God is with us...

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."  Psalm 82:3

Today we had the opportunity to meet all of the sponsored children of our group members who live in Buliisa -14 in all. Time will only allow a brief comment, but know that for each of us - we have been touched beyond words with the awesome power of God working through World Vision, these precious children and their families, and the power of our risen Lord who gave us the example we are  attempting to follow. Never think that the $35 a month it takes to sponsor a child doesn't make a difference. It literally saves lives and now we have been privileged to meet and touch and laugh with these families.

Calvary family, the life giving clean water you are helping to support is right here, providing that basic necessity of life that is needed at the foundation of it all.

Today we were blessed with the most gracious hospitality! I apologize that I only have pictures of me to share today, but each of us were gifted with thank you gifts made with love that made me think about what Jesus said about the widow's mite. Greg got a hand made truck, we got gifts of food, and this little one in the orange dress gave me her special doll she had been cradling all day - it brings tears to my eyes just remembering the moment.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers. How awesome to know we are all praying all around the world!

We made it!

"In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others" Romans 12:5

As always, scripture speaks truth- for we have certainly have experienced our connectedness and various gifts traveling 24ish hours to finally land at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda.

We carefully weighed all our checked baggage (donations and gifts for sponsored children and their communities), packed minimally for ourselves and were prayed off by family and friends before heading off to to O'Hare.  We are safe in Uganda and will meet our sponsored children tomorrow. There is much more to share but sleep calls. We thank you all for your prayers. We feel them!

Support Us In Prayer

Friends,
We invite you to follow our spiritual journey as you follow our physical journey,  and so here is a prayer calendar you can use to pray specifically for us and our brothers and sisters in Uganda each day:

Saturday, July 6: Proverbs 31: 8-9
Depart for O'Hare - fly to Amsterdam
Pray for safe travel and smooth connections...

Sunday, July 7:  Romans 12: 3-8
Travel from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda
Pray for Millie and the World Vision staff in the ground in Uganda who will join us and be our guides...

Monday, July 8:  John 8: 1-11
Travel to World Vision National offices in Kampala and then to the Buliisa region
Pray for the region of Buliisa and for the relationships that will develop each day.

Tuesday, July 9:  Luke 10: 21-24
Visiting sponsored children of group members and meeting some families.
Pray for these children and their families and for all our sponsored kids in the region and around the world.

Wednesday, July 10:  John 10:10
Visiting water projects and nutrition programs.
Pray for our efforts to bring clean water to Buliisa.

Thursday, July 11:  Numbers 6: 22-27
Visiting schools in the area.
Pray for the prospects for education in this region.

Friday, July 12:  John 15: 15-17
Visiting other sites in the Buliisa region.
Pray for all other needs in Buliisa and that Christ can be made known as we serve there.

Saturday, July 13:  Colossians 1: 15-16, 19-20
Traveling to Murchison Falls National Park
Pray for the country of Uganda, that stability and peace might prevail.

Sunday, July 14:  Psalm 36: 5
At Murchison Falls marveling at God's handiwork!
Pray roe all that God will reveal as we process our journey.

Monday, July 15 - 16
Leave Murchison Falls and begin the journey home
Pray for the country and people we leave behind and for safe travel as we head home.

*scriptures listed are ones we will be using for our devotions

Preparing to go...

An African Proverb...

"If you want to run fast, run alone.  If you want to run far, run together."

This sounds like good advice for our group of excited travelers ready to undertake a journey to the Buliisa region of Uganda in a few days.  This picture was taken in the winter when we had the opportunity to meet Millie Vanderpool, our World Vision group leader who will be traveling with us and who has answered the many questions posed to her in these months of preparation.  Our group includes (left to right): Ralph Smith, Carolyn Brown, Millie Vanderpool, Linda Adams, Debbie Brown, Jennifer Bauersfeld, and Greg Carter.  

On Sunday morning (6/30/13) our church family offered us their prayers, and we consider ourselves representatives of the many folks at Calvary who are sponsoring children in the Buliisa area (205 sponsored so far!) and have contributed over $50,000 to support the development of clean water/sanitation in the region.  We are going to be meeting sponsored children, viewing the progress of the water projects, visiting health facilities, schools and other initiatives World Vision is involved in and most importantly building bridges of friendship with our brothers and sisters across the world.  

We covet your prayers and my next post will include a prayer calendar to focus prayers specifically while we are gone.  

Until next time...and as always - In His service...

Debbie (the official trip blogger - be patient with me, I am learning how to do this :) )