Great Day at Divine Grace...

Today was a great day for the team. I have just gotten off the phone with JT, and here's what is going on....

The team arrived at Divine Grace School this morning and spent half of the day with the 5th-7th graders. This afternoon was focused on 3rd and 4th graders. Tomorrow will be for preschoolers-2nd graders!

The team is teaching the "I Am" sayings of Jesus in the book of John. Tyler wrote a song to teach all the sayings which does a great job of helping the children to remember the words of Christ! The children LOVE the song and want to sing it over and over again.

Today's lesson focused on "I am the Light of the world," so the children heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. Each child was given a candle (with the memory verse on the drip holder), and they were all surprised that they could keep the candles. The children had never been given candles before...useful for their homes and a good reminder of the lesson.

Phoebe told JT that she felt led to have an altar call today (this is unusual in this type of setting), but they did it anyway. God's presence was clearly there, and over 30 kids made decisions for Jesus today. Praise be to the Father! He is good indeed.

One side note of the day is that when JT introduced all of the interns, he gave a bit of insight on each one of them. When Brittney stepped up, all of the kids remembered her from last year. They beginning clapping for her. They were cheering her name and were so thrilled that she was there. What a way God has to connect the body!

Please pray for the team as they continue to work with the school in Rakai this week. God has some amazing opportunities for the team...pray that they obey whole-heartedly! Continue to pray for Peter as he will join the team tomorrow (after the burial of his niece today). The country has been rocked by this violence and needs time to heal. Only God Almighty can heal them all now.

Monday Morning...

Overnight, we received an official message from the US State Department. Here's the details:

The bombings on July 11 at the World cup viewing events at the Ethiopian Village Restaurant and the Rugby Club, which resulted in 64 dead and scores injured highlighted the vulnerabilities associated with visiting large public gatherings in Uganda.

At this time, the Department encourages U.S. citizens in Uganda to strongly consider the risk of attending large public gatherings because these events can provide vulnerable targets for extremist or terrorist groups.

U.S citizens in Uganda not directly affected by today's events are strongly encouraged to contact friends and family outside of Uganda to notify them of their well-being.
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The missionary we are partnered with in Uganda, Peter Sozi, lost his niece in the bombings. Their family is grieving, so please pray that our team will minister to them in ways that bring glory to God alone.

We are receiving regular updates from the US State Department and will pass those along. Please continue to pray that what man intended for evil, God will use for His glory!!!

Bombs in Kampala

Last night around 10:00 pm, there were 2 bombings in the capital city of Kampala. The team was already back at the place where they are staying. So, the team is safe and sound. In fact, they didn't even know about the details of the bombings until I called. JT had indicated that they took a different route home and their morning schedule would be different but they didn't know the reason.

Apparently, the two venues that were hit were restaurants where people (especially foreigners) were watching the World Cup soccer final. A mission team from the US was at one of the locations and they are among the injured.

Continue to pray for our team. Updates will come as they are available. We will only post actual information that comes from our team in Uganda.

First Full Day....

The team had a late breakfast this morning after everyone had some much needed rest! They were able to go to the "farm church" today. This was the first church plant of Divine Grace, and it meets under a tree on the dairy farm. Phoebe Sozi shared her life story with the team, and they were able to understand the beginnings of Divine Grace Ministries.

Pastor Silva, the pastor of the farm church as well as the leader of the staff, took the team to visit in homes of church members. He spoke of the growth of the farm church. Now, there are over 100 kids who come each Sunday! In addition, over 25 youth showed up to walk the property while the team was there. When asked what they were doing, the team was told that the students come to prayer walk the property and then practice for leading worship on Sundays. What an honor to watch teenagers serve the Lord so faithfully.

One of the women from the farm church who went with the team to visit in homes has 2 children that attend the Divine Grace School nearby. However, she has four other children at home that she cares for along with 7 orphans. Because we are adopting from Uganda, this led to many questions from JT!

During the evening, the group met with Pastor Henry's church. Deanna shared her story and encouraged the body of believers. Tyler preached and challenged the teenagers to live lives that would bring glory to God alone.

Tomorrow the team will worship with the farm church and then eat a late lunch (it's always late on African time). In the evening, they will attend Pastor Ben's church on the other side of Kampala (one of the poorest sections). Monday will be their first day at Divine Grace School which now cares for over 1000 children. Please pray for the team as they follow the Holy Spirit in however He leads them!

