Art show update!!

Thanks everyone for coming out to the art show two weekends ago. It was a beautiful evening and so blessed by God and we thank you each for being a part of it and for all that you gave.  We ended up raising $1,670 and we praise God for it!!!

OUTDOOR ART & BAKED GOODS SHOW

Hey folks--come out and support us as we raise money and awareness on our upcoming mission to Uganda. It will be a night of fun, fellowship, beautiful art, and treats. We hope to see you there and thank you so much for the love and care you have shown us in this endeavor. (Also we are still in need of art if you are interested in helping us out in that way!!)

Saturday, October 6, 2012.  728 East 36th Street Savannah, GA 31401. 5-7 pm.

Wanna hear the story??

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" Micah 6:8

Why are we going?
Upon returning from Uganda in May, the Lord has been growing in Logan a desire to go back, however, also growing in her a desire to serve the local body. She had just led a team through Adventures in Missions for a four-month period.  She was dreaming and praying about what that would look like, when Gracie and her met up one random evening and learned of the Lord similarly moving her in the direction of the exact same small town in Uganda to work in a baby home. We started talking about our mutual desire to stay connected to CBC, our local church and how we could use our passions and gifts to pour back into the home that poured into us. The Lord had been equipping Gracie with communication, media and journalism skills through her time as a student at SCAD, while Logan had acquired a network of people in Uganda and an understanding of the lifestyle and needs through her previous travels.  We are stepping forward, confident that God is calling us to leave for Uganda in winter of next year and staying through the summer. Our chief hope is to use our gifts to further the kingdom of God and do it under the authority of CBC.  

What’s the goal?

We want to partner with local ministries in Gulu and serve a local body. The pastor Logan worked with in Lira is connected to a church branch in Gulu, Victory Outreach Church that is a part of the network and authority of Victory Outreach Ministries-- who we hope to partner with. While in Uganda several months ago, Logan learned of a need with a local organization called Scripture Union. Through communication with the area director she has committed to filling a need with the Bible club that is meeting at a local university.  She will partner with students in the club and work together with them doing intentional discipleship and Bible study. Logan also plans to work with an organization that works with children who are suffering from a disease called nodding syndrome.  A friend in Uganda has asked her to help by doing Bible lessons with the children who are desperate to know the hope of Christ. An organization has recently opened a center for the kids to come each day and from their welcome, Logan hopes to make Jesus a part of their daily schedule at the center.  Gracie hopes to serve at a babies home and work with a ministry for teenage girls. In addition to her commitment to these ministries she will be serving CBC and other local ministries in Uganda through her love for media and photojournalism. She hopes to explore art as a gateway for loving and nurturing youth into knowing the love of God. Another aspect to this trip is simply living missionally and relationally, valuing the small opportunities to meet the needs of neighbors and new friends. A personal commitment to being obedient to whomever God puts in our path; serving them, showing them the love of Christ, and building up believers with the Word. 

How you can help? 

The truth is we genuinely want people to be a part of this with us.  We have talked a lot about our desire for the people in our life that want to help, to see it as a partnership with us as we go.  We realize that so many people in our lives have the desire to be connected to what God is doing in different parts of the world.  So we want to invite y'all on this journey with us through our stories and pictures and your prayers. We are going to have several different things going on in the next few months that we want you to be a part of.  If you are interested in learning more please send Gracie or Logan and email so that we can have your information and send you a prayer card and tell you details about our needs. Also we want to work with you and the ideas that you have of how we can contribute to the needs of the people we meet. If you have an interest that is important to you and a way to equip us or contribute materials to us we would love to talk to you. We really appreciate your support and care to us and we are so excited for this journey!!!

logan710h@gmail.com

graciebyrdjones@me.com

The Journey Continues...

GREAT NEWS!!!

Venturing back to UGANDA...but with a friend, Gracie Byrd Jones, in the beginning of next year! 

This blog will now record the adventures, prayers, and thoughts of Logan and Gracie, please keep checking up to hear more of how the Lord has orchestrated our paths and the work He continues to do... 

In chains for the Gospel

Greetings from Uganda! It has been an outrageously long time since I have blogged. So many incredible things happen in one day’s time here that I am overwhelmed every time I go to blog.

I want to share with y’all a story about a man named Jaspher.  A few weeks ago some friends and I were out ministering in a part of town called Teso Bar that is also known as place of the drunkards.  It is a very impoverished area of town filled with lots of hungry bellies, AIDS, and overworked women. The area is full of hundreds of mud huts piled very closely together and you can find men sitting around drinking alcohol from small bags at any point during the day. 

