final trip update

Sunday, June 8
At the Kumi PAG church service, the deep passion for our Lord was shown with lively music, exuberant worship and member testimonials. Pastor Phil preached on the Holy Spirit with testimonies from Donna, Becky & Jacinto. Afterwards we packed to depart.

 

 

Grace came to KCVS to bid us farewell at KCVS, despite still being weak from a long illness. The team sent up urgent prayers for her full recovery.

 

 

Our two vehicles then took off for Jinja. God revealed Himself in a miracle of protection for our team that afternoon!  The van stopped for drinks and a mechanic standing by the side of the road saw a problem with the front wheel.  The broken bearing would've prevented the van from steering properly and could've cause a serious accident. The repair shop was a short distance away and the van was repaired in a couple of hours.

 

 

Finally everyone arrived a the beautiful Kingfisher Resort located right on Lake Victoria, for a restful night.

 

 

 

Monday, June 9
The pouring rain cancelled our boat ride around Lake Victoria. The rain nourished the unusual and beautiful plants and flowers at the resort.

 

 

After lunch, we had an hour at the Craft's market to shop for souvenirs, then headed for the Entebbe airport. Our farewell-to-Uganda dinner was a highlight where everyone including ours hosts (Silver, Kathryn, Emma(nuel), Cocas, Churchill and his family) shared the love, experiences, blessings and gratitude God revealed to us and developed between us on this trip.

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6-7 update

Blog post by Teri

 

Hello friends!

 

Phil and I wrapped up 4 days of teaching approximately 27 pastors on Friday. What an amazing experience to hear of the conditions in which these pastors faithfully serve.  Many receive no salary and must support their families and shepherd their flocks with no remuneration.  Phil taught on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and I taught on Biblical conflict resolution.  Both subjects were extremely well-received and we felt privileged to be able to encourage these Godly pastors.

 

 

Today was the culmination of our trip to Kumi, as our team attended and participated in the dedication of Kumi Christian Visionary School.  The ceremony began with KCVS students, a marching band, and 2 of our team members (Jacinto and Jeffrey) parading around the town, calling people to the ceremony.

 

 

 

Order, protocol, and properness are important to their events.  Many speeches peppered the program.  Our team was introduced, Becky and Steve gave speeches, we presented the school with a monetary gift, and then sang America the Beautiful.  There were many long speeches, but to Ugandans, this was quite meaningful. 

 

   

 

Ugandan time is quite different than ours.  We arrived at the school at 10:30am, even though we were supposed to be there at 9am.  There ceremony was to end at 1pm, but did not even start until 1, and did not end until 5:30.  There was a feast of beef, chicken, vegetables, and rice.

 

Much progress on the school construction was made over the week, elevating everyone's spirits.

 

 

The children were awed by the celebration, and proud of their new uniforms.  I believe God was honored in these events, and I praise him for the work he has accomplished.

 

We would appreciate your prayers as we participate in worship in Kumi tomorrow at 8am, and also for a member of our team, Connie, who is not feeling well.

 

Blessings to you all!

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6-6 update

Blog post by Jeffrey

Yoga Noi everyone!

Today was our 9th day in Kumi and so far the experience has been an AMAZING and inspirational learning experience. Throughout the trip, I have constantly learned new things that have and will continue to guide me through the challenges and paths in my life.

 

The VIM team members continued their last day working at the school. Each member painted both the base and part of the main paint onto some of the classrooms.

 

 

The staff there are working hard around the clock to the point where they even sleep there in order to get it prepared for the Commissioning Ceremony tomorrow, where many high officials will be attending such as a member of the parliament and mostly: the Minister of Education of Uganda. Additionally, two out of three of the youth members: Jacinto and I, will be marching from 7AM around the entire village of Kumi in order to get the word out about the school. This will be an exciting time for me to experience (and hot time since I will be wearing a suit in this trek) as the students would have just gotten their newly worn uniforms. Praise the lord.

Literally, we have just finished the Farewell Ceremony where we have eaten fresh pig and goat meat. As this was our last day in the school, it was both a happy and a sad moment as we sat under the stars: dancing, eating, laughing, talking, and more. It was planned for Jacinto to slaughter the goat for us to eat; however, a miscommunication led to the YCVM board members slaughtering the animal before we got the chance to do so. Despite not being able to kill the animal personally, the food was AMAZING and was delicious. While putting the raw meat onto the kebab stick, Michelle and Jacinto said that the raw pig smelled like Pho, the Vietnamese noodle. Both Donna and I were confused and did not think it smelled like that. (BTW if you have not already known this, Steve had been named the Goat and the pig had been named Michelle so tonight, we had Michelle and Steve for dinner who smelled like Pho. That'll be a story to tell when we return back to the states). Eyalama Noi to everyone who continue to support the VIM trip members in Kumi, Uganda. We all cannot wait to return and to tell you all about the amazing stories that we have experienced here in Uganda.

P.S. HAI MY INTERACT MEMBERS :D <3 "STRONGER TOGETHER" AND "SERVICE ABOVE SELF"

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6-5 update

Blog post by Jacinto

 

Hey everyone! It's good to be able to share with you guys again. The days are so full and every story deserves a post, but I need to sleep eventually so I'll share just one tonight.

 

Usually when we go to a community event we have to make some laps. We get introduced to local leaders and musicians, teachers and pastors, students and their families. We shake hands and exchange names. We exchange smiles and share in conversation. Then repeat. But today something new happened. As I was in the midst of teaching people how to say my name, I felt something bumping into my knee. I heard a small voice saying "uncle! uncle!". A small child was fighting for my attention, determined to win out over the grown-ups. This girl was four year-old Adeke (the youngest student at KCVS).

 

 

Adeke is known for being spirited, curious, joyful, and extremely stubborn (when I first met her she grabbed my hand and pulled my hair, curious as to why my hair was so different from hers).   Adeke was softly hitting my knee, and so I met her eyes. Her first turned into an open palm. I went down to her and she gave me a handful of peanuts -- a handful for her is about four. This touched me greatly.

 

Here, food a sign of extravagant hospitality. We are often given food much better than what our hosts are used to eating. This never really sits well with me, but it's extremely rude not to eat the food given to you. So when this nursery school student demanded my attention and extended her hospitality to me, I could not deny that. Something so small means so much.

These tiny children are filled with so much love. In this love I've seen the face of God, a God who calls us, and loves us, like a four year-old would.

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6-4 update

Blog post by Connie

 

Greetings from Uganda! Becky and I have been working with the teachers at KCVS. We are amazed at how quickly they are able to incorporate suggestions regarding best practices for group work in their classes, use of materials, lesson design, and new concepts. We have great admiration for all the teachers.

 

 

 

During our mornings, we spend two and a half hours with the teachers and later in the day we do demonstration lessons in the classrooms. We worked with linear measurement, mass/weight measurement, observation work, and buttons for the young children, seashells, magnets, and fingerprinting.

 

 

In the classrooms, once the children become a little bit accustom to us as new visitors, they quickly become engaged in the lesson. There are some things that are very new to the children that we have not considered and so this is a learning experience for us too. An example would be materials that we used with fingerprinting. The children are a joy, they are intelligent, respectful, full of smiles, and a joy to be around. We feel so fortunate to be members of this missionary team and grateful for the support of kind thoughts and prayers for the team, teachers, and the children.

 

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