So It Begins

Orientation is officially over, and our work begins. 

We’ve spent our first few days in Uganda getting to know our new Ugandan teammates.  They are absolutely wonderful, and we are quickly becoming friends.  Our orientation was full of thought-provoking conversations about what it will look like to work together and learn from one another while we are here.  (We got to try that out when we had to do our laundry for the first time!)

At the end of a thorough time of training, we got our work assignments for the two weeks we’ll be spending in Kampala.  We will be splitting up into three different teams and traveling to local organizations almost every day to learn and serve as much as we can.  One group we’ll be working with is Rhema Academic Centre, a primary school situated in a church in the Mulago slums.  Another group is Miles 2 Smiles, a preschool facility that cares for hundreds of beautiful (and extremely energetic) kids whose parents cannot afford daycare.  The third group is Threads of Life, a vocational training school that empowers women who live in the slums.  Each team will be working primarily with one of these organizations, and will switch locations for the last two days.  We will also be spending many of our lunch hours visiting local high schools in partnership with Scripture Union, a ministry that reaches out to high school students across the country, and some of us have already given our first sermons to the students there!

In addition to visiting these sites, we’ll be helping lead play days for hundreds of kids in the slums, leading an open-air worship service, visiting two hospitals (one public and one private), and wrestling with hard questions about the heart of God and the reality of injustice.  Our time together is sure to be full, and we are all looking forward to what God is going to do.

Please pray for us!  Here are some of our prayer requests below.  Your prayers mean a lot to us.

A couple of students have been feeling sick L  Nothing that any of you friends and family should be worried about, but enough to be frustrating and distracting.  Please pray for their healing, and pray for protection for the entire team as we begin working!

Please pray for our first week of work.  Many of us will be teaching, and we will continue giving testimonies in the high schools.  Please pray for unity in the teams, and for wisdom for us as we lead.

PS: Throughout the month, we’ll be including notes and journal entries from students in our blog entries.  Here’s one from Megan Silver:

“List of firsts on day 1 in Kampala, Uganda:  
-went south of equator
-experienced jet lag
-Africa: land and sky
-used a long drop
-24 people in a van
-ate matoke
-living in community 
-slept in mosquito net
-being called 'muzungu'
Much love to you in America!! -Megan"