Out of Africa

On June 4, I returned from a 5 month outreach to the Uganda, a land that is often compared to a precious stone. Scattered memories of the sights and sounds, smells and tastes of that small African nation continue to fill my thoughts.

Kampala:

I remember...

Holding on for dear life to the backs of “boda- bodas” (motorcycle taxis) as we weaved perilously close to the other vehicles on congested city streets.

Our team praying and preaching in the hospital wards that were packed to the gills with sick people- their families camped out on the floor, as they waited for the insufficient number of doctors and nurses present to treat them.

A group of us guys with our hands clamped firmly around a goat's legs and mouth as its life gushed from its body. The unrestrained joy that erupted in spontaneous dancing after the meat was cooked and we had feasted with our church family until there was no food left.

The 5-hour church services: dancing, stomping, jumping, singing, shouting, sweating, praying, laughing, crying, and hugging at the end.

My heart breaking when I heard from our Ugandan family that we were the first white people they had encountered to embrace their culture and treat them as equals.

Gulu:

I remember....

The scores of people on their knees in the dirt lifting up wrinkled hands to an unseen God.

The one night when Rachel and I were explaining salvation in Christ to a searching man and pleading with him unsuccessfully to enter into a relationship with Jesus until we were both beat.

The throng of thirsty children in the blazing sun, caked in dirt, missing a shirt or shorts or both.

Eating rice and meat with our hands in a spacious dining room with a ceiling of moon and stars
shooting over our heads and a floor of grass and earth under our feet.

Bombo:

I remember...

The texture and taste of the pig parts that I ate with much trepidation at a feast that was held in our honor.

The elderly woman suffering from AIDS uncovering herself to show us the festering scar from an old operation zigzagging across her torso.

The small HIV+ boy with smiling eyes who sat on my lap and stared and giggled as I smiled back at him.

His grandmother appreciatively clutching our hands with both of hers when we brought blankets and bags of rice.

Murcheson Falls:

I remember....

The elephant charging up to the side of our vehicle puffing out his ears causing me to instinctively whip the door shut to create an impenetrable barrier, at least in my mind, between myself and this fearsome animal.

Having a conversation about redemption with a Hollywood actor aboard our ferry as we floated across the Nile River.

The thrill of being stranded in the game park after the tires of one of the vehicles blew out and we nervously waited for help as the darkness and unseen dangers encroached about us.

Rakai:

I remember...

Standing on my tiptoes peering over the crowd outside the airport attempting to catch a glimpse of my parents, whom I had not seen for over a year, as they came down the walkway.

The sound of a multitude of orphans assembled at the crest of the hill clapping in unison to welcome us to their school as we piled out of our bus. Then several little ones streaming down to hand fresh flowers to each member of our group.

My Mom and I tired and dehydrated as we hoofed it for miles on the dirt roads and the dense jungle paths to visit a family of orphans raising themselves on their own.

Jinja:

I remember...

The pain in my back and shoulders after long hours of cutting the grass with sickles to prepare for the international HIV/AIDS Gathering.

The electricity in the air and the sense that the God of the Universe was present in the gloomy mud hut as we crouched in the dirt to pray for an AIDS widow named Florence who had decided to become a Christian after we read Isaiah 53 to her.

Complaining about hardships to my co-leader and having her lovingly remind me of our call to lay down our lives and serve as Christ served.

My eyes burning at the conference listening to saints of God telling their stories of caring for the dying in the poorest places on the planet.

The immense African clouds and the sun as it would slowly burn out each night bathing everything in a soft rosy glow before extinguishing itself below the horizon.

I remember because I don't ever want to forget.

Epilogue:

Being home in Michigan I am so grateful for the abundance of options, flavors, colors, styles, and labor saving mechanical devices available to me but for the life of me I can't stop examining the gross inequalities of my pampered life in the West when measured against the standard of living for the majority of my friends in Africa.

I heard something the other day that has not stopped troubling me---the amount of money Americans spend every year on ice cream is enough to provide food, water, and health care for the entire world. I now have a responsibility to do something about what I have seen and heard and I can’t ease back into living to entertain myself when there is a whole world of people outside our door screaming for a Savior. It would be a tragedy if this mission trip was relegated to a photo album that I bring out once a year to impress the guests with tales about the African adventure that I had when I was a young man.

In my ongoing effort to war against idleness I have taken up jogging. My route takes me through the cemetery where my grandfather is buried. The stillness of the cemetery makes it the ideal place to clear my head and dream about the future as I exercise. As I was running the other day I was reading the gravestones and imagining what kinds of lives the people buried there had lived, especially the ones who had died very young. Who were they? What did they do? What kinds of stories are told about them? What was their legacy? Which brought me to the question: What is going to be written on my tombstone?

