First Colony Youth Group 2007 #4

Bonding Experience!!  The kids have been dropped off for their ultimate “African experience.”  They’ll have two fascinating days and one night with their Ankole host families, soaking up everything they can about Ankole life and culture.  Here are a few photos of some of the kids with their bonding families…

   

First Colony Youth Group 2007 #3

Today was mudding day!  We had two crews go out today, and both did a wonderful job. The first four photos below are from the group that went to work on the Birere church building, and the last two are from Kabaare…

(Clicking on the photos above should bring up a larger image…)

First Colony Youth Group 2007 #2

The group is doing GREAT! They’re just a few days into their time in Mbarara, and they are already such a blessing to the Ankole churches. Saturday was orientation day with language lessons and a tour of Mbarara town with MCC tour guides. On Sunday, half of the group went to the town church (MCC), and the others went to village churches. Then today (Monday), they went to four different villages. Most of the group had a “regular village day” which consists of much visiting over chai tea and lively times of worship. One group went to the Ibanda Orphan’s Home to build playground equipment for the kids. Tomorrow is mudding day; then they will enjoy their “bonding experience” later this week!

UPDATE: for some reason, the photos and links below weren’t working for many people.  I’ve tried re-loading them… 

    Orphanage Crew   Kishenyi Kids

(Click on the photos or links to view larger images…)

First Colony Youth Group 2007 #1

We have 22 people from First Colony Church of Christ with us for the next two weeks.  Thirteen high school graduates and 9 adults will enjoy many fun days of new experiences.  We love having them here, and we will try to post a few photos of their latest adventures every few days.  We’ll start here with their group equator photo, rafting the Nile river, and a tasty snack (grasshoppers) from this afternoon!

 

Grasshoppers! (Jennifer and Natalie)   Grasshoppers! (Paul)   Grasshoppers! (Grant)

(Click on the photos or links above to see a larger version of the picture…)

All Churches Meeting 2007

What a GREAT day!

On Sunday (20 May) we had our annual “All Churches Meeting” here for the Ankole Churches of Christ, where every church sends as many members as they can to a big day of worship, teaching, and fellowship.

Last year we had around 330 in attendance… This year the number we were able to count was 437!  (That is a little less than half of our total membership.)

It was a wonderful day.  A committee of church leaders planned the meeting and made sure that all 437 (plus?) people were well-fed come lunchtime.  And the town church worship/ushers committee did a wonderful job of hosting and making everyone feel welcome in their new building. (Now the second level is almost complete, see photo below!)  The worship was lively and powerful, the preachers of the day did a great job, and you could tell that everyone was quite thrilled to be together on this special day.

Thanks for your continued prayers on behalf of these churches!

( Click on photos to see a larger picture…)

Memory Lane…

These days we are taking many a stroll down memory lane. With the Bakers and Fouts leaving this year, we have just completed filming a “10-year retrospective” video. For the video, we’ve been doing interviews with director Eric Fridge, and many of us have spent hours going through hundreds of photos and what seems like miles of archival video footage.

We also just returned from our last team retreat with the Bakers, and all these goodbyes are really getting the tear ducts to flow…

But one thing these farewells, photos, and videos are doing is reminding us just how amazing and faithful our God is, and what HE has done in ten years of the Ankole Mission here in Uganda. God IS so good!

So if we’re a little bit weepy these days, that’s okay… We’re also laughing through our tears, and smiling in wonder at what the Lord has done - and what He will continue to do through this mission - all glory and praise to Him!

(Eric Fridge filming Andrea Baker in April 2007)

Here are some photos of the Kivu Sun and Lake Kivu in Gisenyi, Rwanda, where we enjoyed our 2007 team retreat…

(Click photos to open up a page with a larger version, then you can click that photo to open up an even larger picture.)

Team Transitions

Our team has been / is / will be in the midst of some major transitions. Last year, Danny and Amy Naramore moved back to the United States in September after five wonderful years of service here in Mbarara. Then Lori Earles went for an extended furlough in preparation for a move to Kenya later on this year. Already, they are all missed!

Now we are preparing for the next round of teammate departures, as well as some welcome additions…

* Original teammates Jay & Andrea Baker will be repatriating in May.

* Team teacher Beth Tunick will be heading back to the US in June.

* Original teammates Nick & Renee Fouts return to the US in October.

* Team teacher Terri Taylor returns to the States, also in October.

* New team teachers Betsy Glover and Desirae Smith will join for a year, beginning in June 2007.

* New teammates Theron and Sara Hutton will arrive in early 2008.

That’s a LOT of changes! And this is a very bittersweet, emotional time for our team, especially as we negotiate these teammate departures. It is a painful, but rich and beautiful thing, saying goodbye to these dear friends…

We ask for your prayers on behalf of our team - everyone who is coming, going, and staying… And please pray that the Lord will continue to work through this team - and the Ugandans - to grow a healthy movement of churches here in Ankole!

A Grand Opening

This past Sunday (25 March 2007) the members of MCC enjoyed their first Sunday at the new town building - and it was a great day! We had 168 in attendance (about 50 were children), which is a new attendance record for the town church. After the worship service, we all had lunch together, and to top it off, we were blessed to witness a “new birth” as a young lady put on Christ in baptism! It was indeed a grand opening, and a wonderful way to end our “50 Days of Unity” as well…

Click on the thumbnail image to see a large version of the picture:

Occupancy Granted!!

We have been given our occupancy permit for the new town building!

We praise the Lord, because this could have been a very, very difficult and tedious process… but the inspection went well and the permission process took less than a week.  Thanks so much for your prayers!  God is so good!

The finishing work of the first two floors continues to go quite well, and the town church members will hold their first worship service in the new place this coming Sunday morning (25 March).  The second floor (church level) will not quite be finished at that point, but it will be far enough along to be functional enough to use.  Please continue praying for the construction and good use of this building, and for the Lord to provide the funds needed to complete the building.  (Though the building is functional now, there are some very important things that still need doing, and we are still seeking funds to finish the job…)

Here’s a photo from 13 March, click it to see a larger picture…

Team Fun — March 2007

Oh what fun it is to be on this team!

We’ve been blessed this month by a special visitor: teammate Brett Lindsey, on his first trip back to Uganda. During a team dinner a few nights ago, Brett brought some special gifts for the team… Just take a look for yourself…

(Click on any photo to view a large picture)

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