The Pearl of Africa

After an overnight flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi, and a connection from Nairobi to Entebbe, we finally arrived in Uganda late this morning. We were met at the airport by a lady named Margaret, who is an assistant to First Lady Museveni, and a driver named Sam. They brought us to a VIP Lounge, took our passports and left us to relax while they processed us through security and got all of our baggage for us. We were trying not to gawk at the service we were recieving!

We boarded a small bus and were driven from Entebbe (where the airport is) to Kampala, where we are staying. It was about a 40 minute drive, and we all loved every second of it. I don't think we knew if we should take pictures or just take it all in or laugh or gape or what....it was just so neat. Seeing the sights and smelling the plants, hearing the birds, all for the first time was so much fun. We drove through some smaller feeling towns and then into the big city, which is their capital. It is very green right now, lots of palm trees and other plants that are cool looking, the soil is a sort of red color, and it was so warm and sunny. Probably low 80's. We had the windows open in the bus and with the wind in our hair we were all just so happy. A few things about Ugandan driving: you drive on the left side of the road, and you don't obey traffic rules. :)

Upon arriving at our hotel, we met some people who are involved in the ministries here. Vicki, from Hands of Hope, and her daughter-in law Sarah who is a photojournalist were there. A man from Living Water International who is working with the First Lady to start this big well initiative was here, and a missionary couple who has just moved to Kampala about 3 weeks ago to head up the well initiative and well digging accross the country. They have twin 2 year olds and we all had fun playing with the kids in the lobby while we got checked in. After checking in and getting some lunch we were able to get a few hours of MUCH needed sleep, and some of the girls spent some time out in the pool, soaking up the African sun.

This evening we had an absolutely amazing opportunity. We were hosted by the First Lady at the State House for a reception. This is the equivilant of having a meal in the White House. It was a little bit overhwelming at first as we went throuh security at the State House and were escorted to a waiting room. But then we were brought to the (really cute) building where the First Lady was hosting us, and from then on we were quite comfortable. Madame First Lady shook all of our hands, welcomed us to her country, and had us in for our meal. We were served a beautiful 4 course meal with many typical Ugandan foods, and were able to have some great conversations.

Joining us for dinner were 3 Ugandan women who are involved in ministries here and are considered pretty high up as far as leadership in the country goes. We sat at different tables, and each of us had one of these women at our table. Their names were Corrine, Angelina, and Marcella. It was fasinating to talk to them, hear about their country, their culture, and their ministries. They encouraged us to ask questions and learn from them. We learned that the number 1 cause of death in Africa is actually malaria, number 2 is water related diseases, and number 3 is HIV/AIDS.

Angelina explained to my table that when you translate the names of the family in Ugandan languages, your mother is called "momma", her older sisters are called "big mommas", and her younger sisters are called "little mommas". This shows a bit of how the culture functions, for if a mother dies of HIV, the children have other "mommas" already in their lives to care for them. Often times orphans will be cared for by their families. The problem there is when so many people in the family are sick or dying of AIDS, they are no longer able to care for each other's children, and that is when the children are sent to orpanages.

Something else we learned is that many people in the villages don't know that such a thing as running water exists, and most have no concept that water is to be clear. Angelina held up her glass of water at the table and said because you can see through it, if you were to hand it to a villager, they would not recognize it as water. It was a really strong reminder of how important the project was for the well, and how wonderful it is that the funds came in to make this happen!

It was such a humbling opportunity to meet the First Lady and interact a bit with her. She prayed for our meal and it is clear that she loves the Lord. Worship music was playing in the background as we ate our meal, and it was just so neat to see believers from multiple countries coming together to fellowship. Praise the Lord for this opportunity we have! There's much more to say about what we learned and saw today, but jet lag is in full swing, and we are suppossed to be sleeping right now since it is 1 in the morning here. We have a full day tomorrow, so we'll be sure to let you all know what happens.

Saturday in Amsterdam

(Photo in Amsterdam)

Dear Family and Friends,

Praise the Lord, our first flight went wonderfully and we arrived safe and sound in Amsterdam this morning. Most of us slept on the flight, and as it was not a full plane we were able to spread out a little bit and even lay down in the seats! Because of the tailwinds we arrived earlier than expected, and found ourselves waiting in the airport for Teri, our contact in Amsterdam. It was a little bit difficult finding her, but in the end she found us, and we have had a wonderful day here. It's been sunny out and warm enough that we're all in jeans and sweatshirts and enjoying ourselves thoroughly.