There is this scene in The Royal Tenenbaums where the title character and his son are in a cemetery standing in front of an impressive marble headstone whose epitaph reads:

Veteran of Two Wars
Father of Nine Children
Drowned in the Caspian Sea

After silently staring at the headstone for a few moments the father turns away and looks off into the distance, saying wistfully, "Wish it were mine." When I arrived home from my run I was more certain than ever that with God's help I would be able to give my life for a vision much greater than the American Dream. But I am locked in a battle every day to hold on to this passion to live a life that counts, clinging to the hope that when the end comes after having stood my ground I will be able to die well.

My prayer for all of you reading this including myself is that like King David the epitaph inscribed on our graves will read:

“They served God's purpose
in their generation,
fell asleep,
and were buried
with their fathers.”

pictures of me holding a dead mole viper... April 29

Dear friends and family,

In the last couple weeks we have continued to prepare the Hopeland base for the AIDS conference, we have been cutting grass and small trees that are up to our heads with sickles, disposing of large piles of grass by burning them, facing and killing deadly snakes, digging ditches for rain water and spreading gravel on the paths. Additionally, our team is taking turns in the kitchen preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner and this week we start helping with security at night. Lastly, my parents are coming to Uganda on a trip with their ministry, Orphan Justice Mission. I am going to be traveling with them (maybe even doing some filming) in Kampala and Rakai as we spend time in the orphanages there. Please pray for the OJM team that we would be used of God to "send forth mighty currents of hope and work together to heal" the people of Uganda.

Grace and peace,

Jonathan Stoner
Communications Team
YWAM HIV/AIDS Global Gathering - May 27 - June 2, 2007
YWAM Hopeland
Jinja, Uganda

YWAM HIV/AIDS Global Gathering - Full Report

Day 1

Last night a group of about 120 people from many nations gathered at the YWAM Hopeland Base in Jinja, Uganda for the Welcome Event of the first ever YWAM HIV/AIDS Global Gathering. While the group was eating dinner the power went out which is a fairly common occurrence here in Uganda. I asked Sam Kisolo (National Director YWAM Uganda) if we were going to meet in the dark and he responded jokingly by saying that because we are the lights of the world we would be the ones to illuminate the auditorium.

Actually we worshiped by candlelight and then Sam stood up and urged his fellow Ugandans to stand and "give an expression" to welcome all of the conference attendees to Uganda. After Sam was finished he invited Garry Tissingh, a member of the ALT (African Leadership Team), to give us a little background and insight into the "heartbreaking paradox" of all that Africa could be and what Africa is at present. Garry finished by mentioning that he is not involved in an HIV/AIDS ministry but since he is concerned about the continent of Africa he is here at the conference to learn.

Steve Goode, in keeping with YWAM tradition, made sure that we all found out how international we are by asking everyone to stand up and declare what region of the globe they hailed from. One gentleman in the audience raised his arms triumphantly shouting, "We're from the best country in the world, South Korea!" At that moment it was confirmed that all of us were indeed at a YWAM conference.

Steve turned the reins of the meeting over to John Dawson who opened the conference. Drawing from the book of Joshua, John reminded us of the blessing of spiritual authority that God bestows when we are unified; rising up as one man like the children of Israel, and yielded to Christ. John told the story of a European missionary to Vanuatu who boldly claimed the island for Christ over 400 years ago, to illustrate the far-reaching ramifications of prayers spoken in faith and empowered by the Spirit of God.

To conclude, he commended the AIDS workers in attendance saying that even though he didn't know many of them based on what he had heard about them he saluted them. After praying for all those in attendance he sent us to bed with a "kiss from God."

Day 2

After worship, Leo Kiwanuka, IDTS coordinator for East Africa, recapped the main points of obeying God's leading, the necessity of prayer, and the importance of having the Word of the Lord that were brought forth in yesterday's meeting. The children's choir from Orphans Know More danced and sang songs calling for an active response to the cry of the orphans and widows who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. After their presentation we had a time for "Stories from the Nations" where several of the forerunners of HIV/AIDS ministry in YWAM shared how God had stirred compassion within their hearts to do something to respond to the HIV/AIDS emergency.

Sam Kisolo, the YWAM National Director, who has been very instrumental in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda, shared his testimony. Sam knew that he had to act when he and his wife spent time in the Rakai district (Uganda) where the oldest person in the community was 16 years old given that AIDS had wiped out the older generation. The recurring message that Sam and his wife have been met with is, "I will die soon and then who will look after my children." Sam was emphatic when he issued a challenge to the crowd of YWAM leaders saying that we as a Mission have a God-given responsibility to actively respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic with mercy, compassion, and care. He ended by soberly exhorting us from Proverbs 21 that "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."