So one particular Thursday a few weeks ago we were prayerfully walking around. We went to visit a friend’s home and there was no one home so we took it as a closed door and proceeded on.  Soon after a man in his early 30’s walks up to us and says: “what are you people doing here? Can you tell me how my life can be different? I’m tired of boozing every day.” He was so matter of fact we thought it was a dream.

The 4 of us are filled with joy and the “we live for this” kind of excitement as we walk to the bar area to sit down with him.  We talk with him and ask him more questions to get to know him a bit and then we share with him why we are here.  Anytime I get to share the most glorious news in the world with someone its awesome but sharing the gospel with Jaspher is something I won’t ever forget.  Ah it was so great!

So then he asks us few questions and then he very decisively tells us that he wants to be a part of the kingdom of God.  He shared with us that he had heard the gospel before but he just wasn’t in a place to receive it. He knew it was different this time.  We talked a bit more about some foundational truths and prayed with him and he shared with us the struggles that he anticipated facing in his new pursuit of Christ.  He asked us if we could come by his home another day to meet his wife named Reyma.  He told us that his wife was from a Muslim family and that his prayer was that she would become a Christian. 

So fast forward a few days to Sunday—we went to find him at his home to bring him to church with us.  Well we get to his home and he isnt there but we were greeted by his wife Reyma who was very flustered.  She was talking to us very fast and in broken English but we thought we were picking up something about Jaspher being arrested for preaching to the drunkards at the bar.  My friends and I laughed at the thought of that and went onto church a little discouraged that he had been arrested.    

The following Tuesday we decided that we wanted to go visit Jaspher at prison to find out more. We were familiar with the prison because we had been there to minister a few Sunday’s before so we rode there on a few motorcycle Boda’s and once we arrived we asked the guard if we could speak to a man named Jaspher.  


Soon after Jaspher comes out with a grin on his face very excited to see us.  He proceeds to tell us that the police arrested him for “loitering”.   We have learned from different people here that basically if men are out past dark the police arrest them.  Then the men have to pay a high fee that most of them can’t afford and during the day the men work in the field digging for hours for different wealthy people in the community.  He told us that he was sitting with his drunkard friends “preaching” to them and telling them to not waste their lives drinking etc.  He seemed very joyful despite his circumstances and it was awesome to be able to encourage him with some of Paul’s life and experiences in Acts chapter 16. It was cool to be able to share with him from the word the different ways that God can work through difficult circumstances and injustices to accomplish his purposes.  He seemed strengthened and built up and we prayed together. 

 Jaspher asked us to come on the next Sunday for the prison church service to share the gospel with his cell mates.  He told us he had been telling his friends about us.  We were feeling the pressure a bit but still excited for the open door.


So this past Sunday a few of us went and worshipped with the prisoners and shared the Word.  There is something really indescribable about 40 men in a Ugandan prison worshipping God in their local language.  They are always so thankful to receive encouragement and love from people. 

Anyways…. Some really important news to this story is that Sunday afternoon I received a delivery of 40 Bibles!!!!!  (Thank you to all of my friends from back home that gave money…these people are really hungry for God’s word)  And this blessing ties into this story because Jaspher was in serious need of a Bible…especially since he has hours where he is sitting in prison with nothing to do!  So Monday we went to the prison to give him a new Bible and some juice.  The head guard called him to come into a small room and we got about 20 minutes to share some verses with him and pray together before he goes back into the cell.  Tuesday is the day that they have their court hearing and we prayed that God would give him favor with the judge and that he would be released. And guess what… The judge released him from prison! The testimony of God intervening in Jaspher’s life has been a great encouragement to me and the team. 

Please lift up Jaspher and Reyma in prayer and pray that God would bless the time that we spend together in these last 2 weeks here in Uganda. 

Also pray for me and the team in our last week’s here that we would finish well.  Check out their blogs to read more about the other happens of the last weeks. 

Thank you so much for all of the love and support.  I appreciate the prayers a lot and they have definitely been felt.  And a special shout out to my college community for the prayer and Bibles..y’all are the best!!!

This is Reyma and me with a new Bible from my CBC family!

Prisoner dude with matching sunglasses!

Carrie, Jaspher, John and me at prison

A week in the life

The team and I have been in Uganda for one month today.  Our days are filled with so many beautiful people and awesome opportunities.  I feel overwhelmed with how much i want to tell you all about because i have witnessed so much these past few weeks but i am going to summarize with a few highlights of a typical week thus far.

Sunday:  Church starts at 6 am and we celebrate with the local body at victory outreach.  A few of the members of the team serve on the worship team.  We worship together and leave a few hours later to go to the local prison to spend time sharing God's word with the prisoners there.  Around noon we come back to where we stay and enjoy a restful afternoon as a team. We love to sit with Pastor Johnson under the mango tree while he sits in his rocking chair and shares wisdom with us.


