Peace Celebration

It is Sunday afternoon in Uganda.  We arrived in Soroti at 10:30 PM Saturday night after a 3,5 hour drive from the Nakayot Peace Village.  We had arrived at Nakayot on Thursday afternoon. Friday the two day celebration of the10th anniversary of the establishment of peace in Karamoja began with a reenactment of the trek that the Pian and Bokora tribes made from the homes to "no mans land". We met a large group from the Lomoruchubae that had begun walking to Nakayot and joined them on the final 4 miles of the trek.  There was lots of singing and dancing along the way.  Friday night we participated in an prayer and praise worship session that went until 2:30 in the morning. During that worship time 30 people trusted Christ as their Savior!
Saturday the all day celebration kicked off about 10 AM and concluded around 3 PM.  There were LOTS of speeches!!!!

Mike, from our team, got to share about our joy in being able to be a partner in the work going on in Karamoja.  EVERY speaker shared with the 1500 in attendance what a significant impact the churches from the USA were having on the people of Karamoja. We was a very emotional time for us. We give all the praise to God for allowing us to partner with Him there.  All 1500 were served a meal by CLIDE, our ministry partner in Uganda.  That was an amazing sight to see.

This morning (Sunday) we attended Rockview Baptist Church in Soroti.  John Witherow, Sunsets missionary to South Africa who had joined us on this trip preached. His message was enthusiastically received.

Tomorrow we begin our 24 hour journey home.  It has been a rich 3 weeks in Uganda.  We are humbled to be told how much we are loved here and how we are impacting and changing lives. It just doesn't get any better than this.  Thank you Jesus.

Some interesting highlights

October 31, 2018        Written by Julie Sherrill

I have spent five days with pastors from three different church denominations and three different languages.  The purpose for those days was to equip those pastors in writing a story from the Bible that was accurate, simple, reproducible and memorable. These will be shared orally in their churches, villages and go from hut to hut.

One pastor whom I met is the voice of Jesus in the Karamojong translation of the Jesus Film.   Another has spent many years in Israel translating the Bible into Karamojong for his people. All of these pastors were humble, passionate about God’s Word and united in their urgency to take the Bible stories all over Karamoja and even to the Teso region of Uganda.

A fun memory that I have was a lunch conversation that I participated in.   I joined a table with 9 of the pastors.   Our lunch conversation started with the topic of dessert.  I began to explain what a pie was.  Somehow it evolved to hiking Mt. Napak and the baboons that are there.  One went on to share about eating baboons, but when I asked for a show of hands no one volunteered that they had eaten baboon.  I am confident that some have. Next were snakes, especially pythons; how they kill and it was agreed by most that biting their tail is the recommended way to survive.  Just an FYI to you from Uganda.

The most impactful part for me was to listen to the story of one pastor.   This is a story of focus, obedience and sacrifice.   Pastor Peter grew up without any education.   He couldn’t even read.   He shared with me how small and weak he was as a child.  Peter received dreams from Heaven of two hands giving him a Bible and calling him to share the words of the Bible.  Peter knew that he couldn’t read so he had someone read one chapter in the Bible to him and he would repeat it over and over, memorizing the passage and learning to read.

Peter became a pastor in the Anglican Church of Uganda.   He and his wife were walking up Mt. Napak when they encountered warriors. They were beaten and had everything stolen.  Each warrior had a gun held on them and Peter told me that one said, “I’ll shoot him, you shoot her.”  Suddenly, a voice clearly told him to yell, “Army, they’re over here!”  Over and over he yelled this and the warriors ran away.   There was no army coming.   A short while later a car arrived with someone that Peter knew.    The church Diocese told Peter not to return to Mt. Napak.  Another dream from God came and told Peter, “You take my Word to those people. I will be with you.”

Peter and his wife agreed to return.   Now there are four churches on or around Mt. Napak, and a fifth one wants to begin.   They range from 150 to 400 in each church.  

This is just a small portion of what Peter shared with me.   He shared stories of miraculous healing and always said, “It’s not me.  It’s all God’s power.” 

I had observed Peter for three days.   He was very quiet, respectful, attentive and always had a smile.  Then I asked him to share his story of his relationship with God.   His eyes lit up, the words poured out and it was ALL about God’s provision and power.

