The team started their morning preparing for an awesome day of safari fun. The big huge bummer is that last night (actually two nights ago our time) Sean came down with some African heebeee geebeeees. He was in a bad state and wasn’t able to go with the team on the safari. While he rested at the lodge, the team loaded up in the bus and headed out. They went to Murchison Falls and took in the beauty of it all then went to find some animals. Many were seen today! They saw hyenas, giraffes, elephants ( an adorable baby, too) and loads of deer warthogs etc… A guide was with them to help locate the animals and as they were rounded some bend he announced that there were lions near by. They finally saw one lounging in a tree so Moses, bus driver extraordinaire, hightailed and four-by’d it on over to the lions. Nice, Moses! They stopped just short of the lions and were literally about 5 feet from them in the bus. I must admit that I am a bit jealous. The safari took about 3-4 hours and then they swooped up Sean and made the trek back to the south. When they finally arrived in Kampala, they met up with Pastor Fred who took Sean to the ARM clinic and loaded him up on some meds. He was feeling a bit better as his fever broke and got some food in him. Please be praying for him!!!

That evening, they had a fabulous dinner with some of the ARM staff as they debriefed about the trip. It was another great way to end the day and the Ugandan leg of the trip. Ministry continues all the way until they land at LAX (and beyond we hope!).

The many early days are taking a toll on the team as they weren’t moving as spryly like they normally would. They are all still doing well though! God has been faithful throughout and I personally am extremely anxious to hear many more stories of all that He has done in and through each member.

They had a good nights sleep and then had a bit of time the next morning to so some shopping at the markets in Kampala. Then they headed off to the airport and are now on their way to Dubai. They will have an 8 or so hour layover there and chances are they won’t sleep until the last leg from Dubai to LAX (or Dubai to DC if you answer to the name of Bammer). Therefore, most, if not all will be taxi-ing around Dubai in the middle of the night checking out the sights, sticking their feet in the Arabian sea and other cool stuff like that.

Continue to pray for them and for Sean as he will remain in Kampala with Pastor Fred for a few days before he heads back up to Gulu.

-tracy

Sean called to say the team is off to Dubai. They had a good last day hanging out at Gaba Community Church with our friends at ARM.

The team arrives tomorrow at LAX.

Flight info is:

From Dubai to LAX
Emerites Airlines Flight #HK215
Arriving at 1:55pm on June 21

EK 724 G 20JUN EBBDXB 1615-6 0045
EK 215 G 21JUN DXBLAX 0820-7 1355

Uganda sunrises. The best! The team was up early, early to sadly say good-bye to Gulu and head to Murchison Falls for some fun in the sun. Fun was had, but not so much sun. The team drove in their bus for several hours (again lots of singing and laughter to had) through the game area of their first of two safaris. Loads of animals were seen. Sean mentioned he rode an elephant and a lion. He had me until he said that he rode them at the same time. I think he was joking. He is so silly.
Anywho. They really did see lots of animals; elephants, water buffalo, many kinds of deer, warthogs, hippos, and alligators. No lions or leopards though. Rumor has it that they will have a better chance in the morning.

They had lunch and then went off to the boat landing area for a two hour ride up to the actual waterfall named Murchison Falls. The boat broke down (hmmmm thats cool, cuz i hear hippos and alligators are extremely friendly in these parts. just kidding to any family members that have been concerned at all for their safety. these are trained professionals) so they reloaded into a much smaller boat that held only 14 people which was a perfect number for their team! voila! It was more of a covered canoe with a motor. The view is astonishingly beautiful. Now they are half way to the falls and drop, drop, drip, drop. rain. no, down pour! They were beyond drenched and loving every minute of it. The wind kicked up and the waters got rough, but this made the trip ever more fun and adventurous. “EPIC” to quote them. It was an EPIC moment: being there in the boat that they were in, seeing what they were seeing, having the fun that they were having and soaking it all in, both literally and figuratively. The sun eventually came back out dancing on the waters and hanging with mama and baby hippos…really???? its tough to suffer for Jesus in this manner I suppose.