Teri got us onto the train system at the airport and brought us to the main part of the city. We left our things at the hostel where she works in ministry and set out to explore the city. Teri walked us through the Red Light District, only a block or so away from the hostel, and we were all very saddened and in some ways surprised by what we say. Pictures are not to be taken in that area, so we were careful to be respectful of that. Teri explained a lot of what the area is like, and how women come into prostitution in this way. She also explained that although there is a lot of darkness in Amsterdam, there are also a lot of wonderful things happening. She showed us several ministries in and near the Red Light District that are working with prostitutes, drug addicts, homeless people, and so on. It was very interesting to see, and we left with heavy hearts at the brokenness, but also encouraged by the ministries there and what God is doing.

We had the priveledge of going to a resturant famous for its Dutch pancakes. It was quite the experience! Pancakes are not a breakfast food here, and can be made with meat and cheese and vegetables, or with dessert items like chocolate and fruit. It was really fun to see that and enjoy taking part of a Dutch tradition.

We were also able to take a tour of the hostel where Teri works and find out about the ministries that take place through the hostel, and different ways that God is working here. It was so neat to see, and we all enjoyed it very much. One girl on our team, Angela, was able to connect with an old friend who works now at the hostel, and they've had a great time catching up today.

The rest of the day was spent walking through the city, seeing the buildings, the canals and boats, shopping some, and learning a little bit about the culture and what it is like to live here. We went to the Netherland's version of Starbucks, shopped in a street market, and got to see the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during the war.

It's been a really enjoyable day, and we are all having a lot of fun. We've been really tired all day, but so excited to see everything that it's been alright. We all expect to sleep through tonight's flight. We take off around 8:45 and fly overnight to Nairobi, arriving tomorrow morning. Then we'll have a short layover before flying just an hour or so to Entebbe (Uganda), where the African adventures will begin! We'll keep you updated about the rest of our travels, and plan on posting once we reach our hotel in Kampala. :)

Three Days and Counting!

I sit here amazed and in awe of what the Lord has done these past few weeks. Our team has encountered so many generous people, and seen things happen that we never expected. We have hosted two fund raising dinners on our campus and collected donations from the student body. It is so encouraging to see the support of our peers and fellow students as we prepare for this trip. We have received donations from our Bible Studies and small groups, Sunday School classes and youth groups, coworkers, friends, relatives, neighbors and even strangers. I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we have been incredibly overwhelmed by the love and encouragement from you all. THANK YOU for what you have done. For the financial gifts that are making the well a reality. For the prayer as details have been put together and preparations finalized. And for the hugs, the words of excitement and encouragement, and overall the love and support of you, the body of Christ.

Our flight leaves Friday night at 7 pm. We will be flying overnight and will spend Saturday on a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam. After that we fly overnight again with one more short layover, and after 29 hours of traveling we'll arrive in Uganda late Sunday morning. I cannot put into words how excited we are, and how much we are looking forward to this. Every time we pass each other in the halls on the way to classes, or send an email with another question about packing or an update about finances, we all squeal with delight and get these huge smiles that just won't go away. This is going to be the trip of a lifetime and we are all overflowing with anticipation and gratitude for the opportunity.

Please be praying for us these last few days before we leave. Many of us have midterms this week as well as jobs. Please pray that we would be able to finish this week of school strong, that we would not be overwhelmed and exhausted as we try to get everything done. Pray that the remaining funds would come in for the well. And please pray for our hearts, that we would be prepared mentally, emotionally and spiritually for what God has for us. Pray that we will leave on Friday with eyes to see what the Lord has to show us, and wisdom in regards to how to respond, and what our part is.

Thank you again for your support these past several weeks and months. Once we are in Uganda we should be updating this site daily, so be sure to check back for pictures, stories, and details about what we're doing, who we're meeting, and what God does on this exciting trip!!!

Moody Radio Interview!

Three members of our team were on Moody Radio this past Monday. Vicki Wauterlek, Pam MacRae, and Angela Monteith were able to speak with Chris Fabry on the "Chris Fabry Live!" show and it was quite a success! To listen to the show, go to the following link:

http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_programarchive.aspx?id=31078

Scroll down to the entry for February 23, 2009, and click on the "Listen" link on the right. You'll be able to hear their interview on your computer (the interview starts about twelve minutes into the program). What an encouraging opportunity to hear more about what the Lord is doing through this trip!

Keep us in your prayers...just over a week until we leave!

Please Consider This!

Our team has talked in this blog about why we are helping fund a well, who we're presenting it to, and which communities are going to be forever impacted by it. I think it's apparent that all of us on the team believe deeply in this cause and are excited about the potential opportunity of helping impact lives. But what is your role, and the Church's role? The very idea of asking for money feels awkward to us, and for some reason we want to shy away from it.

We have discussed this in our team meetings and have really come to the conclusion that if this is truly something that the Lord is calling us to do, the Church is the means by which it is going to happen. We want you to see that your gifts are a stepping stone into the lives of these people in Uganda. Your gifts are a way to care for their immediate needs while also preparing to tell them about their spiritual needs. This is the key. We want you to give because you see the need just as clearly as we do.