Monday:  We spend the first part of the day at the church working with different departments.  Some members of the team work with the women in the compassion International office.  They help organize the files of the children's history and also arrange for house visits.  Others of the team help with the media department--working on updating the ministries website and documenting church services, outreach, etc.  The rest of the team works in the computer lab teaching basic computer skills to people and/or helps with the HIV/aids office updating reports for the patients and home visits. There is also a nursery school at the church that we help with occasionally.  Victory outreach church has many different departments that serve the community. It is an awesome time in ministry because we are able to help in the departments we are interested in but also encourage the people working there and build relationships with them.


Later in the afternoon we split up into 2 groups and half of the team goes to Fountain Primary school and the rest of us go to Fountain High school.  I really enjoy this time--there is a core group of believers at the high school and it is a time of mutual encouragement among 2 different groups of believers.  We teach each other different worship songs from our homes and we share testimonies and encouragement from the Word.  We are hoping to have a more structured time of Bible study during this time each week.  We are thankful for an opportunity to pour into a group of believers that can then reach out to their classmates beyond the time we are here.


Tuesday:  The mornings are similar to Monday's--serving in the different department offices.  In the afternoons we visit the hospital and visit with those who are sick and encourage them with scripture and prayer.  A few people on the team are beginning nursing school/med school in the fall so they really enjoy being exposed to the hospitals in Uganda.


Wednesday:  This is the team's day off from ministry and a day to communicate back home.  We typically catch up on laundry and do different errands.  Later on we are planning to visit the game park to see animals, visit the Nile River, and enjoy different Ugandan experiences as a team.


Thursday: Some mornings we may be at the church helping in the offices and sharing a word or testimony during lunch hour prayer--and other mornings we will go out in the community to spend time with different people we have met.  We enjoy spending time in people's homes and sharing life with them.  Last Thursday i went to a local village called Barlonya with a Pastor and 2 of my teammates.  We helped teach in the new school that just opened and played games and sung with the children while the Pastor met with the teachers.


Friday:  We are at the church in the mornings and around noon the HIV/aids fellowship meets.  Different people from the community living with HIV/aids gather together to encourage one another and share testimonies/prayer.  We have enjoyed the opportunity to encourage them with the hope of the Gospel and also to become more familiar with the struggles of people suffering from this virus.


Saturday:  This is a favorite day for a lot of the members on the team.  There is a local branch of Compassion International at the church.  Every Saturday the children come to receive a meal and different distributed items.  We play many games and share stories from the Bible with these precious children.  It is neat to see the other side of Compassion International child sponsorship.  The children are so thankful and have a blast gathering together.


This is really just a shell of all of the different activities that fill a normal day here in Uganda.  Plans are always subject to changes and time delays.  It is just part of the joy of Africa.  As a leader often times my ministry can look different because i am planning logistics/taking care of finances/doing various things to take care of the team alongside my co-leader Brittany.  I am growing so much in this position of leadership and it is truly such a privilege to see God transforming the lives of people on this team.


To read more of the stories of people on the team check out this blog here.
Thank you for keeping up with this blog and encouraging me!


Ways to partner in prayer:
For Brittany and I to have wisdom and discernment in leading this team
For clarity and direction about where to serve/give in our free time.  The amount of opportunities/need in this area is overwhelming.
For unity among the team.
More passion and urgency for the Gospel to be proclaimed in this place

An amazing woman named Susan and her baby

Shelby (named after my dear friend Shelby Pearce

who was serving here in Lira last summer).

Children at Victory Outreach nursery school

This is me and my African sister Lydia at

Fountain High school where we fellowship on 

This is a little African humor for ya!

  A sweet mural  of how to use a squatty potty at the primary school in the village

Nelson: Abducted.

I want to tell you about a boy, his name is Nelson.  His story is the story of many other young boys all around Northern Uganda.   I will spare some of the gruesome details, but I feel it’s important that Nelson’s story is told.  So many people around the world have no voice, but we have the opportunity to be a voice for those who have been muted. 

As Nelson sat down in front of us he looked at the ground and as he began to tell his story his mouth spoke but his eyes and demeanor told us that he would rather never visit those places again.  8 years ago Nelson was abducted from his village when there was an attack by the LRA.  He and 5 of his friends were taken and forced to join the ranks of the LRA or the Lords Resistant Army (go to invisiblechildren.com to learn more about the LRA and the conflict in Uganda). 

The first night Nelson and his friends were with the LRA after their capture one of his friends tried to escape.  He was caught and killed immediately.  There was no grace.  There was no mercy.  There was only brutality.  And so there were four of them left.  Over the year they fought and raided other villages probably not unlike the one they had come from, two more of his friends died in battles.  Nelson was promoted to be a body guard for one of the commanders. 