They all made it through the rains and settled into their ridiculously cool rooms at the lodge. Dinner that night was amazingly good and everybody was just trying to savor each moment that they had remaining of northern Uganda. After dinner, they reclined by the pool -ya know, the one that is overlooking the Nile with fireflies dancing about their heads (I KNOW! Sucks to be them!)- and they had a sweet affirmation time. Basically, it was an enormous Lovefest (not sure why that needed a capital “L”, but it seemed to warrant it); a sweeter than sweet way to wrap up their time in the north and all of God’s goodness, to be sure.

They said good night to one another and to all the bats that were flying around, and called it a night. So night, night yourself. Undoubtedly the adventure continues tomorrow.

Also, be sure to ask about the face poking competition that was created on the bus ride.
-tracy

Everybody saw the sweet picture of some of the crew mowing the mango juice at breakfast. Afterwards, the team all helped to fill the mercy bags that they’d be dispersing at the hospital and/or prison. Typically, this includes toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, flour, sugar or any combination therein.

They went to Gulu hospital which is walking distance to the hotel. There are many wards to go to, so each team had lots of people to share, talk and pray with. Many people accepted the Lord and received prayer. Its always difficult to see some of the crude conditions that we aren’t used to in a hospital, but God can be seen so vividly in these setting at times. They didn’t ever see the baby and mom that we talked about yesterday, but the head nurse confirmed that they were in the Feeding Intensive and getting treatment.

After this they went to the local prison to minister. A new prison was built directly next to the older one. And the women were now in the old mens’ prison and the men were moved to the new facility. Taylor, Lindsey, Daley, Lori, Millie, Pastor Ron and Ivan went off to minister with the women (and their children) while the remainder of the team went to the Mens Prison. What they encounter there was some of the tenderest worship during the mens’ chruch service. Mark Brown preached from Ephesions followed by Sean and translated by David. A tag-team effect, no doubt. When it was all said and done, 27 separate men accepted the Lord. AMAZING! That is 27 lives changed for the kingdom in one prison alone. The mercy bags were handed out to all the prisoners and the day was wrapping up.

As they got back to the church, they had to pray and give thanks for all that God had done. And there are MANY things to give thanks for. God ha proved himself faithful yet again. and again. and again.

A quick rest and they headed at to the traditional farewell, thank-you, we-love-Uganda, last night’s dinner. Danny, Bethany, Sean and Stefanie shared from the RH team and Pastor Chris, Dr. Fredrick, Patrick and perhaps a few others from GBCC. This is such a precious time as we realize we are leaving for a time, but these people have been imprinted on our hearts permanently. Lives are often altered for good and simple friendships become brother/sisterhoods. Parting is such sweet sorrow. For many of us, we count down until we can minister alongside our new family again. These men and women of God that have taught us so much, will never know how precious they are and how thankful we all are for their willing hearts and open arms.

Until tomorrow.
-tracy

Forgive the tardiness here folks. My bad. and with no excuses.
The morning devotion was brought by our very own Jen Nash. I know how she loves to speak publicly and preach, so this was a no brainer for her. She talked on 1 Peter 2. We are the Royal Priesthood, the Holy Nation. Bring it, Jen!
After the devotion, the team drove back out to Te-Kulu. There was, of course, the singing extravaganza while in transit. When pressed for songs sung etc… turns out there was a lot more of Danny and Sean taking pictures of themselves with a bandana in different positions. ( not saying that its from the Lord, but I am hearing the phrases Funky Fresh, Yeahhh Booouy and Word Up ) I guess there WAS a bit of worship being led by Danny as well. Who knew!

The word on the street (see how i kept the whole Urban theme going???) was that Te-Kulu had more medical outreach and minstry similar to yesterday. There were some other tales to be told most certainly. First off, the ‘off’ translator that we mentioned yesterday that had the crowd giggling at inappropriate times and all that… well, he accepted Jesus today as his savior! HA, Satan!!! As the story unfolds, he was getting fit for reading glass by some of the Ugandans that go to GBCC. The writing that they have each patient read to check the prescription strength is John 3:16 (clever, very clever). As he is reading it Justice and Isaac ask if he knows the Lord. “no” Would you like to?, they ask. “yes”. So they send him off to Sean who grills him about what he is about to do, seeing if he genuinely is deciding to follow Christ and sure enough, he is. To put it in his own words, “I have come from darkness into light”. Amen, my brother.