YWAM Rwanda and Tanzania staff shared about facing prejudice in the church towards HIV. The leaders of Beautiful Gate talked about ministering to families affected by AIDS in South Africa. And Carla van der Kooij from Belo Horizonte Children's Home in Brazil spoke about the great difficulties of pioneering a home for children with HIV/AIDS. Whenever she removes dirty diapers and cleans up vomit she hears the Lord reminding her "whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me." She also shared a vision that she had of Jesus surrounded by all the children of the world living with HIV and the realization that hit her that God loves and accepts these little ones even if the whole world rejects them.

John Bills told of his experiences working with AIDS patients in the hospitals and hospices of Los Angeles. He said that AIDS is treated like "modern day leprosy" and the Body of Christ should see people with the disease as an "unreached people group". John ended by sharing his heart with fellow AIDS workers, who have felt isolated battling "in the trenches", to strengthen them by communicating to them that they are not alone because "God is with us on the journey".

In the evening session Jeannette and Johan Lukasse shared the story of the adoption of their son and how God continues using this little boy to display His heart.

Day 3

J.D Wilson and Sagi Mathai (P.A.C.T.) minister to the desperately sick in the poorest communities of Chennai and Hyderabad, India. This morning they testified how God has miraculously extended the lives of countless people in their hospice ministry who were presumably sentenced to die by the AIDS virus. Willing to sacrifice his reputation, Saji befriended a homosexual man and met with him regularly to demonstrate to him that Jesus accepts him and He is willing to cleanse him and forgive him of all of his sins. Through providing care and serving the outcasts in their society, these men have had the opportunity to lead many to salvation in Christ.

Reading from Matthew 22:37 – 40, John Bills (Compassion HIV/AIDS Focus DTS School Leader) explained that the command to love our neighbor is inseparable from and just as binding as our duty to love God. He then submitted four areas for us as Youth With A Mission to consider, regardless of whether we were directly involved in HIV/AIDS ministry or not.

The first issue was the issue of fear of what people will think when it comes to engaging with HIV because of the stigma surrounding particular lifestyles that are linked in people's minds with the disease.

The second issue was the issue of prejudice in our hearts where we are tempted to resist reaching out in love to infected people if we think they are being punished for their sinful choices.

The third issue was the issue of unbelief that prevents us from moving forward in obedience to what the Lord has spoken because we don't have enough faith to believe for the release of all that God wants to do.

The fourth issue was the issue of indifference because we have lost our passion making it easier for us to have a business as usual attitude that grieves the Father's heart. According to John, as the Spirit of God enables us to conquer these four areas in our lives, the outcome will be that our global YWAM family will in turn be released from these strongholds.

When John Bills concluded we had time to chew on what the Lord was speaking to us individually and corporately. John Dawson then made a point to honor the "costly obedience" of numerous missionaries present who are walking on the Calvary road with Christ in Frontier Missions.

Speaking to the missionaries involved in fulltime HIV/AIDS ministry in the developing world, Steve Goode apologized on behalf of leadership for not adequately supporting and caring for these workers and their families in the remote outposts where they are giving their lives. And then John Dawson closed by reminding us that we are not to be driven by an "ideology of humanitarianism" but rather it should be the heart of Jesus that motivates us to get involved in the crises affecting our world. Lastly, we had the privilege of being taught by Dr. Mattias Cavassini who gave us non-experts a basic understanding of the AIDS virus.

Day 4

Sam Mugote, our first speaker of the day, founded TAIP (The AIDS Intervention Programme), an extremely successful initiative to train and equip local churches to respond to HIV/AIDS, out of his one-bedroom house nearly 20 years ago. "Any person can do anything, you don't have to be so much," Sam explained. Today TAIP has 245 groups in Uganda that are raising awareness about HIV and providing care for people affected by the virus. He told the crowd that "every generation has a great opportunity from God" and HIV/AIDS is so widespread that it demands that we all get involved. "Change starts with someone like you attending a conference like this one!"

Soon after losing his wife to AIDS, Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha of Uganda learned that he too was infected with the lethal virus. The pastor spoke about how he wrestled with how he could disclose his status without being judged and rejected or even excommunicated from the church. But eventually he made the brave decision to be honest about his status and he made history by becoming the first minister in Africa to go public about his HIV-positive status. "My first disclosure was a miracle," said Reverend Gideon, "I told my friends and they told me, 'Gideon, we love you before HIV and we love you after HIV.' I wish every person living with HIV could hear those words." The reverend assigned the Church the task of exhausting every resource available to us to ensure that we have done our part to prevent more unnecessary deaths. "God is on the side of life, He has shown us that we need to defeat AIDS, He has given us role-models to follow, and we will win because He is on our side."