A rumor started that Nelson was using witchcraft to steal guns from the LRA in order to escape.  Some of the men began beating him demanding he confess.  Nelson was raised in a Christian family and was in fact not a witch; but after three hours of being beaten he relented.  They demanded he perform a miracle, when he was unable to they began beating him again.  He was promised certain death but Nelson looked at the soldier’s beating him and said “If God allows, you will kill me, if not you will not.” Soon after this the commander who he had been a bodyguard for, ordered that they postpone his murder because he wanted to bring him a last meal.

All the men were going down to a pond to go fishing, Nelson fell into line following them unnoticed.  When they went towards the pond he quickly turned the other way and ran…and ran…and ran.  He was chased, and hunted for four days, he had no food or water, no shelter.  Nelson told us it was only the strength of God that sustained him over those days. 

On the fourth day he saw a village woman who he shared his story with. She took him to the Ugandan Army barracks and they made a radio announcement saying,  “A child soldier has escaped and been recovered”. His mother came to Gulu where he was and he was reunited with his family. 

After Nelson finished telling us his story we asked him what has been the most difficult thing of this experience that he still has to deal with today.  He responded with few words, “I killed and I am a Christian”. 

This has been one of several moments while I have been in Uganda that I have been in shock and left speechless at the graveness of what I am hearing.  It is extremely difficult to look into the brokenness and pain in the eyes of someone who has endured something like this and speak of God’s goodness and love.  As Nelson was sharing his story and the different moments that he saw God protecting him and giving him strength I thought of the story of Joseph and how he was sold into slavery by his own brothers and endured much injustice with no voice.  I remembered how God’s favor rested upon him and how he redeemed the injustice and worked it for the good of Joseph, his brothers, and beyond. 

I read the verses at the end of Joseph’s life when he is talking to his brothers and he says, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant  it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive ” (Genesis 50:20). I hope it blows you away to think about the hope that Nelson possesses despite such evil.  A hope that comes from a God that is empathetic and intimately acquainted with grief and pain.  I think of the prophecy of Jesus in Isaiah that says,

"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;  Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;  Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:3-7)

Nelson knows the hope of the gospel. Not just in his head but in his whole being.  In his eyes that have seen such hate, in his feet that have run from his oppressors, in his ears that have heard the cries of his own people, and  in his hands that have killed and are now raised in worship.  Nelson knows and treasures Jesus deeply. Do we?

Nelson is hoping to finish his schooling,

 he dreams of being a pilot

 and a father.

*Photo by Jordan Scott

First week in Lira

The team and I have been in Lira for almost a week now. We are getting acquainted with the town and people.  It has been a whirlwind of emotion and thought already.  The ministry contact we are working with has been a great encouragement to me.  The pastor is a humble man who loves Jesus way more than me.  He is passionate about equipping the body of Christ and about the people of the body serving by doing what they love. 

This week i have been praying that i would be a good student of this place and the people of Lira.  I have been asking Jesus to show me what he is doing in this place.  I have observed and learned so much already from these people. The brokenness and suffering of this place is like nothing i have ever witnessed in any other country i have been to.  I have stood back and listened to the stories and seen the hurt in the faces of these people and been blown away at all that i am hearing.  Their daily reality continues to shock me and i continue to ask Jesus what he is doing in this place and what my hands  can possibly offer.  I have been embarrassed by my lack of work ethic when i stand next to the Ugandan women at the place that we stay. They are outrageously resourceful, good with their hands, and absolutely hospitable.  They exemplify the Proverbs 31 woman in every way. I am learning how much i don't know.  I see joy in these people that i know nothing about.  I have witnessed a depth of grace in the faces of the prisoners we visited that is unfathomable to me.  I watched 75 men, who are in prison because of various crimes, jump, dance, and sing in worship with more gratitude, passion and zeal than i ever have in my life.  It has been deeply humbling and i am excited to see God work through me as someone who has nothing to offer these people.  

I have a few stories that i hope to share within the next week or so of how God has been working and opening doors to share the gospel and encourage the weak with people since being here.  

Thank you all for keeping up with this blog and for all of the support and love you have shown to me.  I appreciate the prayers so much. 

Ways to pray for ministry and myself this week:
 -That the gospel would refresh and propel me to action this week
-for wisdom and strength to lead, encourage, and challenge the team well
-That God would work through the weakness of myself and the rest of the team
-For open doors to share the gospel and encourage the discouraged
-Unity and boldness for the team
-Continued good communication between myself and the ministry host


PS. I am fully funded. Praise report!   


Love to you all.