1 week

Welaba Kampala.
Dong aber Uganda.
Sula Balungi Africa.

I'll see you in one week Mesquite, Texas.

I want to thank all of you for your encouragment and prayers throughout my trip. Thank you to all who made it possible for me to be here. I hope to see you soon!

An overdue update...Lira, Kitintale, Jinja

So i want to apologize for not writing anything for a long time. This one isn't going to be a long one but i just wanted to give an update. On my way to Lira to visit Bosco's village, my camera was stolen. Luckily we have theft insurance to cover it, but it's just kind of unfortunate because I don't have a camera to take pictures right now. It's okay though! I'm thinking about getting a cheap cheap cheap camera or something. I'm not sure. Anyways. That trip was really good! You can read about it on Will's blog.

Kitintale Skate Competition- The competition was scheduled for the 19th. The night before, I called to confirm that everything was set with Jackson. He was very upset. His contact from Mountain Dew, who was supposed to bring the tent, chairs, sound system, etc., would not answer his phone and could not be reached. So i went in the morning anyways just to see what was going to happen. I got there, and all the kids were really upset because the Mountain Dew guy didn't pull through. I told them that i had access to a PA system if they still wanted to have some sort of event. They really liked that idea. So I was able to go back and get all the stuff. It ended up going really well. We played some music really loud and just had a good time. Each kid was announced and given the chance to show off their skills. They were happy.
...But good news. Mountain Dew contacted Jackson, and apologized. The official big event is now resheduled for this Sunday!!

White Water Rafting in Jinja - So we woke up at 6 this morning and headed out to Jinja. It was really crazy! I hope to post a clip of the video that we bought from the company of us rafting to tell most of the story. It was really tiring! and at some point, each one of us thought that we were going to die. At the end we were going through a Class 5 rapid and ended up flipping. Everyone has their own story about what happened to them on it. I went under for a very long time! I was definitely out of breath and was lucky to come up when i did. But i'm sure it just seemed like a long time. I can't wait to see the video. It was pretty insane.
On a sad note, I didn't get to bungee jump. They require at least two people to do it, in order for the bungee guy to come out there and set it up. Oh well. I might be able to head out there before we leave and get a quick jump!

Kisoro Uganda

The trip down there was pretty fun. Driving 9 hours on American roads is much different than 9 hours on African roads. It's definitely an experience. At one point, our vehicle gave us a scare. For some reason, it wouldn't go faster than about 10 mph, and much slower up hill. We all got out of the car and acted like we new something about diesel engines. Andy,Stephen and Anthony started poking and twisting random parts. Stephen did a really good job. I think he checked the oil level at least 3 times. Meanwhile I mingled with the locals who didn't speak English or Luganda and rarely see white people, much less white people broken down on the side of the road. Somehow we got it working! We also discovered that some white people must have driven through this way sometime and handed out pens to all the kids. Almost every other kid we saw on the side of the road would yell out "Give me pen!" Unfortunately we had a lack of pens ready to give out, so instead we gave them our melted skittles, which was all we had.I just got back from my trip to Kisoro. It was really nice to get out of Kampala. When left Kampala it was about 85 degrees and we were at 1000 feet above sea level. By the time we arrived, it was in the upper 50's and we were at 1900 feet above sea level. It was so refreshing to have some cool weather. I even got to wear my hoodie! Kisoro is on the edge of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's beautiful. When you get close to Kisoro you can see 3 different volcanoes all right next to each other. The first one is in Uganda, the second is in Rwanda and the third is in the Congo. There is a big crater lake on the top of the one in Uganda. It was raining most of the day on Sunday and you could see waterfalls coming off of the volcano.
When we arrived on Friday night, we met up with George and he fed us dinner. It was really good. Rice, beans, meat and Jeanut sauce. Saturday, George took us to the 5 different locations around Kisoro where they have programs to support struggling children. They work with Compassion International. It was really cool to see the program from this side of things. In the U.S. I often come across those organization asking for $30 bucks a month to sponsor a child. It is amazing go to the place where the children actually are and see them in person. $30 goes a very long way in Uganda. That money means so much to those kids! On Sunday, we split up and went to two different churches. I got to speak that morning, unfortunately it was storming really bad, and with tin roofs, it gets very very loud. Thankfully it ended up calming down and the morning went really well. Monday we woke up very early to drive home. I woke up feeling very sick, and i was sick the whole way home. In fact my throw up is scattered on the ground throughout all of southwest-central Uganda (I hope thats not too much information for you). It was really cool though, we bought 150 pens and passed them out to the kids all the way home. It was awesome how much a cheap pen meant to them.