Nearing the end of training

It is Sunday afternoon in Matany, Uganda.  We have returned from a joyous, spirit filled and lively church service!  We are taking a little break before we resume our story crafting process after lunch.  The training that the Sunset Team prepared has been very well received and it has produced great fruit.  Our goal was to train the 14 pastors and CLIDE staff in how to go about crafting or writing a story that could then be shared orally.  We are reminded that 80% of the world’s population either totally rely on oral communication or prefer it.

We set out to train the participants in crafting the remaining 22 stories on the story cloth that not yet been written.  Our plan was to be finished on Wednesday October 31.  It looks like we will be done around noon on Monday. The process we prepared has worked very well.

Our team of Julie, Gail, and Mike are feeling great and strong.  We are greatly enjoying our time here with these dear people.

Thanks for your prayers, they are really working.

First day of story training

It's Thursday afternoon and we are will on our way to "craft" or create Bible stories that can be shared orally.  We are training 14 pastors or CLIDE staff.  Our goal is to finish 22 stories from the Story Cloth we are using in the Peace Villages.  We have 6 teams working in pairs.  Our goal is each team will complete a story day.  This morning we did the initial training and then assigned each team a story to work on.  We hope to have these first stories completed by noon on Friday.  Our team is doing well.

Story crafting team

Team B working on their first story

The Story Cloth

Final day of leather training

It's Tuesday morning in Matany, Uganda and we are in the final day of leather training.  It has exceeded our wildest expectations.

October 23, 2018  written by Julie Sherrill

 

Yesterday was my birthday but I asked Mike and Gail to not make it known to others.   I wanted to not have the day about me.   I also had a plan for the day to connect with the leather trainees more and make it about “us”. 

John Paul Kodet is the Director of Livelihood Projects for CLIDE. He and I met with the six women then the four men that are being trained in leather crafting.  The ages of the trainees range from 20 to 53.    I briefly shared some photos of my family, dogs included, and my role on this team.

Many shared how they weren’t sure of what to expect with this training.  They were willing to take a step of faith.  For a majority of the trainees, this was their first-time using scissors, measuring tape and especially the intimidating manual sewing machine.

John, the leather instructor from Kampala is patient and encouraging.  He only sees their potential and their desire to learn!  He always gives them positive feedback and corrects them gently

The women shared how excited they are to return home and share what they have learned.  They know that it will impact their children too as they watch them making leather products.   They look forward to teaching their children and grandchildren.  Many know that their husbands will also desire to learn leather crafting and they will be very proud of them for doing this.

Three of the young men are 20,20 and 21.  One has a wife and two small children.  He shared with me that he will perfect this new skill and go on to mentor others. I was thrilled to hear those words from him!  He also is looking forward to learning how to make shoes and laptop bags. 

Simon is 53 years old.  He is not an elected official, but he is a leader in the village.   He is also a certified teacher.  The villagers respect and listen to hm.  Simon shared how this leather training will create unity, teamwork and pride in the village   He shared that others will see the value in education and want training.

What has please me has been to watch these 6 women and 4 men arriving early to practice, attentive to the instructor, learning from each other, laughing, smiling and enjoying the whole experience.  They talk about how this will benefit their families and their village.  Never have I heard one reference to me, myself or I.

Some students shared concern about how they would get their supplies and items home from the training.  I knew that we had tote bags for them, but the plan was to give them to the students on the last day.  I wanted to lower their level of concern by giving the bags to them early.  

I went to get the bags and returned to the group singing ‘Happy Birthday’.  There was a beautiful cake for me.  I learned that this was the first piece of cake for each student.  Oh, can you imagine the smiles of the three 20-year-old guys.  They had a second piece!   I passed out the tote bags and Gail gave them one pen.   They were overjoyed and had enormous smiles!   My birthday was made complete.  It was full of sharing hopes, dreams, joy, love and cake!

Leather Training is going well

This blog has been delayed because we have not had power at our guest house for two days, but it back up this morning.

On Friday we traveled by car from Entebbe to Soroti and then on Saturday we continued on to Matany.  The roads are being improved dramatically, but there are still stretches that are very rough.  The 10 trainees were already learning the basics of making a handbag out of leather.  It was so encouraging to see the smiles on the faces of these students as they rejoiced in the opportunity being presented to them.  For some of them this was their first time out of their village and staying in a guest house with three meals a day.  Our trainer is a young man from Kampala who makes a wide variety of leather products for sale.  He loves Jesus and his passion is to train men and women like our team so that they can improve their life.

