Chicago Airport Mystery (From Next Generation Ministry Blog by Paul Hunter)

Well, this amazing story just needs to be shared. CLick on this link to read it! 
Chicago Airport Mystery

Paul Hunter - "A Big Day"

Paul Hunter, the host of our Uganda trip and director of Next Generation Ministries writes periodic updates about what is happening in his ministry. Yesterday he wrote about his  day with Group 2. Follow this link to read about this amazing day.

A Big Day, by Paul Hunter

Fountain of Hope

Bukeeka is a Muslim village and home to Fountain of Hope Christian School. The school began with a rocky start; it had only a handful of students and was under intense opposition from Witch Doctors and Muslim occupants of the village. The headmaster, Robert, was chased from the village by men with machetes; a price was put on his head; one morning he arrived at the school property to find his school surrounded in a trail of chicken blood (evidence of ritualistic ceremonies performed at the school); coffins were placed in homes of his friends to signify and prophesy death. This may sound crazy, but after having sat with this man and been in his house and school, I assure you, it is very real. This kind of stuff is normal in Africa. So convinced by God he was to establish this fountain of hope in the midst of darkness, he persevered. Since 2006 the school has grown from a dozen to students to 700. Now, the Muslims and Witch Doctors actually advocate for the school, realizing it may be the only hope their children have of ever receiving an education; they even encourage Robert to run for Parliament. Wow; the power of God is also very real.

Robert and Sara; founders of Fountain of Hope

School Grounds

Trying out their new whiteboards

Over the last couple of weeks the team has had the privilege of teaching at this blessed school. When you pull up to the school the first thing you see is a sign stating “Educate the girl child, educate a nation.” This is a powerful statement in a land that often oppresses and persecutes women. As you walk the grounds of the school you encounter more such signs posted. “Virginity is healthy” “Say no to bad touches” “You are important” “Never walk alone” “Trust God in all” “Respect your leaders” “Shout for help in case of sexual abuse” “Fight human sacrifice” "Always speak English" "Serve as an example". The motto of the school, which when asked all the students of the school can recite, is “Righteousness exalts a nation.” These may seem like basic principles, but here these things are not commonly taught and with the declaration of these values comes great power.


Even though the classrooms are smaller than an average American classroom, the class sizes range from 45 to 100 students! Despite the large amount of students packed into a small space, there are virtually no management issues; the kids are so excited to have an education and it’s obvious by the amount of respect they give to their teachers. One day we gave a Bible lesson related to fear and God’s protection and asked the students what they feared. The top responses were “murder, rape, sacrifice, being robbed”. The reality of the life they live in is very sad; but in the midst of their struggle God has placed them in a safe place where they are taught, discipled and given an opportunity to fulfill the destiny God has for them. Teaching at this school has been an absolute dream come true for many of us. Thank you Jesus; You are so good.

Students at Bukeeka

We've been busy!

It's been awhile since we posted! Since you last heard from us, Team One has headed on safari and Team Two has arrived! We were sad to say goodbye to the first team but so excited to receive our new team! Monday we hit the ground running with a busy day, in which our team members were scattered in various directions.

Syd and Chad were able to visit a prison and share the love of God with more than 50 prisoners and guards. They worshiped and studied the Word together while passing out gifts of mango juice, crackers, bananas, t-shirts, sweets, soap and lots of hugs, of course! Due to a corrupt government it is thought that about half of the prisoners are innocent and have been wrongly charged. By the end of the service 10 inmates had given their life to the Lord. Thank you Jesus!

Syd, Arianne, and Sam spend their day working at Rock of Ages Pre-School. They traced the feet of all 88 students in order to find shoes that would fit each of them; a couple of days later we were able to bless the students with their new shoes, as well as with foot washing. Many of these children have not experienced love in their lives; how powerful it was to actively love them by touching their feel and placing new shoes on them.

Sam with Rock of Ages students

Uganda (and most of the World really) is currently in an uproar as they await the beginning of the World Cup starting Friday!! The boys of "Caring Place" (a home for street kids ran by an amazing 23 year old woman) are no exception! Monte, Dan and Chad were able to purchase and install a TV antenna at the Caring Place so the 16 boys and their Mama Sera will be able to join in the World Cup festivities (no small thing for an African)! While they were at it they fixed the antennae of our friend and ministry partner, Abdu. Way to go handy men!

Monte at work

Idaho boy getting 'er done

Diane, Jill, Katie and Kristi were able to begin their teaching at Fountain of Hope Junior High School. After being introduced to the 700 students in a whole school assembly they visited each class, sharing a little about themselves and singing some song together. The whole school was in an uproar over their new "mzungo" (white person) friends; the girls felt like rock stars (ha!) and are excited to return to the school and teach lessons in each class.

School wide Assembly

Singing Songs with the kids

Pam, Bobbette, and Cheri spent the morning in the kitchen using their amazing skills to prepare BBQ meatballs, french beans and chocolate cake to serve to our "boda boda" drivers (motorcycle drivers who serve as the local transportation). Their are 8 bodas on our street who regularly help us out. Not only did they ladies serve them a meal, they surprised them with a bag containing an American T-shirt, the New Testament on an MP3 player and 20,000 shillings (about a day's wage on a really good day and the equivalent of $10). The joy on their faces was heart wrenching in a really good way. One of they boys remarked, "This is Christmas morning! No one can do this! No one!"

Boda Boys

We are blown away and humbled by the relationships God has given us and the ample opportunities we have been given to bless others. He is so good! Thank you for reading our blog and thank you for your continued prayers!

"Let them praise his name with dancing.."

Psalm 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. 