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Getting Out

It's April! It's crazy how fast time has gone by. I will be home in less than 2 months. It's really funny because I've been in Africa for about 3 months now, and so far I haven't been outside of a city with less than 2 million people. It's really cool being in the city, but I really want to get out and see some more of the country. I've been looking at everyone's pictures on the internet from Spring Break, so I've decided that this next week is going to be my Spring Break.

So...Tomorrow we are taking a 4 day guys road trip to Kisoro. Kisoro is located in the mountains in southwestern Uganda. I'm really excited! Apparently it's one of the most beautiful places in Uganda. They say there are volcanoes. I'm really excited to do something different and get out of the weekly routine that I've been in for the last few months.

We will get back on the 7th and rest for the day.

The next day we are getting up early to catch a bus to northern Uganda. Will and I are going with Bosco to his village, Lira. This should also be interesting. He said they were excited that we were coming, so they are preparing to slaughter a goat.

Pictures to come soon...

Just a little update

So i just wanted to fill everyone in a little about what's been going on:

Kawuku
Pastor Dickens has worked out a deal with the headmaster of the school about 100 yards from where we have been meeting. It's called Kawuku Parents School. It's a primary boarding school. We are renting a room on Saturdays and Sundays for 50,000 shillings a month(25USD). I think this is really good for our church. We are now meeting in a place that everyone in the area is familiar with, so it is now easier to tell people where to go. There is also a HUGE field, where there are always tons of kids. We are looking to bring the projector out there and show some movies in the near future. I would guess that there is room for about 2,000 people in this field. So there is a lot of potential. So the people seem to be happy. However there are some struggles. Now, that we aren't meeting around the homes, it is less convenient for the people who would just walk outside when we had it in the middle of the community. So there have been less adults when we have been meeting lately. Please be praying for Kawuku.


Kawuku Children's Ministry
Up until now, Jana and I have been running the "Sunday School". We have been responsible for the lesson and story, while Grace (the Kawuku children's leader) watches and translates. Grace then usually summarizes and teaches a memory verse and a song. Then we go crazy and play with the kids. But this week, we have agreed that Grace will lead the children. This is a big moment for us. We have come to build a children's ministry, and this is the point where we are handing it over to a Ugandan. Please be praying for Kawuku.


Early, Texas Volunteer Team
So last week, the volunteer team from Early, Texas was here. They were all really cool(I say that because they are all probably reading this blog). Anyways, they did a great job of spicing things up around here. They focused on the Kalerwe area, but also went out to Kawuku with us one day. They did an amazing job of just being real people who love God. It was fun to be reminded of all the "tourist-y" things that you do when first arriving in Kampala. Thomas really made an impact on Bosco, so Bosco and I have gotten on skype a few times in the last week to call Thomas. Sharif also got to meet the team. I'm pretty sure he was the only Ugandan to correctly pronounce Kendall's name.




