I believe I have fallen...

in love. No not with a person, but with a country. The country of Uganda to be exact!
We made it to Uganda around 12:30 p.m. local time (seven hours ahead of EST). We were tired from our travels but thrilled to have made it to Uganda. One of the missionarie couples called the Eldeens greeted us at the airport and took us to our hotel. After a shower and fresh clothes we headed out to the mall. I was picturing something similar to the shops we had seen as driving to the hotel.... rows of mud buildings with a variety of things to offer. I was quite taken back when we arrived at a mall that looked like something you might find in the USA. A three story building with several stores, a parking garage, and etc. After exchanging our currency we were ready to go shopping. We started in the grocery store as a team, divided the list, and conquered it within a very short period of time. Our next stop was a craft store where we bought a few souveniers, and then we headed out to dinner.
After a good night's sleep we were on our way to our final destination, Karamoja. The roads were tar covered for most of the way (5 out of the 7 hours of travel). We saw beautiful sights such as a rain forest, multiple villiages, markets, mountains, waterfalls and much more!! The little children along the roadside would see us, jump up and down, wave and yell Mzungu (white person). We arrived at the mission around 4 p.m. It was so exciting to have arrived "home."
The all girls are sharing one room together in one of the main houses, and the boys are staying in mud-brick bundas (?) outside.
It is now time to let the rest of my team use the internet.
Until next time... :)

Praise God for safe travels, and for holding off the rain so the roads were much easier to navigate! On our way, over half of us were able to go out and hike around Paris. That was a wonderful experience, I will have to share that with you some other day :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well... departure is just around the corner. I am leaving tomorrow at 12:15 from Indy to fly to D.C. to meet up with the rest of my team. We will hang out Monday and Tuesday, and then head to the airport Tuesday evening to begin our adventures! We will travel for 30+ hours and then finally arrive in Uganda. We will spend the night in the capital city, and then head for our final destination. Please pray that we would have safety in traveling. Pray also that the roads in Uganda would be passable. The roads to the mission compound are dirt, and the rainy season has started.
I am praising God for abundantly and graciously providing all the funds for our trip. Your generous gifts have made it possible for me to have this amazing opportunity, and I cannot thank you enough. Seeing the Lord answer prayer by providing for all of my needs from finances to luggage has been so encouraging and humbling. I am very excited to see how He will continue to glorify Himself through our trip.
We hope to have internet access while we are there, but it is still uncertain. I am hoping to be able to keep you all updated either here or through email. If for some reason the internet access does not work out, I am sure I will have plenty of stories to tell when we return on July 16th.

An electronic letter

This is a copy of the first letter that I sent out about my upcoming mission to Karamoja, Uganda for those of you who didn't get a copy.

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings! Summer is rapidly approaching, and I am excited to share with you some of the things God is doing in my life.

Currently I am in my junior year at the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis. In looking back on the past year God has used change, academic challenges, and His word especially through sermons and bible studies to teach me and mold me.

I was praying and thinking about how to use my “last” summer break when a couple of opportunities opened up. Through the counsel of my parents and others I have decided to pursue a summer missions trip to Uganda with Reformed Presbyterian Missions. Some of you may remember my previous summer mission trips to Cyprus in 2005 and 2006 with RP Missions. This summer I am excited to participate with RP Missions in another location. This mission will allow me to use my nursing skills to serve in a clinic and gain experience in rural medicine. I am praying that God will use this experience to show me how I can use nursing to serve Him at home and abroad.

I will, Lord-willing, be traveling with a team of six others from June 9 to July 15 to work with a group of Orthodox Presbyterian missionaries in the Karamoja region of Uganda. Karamoja is rural sub-region in northeastern Uganda. The missionaries are using education, training in sustenance farming, medical services and other practical methods to minister to the Karamojong. Our team will be helping the missionaries in whatever ways we can whether it be manual labor, helping in the clinic, or teaching Religious Education and English classes in the village schools.

I am excited about this opportunity, but I also recognize that it will challenge me in many ways. I am writing this letter to ask you to consider supporting me in this mission. The trip does have a financial cost of $3,400 to cover flight, food, supplies, etc., and if you are willing and able to support me financially I am enclosing a response card and envelope. Most importantly, my teammates and I need your support in prayer as we prepare for and participate in this mission.

A few specific things you can pray for me and my teammates would be:

- That each member of the team would be getting daily time in the Word

- That God would protect us both in preperation and while we are there

- That God would provide for our financial needs

Thank you! I look forward to being able to share how God used our mission trip in Uganda.

Sincerely,

Jenny B