Medical and wound care continued on and there were some pretty severe cases to be dealt with. Some cases were beyond their scope so they cleaned, patched, wrapped and swabbed as best they could and decided that the hospital was the only hope. A baby that was so malnourished that they encountered yesterday (an 18 month old that looked about 4 months), a lady with a nearly severed heel, a toddler with leg deformities etc… So off they were taken to the clinic with a feeding program that announced they HAD a program only to find out they really didn’t and dropped off the mom and baby. Then on to the hopsital to get the others admitted. One of the Dr.s at the hospital shared how thankful he was the the team was there to assist the people and that those that were brought were in dire straights. They headed back to check in on the baby only to then find that the mom had scooped up the baby, strapped her on her back and began the long journey in the scorching sun back to the village. They caught up with her on the way, and through much convincing she got back in the car and returned to camp, talked things over with the hubby and they all returned to a Unicef feeding center. With all the frustration, the good news is that the baby will get much needed assistance now. Its worth it in the end.

Meanwhile, back at the village, over 90 people got saved over the course of the two days there. SWEET! In addition to that, loads of people were treated medically and everybody was prayed for several times. The bummer (or so they thought) was that they ran out of gloves to treat the remainder of patients. As they were waiting for the reinforcements to return with more gloves, this enable the entire team to breath, take a break and chill with the chilluns. Jen got to do a repeat performance on the lost sheep with the kids while Porter and Brooke twisted and contorted their faces to the sheer delight of their onlookers. Daley, meanwhile, drew football patterns on the kids hands that they in turn had to run. Nice one, Daley! The kids made Daley do the same as they drew patterns on her hands. ha! Lindsey shared her testimony and Lori and Stef prayed for a bunch of people.
The gloves made it back I think and they eventually ended their time in Te-Kulu.

The team rested for a bit back at the Acholi Inn while Sean ran into the Philip, the previous Acholi Inn receptionist guy, who offered him a ride on his motorbike to pick up two large, heavy trash bags of Molly’s beads. An accident waiting to happen? Perhaps, but all went well. The team got to purchase lots of beads.

Next the entire team paired up on Boda Bodas (chauffeured mopeds really). I guess Porter and Mark together with a driver on one Boda Boda was a priceless site. (again, please tell me there were cameras around) They then went off to Kope Cafe, where by some act of God, the food was waiting for them! For those that have dined in Gulu, you understand the feat that this is. They ate and chatted with Jolly.

Another great day in paradise.
-tracy

Good morning!!!

We are sitting here, sipping on some fresh Mango juice over breakfast, and we thought… “hey, lets see if we can find some internet to greet our 1000s and 1000s of blog followers…”

I’ll let Tracy fill you all in on yesterday - but, we just wanted to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the prayers this week. We can’t begin to tell you of all that God has done during our time in Gulu - of His provision, and His protection, and His amazing hope being displayed through the lives of many.

We had a late start this morning (which was needed after a series of 12 hour work days) and will be heading over to the prison in about 45 minutes to minister to the people there. Following that, we will be going to Gulu Referral Hospital (the local gov hospital) and serving there. We are excited to be able to check in with a few of the people we took to the hospital yesterday from Te-Kulu Village.

Lives have changed this week. The power of the name of Jesus has been displayed. We are humbled and thankful to be apart of what God is doing in Gulu.

Love,

Sean

The day broke and started with a devotion led by Brooke. She talked about Romans 8 and facilitated a great discussion and prayer time with the team. An awesome start to the day. Everybody was still on a high from how incredible the church service was yesterday. Especially the Kiswahili service led in worship by THE most amazing singers EVER. Side note: six of these women were ones that had been saved last December and now over 30 women and 50 children attend this service. 16 of these were the ones that were baptized yesterday morning. God is powerful and faithful I tell ya