Sharif
(As a friend to Sharif, I do not want to post all his personal information on the internet, but I would like to share some so that you can know how he lives, and can be praying for him.)
So about once or twice a week I will go out to Kalerwe to visit Sharif. Nothing organized, we just hang out. Since we have met, he has begun taking a computer course. This is awesome, because he has nothing. However, he has so much faith that God help him through this course. Every evening at about 4pm he goes into town and is taught things from a man 1 on 1 for about 4 hours. I think it is really helping him out. He has learned Microsoft Word and Excel now and he can type correctly. This has been really good for him because it is keeping him busy. He now has a goal and can work toward it, instead of just sitting around. He has just gotten settled in at a new place. Sunday, we went and got him a padlock for his door. He was very excited. His mom disappeared about 2 months ago. Sharif had no idea where she was or if she was okay. Well he called me Saturday and told me that he ran into his mom. Apparently she could not handle the stresses and responsibility so she just left. This is a pretty tough situation. Please be praying for Sharif. Pray for his education and family.


Bosco
Bosco has been doing really well. I can't believe i didn't post something, but about a month ago he accepted Christ! It was so great. I can see a huge change in his life. You can sence the new security that he has now, despite living in one of the poorest slums in Kampala. He is very persistant and wants to learn. So Bosco, myself and Julius(the other night guard here) have been having an ongoing Bible study for the past month. It works like this: I tell them a few chapters of a book in the Bible. Then they read it, and write down the parts that stuck out to them and questions they had. Then we all get together and discuss what we learned from this and comments we had. It has been really productive.


Kitintale Skatepark

So I have been really busy lately, so I haven't been able to go out there much. Monday I was able to go visit the guys. It was really fun. They are busy preparing for the big competition on March 29th. Jack(the one in charge of the park) has been busy networking and trying to publicize the event. He really loves these kids and the sport and is doing a great job. He's gone to pretty much every newspaper and tv station and gotten support. Mountain Dew has also agreed to not only sponsor the event, but also the sport of skateboarding in Uganda. This means that the kids are gonna be on all the billboards and advertisements for Mountain Dew in Uganda. This week they are doing some work on the ramps, filling in the holes with concrete. So for a week they have to let it dry. So we walked up a hill to this really nice area with nice roads. It was so nice that Uganda President Museveni's daughter passed by in her car. Apparently her house was less than a kilometer from where we were hanging out. It was really fun. I participated a little. It was pretty humbling. Please be praying for the Kitintale Skatepark.

If you know anyone who would like to donate, visit, or send skateboards, pads, helmets, shoes to the skatepark please email skateboarduganda@yahoo.com or call Jack Mubiru at +256752397100

for more info you can visit:
http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.org/
http://www.ugandaskateboardunion.wordpress.com/

Ingredients

So I'm sorry for not writing much lately. I've come up with this excuse: I'm getting to the point where there is not much new going on. For the most part, I'm going to the same places, seeing the same people and doing the same things. Writing on this blog is not as easy anymore, because I don't really feel like a tourist anymore. But the good news is that the things I am doing and the relationships I have are being strengthened. At first, I was very overwhelmed with everything. There were so many people with needs. How could I possibly help all those people? Then I remembered that I am only one piece of the puzzle. My job is definitely not to do it all. Instead of doing a little bit for a lot of people, I feel like God is asking me to put a lot of effort into a few people. (Which kinda reminds of the song "The World" by Brad Paisley) I can handle that.

Only Jesus can be Jesus to everyone. Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."


So here was my problem and what I've found:

The Bible tells us to "Imitate God, in everything you do." That's a pretty huge responsibility for a human. Why would God ask a sinner like me to do something impossible like that? Is it possible to do what God would do in every situation? After all, we know that imitations are never as good as the real deal. Every time I make a mistake, I am not being an imitator of God. Yet, every time I have made a mistake, I have ignored the Holy Spirit, which God has put inside of me for those very moments.

Our responsibility is to imitate God. As much as we try to be perfect, we just cannot do it. I would say on average we do a pretty horrible job at reflecting Christ. In spite of this, I believe God has given us the ability to imitate and reflect Christ: One person at a time, one moment at a time. So we cannot be like Christ on a Christ-sized scale, but what if in the smallest of things we could show Christ? What if we broke things down and started small? With the things closest to us?

Here's another way to explain it:

Jesus is the master chef. He knows exactly how much of each ingredient to put in his masterpieces. Every ingredient has it's purpose. And too much of one ingredient will throw everything off.

