We Are Home Final Report

The Sunset Uganda Team arrived in Portland right on time at 11 AM Monday.  We left Soroti, Uganda at 11 AM on Sunday (that was 1 AM Saturday night Portland time).  We drove by van for 7 hours to the airport in Entebbe. Our plane left for Amsterdam at 11:30 P:M. We arrived in Amsterdam at 6 AM and and left on our final leg to Portland at 10 AM.

We enjoyed a taste of home when we hit Starbucks at the airport in Amsterdam!


We are tired after the trip home but the conversations among the team on the trip home was full of wonder at what we had witnessed and experienced. The work that is being done in northeastern Uganda is truly amazing.  Lives are being changed for eternity.


The team will do a team report at Sunset Presbyterian church on Sunday November 13 in the Choir Room following each morning service.  Please join us as we share our experience.  Thanks for your prayers, they were felt daily.

WEEK TWO FINAL DAY OF TRAINING

Friday was our final day of training with the CLIDE staff and 24 representatives of various tribes and regions in northern Uganda.  The CLIDE staff did an excellent job of organizing this two week long training conference.  Putting a meeting on like this in the U.S. is a big job, doing it in Uganda is 10 times as difficult.

After a time of worship Waffle shared devotion on the story of Mary and Martha.  Then Mike shared how the Pharisee Saul was transformed by an encounter with Christ into the Apostle Paul.  An encounter with Christ can do that!  Mike also shared how Paul had come to love the people of Ephesus and on his final missionary journey he called them to meet him in Miletus to say goodbye.  He had come to love them very much.  Mike shared how he had come to love the CLIDE staff and so many others here in Uganda.

For the morning session CLIDE staff member Stephen told story number 7, Abraham Tested By God.  In the afternoon staff member Judith told story number 8, the final one we would be training on.  As on the other days the story was told first in the large group.  It was shared in 3 different languages first.  Then several volunteers came up and tried to tell the story from memory, and finally they broke into their small groups and continued to practice telling the story.

At the end of the day attendees shared what they had learned and how they were going to share it in their villages.  Weekly ongoing training will occur so they stay fresh in these eight stories and learn the other 34 on the story cloth.

These two weeks went by really fast and we are very encouraged by the passion of those we trained.  Mike shared a quote about a missionary that went to the field:  “When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians.  When he left in 1872, there were no heathen”. We prayed that this would be fulfilled in Karamoja as well.

On Saturday Mike will participate in 3 or 4 hours of leadership training at Rockview Baptist Church where CLIDE staff member Orono is the pastor, and Dr. Moses is the lead Deacon.  Other team members will go to town to shop for gifts.

Week Two, Day Three Of Training

Our Thursday training time in Soroti, Uganda began with lively worship and a devotion led by CLIDE staff member Judith.  One of the trainees was rushed to the hospital during our worship time.  She is very pregnant, but it turned out to be false labor.  She is due in two weeks.  She was back with us by lunch time.

CLIDE staff member John Paul (left above)
told the first story of the day during the morning session.  It was the story of  Noah And The Flood.  He told the story first in English and then in Karamojong.  It was also translated into Teso.  He did an outstanding job.  Then several volunteers practiced telling the story in the native language.  They are really catching on.  After taking morning tea they broke into small groups for futher practice.

Following lunch they tackled story number 6 in the afternoon.  This is the story of God’s Covenant With Abraham.

While they worked on learning that story, the Sunset team headed out for it final round of goat distributions.   As always we were warmly greeted upon our arrival at the village. Today we distributed 75 goats.  In this group about two thirds of the recipients were orphans.

It was another great day in Uganda.

Week Two Day Two

Our Tuesday night in Soroti was very interesting. Tuesday was the Uganda national primary elections.  The office of elections is right across the street from our guest house.  Starting at about 6 PM they began broadcasting over a loud speaker the election results.  The street was full of people.  This went on all night.  It was so loud we got little sleep.  It was still going on when we left for our training venue at 8 AM.

Week two day two of training (Wednesday) started off with a time of worship and prayer.  The worship time here is exhilarating.  The rich blend of voices, the rhythms, and blend of languages is amazing. Each day they have a different CLIDE staff person coordinate the day’s activities and another one to lead devotions.  Once the singing starts the vocal leadership shifts from person to person throughout the room.

CLIDE staff member Judith was the coordinator, Dinah was led the devotion and Martin taught the first story of the day on Adam and Eve. 

