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
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
um, I love you.
ReplyDeleteShelby & Susan are precious
and I can hear your laugh when I looked at that "sweet" bathroom poster. Praying for you always!!! <3 <3
-Phannn