Sunday we went to church in Matany and then resumed the leather training after lunch.  We have been without power since arriving in Matany and the water in our guest house is little more than a trickle, but we are doing ok. 

It's Monday morning in Matany, Uganda and the training of the 10 men and women from Lomoruchubae Peace Village is in its fourth day. The participants are working hard and learning fast.  They have already learned to make one hand bag and today are working on a new product.

Made it to Soroti

 We arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at 10:30 PM Thursday night after traveling 23 hours from Portland.  Flights were smooth and uneventful which is always good.  Dr. Moses and our driver John met us at the airport and took us to the Comfort Hotel.  Friday after breakfast we headed out for Soroti.   Along the way we stopped in Jinja for lunch and in Mbale to get green coffee beans. We had a great nights rest in Soroti and this morning (Saturday) we drive to Matany where we will begin the training on producing leather products.  Hope you enjoy our updates and choose to follow us on the adventure.

Off to Uganda

A small but mighty team (Mike, Gail and Julie) head to Uganda on Wednesday October 17 for three weeks of training.  The first week we will participate in the training of 5 men and 5 women selected from the Peace Villages who will learn to make leather products that they can sell to help support their families.  An expert in leather production from Kampala will conduct the training.

The second week we will be training 12 people (CLIDE staff and local pastors) in how to "craft" or write Bible stories that can then be shared in their oral culture.

Finally on November 2-4 we will participate in the 10 year anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Peace Villages in Karamoja.  What an exciting time that will be.

We will try to keep this blog updated as often as we have access to the internet.

Baja Final Day (Saturday)

This morning we begin the trip north arriving at PDX tonight at 11:10pm (Southwest from San Diego). It has been a meaningful week.
Yesterday we spent time visiting an orphanage that is doing kingdom work in the community of Vicente Guerrero. It was quite inspiring. Then, we went to a market where we were recognized by vendors who had sat next to us at church. I guess we stand out here 🙂 After that we split into two groups (meat or fish) and, hosted by our worksite foreman Rick, some of us enjoyed the BEST FISH / SHRIMP TACOS ever. Then Rick took us to a favorite beach where we couldn’t walk far without stepping on a full sand dollar. This time at the beach in God’s creation was a perfect way to begin to decompress and process the week. Golden sand, dolphins jumping, conversation, a moment to yourself in the waves and a rousing game of CLAM (spoons).
YWAM prepared a celebration feast for dinner, carne asada, pork verde, fish Florentine, garlic mashed potatoes, ceviche, soup.. they outdid themselves.
The last part of our evening was spent in a circle where each of us shared individually how we were impacted and then was blessed by the other team members. We were able to speak into one another’s lives and encourage and share how we see God at work in them. It was a sweet 4.5 hours together. Yes, 4.5 hours because God has been so good to us this week.
This morning we begin the trip north - leaving VC around 6:30am and hoping to arrive in San Diego around 5pm. Our Southwest flight arrives at 11:10pm at PDX.
Thank you for your prayers, we have felt a hedge of protection and support as we have been an extension of our church family, serving here this week in Baja

Baja Day 5

Day Five - Baja Mexico team

What an incredible day! The extended family arrived in the morning and set to work making tamales which they served us at lunch. The generosity of the Mexican people is overwhelming, as this probably cost them several week’s wages. With all hands on deck, and some extra help from YWAM interns, we were able to get the roof done, including on the portapotty and shower, trim all the windows (shout out to Faith for the creative design!), finished the beds, hung curtains and Brad and Rick focused on all the things that needed more expertise like getting the door hung, kitchen counters and a sink, along with patiently dealing with getting interrupted every 2 minutes with questions from all of us rookie builders! We finally got to meet Jocelyn and Yamilet, Casi’s granddaughters from her eldest son. A group of women took Casimira shopping for some essentials she needed for the home. She was amazed that so much had been provided by the fundraising from Kids Camp! Her son Armando bonded with Mike over music and asked the interpreter specifically to work with him today. There were so many special moments like that throughout the day. Inundated with 10 neighborhood kids, along with 5 family kiddos today, we held a mini VBS. Carly held a lego house on top of some dirt to teach the House on the Rock parable. She was a trooper when we dumped water on her! The kids were given books made by a AnnMarie’s Spanish class from Nevada, and a bible.`