The story time for the day began with 7 volunteers doing a mime of the 7days of creation. They are so creative and not afraid to try new things. The trainees had a lot of fun with the story of Adam and Eve.  Some of them had the group in stitches with their gestures and different voices.

After lunch the Sunset team along with Dr. Moses, Dr. Val and Orono headed to a village about 30 minutes out of town for our first of two goat distributions. The funds to purchase the 155 goats was raised by Sunset's summer Kids Camp. These events are always a lot of fun for us and a huge celebration for the village.  As we drove up they are all outside singing, dancing, and clapping.  Once we were out of the van we got handshakes, hugs, and some dancing.  Next came a ceremony inside the church (grass and mud building).  We were welcomed by the pastor, village leaders, and local government officials. Each of our team members shared a brief greeting. After the ceremony the rodeo began as we rounded up 80 goats that were tied up in the field.  Each goat had a number on its ear that corresponded to a number randomly drawn by the recipient. 

When the distribution was complete we shared a meal in the church with the village leaders.  It was a great day.  We will do another distribution on Thursday afternoon.

Week Two Day One of Oral Storytelling

Day one of our second week of oral storytelling training was a great success. This week the CLIDE staff that we trained last week has taken over the training this week.  The Sunset Team is in the role of coach and encourager.

20 people from around the Teso and Karamjong region came for the 2nd week of training.  These are the people who will be going into the villages and doing the hands on discipleship ministry of new believers (about 1000) and those asking about the Creator God.

Clide staff member Matthew shared the first story in the morning about God's creation of the heavenly beings.  How Lucifer wanted to be like God and was banned from heaven along with a group that followed him.

In the afternoon, Clide staff member Orono shared the creation story.  This story was a challenge for the learners as it is long and detailed with certain things created on certain days. After the large group session, they continued to work on the story in small groups.  By the end of that time they had it down pat.

Throughout the day there was lots of very energetic singing.

More information and pictures from our time in the Peace Village and church service over the weekend. Our team got to meet one of the warriors who was shot in the chest during a raid a few years ago. Dr. Val and her team was instrumental in getting him to the hospital. As a result of the care he received from Christ followers, he has become a committed Christian.

During the church service on Sunday, Mike and Gail were asked to dedicate several babies.  A first for them!



After the service Dorothy had a chance to meet and pray with one of the mothers.

On Wednesday morning the Sunset team will be helping with more of the oral storytelling training and in the afternoon we will participate in the first of the goat distributions.

Peace Village

After completing on Friday week one of the oral story telling training with the CLIDE staff (Community Livestock Integrated Development Consultancy) Saturday morning we headed north by van for a 3 hour drive to the Nakayot Peace Village.  Upon arriving we were greeted by some of the village leaders and their one elected Local Community leader.  This is a government position.  They showed us the school that has been destroyed by a storm and termites.  There are a couple of rooms that they can sometimes use, but for the most part the children of the different elementary levels meet under nearby trees.

Week one complete!

The first week of training is now "in the books".  It has been an inspiring week and great bonds have developed between our Sunset Team and the CLIDE staff. We successfully trained the CLIDE staff in the oral telling of the first eight stories on the story cloth. The staff has really stepped up to the challenge to learn the eight stories so they can doing the training next week.

 On Friday morning Paul shared the story of God's test of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.  On Friday afternoon Mike shared the last of the eight stories on Jacob taking Esau's blessing.  All eight of the stories produced lots of discussion throughout the week.

We ended the day by celebrating Julie's, Dorothy's and Dr. Moses birthdays.




 The Sunset team is doing very well.  Everyone is feeling well and has a great spirit.  Saturday morning we will head north by van to visit one of the Peace Villages and will spend the night in Kongolie.  Sunday we will worship at St. Marks Church and head back to Soroti in the afternoon.  Monday will be a day of preparation for the next four days of training that will begin on Tuesday.

We definitely sense your prayers and they are working.  Please keep it up.

Three down and one to go

Today we completed day three of our four days of training.  Tomorrow (Friday) we will wrap up our first week of training.  Today Dorothy shared a story about Noah and the Ark.  Paul shared about the call of Abraham to be the father of all the nations.  The discussion was very lively. Waffle Lomilo shared with the group about the plans to take the story telling disciple making process to the villages.  