Lets just say that I could be 3% as Christ-like as Jesus. This number seems so low, that it makes me not even want to try. But Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus acknowledges that i might only have 3% to give...but he can work with that... Jesus doesn't ask one ingredient to be more than it is. So what if instead of worrying about the 97% that we don't have to give anything, we focused on one percent at a time. When we zoom in on those first three percentage points, we see that we can be everything that is needed. (This is getting confusing) That means that 3 percent of the time we can give 100 percent and we can let God (in his crazy, secret, perfect ways) fill in the rest.

Mark 12:41-44
"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'"

So my conclusion is that even though we cannot be perfect, we are asked to offer up what we have to give. Jesus is always there to fill in the rest, but he asks us to try our best. I've also found that when you work hard on the quality of the smallest building block, the final structure turns out pretty nice. Think of sometime where someone seemed very much like Christ in your life. Aren't you glad they offered up what they had to give even though it didn't seem like much? Are you giving any effort?

Nameless

DSC06296, originally uploaded by jstanley24.

I do not know the name of the boy in the picture here....
....but God does.

Maybe you don't understand "faith" or "grace" ...
....but God does.

Maybe you think you have no hope for the future.....
....but God does.

Maybe you do not now how you are going to get out of your current money crunchin situation....
....but God does.

We don't know how God works....
....but He does.

....And one thing is true. He knows EXACTLY what he is doing, and his timing is PERFECT.

I know that God has plans for Kampala, even though that i don't know exactly what they are yet. We are at a very interesting time in our trip.

We got together about a week ago and brainstormed ways we could connect with the children of Kampala.

We agree that we did not just travel to Africa to play with kids for 4 months, even though it would be a lot of fun. We desire to see a change in their lives. We want the children of Kampala to live happy, healthy lives while growing up knowing their Creator. In order to do this, a change must occur not just in the children, but in their role models.

So here is our challenge and our prayer:
We must find and train leaders in these slums that will passionately fight for the future of these children after we leave. I strongly feel that this leadership role is not a job for a missionary. These kids need what we can't give. They need someone who can relate to their conditions, speak their language. They need someone who is so full of the love of Jesus Christ that it pours out all over these children.

Now here is the cool part. We have faith that God already has these people in mind and is working on making them the person they need to become for this role right now.

We have no clue right now which people are going to feel these leadership spots....
....but God does.

That means these future leaders are somewhere right now... I wonder what they are doing right this second. What events will steer them our way? What will God show them that will give them that desire? They could possibly not even have a relationship with Christ right now. Wouldn't that be a cool story to see that change... So please, take a second to pray right now for these people. We don't know what they look like, and we don't know their names, but God does. Let this be your prayer. Please. These kids need this.

We have decided to split up and focus on two areas. Here we will train leaders and build strong and healthy children's ministries to be models for the rest of the churches. While we will be focusing a lot of our time here at these communities, we will still be training leaders for the entire church network. We feel that trying to handle all of them would be overwhelming and probably inefficient. Instead we believe that by becoming a face in a few communities, serving, making friends and modeling how a program should work, we can be more effective. So specifically please be praying for Kawuku(where Jana and I will be spending a lot of time) and Kisugu (where Sarah and Willie will be focusing)

So what is God planning for you in your near future? I wonder who's praying for you. They might not even know your name....

Kampala Christian Church Network

I would like to take some time to describe how the things work around here and inform you of some friends I have met and give you some ways to pray about them:
(I apologize for the length)

The Kampala Christian Church Network (KCCN). The IMB Missionaries here work with a group of about 10 Ugandan Pastors. The KCCN focuses on reaching the slums of Kampala, which are vast. Throughout the week hundreds of house churches(small groups ranging form 5-20ish people) meet, study the bible and have fellowship. Many meet outside, anywhere there is shade. Others have the luxury of meeting in some type of building. Then on Sundays, these house churches meet together at about 8 “Celebration Points” scattered throughout the city. Our main focus is to work on establishing an ongoing ministry to children at these house churches and celebration points. We are to train leaders to teach the children. Other than this, we will be working alongside the local leaders, going to Bible studies, prisons, hospitals and schools throughout the week. In addition, I would like to build relationships and make friends with the people we come into contact with throughout town.