African worship is joyful! Music amplified to almost deafening volume pours from large speakers, praise songs, clapping, dancing..it's all included. I told Kristy W. when she arrived that the Zumba classes we attend are good  practice for African worship! We were suppose to meet team I at this service but they had been re-routed thru South Africa due to the British Air strike and wouldn't arrive for another 12 hours.

African worship is not time constrained.. the second service is scheduled for 10...we arrived about 10:15 at our host, Paul's suggestion. It didn't officially start until 10 or 15 minutes later when the praise band took the platform lead the worship. We took seats in the back having been ushered to the front of the church the previous week and seated right in front of the speakers. Folks in their Sunday best, wandered in for at least another half hour filling the seats and joined in the raucous, jubilant praise. Once the praise band finished, the pastor and others begin speaking. The services typically go on for a couple hours complicated by the fact the services are conducted in both English and Lugandan and everything  is said repeated twice. No one seems to mind and the folks stay to the end!

The church we attended is pastored by Jimmy, one of the men mentored by Paul in The Next Generation Ministry. The building is a large open air structure. The floor is cement, there is a roof held up by wooden pillars and there are no walls. A raised platform in front gives the singers and pastors a place lead the worship. The seating is plastic molded lawn chairs of various colors, similar to what you'd buy a Walmart.

This Sunday, Lilly sang. We haven't told you much about Lilly in this blog. She and her husband are part of the Next Generation Family. She has written several songs that are very popular in Africa. She has an amazing voice. When she sang folks sang along. Of course we couldn't because she sung it in Lugandan. But the melody was beautiful and the spirit of the song clearly came thru.


I love the passionate, joyful , exuberant spirit of the African worship service, which expresses a  heartfelt thankfulness for all the Lord has done for us.

AIDS clinic and Children's Hospital

Immanuel, 14 year old AIDS patient, and myself


On Tuesday the team  visited a health clinic with a long term AIDS home attached to it. We passed out stickers and held the hands of children who are losing the battle to AIDS and most likely will not be alive in 6 months. It’s difficult to know how to process that. The administrator of the home is an extraordinary young Swiss man, not much older than me.(Jill). He has made Uganda his home and loves his young victims of AIDS, but he has no knowledge of God. This makes me sad; he is offering something of amazing value to the Ugandan people, but what of eternal value will last?

Next we visited a Children’s Hospital; people poured out of the waiting room, spilling onto the lawn. Dozens of families camped out waiting to be seen; who knows how long they had been there? The condition of the hospital was unreal; in the ER our team was asked given the opportunity to pray for the patients. I was able to lay hands on a small girl with malaria and pray for her healing and salvation. Something inside of me opened and I couldn’t hold back the tears. Here prayer is always welcomed; the mother was thrilled to have me pray for her little girl. I can’t really imagine stepping into an ER in the States and being invited, even welcomed to lay hands on a sick, young girl by both the parents and the doctor.

Young Children at the AIDS home

Health Clinic/AIDS home

The Congolese Boys (Dove Voice Band)

The last few days have been overwhelming, but in a very good way. Have you ever experienced something and known you will never be the same? I will try to describe some of what the last few days have held, though I don’t think I could ever adequately put words to all we have seen.

On Monday night our team was blessed with a singing group of 16 boys, ages 13-18, from the Congo. Many of these boys are orphans or refugees and each one of them have amazing testimonies of how God has saved them from addiction, homelessness, hunger, depression, ect. In the words of Robert, a local believer here, “Often those who have a passionate love for Jesus have experienced a great healing from Jesus”. We shared a meal with the group and then enjoyed a performance of singing and dancing. When you look in these boys eyes, see their smiles and watch how they sing to their Maker, their passion and love for Jesus is impossible to miss. By the end of the evening the Congo boys had all of us muzungos (white people) singing and dancing (further proof that white men can’t dance ;). We danced and sang in the front yard of the compound well into the evening hours. Eventually the lawn was flooded with neighbors and children, wanting to participate in all the commotion. It was a blast! We drowned out the Islamic “call to prayer” with our praise songs to Jesus. Before going home, the leader of the group mentioned he had not had coffee in over two years. That did it… We invited the group to an American cooked breakfast, complete with pancakes and syrup, eggs and coffee. When the boys came the next morning we blessed them with a soccer ball, frisbees (which they had never seen before) and one of our team T-shirts for each of them. I have never seen a single person so blessed by the gift of a new T-shirt. The boys kept the tags on the shirts as proof that they were brand new. They handled them as though they were glass and pressed their noses to them to inhale the “new t-shirt” smell. Before the boys left they gathered around us and sang a song in their own language, acapella. I remember thinking “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard”. Angels surely were rejoicing with us as the presence of God distinctly filled the room. I will never forget these boys and I think they would say the same of us. I was shocked at how much hope our team brought to this group by not really doing anything, but just by being there, by letting them know they are not forgotten.

That was Monday night. More stories to follow from the rest of the week… Thank you for your prayers. Be blessed!

Congolese boys enjoying pancakes and coffee in their new T-shirts

Gathering before breakfast

Rain

Last evening (June First) we lost power which explains why you did not hear from us. Most of the team spent yesterday and today working at the pre-school. Randy was giving physicals and the everyone else was supporting him,,,taking height and weights, taking blood pressure pricking fingers for blood samples,  keeping the children occupied with crafts, hand washing, fingernail painting, administering vitamins,,,, as soon as I get pictures from those who were there I'll post.

The process was not as smooth the first day...the first kid got his finger pricked and started to cry which started all the kids in the room crying...so they quickly re-arranged the process!