The team headed out to Te-Kulu for some medical outreach, loving on people, playing with kids and the like. This is a village we had been to before, but they plopped down in a different area; an open clearing by a few huts. It had rained throughout the night so there was a freshness in the air and a renewed expectation that went along with it. Africa does that to you, folks. Seriously….its God’s country. The medical outreach began and in the meantime Lori and Taylor began sharing their testimonies with the crowd. Following this Danny, Lori, Taylor and Pastor Ron (sweet man of God originally from Kenya but now serves full time at GBCC) led worship with the crowd. Lindsey, David, and Stef worked the wound care like champs. Dig in ladies!! As it does during this season, the rains came smack in the middle of all the hub bub. The ol’ quick-pick-up-EVERYHTING-and-load-it-on-the-bus technique was deployed (note to self: must work this into team trainings prior to arriving in Uganda) and yep…. it was all quickly thrown on the bus and all humans were relocated under two massive Mango trees. many of the team under mango tree # 1 look over, with the rain pouring down, at mango tree #2 with Brooke, Bethany, Taylor, Lindsey, Jen and 75 plus kids singing and dancing under the canopy of the tree. It was an epic moment. (video WAS shot. boom!)

The day continued on after the rain subsided and by the end of it MANY people found salvation in Jesus. Anywhere from 40-70, depending on who you talk to. THIS, my friends, is something to rejoice over. Everything went smoothly again today. There were minor hiccups like when Brooke and Mark were preaching with a local translator and and in the middle of Mark sharing something about a dark time in his life…..then the translation…..and laughter? hmmmm then something about a hospital. HUH??? So lesson learned here is that our good friend David will be handling the translation from here on out. AWKWARD.

The team returned to the Acholii Inn and rested for a little bit. In the meantime, Sean and Danny headed over and fixed Pastor Chris’ computer. (truth be told it was all Danny. Sean was just along for the ride)

The had a nice, mellow meal at the Acholii Inn. It was dining al fresco that evening. It was great to dine, sip some bottled Stoneys (ok i am guessing here about the Stoneys which are a spicey ginger soda that is sickeningly good), Coca Colas and Fanta as they quietly munched their meals. [Insert a few senarios into this peaceful dining experience] 1. Sean looks up and sees a nice sized spiderweb hanging above his head. Which is all fine and good save for the fact that there were no structures of any kind nearby for this spiderweb to afix itself to. hmmmm could it be his HEAD that it was using for a roost. Oh sure. yep. He swats his head and off comes a fairly good-sized spider to match its accompanying web. SMACK. bye bye spider. And Sean may need to now shave his head. He hasn’t decided. 2. Techno music loudly playing by the pool to offset the tender evening. boom. boom. boom. 3. Frogs. mmmm hmmm A new pond was installed on the grounds apparently. Nice! Except for that whole bullfrog thing that brings the groaning croaks of frogs SOOOO loud you can’t hear your neighbor. ha!

So there you have it, folks. Please be praying for the team. They are all doing well and are still healthy. Though God is doing so much through them and in them, please be praying that they are protected in every way. Everything has run so smoothly (praise Jesus!) but it is still difficult at times when you see something that breaks your heart and you know that there is not much you can physically do about it. Pray for God’s provision, not only for the team, but for those they come in contact with. Pray that the entire area of Gulu come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and that their hope is found in Him. Its humbling to know that the Ugandans are praying for America because they have heard that we are undergoing financial crises. Really??? THEY are praying for us???? It kills me, people. Absolutely humbles me! But God calls us to take care of the widows and orphans. I am so thankful that these team members are going across the globe to do just that. Be thankful and intercede for your friends and family that are there right now doing this very thing. It gives me great joy and brings me to tears to report to you that those on this team are representing Jesus in ways unimaginable. Not one person balks at what they have been called to do in Uganda - no matter what the task is. They do it with joy. They are serving those that many would outwardly be seen as the ‘least of these’. But the team is learning how beautiful and full of abundant life these are. All this to say, PRAY. God hears these prayers and meets the needs of his children no matter where they live. I will get off my soapbox here.
-tracy

Wow. Today was a Sunday few of us have ever experienced before. Who knew that worship could uplift the spirits as well as burn a few hundred calories. Our friends here from GBCC definitely showed us how to worship with joy….and sweat.

The morning began beautifully. At 6:30am, as the sun was slowly coming up, Pastor Chris, Pastor Ron, and our very own Sean, (”Apostle Sean” as they call him here) baptized 16 women. I couldn’t help but think about how appropriate it was that we baptized them in the morning, it spoke so powerfully of God’s grace. His mercies are truly new every morning!