The most memorable part of the day was the dedication. Casimira was overcome with emotion and shared how blessed and grateful she was for our help in building her house. Everyone shared a special memory or blessing, and even the grandma hobbled round the circle giving each of us hugs and blessings that really didn’t need translating. We know there is a reason we were called to this particular family, and we pray that this house will represent the beginning of their building their lives on the solid rock of Christ. Finally the big reveal, and the family again was overjoyed seeing the finished product. We ended the day by going to a small local church’s midweek service, and, of course, tacos!

Thank you all for continuing to read our adventures, for your prayers and support of our mission. Thank you for helping to make this little part of Mexico better, and changing the lives of this family forever.

We appreciate you all.

The Baja Team

Baja Day Four

The walls are up. Three new windows provide spectacular views of the Pacific and of the hills that surround Casimira’s new house. The roof is coming together through multicultural collaboration, creative problem-solving, and good ol’ fashioned perseverance. We’ve found that any mistakes we made earlier in the construction of this home can be fixed, as Rick trimmed not-square, too-large roof panels and Kelsey removed “shiners,” nails that missed their intended stud entirely. It is becoming more obvious than ever that this house is not only wood, iron, and concrete, but also the product of a chapter of our lives and God’s love.

Tomorrow will be the house’s dedication ceremony and, as we’ve done throughout the week, we’d like to remember that the contributions have come from many. Prayer support has made amazing things happen like successfully crossing a tense border, even with a couple of missing passports. Financial contributions have manifested as direct flights, full gas tanks, satisfied stomachs, plenty of building materials, and even some added amenities like new beds and an improved outhouse for Casimira and her family. Help from YWAM volunteers like construction-savvy Rick and muscle-man James, fortification from a team of high schoolers who did not receive the funds needed to build a house of their own but can really drive nails, and the community surrounding this new house have been invaluable too. God has been our Ultimate Helper, with generous cloud cover while we work in a place without shade, everyone kept safe from injury and illness thus far, and the strength he has provided us to do His will here.

Thank you all for reading up on our adventures down here in Baja. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your contributions to our mission. Thank you for being part of God’s plan for Vicente Guerrero.

We appreciate you all.

The Baja Team

Baja Day 3

ola from Baja!
Today was another successful, action-packed day! After taking an accidental 20 minute detour, we arrived at our building site and got all four walls up within the hour. Soon after, Casimira’s home was flooded with neighbor kids!! We had fun painting, hammering, and dancing together. After a fun lunch break (harmonica intermission included) we got back to work prepping the roof. Once the rain cleared and the panels were stacked, all fourteen of us enjoyed an ice cream and got back in the van.

From here, the YWAM Baja leader, Jill, directed us to an outreach. Our outreach was handing out food and water to some people living in a dump. It’s safe to say that we were all speechless when we stepped out. Some very meaningful conversations were had, including a man named Armando committing his life to Christ.

Overall, it was a big day!! Prayers for energy, once again would be greatly appreciated. I speak on behalf of the team when I say that we can truly feel your prayers-we would not be able to do this without you. Prayers for the family we are building for would also be wonderful- Casimira (grandma), Armando (15-yer-old boy), Gabriela (10-year-old granddaughter), as well as Florentina and Valentina (7-year-old granddaughters). Finally, please be praying for those on this team that are feeling a call towards missions! Pray for clarity and trust in God’s plan.

Thank you again!
Dios te bendigan 🙂
The Baja Team

First day in Baja

The Sunset Baja team arrived safely and on Monday began their first day of ministry.  During the week they will be doing construction and meeting many of the people living in the area.  They are partnering with Youth With a Mission (YWAM).  They started their morning with group prayer.

Sunset Team Baja is on the ground

Sunset's short term team is led by a leadership team made up of multiple indivuals. 

The team met up with Janet Fraser in San Diego on Sunday and then headed to their ministry location in Vicente Guerrero, Mexico.  We hope to be able to add daily updates on this blog as information is available.

