamper evenings.

Thank you for taking the journey with us!

More soon. x

Step by step, step by step He leads us...

Faced with a significant bill in advance of our first round of private vaccinations Nikki and I have been praying.

Last week we all had the vaccinations that are available free on the NHS - 4 days of feeling like someone had repeatedly given us "dead arms' - on both sides.

The thing was - that it was necessary we order and start to pay for those that are not available on the NHS - principally the Hep B vaccines. This is a course of three injections that whilst available on a fast track sequence for Nikki and I, are unavailable for the children in this form - so we had to step forward trusting that God would provide in order that the children are safely innoculated....but we needed the cash to be able to start (remember we're a family of 6 so when the bill is £70ish each for the Hep B alone it soon mounts up) and right now our cash flow situation is not helpful.

I remember a time when my wife and I were just engaged and I was having jitters (after all we had met in April, were engaged by the end of June and were due to be married later that year in November - we hardly knew each other!) Nikki had flown back to the US to start preparations and I sat down for a chat with Rev Clark in Nottingham. I explained that I was nervous "What had I done? Was I mad?" He looked at me with a smile and said "Congratulations, you're now learning what it means to walk by faith."

Today at church we were blessed and were given exactly what we need in order to get in the game. Apparently a family thought that an offering to our mission was more important than a new TV and another family agreed to have a dinner party to raise funds as well as donating a gift to make up the amount.

Step by step we move closer and the Lord meets us on each step.

Again Nikki and I are humbled and uplifted by the love and generosity of our church community.

And again we are reassured that the One who places the fatherless in families wants us there.

Flights Booked!

So we have finally booked our flights!!! We go from 22nd July to the 13th August (as we're adding a personal safari to the end) with the rest of the team returning on the 9th.

Another of our church family (whose husband used to work for BA) also managed to help us on this and saved us £500 on the total ticket price!

Now that the flights are booked the prospect of the trip has become VERY real..!!!

Many people around us think we’re crazy for taking the children - others are really supportive and many we know in missions have said we'll have a blast and having seen footage and looking on websites we are sure we will!

Our 2 eldest (8 and 6 yrs) are moved by homeless people on the streets and by the NSPCC ads etc on TV. They sense the injustice of the suffering of people and are moved to make a difference. I know of no better way of them becoming advocates of other children that meeting, playing and making connections with the children at Watoto.

Of course there are some dangers - malaria is one and rabies when we go on safari - though these can be managed and I don't believe any dangers to be any worse than in this country. Just turn on the news or go out in a city centre on a Friday or Saturday night at 12am and you’ll see some messy humanity. There are places to go and places not to go in any city and there you'll also find hurting humanity - the same in every country.

Our minds are focused on the safety of our family and team. We have asked the advice of friends of ours who lived in Kabul during the Taliban days whilst working for Tear Fund. The Dippers are now back in the UK and Andy works for Release advocating and acting on behalf of Christians imprisoned and tortured for following Jesus.

When our children come home from school (and after they have done a chore at home!) they are keen to research on-line such topics as Ugandan dress, money, animals, weather, population etc etc. Nikki has bought a large poster board so they can print pictures out and create a large poster of everything they have found out about Uganda - I've just bought a Ugandan flag which we're going to hang on the wall and use as a prop for photos to fundraise with!

They’re generally excited to be going to Africa to play with and help other children (though not looking forward to the mosquitos and jabs!). Ruby is happy because she knows she is going to make friends and Samuel is blissfully unaware!

I cannot say that we’re without some excited nerves - I wonder about the idea that Christians need to feel “peaceful” about something before they step out. Surely if we are stepping out into the undiscovered we’re unlikely to “have a peace about it”.

We’re aware that our flesh wars against the Spirit so we’re not expecting to be without a sense of tension, which will motivate greater planning, awareness and observation until we are settled and we finally know that which is at present unknown.

We have researched the political situation in Uganda also - there were riots in Kampala last September caused by the government banning the movement of the Kapaka (Bugandan traditional king) from freely entering an area in which he is popular. Speculation is that the Kapaka’s trip and the ban were politically motivated with an election approaching in 2011.

Anyway, all is peaceful now and Lonely Planet explains "...and the capital Kampala is safer and friendlier than most in Africa. Winston Churchill called it the ‘Pearl of Africa’. He was right."

We cannot wait!

Chris Tomlin with Watoto Children's choir

This is wonderful!

CLICK HERE

Just looking at some of the clips make me really excited!!!

How wonderful is our church community!?

Well - the family that were due to come with us have declined to come - however one of them asked if we would go on our own as a family if no-one else is found to come with us.

We answered that we would like to and he shocked us by pledging £3000 for our expenses!!

Nikki’s eyes filled up and I really didn’t know what to say - apart from THANK YOU!!!!!

Shortly afterwards, the Missions Committee agreed to give grants to each of our 4 children.

We are so humbled by the favour and generosity of God and our church community - we are starting to believe that this trip is going to be very significant for us.

Joan has been confirmed as coming on the trip and was so excited she booked her flights before us! We’d better be doing the same soon...

Need to be booking flights soon...

So our team has seemed to gradually trickle away, from being the largest with tentative confirmations, to just a few - either due to the dates chosen (which was the best fit anyway!) or they have chosen other missions.


Application forms have gone to only 2 others and we’ve received one back - the other hopeful requires a pastoral reference at this stage.

Still...it seems to be drawing closer to the time we need to be booking fights - prices seem to be going up steadily!!!!

Early confusion!

We have had to manage expectations early on.

The initial briefing and the way the mission was presented was more towards working with the children however after initial conversations with the hosts they really need people to pay for and build more infrastructure - unless they have this they cannot rescue and restore any more children. Makes sense.

The care is often delivered by local Ugandans or those who can commit to longer term missions so that relationships can be formed - that's so important for the children as they grow and develop emotionally and relationally.

So - we had a number of people with wonderful teaching, mentoring and special needs skills apply!

After explaining the mismatch the hosts have offered that they could be open to making a program for us that best suits our skills - however, during this clarification time some of the many who expressed an interest have decided to move over to other missions or have realised that the dates would not work for them.

Still....we're looking forward to seeing this all unfold and we are so blessed to have this opportunity!