After the baptisms, we arrived at the church at 8:30am for the first of three services. We danced and laughed and praised God. Porter gave the message at the first service. He spoke about forgiveness, reading Psalm 91 and recalling the story of David. At the next service, Danny spoke about Paul’s conversion and how God can use anyone regardless of the things they’ve done in the past. At the final service, Stefanie shared her powerful testimony and drew parallels to the story of Joseph.

Let us pause here to make the following suggestions/recommendations for Rock Harbor worship, after we’ve experienced worship here.

1. Porter and Mark suggest the we incorporate more “High-Fives” into worship….at any point in the service, as the spirit leads.
2. We recommend the spontaneous “AY-AY-AY-AY-AY” Native-American style trill to be used as a substitution for the all-too common “Amen.”
3. If upon the services completion one is NOT COMPLETELY SOAKED IN SWEAT and emotionally drained, thou hath not adequately worshiped the Lord.

The children of GBCC, with the help of Porter, Stefanie, and Lindsey crafted baby sheep out of paper plates, cotton balls, and mickey mouse-shaped heads. In all, approximately 3000 cotton balls, 300 paper plates, and many pairs of googly eyes was used to help teach children the parable of the lost sheep.

The team also got to visit Pastor Chris’ new house, where we watched a great video that our good buddy George had made of past trips. And let us not forget that Pastor Chris may possibly have the MOST ADORABLE children ever. Hanging out with Blessing and Wisdom was SA-WEET!

The day came to an end when the team was able to enjoy a DELICIOUS dinner at the soon-to-be-home of Mr. Sean Galaway. It was awesome to hang out with some of the 31-bit ladies, Krochet Kid dudes and some other super cool peeps.

To conclude this blog entry, (just as we did this morning in worship), please take the hand of your neighbor, look him/her in they eye, ask them if they are truly saved, give them a blessing and send them on their way! Amen.

-Daley Hilburn (and Chris Porter)

Well kids… they are having a blast. Everybody is healthy. Hallelulah! Amen! Keep them prayers coming. Every is getting good sleep and the laughs are free flowing. Like I said, they are having a blast.

The day began at GBCC with a morning devotion courtesy of Lindsey. Always so sweet to start the day with Jesus. They quickly broke into groups of three (two RHers and a translator) and off they went in to the surrounding villages to share Jesus: what we affectionately call “hut-to-hut” evangelism. I am told that there were MANY amazing stories as each team shared. The word ’sweet’ was used often in the telling of these stories. (one word. many meanings. And this rang true here as well. Sweet: to mean something ‘awesome/righteous/cool’ or ‘tender/darling’) For instance, Stef, Danny and Dennis (pastor Martins lil bro) were out sharing with a sweet 16 year old girl. After dialoging with her for a bit, she wanted to accept Jesus as her Savior. Dennis led her in prayer as she repeated it out loud. But wait, another voice was heard. Hmmmm. As they looked back behind the girl they saw her even younger sister that had overheard their conversation and decided to accept Jesus, too. God is incredible. Nobody was even talking to her, yet she knew good news when she (over)heard it. A very ’sweet’ moment it was! The team was so encouraged by talking with several Ugandans that shared with them that they prayed that very morning that somebody would come and preach to them or that they woke up and KNEW that today was the day that they were to commit their lives to the Lord. Mark, Lori and Millie(’sweet’ translator) were talking with some women in the village that communicated how thankful they were for them coming to share and encourage them in the Lord. They offered up many prayer requests to pray through and then released their kids to them for the day. huh? yep. sure! our kids can go with you people that we just met even though they are only about 2 or 3. The funny thing is….they did take ‘em hut to hut for a while. Mark announced that he now had a NEW travel buddy (sorry current RH travel buddy, ’sweet’ lil’ Ugandan kid wins out every time) Everyone met back at the church to share stories and hang out with lots of kids that meet there on Saturdays to learn about Jesus. fun.