Arrival!!!

The team has officially arrived in Uganda! They just touched down a few minutes ago, and all is well. The team has a huge opportunity in front of them, and they all want to be obedient to what God is telling them to do. Pray for them as they settle in to the 8 hour time difference and head to church on Sunday morning! On Monday, they will travel to Rakai (pronouced Rock-eye). For 6 days they will minister to over 1000 kids from the Divine Grace School as well as the community. Your prayers are coveted and appreciated!

Air Travel Antics...

The group (all 14 of them) made it to the Birmingham airport with no problems today. Everyone was on time, had their passports and yellow fever cards and got through security with few issues (note to travelers: peanut butter can go in your checked bag but not in your carry-on!). Their flight to Detroit was 45 minutes late which made their connection evens shorter (30 minutes).

When they arrived in Detroit, their 2nd flight had been moved UP by 20 minutes, which now left them 10 minutes to deplane, get to the 2nd gate, and board. JT called me while running through the airport (I would like to remind the team that God prepared them for this run a few weeks ago in Atlanta....). I called Delta and they were being rebooked on a flight to Amsterdam 2 hours later. However, as I finished talking to Delta, they made it to the gate. The gate agent was calling for the final boarding, and the group was thankful! God's timing is always perfect!
The kids (Christy, Kaitlyn, Madison, Jett) and I cried many times as we are going to miss them terribly. We took the opportunity to go to Treat Your Self in Hoover to eat some yogurt. I inserted the picture above of Christy and Jett pretending to be intertwined and feeding each other.

Please pray for this time as they have a HUGE ministry opportunity in front of them. Pastor Henry posted today that they were having an all night prayer meeting in preparation of the team's arrival. This is ministry that only God can accomplish. May He work in such a way that He alone gets all the glory. We praise Him in advance for what He is about to do!

It's a New Week...

Tomorrow will be the last day of our "official" resting break between coming home from Arizona and leaving for Uganda. Here's what we've been doing for the past few days...trying to catch up on much-needed sleep (so far, we're all still very tired), going to doctor's appointments, cooking/cleaning/eating together, talking through and praying about Uganda, planning, and most importantly spending time in God's Word.

On Tuesday all of the interns will be back together at our home. Currently, we are housing Indy, DiGi and 1st Nation all the time. Duckett has been in Louisiana with her fiance making plans for their wedding next summer. Lonnie, Brittney, Tyler and Kathleen have each been spending time with their families who live in the Birmingham area. We have seen Stick (Lonnie) and Navi (Brittney) several times though during this break! All of the interns enjoy spending time together and have become quite close. We prayed that they would develop life-long friendships, and they have definitely done that! It blesses our hearts to hear them sharing their lives with one another!

When the group comes back together we will be planning the rest of the details of the Uganda trip. There will be a lot to do there, and as the details are determined, I'll share them here in order that you may all know how to pray specifically for the team! The team will be 14 people including JT, all of the interns, Sam, Meggie, Ryan, Elizabeth and Zippy. They will be ministering at Divine Grace School, leading a pastor's conference and ministering to those in need everywhere they go. The schedule is FULL....they will definitely need prayers for strength and sustenance. Pray for their health while they are there in order to continue to minister with all that they have each day.

As far as the personal goings-on (that's a Southern term for all of you Northerners) here, DiGi had 3 hours of dental work done this week. Thank you Dr. James Sanderson for your generosity. You blessed him and us immensely! Indy is praying through her future and what God wants for her. We have developed an American dream of graduating high school, going to college, getting a well-paying job, etc, etc. That is not always God's way...we must each listen to what God wants us to do and not the world! 1st Nation has taken every opportunity to go to Starbucks that Lonnie offers....seriously, those two crack me up.

Crispy is leaving for Australia this month. Just when Indy brought it up today, I cried on the way home.....it makes me sad to think of her leaving but I know that it is God's plan for her life. I will miss her terribly, and a part of my heart will be in Australia for a while.....

Lonnie comes over quite a bit, and we definitely miss her when she's not here. She is loved by everyone and makes friends easily. She makes us all smile throughout the day, so we really miss her when she's not around.

As we begin to come back together as a family, pray that our hearts will be unified for the cause of Christ alone!