Our next speaker was the First Lady of Uganda, who spearheaded the Abstinence campaigns in Uganda almost a quarter of a century ago in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As of the early 1980's, she had become deeply alarmed about the rise of HIV and as a result the First Lady through the government began empowering the population to promote sexual abstinence while educating the nation about the AIDS virus. "As a mother, and as the President's wife, I looked at the children of Uganda as if they were my very own," remarked Mrs. Museveni, "and I was concerned about this generation's future." She ended by exclaiming how much promise she sees in the young generation and the hope she has that they will make better choices and lead others by their example.

For the evening of the Memorial of Hope, red ribbons inscribed with people's names were held up by the conference participants to form a giant chain around the darkened auditorium that was lit by lanterns and candles. The ribbons acted were a symbol of each staff member and/or individuals touched by the various ministries present that had lost their lives to HIV/AIDS.

Day 5

"My pain became my passion," said Pastor Martin Ssempa, one of the foremost voices promoting abstinence and faithfulness in marriage to GenXers in Uganda. "I lost my older brother and sister, nieces, nephews, and friends all around me to AIDS. Now I'm in the business of convincing people that it's safer to abstain from sex." Martin later referred back to the NO to AIDS campaigns that occurred in Uganda between 1988 and 1992 that he credits with drastically bringing down HIV/AIDS prevalence in the nation in the years following. The method of the campaign was billboards broadcasting the message of sexual abstinence, each one specifically designed to reach people in particular spheres of society. "Uganda has had so much success in fighting HIV/AIDS that it has now become the battleground over AIDS policies that will affect the entire world… What I love about YWAM is that you guys are all about discipling the nations and the HIV/AIDS pandemic has presented us with many opportunities to disciple the nations," exclaimed Mr. Ssempa.

Commenting on the need for Christians to partner for change, Nigel Marsh from World Vision, challenged us with words of Micah 6:8, which says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Mr. Marsh explained how the Church should be concerned enough to do something when they find out that 95% of the people living with HIV/AIDS are from developing countries. Nigel ended with a plea, "We as the Body of Christ need to take action on behalf of the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS and the only way to meet the vast needs is through partnerships. We are going to be held accountable! What are people going to say about our generation in years to come? What did we do for the AIDS orphans?"

Day 6

Ida Kouassi, a representative of UNAIDS, from the nation of Togo, was the main speaker on the final day of the conference. The response to the Epidemic is still far from adequate according to the statistics given in Ida's presentation:

• Over 11,000 new infections a day
• 8,000 deaths every day
• Lets put this in context, this like a Tsunami every six weeks- all year, and next year…

"We as a church responded to the Tsunami- What are we doing to reach out to people living with HIV in our town? Who are they? They are most likely to be found amongst the marginalized in our town, the intravenous drug using community, immigrant population and commercial sex workers. Are these people in our church? These are the people that Jesus sat down and ate with when he was on earth," Ms. Kouassi urged during her moving lecture.

John Dawson ended this groundbreaking conference with a time of prayer and thanksgiving to God.

Slashing, laughing, and crying in preparation for the AIDS conference - 4/22/07

Greetings from YWAM Hopeland in Jinja, Uganda where our team is hard at work beautifying the base to prepare for the HIV/AIDS conference. The property is massive and so we’ve been doing yard work everyday to get the base ready for the conference. We are cutting, or slashing, the grass the old-fashioned way, with sickles. The work is making our hands rough and calloused, as men’s hands should be! For the conference, I’m working on the Communications Team and we are super busy writing loads of letters and e-mails, editing text on the website and learning more about HTML code in the process, taking pictures and posting them online, and doing research on the application process for grants for YWAM's HIV/AIDS work. If you want to see what we've been up to and learn more about the conference you can go to the conference website: www.ywamhivaidsconf.org.

One of the best aspects of our Extended Outreach has been meeting with Ugandans in their homes, eating meals with them, and hearing their stories. They are some of the most beautiful, hospitable, and relational people on the planet. One of the highlights was when we worked with a ministry called TORCH (TOgether Restoring Community Hope) that provides medical care and counselling specifically targeted at children, widows, and those affected by the HIV/AIDS emergency. Our group (John Paul, Gina, and I) went out with an older woman named Lavisa. This delightful lady has been a counsellor for AIDS widows for many years now.

In the morning we met with the TORCH staff of the KIHP clinic for prayer and hymns before going out into the village. After prayers Lavisa lead our group on foot down the dusty, red dirt roads. As we walked we encountered dozens of grinning children who ran toward us waving enthusiastically and extending their hands to shake ours, followed by, "Mzungu! Hello, how are you?" Ugandan children are almost always unsupervised and it's not uncommon to see four-year olds looking after two-year olds. Babies taking care of babies. That's Africa, and it's particularly true of Uganda where the majority of the population are adolescents.