 

Training day two is complete

Our training of the eight oral stories is going well.  This is all new to us so we are adjusting and tweaking as we go along.  Our team has made great connections with the CLIDE staff here and we are having fun. We are half way through week one of training. This morning after a time of worship Mike shared a devotion on God's encounter with Saul (later to be known as Paul) and how God desires to have an encounter with us today. In our first training session of the day, Dorothy shared the story of Adam and Eve.  In the afternoon, Gail shared the fourth story in the series about Cain and Abel.  Along with teaching the stories our team is also learning how to teach in a participatory fashion where you get the learners to interact with the teacher and each other to draw out the key spiritual points in the story.  Waffle is very good at this and has been a great resource. Our team is feeling great and is resting well at night.  Dr. Moses and Dr. Val are taking good care of us.

Day one of training is complete

Day one (Tuesday) was Julie's big day.  She shared both of her stories in one day.  She shared about the Spirit world in the morning and then in the afternoon the story of Creation. the process we used was for Julie to share her story with the entire group.  Then she shared again and had the group help fill in the various parts.  Then she asked a volunteer to come forward and repeat the story with the help of the whole group.  After that we broke into groups of 4 or 5 and each person took turns repeating the story.  The concept is that by the time the small group time is complete each person will have hear the story 8 or 10 times and is able to accurately retell it.  We spend about 3 hours on each story.   Julie did an outstanding job.  One of the most moving moments of the day was when Matthew shared the Creation story in his native Karamojong language.

We Made it!

Over the years I have often said “God is seldom early, but He is never late”.  That little bit of wisdom sure demonstrated itself as we started on this journey to northeastern Uganda.  After our first flight was delayed which meant we would not make our connecting flight in Amsterdam, we were put on a direct flight from Portland to Amsterdam.  But, alas, that flight left Portland 45 minutes late.  That gave us less than an hour to make our flight to Uganda. Schiphol airport in Amsterdam is huge and we had to go from one end to the other.  We ran the whole way and got there just as they were boarding. 

Dr. Moses and our driver John met us at the airport in Entebbe and we rested well on Sunday night at a nearby guesthouse.  Monday morning we headed out by van to Soroti.  Along the way we stopped for lunch and got to see the headwaters of the Nile river.  We arrived at the Starlight Guest House in Soroti at 8 PM and enjoyed a restful night.  Tuesday morning Mike Hildenbrand will open the training time with an over view of oral story telling. Then Julie Sherrill will kick of our oral story training session with the first story.

False Start

My phone beeped in the middle of the night Friday.  The message from our airline said that our flight from Seattle to Amsterdam would be delayed by two hours, that meant we would miss our connecting flight to Entebbe, Uganda.  So we got on the phone and they booked us on a direct flight from Portland to Amsterdam leaving Saturday at 1:45 PM and arriving in Amsterdam with time to make our second flight.  This is a flight that we wanted in the first place but was too expensive!  Isn't God creative!

Uganda Team Is Commissioned

On Sunday October 11 the Sunset Uganda Team was commissioned by Pastor Mike Matousek during each service.  The team shared with the church the "Storycloth" that they will be using to train the disciple makers who will be going into the villages to begin the discipleship process with the 1000 plus who have trusted Christ as their savior in the past few months.  This team will be teaching the first eight stories on the story cloth.  The first week they will train Dr. Val and Dr. Moses Ugandan staff.  The second week that staff will become the trainers and the Sunset Team will become the coaches.  During that second week twenty-four men and women who speak both English and Karamojong will be trained in the story telling method.  They will then go into the villages and share these chronological stories with the new believers.  Eventually they will learn and share all forty-two stories shown on the story cloth.

Sunset Team Heads To Uganda

On Saturday, October 17 five members of Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon (Paul Schaefer, Julie Sherrill, Dorothy Hoover, Gail and Mike Hildenbrand) will be heading to northern Uganda to begin disciple making training. The training will consist of teaching men and women who will be going into villages in northern Uganda the art of chronological story telling.  In the past year over 1000 people living in three Peace Villages have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

The residents of the Peace Villages, like 70% of the world's population. are oral learners.  At this time most of them do not read or write, even though they now have the Bible in their native Karamojong language.

We will be using a tool called a Chronological Bible Storycloth.  This cloth has the pictures of forty-two key Bible stories from Creation to the Ascension of Christ.

The first week our team will lead twelve people on the CLIDE staff in the process of learning the first eight stories on the story cloth.  The second week the CLIDE staff will become the trainers and lead twenty-four others in the process of learning the eight stories.  It is this second group of twenty-four who speak both English and Karamojong that will be taking the stories to the new believers.

Having learned the process both groups are committed over the next few months to learn the other thirty-four stories and continue the disciple making process in the villages.

 

We hope you will travel with us through this blog and keep us and the entire disciple making process in your prayers.