Consider your calling in this. How can the Lord use you to work with those who are lost in Africa? Would you be willing to come behind us prayerfully and financially as we venture to be the hands and feet of Christ in Uganda? We leave in a few short weeks, and the money for the well is not yet in. Please consider what you can do to help!!!

Excited For The Trip!

Some thoughts about the trip, written by Pam MacRae (director of Women's Ministries at MBI and a leader of this trip):

I am very excited about what God is doing in setting up this trip for us. We will see firsthand the needs of women in Uganda, having access to people of influence both in the church and in the political world. My expectation and prayer is that God will give us information that will stir our spirits and challenge us to see new ways we can serve Him. I am asking God to help us not miss anything He has for us! I want to come back with a renewed vision of what it looks like to help needy women. How can women help women is my question. We need prayer for the team, our schedule, our travel, safety, and provision not only for the trip – but also the well project. We did not want to come empty handed to a people with many needs and ask them to help us in our goals. We were challenged to raise money for a well because the very basic need for clean water is a struggle that impacts the lives of women in particular. Women often provide for their families in circumstances that make access to clean water nearly impossible. If we can give money for a well we can affect the lives of an entire village. That is a lot of people!! We are excited to have this opportunity. It is a walk of faith for us to see God provide that amount of money!

The First Lady of Uganda

Our team is going to have the incredibly unique priviledge of meeting with the First Lady while we are in Uganda. Janet Kataha Museveni has been the First Lady of Uganda since 1986 when her husband, Yoweri Museveni came into presidency. She is a born again Christian, which is clearly evident in the ways in which she has served her country. She formed the Uganda Women's Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO), and has also been working hard to promote abstinece among youth in order to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. Since beginning her campaign to fight HIV/AIDS, the nation's percentage of those infected by HIV/AIDS has so dramatically decreased that other countries have invited her to campaign in their countries as well.

Please be praying for the First Lady, that God would grant her wisdom and peace within the leadership role He has given her. Also pray that she can lead from a place of humility and that God will receive the glory from all the work he is doing through her. And lastly, please for the success of her campaign to raise money for wells for her country. Pray that people would be touched to give and that the campaign would positively impact the lives of many in her country.

Location of the Well!!!

The well for which we are raising funds will be built in the county of Ruhaama Uganda. It's a real place with real people and real needs! Some information about the area:

The Ruhaama county is located within the Ntungamo district, in the very southwest region of the country of Uganda. The southern side of the Ruhaama county directly borders the country of Rwanda (www.tigweb.org/action/projects). The district as a whole has a population of approximately 410,000 people. The majority of the population (about 98.9%) stays within the rural areas of the district and depends on subsistence farming for their livlihood (www.travelingluck.com/Africa/Uganda/Ntungamo/_226637_Ruhama.html#local_map). The district has poor social infrastructure such as health centers, roads and schools. Within the district there are two main roads, one of which is paved. As a result of current schooling conditions, the literacy level in the district is as low as 60%. In Ruhaama specifically, the literacy level is as low as 55% (www.tigweb.org/action/projects). The well we are raising funds for will serve those located in places such as Chondo, Katozho, Murami, Kashanda, Chitwe, Rukoni, Chenkoni, and the surrounding areas (www.fallingrain.com/world/UG/59/Ruhama.html).

Please pray for the people in these areas, for both their physical and spiritual needs. Also please continue to pray for our team as we continue to raise funds for this much needed well.

Our Team

Left to Right: Pam, Holly F, Brittany, Holly S, Bridget, Frances, Rachel, Angela

Get to know our team below, by reading our bios and hearing about who we are and what we love!

Ministry Leaders:
Name: Pam MacRae
Title: Director of Women's Ministries at Moody Bible Institute
A Favorite Verse: Ephesians 3:20-21

Name: Vicki Wauterlek
Title: President of Hands of Hope
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: My passion is for people to experience the life transforming love of Christ! When I realized that throughout the ages God has used unlikely people for His purposes, I knew that I qualified and I signed up to serve Him on that basis.
A Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 29:13

Students:
Name: Frances Rau
Year/Major: Junior Year, Youth Ministries Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: My dream is that God will allow me to be a part of changing the hearts and minds of youth.
A Favorite Verse: Psalm 37:4

Name: Bridget Kilbride
Year/Major: Sophmore Year, Applied Linguistics and Compassion Ministries Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: I have a passion for international ministry. I love languages, diversity, and studying various cultures and people groups. I also have a heart for counseling youth coming from difficult backgrounds or broken home lives.
A Favorite Verse: 1 Peter 5:7; Zephaniah 3:17