The first lady we met with was Florence, an HIV+ mother of four, who has only had the use of her right eye ever since the virus robbed her of her other eye and left a terrible scar in its place. Gina explained to her the long-term benefits if she continues taking the ARV’s (Anti-RetroViral Drugs). When the topic of religion came up she said she didn't have a relationship with Jesus but she knew she wanted it. With Lavisa translating, John Paul started in Genesis and summarized the events leading up to Christ coming to earth and finally going to the cross. She nodded that she knew it to be true. I read Isaiah 53 and John 3 to her and then talked with her about what God was teaching me in my own life as I have been reading the account of the Israelites entering the Promised Land. As we prayed for her, and her young son who was there, I felt an electric current passing through my hands into hers. The God of the Universe was in the room and I knew that Florence had crossed over from death to life.

The second home that we visited was the home of Alima, a joyful, lovely young Muslim widow of four shy but smiley children. Alima contracted the virus from her late husband and is now taking care of a few chickens and digging in neighbor’s fields so she can afford to send her children to school. Tragically, this is not an isolated case in Africa, due to widespread polygamy and the permissive attitude towards adultery we keep meeting more and more women who were infected by their unfaithful spouse and left to take care of their children when the spouse dies. As I watched this radiant young mother laughing and playing with her children, I couldn't help but think that what is being done to countless women in Africa is criminal and that it needs to change now. At the end of our time I reminded Alima that we were Christians and asked for her permission to pray to our God, Jesus. When I finished praying I told that Jesus is walking beside her and her family and whenever she wants she can speak to Him too.

Judith is a Christian, HIV+ widow and single mother, and her house was our last stop. We sat in the dark, in the stifling hot brick house, as Judith told us her story. She told us she wasn’t taking her ARVs because she was undisciplined and had been told that if she started the medication and quit then there would be unpleasant side effects. Gina and I shared with her how we had dealt with fear and that the only way to overcome it is to face it head-on, immersing your mind in Scripture while holding God's hand and taking small steps forward. We brainstormed ideas of how we could help Judith remember to take her medication. I suggested putting a sign on the wall. John Paul added that as she develops the habit of taking the drugs it will be just like putting on her shoes in the morning. We ended by saying that as she regularly takes the ARVs they are likely to drastically improve her health (& prolong her life!) which means that a better future for her and her son is within her grasp. Please be praying with us for a better future for Judith, Alima, Florence, and the millions just like them in Africa and around the world.

God’s grace and peace,

Jonathan Stoner
Jinja, Uganda

The Final Uganda Update From Kampala (originally published 2/20/07)

1. Praying for a little girl to come back to life at Mulago Hospital
2. Meeting Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) on a boat on the Nile River
3. Jean-Michael and I Slaughter a Goat for Jessie's Birthday
4. Africans with White Skin and the Breaking of the Fellowship
5. The enemy would like us dead… Please, pray for our protection!

1. Praying for a little girl to come back to life at Mulago Hospital

At Mulago Hospital in Kampala where we went weekly to evangelize our team witnessed the death of a 10-year old girl. Julianna prayed for the girl to come back to life but sadly she was gone. As Rachel comforted the girl's mother we found out through our translator that her husband had also died a few weeks beforehand. Apparently, the family had been involved in a land dispute that resulted in their family being bewitched. The mother relayed to us that it was evil spirits that had claimed her husband as well as her little girl. Oddly enough, that very same day the little girl had told her mother that she knew she was going to die and had asked to be taken back to the village so that her family wouldn't have to pay to have her body removed from the hospital. For me this is just more evidence of the tangible spiritual warfare that is happening all around us that most of us Westerners rarely ever get the chance to see.

2. Meeting Ryan Gosling (The Notebook) on a boat on the Nile River

As most of you know our team went on Safari for our debriefing time. We went to a game park called Murcheson Falls, about 7 hours drive away from the capital, which has the best assortment of animals in Uganda. Yeah, an elephant puffed out its ears and charged at our vehicle. Very cool!!! Got to film it!!!

On the way back to the camp we were waiting for our ferry to come and take us back across the Nile River. I glanced over and noticed some gentlemen that despite their cargo pants, worn shirts, and five o'clock shadows looked strangely out of place. They had the look of Hollywood people, which is hard to describe and it's really more of an aura than anything else. Abby Jaillet was sitting with me and we both were surreptitiously checking these guys out to see if we could recognize any of them. It came to us at the same moment, she goes, "Is that the guy from The Notebook?" and I'm like, "Yeah it is, that's Ryan Gosling!" No sooner had we made this discovery when our ferry docks and we all file onto the boat.