There have been about 3 Ugandans that I have already gotten to know very well and am meeting with at least once a week. Please be praying for them.

Joseph - Joseph is a very bold and determined man. He is about 24 years old. He is really funny. He tells us often that he "loves us too much." I met him when i visited a celebration point in Namuwongo. But later I found out that he works as a guard at the Shelton's (my supervisors) home. This is really cool, because i get to see him pretty often. Willie and I have been getting together once a week with him to have a Bible Study. So far, he has planned what we will study. He really has been struggling because no one he lives with is a Christian. He is really wanting some good friends to be able to talk about things with. After reading about the next guy, you might understand a little bit better how to pray for Joseph.

Bosco - When i met Joseph in Namuwongo, he took me to see where he lives. When we arrived, all of the guys he lives with were sitting around. One of them was Bosco. Joseph introduced him by saying, "This is Bosco, he is preparing to accept Christ." I thought that was kind of interesting. Then the next night i arrived back home. (By the way security around here is pretty serious. Most places have walls around them with barbed wire or broken glass, along with guards.) When i got home, one of the guards walked past me, and I realized it was Bosco. It was really exciting. What a coincidence. He had been here every night from 6pm to 6am. It's been really good with Bosco. He's been a good friend so far. He approached me about learning about the Bible. He did not have a Bible, so we eventually found him one. Initially when i heard that he was "preparing to accept Christ," I thought that was a little weird. I know there is a time in every Christian's life where God was preparing them to accept Christ, but i think most people don't realize that this is happening. Anyways, I really respect his desire to understand, before making the most important decision of his life. So we have been getting together a lot to talk about stuff. The first study was about "Who is God and who are we?" I've been giving him a paper with a list of some scripture on it. So he is looking it up and when we meet again we discuss it. He enjoyed this, and insisted that i make a test for him to take. This went very well. He understands now that God created everything and wants a perfect relationship with us. He understands that we are all sinners, and that everyone needs Jesus' salvation. He was able to "explain all these things to me. The next lesson is going to be "Who is Jesus?" Please be praying that through this study of Jesus, Bosco will accept the gift that Jesus has offered us all.

Sharrif - I met Sharrif at a celebration point this last Sunday. He has been without a job for 8 months, since he has been out of prison. He is a really cool guy. We got to hang out and talk yesterday for a few hours. He is going through some tough times. Please be praying that God would provide him with a job or money to go back to school.

3 weeks without a seatbelt

I was very dissapointed today. I went 3 weeks without wearing a seatbelt. They do not exist in the taxis or motorcycles we ride in. But today, I got in the car with Jena... that means BUCKLE UP! I guess my streak is over...
For all you parents and grandparents:
Don't worry. I'm beings safe... Well, mostly safe.

Today was my birthday. I'm no longer a teenager. I'm actually kinda dissapointed about that. But i guess it's fun to enter my 20's while in Africa. Today was a great day. We met up with pastor Joseph (He's the fourth Joseph i've met). We went to a very poor community called Kisugu. I got to share the message today. It was really good. Jana was also asked to share. Right before we started, Jana and i discovered that God gave us the same message. This was really encouraging because we knew the God wanted this church to know this, and it was cool that He was using us. I have discovered that it is really fun to speak with a translator. All the translators are really funny guys. They love to translate our words into Luganda and extravagant body language. It's really fun. The music and worship over here is amazing, by the way. It's honest...the way it should be.

Hi, Jerk

Sometimes Americans have trouble learning Ugandan words and Ugandans have trouble learning American words, specifically names.

