We are waiting...

It is just a bit past 6:30 am and we are awaiting our teams arrival. Sam Turya the headmaster of Kabojja will receive them at the airport, and we will be here with smiles and STRONG coffee when they arrive, a bit wilted from travel, at Thomas More Guest House in the district of Bugolobi. This will be our home for the next couple of weeks and the staff and Professor Kasenene are full of excitement about the "Canadian Invasion".

For those at home please be assured it is safe, and security is more than adequate. The food is top notch, and the hospitality beyond your imagination. Your loved ones are in very good hands here at Uganda.

In terms of our moving around Kampala, Sam has handled each detail from the transportation to the arrangements with the schools beautifully.

I met with Dennis, our safari guide, yesterday and he too is focused and committed to taking very good care of us.

I will post a photograph of the team on the ground as soon as I can.

Progress and Perspective

It has been a flurry of activity for the last few days, but Karine and the team are now in transit, and we are looking forward to having them join us tomorrow morning. We are having a bite of lunch and a cappuccino in our office "Cafe Pap”. The warm sun is lovely, we are expecting Sam Turya, from Kabojja International School to arrive any minute to take us to see a primary school that is participating in the Teaching Together project.

Today the front page headline on the New Vision newspaper reads “Bashir Wanted for Genocide”. When we were here in March Khadafi was in Uganda and he declared the bible a fraud. It is fascinating to discuss with Ugandans their perceptions and opinions about these headlines. I believe the solutions to these issues will be found here in Africa in the minds of the capable, young, and brilliant future leaders. Our visit to Kabojja Junior School today confirmed that, as it is clear the children there are exceptional and incredibly intelligent, and their written work is meticulous. I was beyond impressed by the strong leadership of that school. It is a privelidge for our teachers to be able to teach there.

Today has been as series of meetings, and like many times before the way we thought things would go has been different and more challenging than expected...BUT we have had victory over many of these challenges, and now the fruit of our labour is sweeter.

Thank-you to Professor Peter Kasenene, Sam Turya, David Jeb Kuteesa, and Collins Hy for your generous support and encouragement. You have been a blessing to Niteo.

Please continue to pray for the safe travel of our team, and that our time and efforts here in Africa will serve our God and the children of Uganda.

SWEET SUNDAY!

When I last spoke with Karine, before I travelled, I told her that what I was most looking forward to was going to church in Uganda again. Yesterday we worshipped at Kampala Pentecostal Church...WOW! Too often when we discuss Africa we speak of what is lacking...let me share its abundance.

There was a line to get into the church on Sunday morning, a very long line! The choir led worship with songs of praise and inspiration and the spirit DID move us while we were there. The congregation sang loud and were filled with enthusiasm and the presence of God was evident.

The message shared by Pastor Chris Komagum was a message about anointing, and it was strong and powerful! We were there among friends Prisca, Sam. The morning was so lovely, and the afternoon can only be described as a gift.

This Sunday, was beyond special, and is one that I will never forget. We drove with our friends Jeb, Novera, and Prisca to the source of the White Nile River in Jinja. There we were blessed by Uganda’s abundance the landscape, the hospitality. We witnessed the gift of the generous people who share, with abandon, their love, and tenderness with orphaned children at the babies’ home we visited. We were blessed by the gift of Africa's song, as we sang songs in the car as we travelled. Our sides ached from the gift of laughter, and we were filled with the gift of fellowship, as we shared meals of celebration together...it was a day I could never have imagined. It was the kind of a day that changes the shape of a person...it was a sweet gift of abundance, a day that was “anointed”.

Thank you God for our Sweet Sunday!

Uganda

The Shape of a Leader...

Last night, as we shared a lovely meal in Kampala with two of our treasured colleagues here in Africa, we spoke of our work, of our families, of our pasts and our futures. We spoke of our differences, our customs, traditions, we laughed and we cried. We had fellowship, it was a blessing!

Our evening was a wonderful example of how each of us as people has a story to tell, we are all shaped by the experiences of our lives, and those experiences are the tools God has used to shape us. Here in Uganda, they long to hear our stories, and love to tell theirs. I truly felt like I had come home, it was so special... I cannot even begin to explain it.

As we talked, we were all in agreement about one thing, even Dodi, who had been in the country just 12 hours concurred. Uganda has something of significance, it is something so rare we cannot name it, but it is divine.

I am certain and confident about its divinity, as the people here are clearly sanctified by “it”. Ugandans possess a genuine, gracious and sweet spirit that is evident the instant your feet touch the red soil. The source of that spirirt, what “it” is that feeds the people of Uganda is unmistakably “in the heavens”. The faith, the spirit that is alive in the people of Uganda is reflected in their unmatched hospitality that is so warm and beautiful, and I have never experienced it anywhere else.
Dodi, who has travelled quite extensively, detected it within the first 2 hours we were on the ground...it is impossible to overlook, yet difficult to adequately articulate to someone who has not experienced it firsthand.

“It” is what will make Uganda rise up, and “it” is what will set Uganda apart from any other place in the world. It is the spirit of Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, a blessed and beautiful force in the world...and God and only God could have the capacity to design such an immensely, phenomenal, blessed and beautiful place.

I LOVE IT HERE!

Uganda is rising!

We have arrived!

As soon as we landed I observed Dodi "taking it all in" to hear her speak and gasp in awe as she saw for the first time the spectacular emerald green hillsides,the red dirt along the roadside, and it made me remember how I felt on my very first day
in Africa. We are going to shower and then get on with our day, there is much to do. It is 11:15am and we have so much to accomplish. We had a great trip here,we are safe and excited to get to work. I am going to try to learn to use my new Ugandan cell phone,the locals have been laughing at me already. First on the agenda is going to check on the container...

I will update later on progress and status of everything.

For now I will say good bye.

God's generosity

Have you ever been abundantly aware of God's goodness in your life?  Have you ever felt like that goodness has shown up in the form of a person?  Have you ever known that you truly didn't deserve it, but you were just ever-grateful?

Well, that is the way I feel about Donna Striha.  

She was there when NITEO was born and she has been faithful during a most challenging and stressful year, seeing the work to fruition.  She left this afternoon for Africa and I will be joining her 5 days with the team.  But, in this moment, I am just moved by how God has given her such a heart for the children of Africa that she absolutely could not be stopped in this work, despite HUGE obstacles (including my craziness)!  ;)

That is a gift.

Do you see her smile in that picture, as she stands next to boxes of donations for the container?  Well, that container is in Kampala and will be at the Resource Center when we arrive with the team.  I truly believe that this feat of logistics could not have happened without Donna's tireless commitment to "getting it done."

Donna, you are a GIFT!  I cannot say more...

In fact, even now, my eyes are full of tears...

Thank you Donna!  I love you!

Karine

The container has reached ...

In a land of great beauty there is a very lovely gift waiting to be unwrapped by a group of hardworking, global minded, loving people. It is through their efforts and the generosity of whole communities we have seen a dream realized! Praise God!


"Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results."

James Allen