Last Day

Well that day has finally come.  Our last day with the kids. There will be lots of hugs at the end of the day and some tears.  Our 60 children have become very dear to us. This morning our program is like every other day; music and learning stations, and free play time with crafts and toys. Behind the scenes this morning is the huge job of sorting all of the supplies we brought with us (27 50 pound suitcases) in preparation for the great give away.  Nothing we brought with us will go home, it will all go to the families. This afternoon is the give away and then tonight at 5 PM our kids will sign for their parents in the final conference gathering.

On Monday most of the conference attendees will head home.  Our team will leave on Tuesday.  The Portland team has to leave the hotel at 2:45 AM on Tuesday to make their 6 AM flight out of Athens. Others leave a little later in the day.

Thanks for following us on this blog and praying for us.  It has been an amazing week.

Honeycomb available each day at breakfast

Some of the supplies we will be giving away

Tour Day Pictures

Corinth Ruins

Friday was tour day.  Our team had the choice of three different tours.  Here are a few pictures from each location.  The historical stories here are amazing and inspiring.

Today is Saturday in Greece and Day Four of our kids program is underway.  More about that later.

Mycenae Ruins  

Village street in Nafpilo

Ancient amphitheater in Epidavros

Bema seat in Corinth where Paul made his defense

Athens Acropolis

Friday is tour day

It's Friday and the whole conference has the day off to tour some of the amazing sites in the area.  Some will tour Athens, others Corinth and Mycenae.  We will have kids for one hour in the morning so the adults can enjoy and hour of worship and then everyone will head out on their all day tours.

Thursday afternoon (day three) the weather was much improved and most of the elementary aged kids went swimming.  Then they came inside and decorated t-shirts and watched a movie.  A very good day.

Inventor Eva is having trouble with her invention and asked our
team for help

An Octopus caught by a swimmer

Day two Complete

Day two has been successfully completed.  The kids are loving the program and keep trying to sneak into the room before we open the doors at 8:45 AM.  That's always a good sign.  In the afternoon while working on their crafts a group began to spontaneously sing some of the songs they are learning.  They are getting it.  It was too stormy in the afternoon for the kids to go swimming so we did more crafts (decorating their t-shirts), lots of games and a movie.

Each morning we sing songs, go to four different "stations" for stories or activities and then have free time for toys or crafts.  One of the stations is story time where Teacher Chip tells a story.  One day two it was the story of Rahab.  This episode I am going to share will reveal a bit about y sense of humor (sorry).

In one of the groups going into Chip's story time a little boy had his finger up his nose to the knuckle!  The story was about friends.  So Teacher Chip in his deep studio voice says to the group:
"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you cannot pick your friend's nose".  At that point I lost it laughing and had to leave.

Teacher Chip getting ready for a story

We asked the hotel for help with a sign.  Lost in translation

Day One is in the books!

Tuesday in Greece we completed our first full day with our 60 children. It went very smoothly for the most part.  Kids are settling in.  We have one child that only speaks Russian, another that only speaks Spanish, and another only German, but the all like the songs and motions that go with the songs.  They are also very involved with the games and crafts.  After lunch all but one of our elementary aged kids headed for the pool.  We had not expected so many so had to adjust our staffing plan, but it went well. Team is in great spirits and doing well. Kids try to get into class early so they must like it.

VBS Director Janet demonstrating her invention

Girls helping Teacher Janan with her hair

Kids love the "Operation" game

 

Heading into our first full day

It's Tuesday morning in Greece and we are getting ready for our first full day with the children.  Our team got introduced to the parents at the opening session of the conference last night and then we had the kids for two hours prior to dinner at 7 PM.  For the most part all 60 kids were full of smiles as they came into our rooms. We had one little guy in the 2's room that wanted his mama.  Pray with us that he will settle in so his mother can be free to enjoy the conference.

Our morning sessions go from 9 AM after breakfast to lunch time at 1 PM.  The morning is full of songs, stories, games, and crafts.  The afternoon session from 2:30 to 7:00 PM is less structured with time for swimming, and more games and crafts.

For security reasons we will not be able to place pictures of the kids on social media so you will have to settle for an occasional picture of our team.

Team ladies enjoying time off after dinner

We had a surprise visit from Eva the Inventor

Some of team enjoying lunch 

More First Day

Bethany and Rebecca getting ready for skit

Molly and Audra preparing crafts

Allie and Melissa working on name badges

Practicing team building

Chip and Rebecca preparing story station

Shelby and Dennis cutting string for crafts

More song practice