Here's an example:

So yesterday we were shopping at a market. We met a man. He was very nice and asked us if we were Christians. When he found out we were, he was very excited. We exchanged numbers. Then I told him my name is Jake and that he could call me if he ever needed anything.

...So today i got a text from him and it read:

"Hi Jerk,
First off, i greet you in Jesus' name. Well, I've made up my mind to send you this message just to thank you for the good hospitality you had shown me as Christian friend in Christ, when i met up with you yesterday at italian supermarket. Please, I'd like to know when we gonna meet again and chat with you all. Please, send my greetings to all other friends of mine. May God bless you all! I'm looking forward to hear from you."

We all thought this was really funny, but very nice of him.
I've learned to spell my name when meeting people...

Settling Down

So we just got to Kampala. From what I've seen so far, I really like it. We've been training for the past 2 weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was kind of tough because we never left the retreat center that we were training at. I learned a lot and I definitely made some good friends, who will be in South Africa, Malawi & Botswana. I miss you guys already. We flew into Uganda right when the sun was setting over Lake Victoria. It was amazing! I definitely took some pictures of that. It took us a while to get out of the airport, but everything went smoothly. When we got outside, some guys started shaking my hand. They were very nice. But then they insisted on pushing the luggage cart for me. I said "No thank you" a few times. He was very persistent. I didn't like the idea of someone running off with our luggage within the first 5 minutes of being in the country. One of the girls then informed me that this man was our driver. Haha. I felt kind of stupid. Anyways, we settled into our house. It's way more than i was expecting. Amazing. Shortly after getting here, we decided to go to the market to get some food. This is the best part. We turn on the radio in the car and you would never guess what was playing.... Tim McGraw - Where the green grass grows. YES! COUNTRY MUSIC IS PLAYED IN AFRICA. People actually listen to it. I felt very much at home. We got back with the food and made our first meal in Africa. We had pasta with alfredo sauce and bread! It was pretty good.

Germany

ok so we are in Frankfurt, Germany. We have been here for about 4 or 5 hours. i have completely lost track of time. When we got here, we were supposed to meet up with 2 others. We spent the last 4 hours looking for them, and finally found one of them. It is a little hard to adjust because of the language. We tried to speak spanish, but that didnt work either. Our plane doesnt leave for another 8 hours. But we just found a cool cafe with internet and drinks. Its a nice little spot. Its pretty quiet. We got really good service, especially from the older woman that served us. She kept blowing us kisses. It is kind of hard to type though because the z and y keys are switched. We are all really tired. No one really slept on the flight here. So I am trying to stay up until i get on the plane, to help my body adjust. Anyways, I am sure we will have a lot of fun.

Sorry to those of you that i told i would call when i got here. I expected that we would be able to get wifi at the airport so i could use skype.

Once we get to Jo´burg i wont be able to get on the internet. Adios.

3 days left!

3 days left! I have finally reached the point where i don't have much left to do. I can just relax and enjoy the few days i have left to spend with family and friends! It has been very stressful preparing for this trip for the past few months. Surprisingly, this week, I have felt very relieved. I am getting very excited! It has started to hit me lately that I am actually going to be in Africa next week. I know this is going to be an amazing trip! I have definitely spent a lot of time thinking about the things that I am going to miss. I have a lot to be thankful for.

For the next two weeks we will be training in Johannesburg, South Africa. We leave on Tuesday at 4pm. There is a group of about 5 of us on the same flight from Dallas to Frankfurt. Frankfurt is 7 hours ahead of us, so hopefully we will be able to sleep well on the plane. At the airport, we will hopefully run into the other Hands On people that will also be heading to Jo'burg. It will be really fun. We are stuck in the airport for about 12 hours, so it will be a good opportunity to meet my new best friends for the next semester. Later that night, we will fly from Frankfurt to South Africa. We will arrive on the 15th and begin our training.

Please be praying for all the Hands On people that are heading out this week to places all across the world. There is a lot of traveling and I'm sure a lot of worrying that is happening right now. Pray that training will go well, so that we will be well prepared for our work.