Name: Holly Snider
Year/Major: Senior Year, Pre-Couseling Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: I plan to go on to get a masters degree in Social Work after graduation. It is a goal/dream of mine to work with orphans and children in crisis around the world. A dream of mine is to work in a Christian international adoption agency someday or to start my own. It has been a big dream of mine to travel to Africa on a trip like this since I was very young. I am so excited for this amazing opportunity and I know God has big plans in store for our trip!
A Favorite Verse: Psalm 62:1-2

Name: Rachel Gauger
Year/Major: Senior Year, Womens Ministries Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: My heart is for discipleship and mentoring among Christian women. I love getting to know women, hearing their stories, and seeing them move forward in their walks with the Lord. I hope to one day work in a church or a para-church organization, walking alongside women as they go through the everyday things in life and seek to know Christ better.
A Favorite Verse: Ephesians 3:16-19

Name: Holly Ford
Year/Major: Senior Year, Applied Linguistics Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: I have been forever impacted by seeing the needs of God's people suffering around the world. I hope to someday be a part of practicing justice and showing God's love through international ministries. My dream would be to one day open a coffee shop and guest house to reach the lost.
A Favorite Verse: Psalm 63:2-8

Name: Angela Monteith
Year/Major: Junior Year, Womens Ministries and Bible Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: I've found that I love school and I would eventually like to go to Grad School and get my teaching degree, possibly in English Literature. But I also love the outdoors and would like to look into joining an outdoor ministry for awhile. I may head in the direction of Europe. When it's all said and done, I just want to be where the Lord wants me.
A Favorite Verse: Psalm 73:25-28

Name: Brittany Marshall
Year/Major: Senior Year, Womens Ministries Major
Goals/Passions/Ministry Interests: I am hoping to go on to get a degree in International Law after I finish at Moody. The Lord has combined in me a deep love and concern for women with a burden for those who are oppressed and have no one to come to their aid, and so I am hoping to work on their behalf. My dream is to get involved in the legislative process of extending protection to women in Muslim countries. I want these women to see what our God is like, that He is good and loving. I am so excited to think of the way the gospel restores their dignity and reveals their value to our God.
A Favorite Verse: Habakkuk 3:2

Hands of Hope

Our team has the privilege of traveling to Uganda with Vicki Wauterlek, the president of Hands of Hope, a not-for-profit organization based out of Barrington Illinois. Hands of Hope is dedicated to the critical needs of women and children around the world who face disease, poverty and persecution.

Hands of Hope was founded in the late 1990's by Vicki who believed that "If women in our local community hear about how women and children are suffering, they will respond and want to do something about it." Today Hands of Hope is a group of women in the Chicagoland area who are serving in a variety of ways to help women and children around the world.

For more information about this organization and the exciting things they are doing around the world, please visit their website: www.handsofhopeonline.org or call their office at 847-381-7367.

Why Wells?

Did you know that every fifteen seconds a child dies from a water related disease? Or that at any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water related disease? According to OXFAM, an organization seeking to fight poverty and injustice, sickness caused by unclean water will claim the lives of 4,000 children in the next 24 hours. (water.org)

The water crisis is not only something affecting health, but also the rest of culture. It affects hunger, as crops need water to grow; it affects poverty, as poor health leads to poor productivity. It causes a lack of education, as sick students cannot go to school, and then move on to adequate jobs. Much valuable time each day is spent looking for clean water, and therefore not enough time is given to improving the community and preparing for the future. Communities remain in poverty because they are not healthy enough to break the cycle. (thewaterproject.org)

Building a well for a community in Uganda will have a long reaching impact, touching the lives of many people. If clean water is available, health can improve and productivity can rise. This is a vital project!

The Trip!

In March of this year, a team of 8 women from Moody will be traveling to Uganda. The team consists of 7 students and Pam MacRae, the head of the Women’s Ministries department. We will be traveling with Vicki Wauterlek, the president of Hands of Hope, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to women and children around the world.

During our time in Uganda we will explore the realities of the struggles that face women and children in Uganda and how God may have us get involved. We will be traveling in prayer that the Lord will open our eyes to see this country the way He sees it, and to view the Ugandan people the way that He does.

The purpose of this trip is twofold. We want to show the people in Uganda that we care enough to come and see, and that we care enough to offer our support. We want to be exposed to and informed about what God is doing in other parts of the world, and how we, as young women in America, can help. We also seek to raise $12,000 (money) to provide a well for a village in Uganda, thus meeting the immediate physical needs, as well as to travel there and see firsthand the needs of the people.

We count ourselves as incredibly privileged and extremely blessed to have this opportunity, and we are humbled by the doors God has opened for us thus far. Please pray with us and for us. What God has ahead of us is far greater than what we could imagine!