Once on board I grab Abby J. to take her over to talk with him. I was just thinking to myself, what would Dan Shannon do (my apologies for the inside joke), we 're all stuck on this boat and what do we have to lose anyway. Playing it cool, we go over to him and I elbow him, politely, and say, "So you guys shooting a film?" Classy introduction, I know. As it turns out the guy is really down-to-earth, as cliché as that may sound, and he is in Uganda working on a project about child soldiers in the North. He had just come from Gulu where our team had just been and so we talked about our experiences with the Acholi people. He told us about a little girl he met who had been set on fire by the LRA and was now being taken care of by a former LRA commander. "Redemption's happening," he says, and I go, "...Redemption, you don't say?!" YWAMers meeting up with celebrities in the middle of Africa, only God!

3. Jean-Michael and I Slaughter a Goat for Jessie's Birthday

When our team first arrived in Kampala we heard our African friends talk fondly of their love for goat meat and the African tradition of Goat Roasts. Since then Jean-Michael and I would speak daily about the idea of buying a goat, slaughtering it, having a feast and inviting over as many Ugandans as possible. All this talk became a reality when Jessie's birthday began approaching and we decided that this would be the perfect day to realize our dream. We purchased the goat and dubbed him Tumnus and he spent his last night tied up behind our apartment. The following day we sharpened our knives with the guys in the ministry who were more than happy to send Tumnus on a speedy trip into eternity. It was decided that Jean-Michael should cut the goat's throat while I would help to hold it down with our friends from the ministry, Norbert and George. Maleea was given the responsibility of filming the grim operation.

Before we went through with the slaughtering JM and I gave a speech about how people in America don't fully appreciate the fact that animals are violently killed by someone somewhere so that they are able to have a burger at McDonald's. We made it clear that we were becoming men by taking part in the tradition of our forefather's who had to kill the food they provided for their families to eat. The words sounded hollow once the blood started flowing and we witnessed the goat's gruesome death. As a team we were all reading the book of Leviticus, which abruptly came to life in vivid color after this day. All I know is that if we were still required to kill an animal to atone for our sins we probably wouldn't sin as much, I'm just saying. That night the celebration was unbelievable, everyone showed up, later Pastor Martin told us that if more Western missionaries understood the profound impact that roasted meat has on the African psyche then the whole continent would be reached for the kingdom of God.

4. Africans with White Skin and the Breaking of the Fellowship

Abby C. and Katrina taught HIV/AIDS prevention and shared the gospel with a group of HIV+ young people at Mildmay, the finest outpatient HIV/AIDS treatment facility in Uganda. They both did admirably well even while being consistently interrupted by two older girls in the back row who boldly challenged them on every point. Afterward, Julianna went straight over to these girls and told them about how Jesus had rescued her from a life on the streets and restored her life. Up until the last week our team was in the streets spreading the Gospel and Jean-Michael went to preach in the bars with Amon, one of the young guys in the ministry. They went after drunkards and prostitutes with fire in their eyes and all-consuming love brimming in their hearts.

The end came too soon for our fellowship of nine and the night we said goodbye to our family at Makerere Community Church our hearts were wrecked. Our brothers and sisters told us that we had completely altered their perception of white people who come to Africa. They told us that we were the first whites they had ever met who had truly shown them love by treating them as equals, by living with them, eating meals with them, learning some of the local language and customs, praying with them from night until morning, and sharing our stories with them and then being interested to hear their stories. When I heard this I thanked God because our team had been adopted into a family, we had been grafted into the Body of Christ in Uganda. John 17 had come to life and we were experiencing true community. Our Father's goodness is beyond comprehension!

5. The enemy would like us dead… Please, pray for our protection!

The first team is back in Hawaii now and the extended team is all here. The battle is not over because our enemy, who masquerades as a lion (he's got nothing on Aslan, though), is still prowling around looking to steal, murder, and destroy. While Jessie and I were on the way to pick up Gina, Jack, and Tara, a few nights ago, our driver hit a guard that was crossing the road. We were only going about 30 to 40 kilometers an hour but seeing the way the man fell I was sure it was fast enough to kill him. We yelled at the driver to stop but he wouldn't stop. The Ugandans in the vehicle, including a member of MCC (Makerere Community Church) who was with us, said that the villagers would come out and stone us if they knew we were the ones who had hit the man. It was horrible and I felt sick in my gut like I knew the guy wasn't okay or he was dead. I still have no clue what happened to him.

Our friends at MCC confirmed that if we would have stopped to help then the people in the area would have come and robbed us, beaten us to death, and then burned the vehicle. Welcome to Uganda, eh?! John Bills e-mailed me the other day and agreed that the enemy is mad and he is brutally opposed to the work our extended team is going to be doing in Uganda. Please pray for our team's safety as we move early next week to the YWAM base in Jinja to begin preparing for the Global AIDS Conference. And pray for us that we would shine the bright lights of the kingdom of God into the darkest of nights in Uganda.