With the appropriate (insert sarcasm font) time allotment of 5 minutes, Sean, Jen, and Bethany were given notice that the team would be teaching a group bible study for the next several hours. Ephesians 4 (specifically 4:11) was decided upon. That’s the whole One body, many parts/Unity in the body of Christ chapter. The entire team stepped up and the Holy Spirit was MOVIN’. Everybody shared, everybody had scriptures, everybody played. And when I say EVERYBODY, that includes the RH team and the 25 or so Ugandans that were there to HEAR the teaching. I love when God does that. Turns out that 2 1/2 hours later, the 4th chapter of Ephesians was covered in a ’sweet’ round table type discussion that benefited each person there.

Next, they headed off to HEALS (a ’sweet’ program that our friend Jolly started many moons ago to rehabilitate the Acholi children through dance, music and the Acholi culture) It wasn’t the usual big performance that they saw this time though. They were able to watch about 10-15 kids practicing their Hip Hop class. mmmm hmmmm That’s right. Then they hung out with the kids afterwards for about 1 1/2 hours. Some of the girls were getting some ’sweet’ dance lessons from the kids. (PLEASE tell me that somebody had a video camera!), Mark hopped on the drums and played along with the kids, and lots of soccer and volleyball was played. oh, and did I mention that they all look over and Porter had gagillions of balloon animals going on. He kills me. LOVE IT!

The day wound down with dinner at the Acholi Inn and a ’sweet’ (very cool) debrief time. They prayed for Porter, Danny and Stefanie as they are preaching at church tomorrow. They hit the sack as there will be baptisms at Acholi Inn at 6:30AM tomorrow. SWEET! (the woo hooo super duper neato kind of sweet)

Our friend and former Uganda teammate, Kelsey, was able join them for dinner and hitch some rides with the team, too. She is to be with them for a few days and then off to southern Uganda for 6 or so weeks. (so keep her in your prayers, too)

All in all, the reports regarding the team are that they are all super mellow. No drama. No complaints from anybody. Everybody is just ’sweet’. (the cool kind) Ok. that will be my last use of that word.

Quote of the Day: Mark in prayer during debrief, for those that will be preaching tomorrow: “Jesus, you said that you are in our midst if two or more are gathered, and tomorrow there will be A LOT more than that!”

-tracy

The morning started with devotions at church at 7 am led by Daley. She talked about being yourelf and letting the Lord lead you and use your gift to minister to others. She did a great job.

The team went to Alero Cuku and held a medical clinic. They treated 624 people - WOW! Daley and Laurie did a great job on wound care. Lindsay, Mark, and Jenn dominated the pharmacy. Taylor, Laurie, and Stephanie began the day at Alero by praying over the people waiting in line, God did awesome things! This is a village that RH and GBCC are pouring into of each trip. It has been amazing to see the progress. A couple years ago the village had been abandoned for almost twenty years because of the war.

Sean and Danny ran a sall soccer clinic with the kids. Like many African countries, soccer is very popular. If kids don’t have a ball, they’ll use a balled-up piece of trash. It’s always fun to give them new soccer balls. The kids play barefoot, but I’m sure Sean was in full soccer gear with his Nike cleats showing the 10 year old kids who’s the man.

Bethany and Danny each shared their testimony. It is always good to see how God uses our life stories to encourage people going through similar things half-way around the world. Daley got to hold a 2 week old baby for a long time which was precious. The team met a little boy about 3 or 4 named Stewart - he captured the hearts of each of them at some point during the day. Stephanie was able to really bond with one of the families - she even got to meet cousins, brothers and sisters and pray over all of them.

The Lord revealed a lot to Brooke as she prayed for people despite the fact that they didn’t speak the same language. Taylor and Chris Porter did a kid’s program on the Lost Sheep

Overall it was a very peaceful, smooth day which was amazing considering the fact that so many people were treated! The team was very blessed by Norma and Fredrick’s leadership in the med clinic. Norma is an American nurse who works for Gulu based Favor of God ministries. She has worked side by side with RockHarbor teams almost every time we have been in Gulu.

The team has enjoyed seeing a lot of good old friends in Gulu. They had dinner at the Acholi Inn - tomorrow they will be doing hut to hut evangelism and Bible study groups at church!

Quote of the day, “I worked so hard that I need to scarf a bar” - Lindsey

All for now
-Sarah (and Tim)