Uganda update #3

We have spent the last few days in the eastern city of Bugiri. Everyone especially enjoyed this part of the trip as we helped build an authentic, Ugandan-style poultry house, evangelized door-to-door (or in this case "hut-to-hut"), motivationally spoke to teenagers at a school, visited a hospital to share the gospel with patients, and put on a children's ministry at a church. Many prayers were answered as we witnessed numerous people dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ. We are now in Kampala until we begin our trip back to the U.S. on Wednesday.

Sorry there aren't any pictures, it's not working :/

Miss you all!

Uganda update #2

Between now and last Friday Team Uganda has spent well over ten hours with nine people in and eight passenger van; we have most definitely bonded and gotten to know each other much better. On Friday we spent another day at the Agape Children's Village. Rather than serving at the school like we did the day before we delivered packages of soap, sugar, and matches to the elderly who live near Agape. It was amazing how grateful they were to not only receive these gifts but to have us "mzungos," or "white people," in their presence. In the afternoon when the kids got out of school for the weekend we played with them for three hours with all of the frisbees, soccer balls, and jump ropes we brought them. Most of them had never thrown a frisbee before, but seemed to throw one much better than I ever have :) On Saturday we traveled a long five hours in the squishy van to the northern city of Gulu to meet the TMC team. Because the clouds began to pour down rain on the tropical drive we all stuck our heads out of the sunroof. Rain pelting against our faces and laughing our heads off in the middle of a storm was an awesome experience. On Sunday we visited three churches. We were all bummed we didn't necessarily get to directly serve these churches, but Jaque said that our visiting was a great encouragement to the growth of the church. What stuck out to all of us the most at these churches was the dancing during worship... The people don't care what others think of them so they all dance and shout praises to our Lord. On Monday morning we attended a pastors conference that Jaque and two men from Chicago were leading. It's great to know that the Christian pastor's of Uganda are being trained to be leaders and teach the Word of God efficiently. Monday afternoon, we drove back to Kampala. We all decided to take today off (Tuesday) because the Master's team has been going non-stop for almost three weeks now, and a few people weren't feeling well. These are a few pictures Clark and I have taken over the last couple of days. They aren't edited or anything, sorry. Hope you enjoy :)

Uganda update #1

We arrived safely in Uganda! After our 12 hour layover in Dubai we enjoyed a "short" plane ride to the one-building airport of Uganda. The first thing I noticed different from the States was the driving and roads. The roads are rarely paved, the dirt roads contain numerous potholes, and people walk and ride bikes in the middle of the road. In the hour drive from the airport to Kampala we saw the poverty of the country. Most buildings are small, brick, and dirty, so the house we are staying in seems very nice compared to what most people call their homes. For every two people we each share a room with our own beds. The food so far has been good, especially the pineapple! Most meals consist of rice, "potato balls" (I don't know what they are really called, but they're delicious), a vegetable, pineapple, meat of sorts and glass bottles of soda. Today we went to an orphanage outside of Kampala where we led worship, painted, and played with the children. It's amazing how joyful they are with the very little they have. They are content with the relationships they have with friends and family, the education they are receiving, and really enjoy seeing white people! Greg Clark and I have took hundreds of pictures, but unfortunately do not have the option to upload them on the internet provided :( We will try to keep you updated though!
Goodbye from Uganda.

Destination: Uganda

Sorry there are no photographs in this post!

Pleasure vs. Purpose

All year long I have felt that God has wanted me to leave my comfort zone to serve His Kingdom.

Today is the day. Team Uganda will endure a 16 hour flight to Dubai (I don't even know what country that is in), a 12 hour layover, and another 6 hour flight into Uganda. I'm not really sure what to expect upon arrival in the country, but I will update the blog with photographs and details whenever possible! Everything is in the Lord's hands. We pray that whatever the circumstances may be, that we would serve the Lord and his people to bring Him glory. Please pray that we would have a positive influence on the people of Uganda who we will be ministering to, and that they would have open hearts and ears to what God will communicate through us.

I want to leave you guys with something to think about.

If you we love God, he hasn't called us to live pleasure-filled lives for ourselves. He wants us to love others, to serve others, and to share the gospel with them. Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Start serving this summer, whether it be your friends, family, or your community. If I had to leave you with one thought it would be this: Are you live a pleasure-filled life or a purposeful life? What does each day of your life look like?

Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

4 a.m. donuts and Manhattan Beach

Something Mad (or as most call her, Maddy) and I have wanted to do for a long time is wake up early enough to see the sunrise at the beach. So we woke up at 3:30 to watch it at 5:45 in Manhattan, but didn't think it through that not only the sun would rise over land, but June gloom would hide it. It still made for great lighting, fresh donuts, and a fun morning. While Mad and I were taking a walk along the beach we found a swing set right on the sand! It was really exciting :) Then we decided to do some reading to kill time until the shops opened at 10 a.m., but found ourselves falling asleep, and woke up to bright sunshine. "I'm not sure what's going on right now, but I'm pretty sure the sky is blue." Thank you Maddy for that. All I can say about this trip is it will be repeated again this summer. :)

Preparation for Uganda

Acts 1:8 "And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Back in December talks about a trip to Uganda began in the science lab at SCCS. Little did we all know that it would actually fall through. With persistent bugging and nagging by a few students, Mr. Margrave was pushed to look into a trip. Now six months later, (and over 200-300 hours of preparation) each team member is packing as we head overseas in four days. This video is mostly footage from one of the three garage sales Team Uganda held as fundraisers. I hope you enjoy!

New beginnings, new camera!

Welcome all! On my blog you will see my photographs and read the stories behind them. Just last week I graduated high school and my parents were gracious enough to give me the Canon EOS Digital Rebel t2i as a gift. One of the first places I went to use it was at Tyler's boat house in Oxnard. It was definitely a good start to summer being chased by the leaders, riding kayaks, and eating delicious ice cream. I'm still getting used the camera so I hope a few of pictures turned out well :) Check back for more updates soon!