The Giant Uganda Report (originally published 2/03/07)

1. Talking About Abstinence On The Radio
2. Bombo Family Gets HIV Test
3. Tag-Team Preaching To A Youth Group
4. Waking The Dead In Gulu
5. Street Evangelizing & Praying For Muslims

1. Talking About Abstinence On The Radio

The church we're partnering with in Uganda, Makerere Community Church, has just launched a Christian radio station in the heart of Kampala. 106.1 University FM was established to reach out to college students to promote sexual abstinence and articulate the message of the Gospel. Our team members are the voice of the radio station and we have recorded multiple abstinence messages and testimonies that are played daily on the airwaves across the capital. The DJ was heard to exclaim that our "accents are perfect"!!!

2. Bombo Family Gets HIV Test

Last week Maleea, Abby Cramton, and Jean-Michael presented a teaching on HIV/AIDS and shared Christ with a group of about 50 villagers in Bombo: a tiny, desperately poor area that our team has been ministering in for the past month. This is the same village where we met Kaye, the young HIV+ boy whose family we have become profoundly affected by and committed to. Today we went back to the village to check on Kaye and his family and we transported Kaye, his siblings and his grandmother Margaret to the clinic so that they could all be tested for the virus. We were able to pay for all of this for the family with funds that Jessie raised through her church and friends and family back home. The test results revealed that, contrary to the grandmother's beliefs, Kaye is the only one in his family that is positive. At the clinic Margaret was vocally thanking God as she went from person to person and wrapped her arms around them tightly.

3. Tag-Team Preaching To A Youth Group

Beginning last week we started working with a youth group in Kampala. The first week Abby Cramton and Jean-Michael taught HIV/AIDS prevention and appealed to the young people to commit their lives to Christ and all that that entails. We made lots of friends and we were able to challenge, encourage and pray for the teenagers that we met. We went again last night and Maleea and Rachel preached a gripping sermon on holiness and shared their personal stories of sexual purity and the temptations that they dealt with in their respective dating relationships. The tag-team element worked brilliantly and the intensity only kept on escalating each time they would tap the other person Invisible Children in to add on to what they were saying. The conviction of the Holy Spirit was really strong in the room that night and I believe that many students' lives were changed.

4. Waking The Dead In Gulu

This past weekend our team realized a God-breathed dream when we traveled to the war ravaged northern district. For those who haven't seen Invisible Children, the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) has been abducting children and forcing them to serve in their bloody campaign against the current government of Uganda going on 20 years now. A large number of the population have abandoned their ancestral homes and relocated to the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps for fear of the rebels. During our stay we worked in one of the camps doing HIV/AIDS education and calling the people to salvation.

In the first group that we spoke to everyone in attendance followed Rachel and dropped down on their knees in the dirt and raised their hands to invite Jesus into their hearts. Crowded together in a claustrophobic hut six HIV+ widows shared with us their heartbreaking stories of contracting AIDS through their husbands and then being left alone to care for their children who are also infected with the virus. By the time our girls finished sharing what the Lord had put on their hearts all of the widows in the room were born again. Each of our girls embraced the women and wept over them as they prayed for God to extend mercy and heal these women.

At the start of the weekend Rachel and I met a young businessman named Morris that we preached to until we ran out of verses. He couldn't deny that what we told him was true and he was on the brink of accepting Christ but in the end he decided he would only accept Christ when he felt inspired to do so. Arghhh! We were somewhat deflated as we walked back to our hostel but then we recalled John Bills encouragement that the ones that plant and water the seed are just as vital as the ones who harvest.

Furthermore, the team performed dramas, did prevention education, and shared personal stories before a small church. We met with a formerly abducted child soldier and listened to the account of his experiences with the rebels. If you can't come to Africa to see and hear about the situation with child soldiers you should go out and see Blood Diamond. This movie gives an alarming picture of what is happening in Africa right now. At the government hospital we presented the gospel message in the outdoor HIV/AIDS wing and we counseled and prayed with people who were there to get tested. Right before leaving Gulu we visited the offices of Invisible Children and let the staff know how much we were all affected by the documentary. On the way out of town we passed out fruit to some baboons that had assembled to wish us a fond farewell.

