Lukodi, Otem, And Olong villages

Sorry for the late post...internet has been hit and miss, but...Wow, what a great past few days! On Tuesday, we traveled to Lukodi village. The great thing about this was, back in July, another team from CBC visited this village while the well was actually being drilled. On that day, while the men were chatting with the village men and the drill was working in the background, when the water hit, several of those men saw the water and realized at that moment they needed living water and gave their lives to the Lord. So now on this trip, we were able to travel back to that same village and visit with those people and have the official dedication ceremony of the well.

When first arriving at the village we were invited to join Rosemary, one of the leaders of the community, in the garden. There, her and her friends taught us the proper way to work a hoe, and how to pick G-nuts (peanuts) from the roots and collect them in a bucket. It was a lot of fun seeing the team “get their hands dirty”. 

Alison showing everyone how its done.

The G-nut crew

After our time in the garden, we ate some lunch (more peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches) and headed to the tree to sit in the shade and have the water opening ceremony. The ceremony consisted of a greeting from the pastor, an introduction of the village leaders, and introduction of the American guests, a musical performance by the village children, a charge to the people to care for the well and a time of prayer. After that we walked over to the new well and pumped water for all to celebrate with.

Lukodi village after receiving gifts from the team

Well opening ceremony

We decided to call it an early evening as the team deserved some much needed time of rest. Several of the team members were able to access internet for the first time at cafe Larem next door (a real treat in Gulu town) while others visited the market and got to experience grocery shopping-Gulu style. Dinner was especially a treat as we decided to try something new in Gulu, something unheard of until now at Jo-Jo’s palace...spaghetti! Alison was kind enough to join the ladies that cook at Jo-Jo’s in the kitchen and taught them how to make the dish. Within just a few minutes into the process she looked up and saw a whole crowd of women gathered around her wanting to learn (and taste) as well. It was quite the show. But the team was so happy to have a taste of home followed by a good nights rest.

Wednesday, January 4th

This morning’s devotional time was a great discussion on the idea of not fretting, which is the act of dwelling on your worries. We discussed Psalm 37:8 as well as Philippians 4:6-7. What a wonderful time it was to recognize the need to rest on the Lord and not depend on external circumstances which cause us worry, but to depend on your relationship to God Himself.

After devotional as we were getting ready for the day, we found out that our bus had a flat tire and it was going to cause a slight delay in getting out to the bush. Well, when in Africa you learn to improvise and that is exactly what we did.  After we packed another 100 mercy bags & prepared items for the children’s VBS, some of the girls on the team sat in the courtyard with the girls on staff at JoJo’s .  Some were painting the girl’s nails while others were simply talking and sharing their photo albums.  Jacob and the boys picked up a game of soccer in the courtyard with some of the men on staff as well. The staff at JoJo’s help clean our rooms, clean our laundry, prepare our breakfast & dinner, and always greet us with a smile, so it was a great time of conversation and sharing.

The bus arrived with a new tire and we were ready to load and be on our way!  Once in the village of Otem, our medical team began to set up their station for the day, while the rest of us divided into teams to set out with mercy bags in hand!  The door to door mercy bag distribution was a great success.  Multiple people split up throughout the village and were able to talk to many families in a short time.  Several individuals, one in particular with whom we sat under the shade on a bamboo mat, accepted Christ into their heart.  One group even met a 90 year-old Mama!!  A good point was made that she is such a ray of hope for the village - she has remained healthy for 90 years.  Pastor Dick & Pastor Ray of the village were able to travel and interpret for us, which was a HUGE blessing.  We were able to introduce and direct families to Pastor’s who will be able to act as a shepherd and watch over their sheep. At one point two men were running to catch one of the groups asking to be prayed over!  Now, THAT is God at work in Uganda!

The medical team was able to see and help over 70 people for a variety of needs. Praise the Lord!!  Doc Walter, an African man whom David & Dana have known for a while, was able to join us and he was a great asset.  The “pharmacy” team helped prepare, pre-package medication & hand out needed medication and explain dosage and usage. A lot of children received medicine for worms, which is a common issue in the village, and pain medication was given to many adults complaining of chest pain.  Please join us in continuing to pray for the people we minister to both in mercy bag evangelism and through our medical outreach.  

After passing out toothbrushes and wrapping up the medical clinic, it was back on the bus and we were headed back to the Jo-Jo. On the way home, about a 5 minute drive from the hotel, our bus got another flat tire. Immediately David flagged down 10 bota-bota (motorcycle) drivers and the team paired off in two’s and hopped on and away we went back to Jo-Jo while the bus stayed and had the tire repaired. Although we hated to see the bus have a problem, we took it as a blessing in disguise because it happened so close to town and not in the middle of the bush and we all had an awesome time on the bota-bota’s. Dinner that night was back to our traditional beans rice and cabbage before we all headed to bed. Here is a quick video of the team on the bota-bota's. Sorry for the sideways view...Dana...enough said :)

Thursday

This morning was another great devotion time were we discussed the rich young ruler and the need for abandonment in our lives. We recognized the need to give him everything, even the things we hold most dear. Not because he is a stingy God, but because He loves us enough to want the very best for us and knows that that is simply Himself above everything else.

After out devotional it was back on the bus as we had a long drive ahead of us to Olong village (about a 2 hour bus ride in to the depth of the bush). The people of this village had not seen a mzungu (white person) since they returned from the camp 3 years ago. That means VOHA is the first NGO aide they have received since their return. We were greeted with singing as the whole village was awaiting our arrival. The plan today was to set up another medical clinic and while that was going on, the other team members ran the VBS program with the children, played soccer, blew bubbles, sang songs, and painted finger nails (the women jumped in on this activity and it was a big hit!)

Kat painting a village woman's nails

Arlene is quite popular as all the kids are waiting to have their nails painted.

VBS...the parachute game seems to be the most popular of all the games, these kids love it!

Kacie is learning to be Acholi...complete with a baby on her back.

The medical clinic ran especially smooth today as we had 3 team members running triage while Dan, our doctor, visited each patient. He then prescribed to them the needed medication and a sheet with their prescription on it was handed to our make-shift pharmacy (a handful of team members bagging the various pills) and after that the medication was given. 

The medical clinic "pharmacy" crew.

Cindy dressing a little girls wound.

Cody doing medical triage

There was one army man named Joseph visiting the clinic and as Colleen was examining him she was concerned that his problem was more spiritual than physical and took him to David, after conversation David realized that although he knew who Jesus was, he did not understand relationship with him and David discussed Romans 10:9 with him and told him of the necessity to have Jesus in his heart and the man realized that this is what he was missing in his life and prayed to receive the Lord. When we left there was a whole new countenance upon his face and was praising Jesus with his community. Hallelujah!

After about 5 hours of medical clinic and about 200 patients, the gang said their goodbyes and piled back onto the bus.....as the tiniest boy in the village chased the bus. While on the bus the team members in the back acted as our own personal DJ singing a compilation of 70’s, 80’s & 90’s hit songs.  Mama Dana really liked it.  :)

Earlier in the week Arturo befriended a Lebanese couple staying at JoJo’s with us, and as a special treat to the team, we took everyone to their restaurant, Cedars.  The team enjoyed their version of a chicken fajita, chips (french fries), two different salads and to top it all off... vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.  Yum Yum!! 

Prayer Request

• Our last day would be a great finish to a wonderful trip
• That we would all really press in and finish strong
• That God would continue to work in and through us on the next portion of our trip, as we relax before our long journey home.
• That the bus would continue to provide safe travels
• As we leave our translators behind, that God would continue to use them in their ministry to others.