5. Street Evangelizing & Praying For Muslims

The team has been going out to evangelize in the markets, salons, bus stops, stores, and anywhere else that people gather in the downtown area. Juliana's method was to go from salon to salon talking about Jesus to every girl cutting hair as well as the people getting a haircut. She led at least eight people to Christ this way. In the hospitals Jean-Michael has been determinedly praying for a man from an Islamic family background week after week. The man's wife, a devoted Muslim, would laugh in his face every time he came to pray and she would say if your God can heal my husband then I will believe in Him. Another time we came for a hospital visit the man's brother was there. Jean-Michael informed the man that his Ugandan name was Muwanguzi and that he was there to pray for the sick. The man replied that the name Muwanguzi means "Conqueror" and that on that day Jean-Michael was living according to his namesake. He told Jean-Michael, "Today you have conquered because I am a Muslim and you are a Christian and I will allow you to pray for my brother".

We are falling in love with the people here more and more every day! And so we continue to press on in the work that the Lord has for us in Uganda. We love and miss you all!!!

News From The Pearl of Africa (originally published 1/15/07)

1. Africans Coming To Christ in the Hospital Wards
2. Meeting Villagers Dying of AIDS
3. Photography, Filming, and Dramas

1. Africans Coming to Christ in the Hospital Wards

We've been visiting the wards of the Mulago Hospital in Kampala where we have been given free access to approach the beds of any patients and share the gospel and pray for them. We were accompanied by our friends from MCC who acted as our translators as most of the patients only spoke the local dialect of Luganda. Each one of us on the team encouraged the believers there and shared the Good News of Jesus with Muslims, Catholics, and people of other faiths who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS and other diseases and illnesses. We all have testimonies from these visits but one of the best examples is Katrina's story of leading someone to Christ for the second time in her life. Once we entered the ward Katrina made a beeline for the bed of an elderly woman whom she engaged in conversation for the better part of an hour. When they reached the topic of faith the old woman told her that she was Catholic. This didn't deter Katrina who told the woman that when we enter into a relationship with Christ we are reborn. The old woman was incredulous and countered that she was too old to be born again so Katrina proceeded to tell her the story of Nicodemus who had raised this same issue with Jesus. After listening to this story the old woman said that she would love to be Born Again and committed her life to Christ right there on her hospital bed.

2. Meeting Villagers Dying of AIDS

Our team traveled to the village of Bombo earlier this week and we spent time visiting their Health Clinic which has doctors but no medicine. This impoverished village is characteristic of the majority of Africa: the place is remote and whenever there is an emergency the ambulances never show up. We visited with two middle-age sisters who are little by little dying of AIDS who described the suffering of their day-to-day living as they wait for the end. The older sister unceremoniously opened her shirt to show us a long infected gash across her midsection where she had had her appendix removed years before; the wound had never fully healed. Juliana was given a little broken piece of God's heart for these two sisters and asked if she could share with the women about how God had changed her life. As mascara streamed down her face she told her story of inviting Jesus to come and live inside of her and how He had utterly healed and restored her life.

While the women politely listened to Juliana my focus was pulled to a small boy and a woman who had inconspicuously approached our group and sat down off to my right side. The boy appeared to be about four or five but the woman he was with explained through Anne, one of our Ugandan ministry partners that, unbelievably, he is actually nine years old. She revealed that Kaye and his two siblings had contracted HIV from their parents who passed away and now she is looking after Kaye and his siblings together with four other children who are also HIV positive. All I could do was smile at Kaye and squeeze his hand as I gazed steadily at his sweet face spotted with lesions. Jessie came over to where we were sitting and as she held this frail boy on her lap she was undone and cried softly. I just kept tickling him and attempted to conceal the tears welling in my eyes behind a warm grin. We're never really prepared to know how to respond when coming face-to-face with a child who doesn't have long for this earth. Jessie and I were both shattered as we considered the fate of this boy and his remaining family. After Anne led the boy's caretaker to the Lord the three of us laid hands on Kaye and asked God to heal him. We're hoping to see Kaye again.

3. Photography, Filming, and Dramas

At the Uganda Jesus Village our team has been painting and cleaning a new wing for the Gulu orphans to move into. While half the team paints the others teach the children worship songs and tell them Bible stories. For Primetime, the weekly campus gathering, Jean-Michael and Katrina were the MCs along with our fearless African guide and cultural relations expert Daniel. Abby Jaillet gave spoke on the topic of sexual abstinence and shared out of her own experience. The whole team performed a Passion skit to a Jars of Clay song which was a big hit with the university crowd. This week we will begin working with an HIV/AIDS care facility in Kampala that is one of the best in the nation. We are also going to be teaching HIV/AIDS prevention in Bombo beginning tomorrow. Furthermore, our team is taking pictures and filming to support a photography exhibit of a local Christian artist with a focus on bringing awareness to the plight of street children affected by HIV/AIDS. There are many more exciting things that God is brewing for our team and we will continue to keep you abreast of our plans. Please continue interceding for our team!