Make a joyful noise!!!!

Psalm 100 is a psalm for giving grateful praise-for giving thanks. This psalm tells us that we are called to praise, followed by a declaration of why the Lord is worthy of praise. The call to worship extends to the entire world-to "all the earth"-whether near or far, whether in Midland, MI or Uganda, Africa. We are the sheep of His pastures, and have been called to enter the gates with thanksgiving. What a WONDERFUL day that will be rejoicing, praising, and thanking HIM!!! Verse 5 tells us "For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations". God's love and faithfulness was so evident throughout our entire week, and we are all extremely grateful. His almighty hand shadowed over us guiding each and every step of the way. To Him be all glory, honor and praise!!! When we can step outside of ourselves and listen to God's calling, we cannot help but declare why the Lord God is worthy of praise. There are sooooooo many things that we have to be thankful for, and one of them is you. We give thanks to God for each and every one of you-for lifting the entire team up in prayer, for financial support (this would not have been possible if it were not through your generosity), for safety, for health, for team unity, for the experiences we shared, for the lives we touched, for the "God-stories", and for coming alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ through child sponsorship and prayers. (I could spend hours and hours and days and days, etc. listing all the things we are grateful for). When we unite as one, we CAN do ALL things in Christ who strengthens us. As John 4:34 states, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the one who sent me, finishing the work He started". We have only just begun. Let's all listen to God's call and declare why the Lord God Almighty is worthy of praise!!! It is with thankful, grateful hearts that we pass on this joy. Jackie N.

After an amazing week with the people of Gulu and the World Vision staff our journey with God leads us onward to Paraa Safari Lodge where our debriefing is to take place. Martin tells me it will be a half a days journey, which is about 6 hours long. The scenery begins to change as we leave the busy streets of Gulu to the countryside where only a few small villages can be seen. The road changes and the view are extremely different. Trees and wild life seem to take the place of the people as we get into the heart of the Uganda National Reserve Area. Giraffes, monkeys, birds, warthogs, and kob can be seen with a couple of small villages. A sense of stillness and peace flow over me as memories of what I’ve encountered continue to stay with me. As we arrive at Paraa Lodge it almost overwhelms me to think this is now where we are. I don’t know whether to be excited or sad because a part of me was already missing those I had met and I wondered how different these two worlds really were. Then as I walked out onto the patio there stood before my eyes the Nile River a place I had studied and seen in pictures. I had been dreaming of this moment and it was now it stood before me in the backyard of Paraa Lodge. It was a breath taking view as the water flowed ever so gentle down in the valley and could be seen for miles in either direction. Trees were everywhere and the sounds of hippos, birds, and monkeys could be heard. I felt so blessed by God to have this moment that a tear rolled down my face and I took in a deep breath of air as I felt God’s peace flow over me and joy set in me that I can never explain. God is so amazing to see the beauty of his incredible work. It is by far the most beautiful artwork I have ever known. As I take it all I begin to see the rest of the lodge, the pool, the people, and my friends. We decide after this long journey to go swimming and head to our rooms. The rooms are majestic with lots of dark wood and the view from the balcony is simple breathtaking as Pat and I gaze over the Nile River and there before our eyes are elephants bathing and drinking from the Nile. Elephants are my favorite animals and the view of them makes me giggle and laugh as though I were a child. What an absolute blessing this is and I’m so thankful to God for this moment. I thought to myself how could this get any better and truth of the matter is, it did. As we went down to swim a lady name Janine introduced herself and told me she was a math and science teacher from Australia and that her and her husband Phil had come to teach for two months in Sudan but they were not able to get into the country and had been spending there time instead in Gulu. She asked me what we had been doing here and I explained to her all that we had done and about World Vision. This conversation last for a couple of hours and it was a true blessing from God as she explained where is lived we quickly found out that it is the same city where my best friend since 1st grade now lives. We got a good chuckle from this and she said she would search out my friend to tell her that we met in Africa. Then she told me that when they first arrived at Paraa Lodge they found themselves face to face with friends that they knew from Australia. They were here through World Vision Australia. God’s plans and how he orchestras his work is mind boggling and so extremely inspiring. Later that evening we had dinner with the group from World Vision Australia and to know that we were all here working for God’s glory puts a giant smile on my face. To God be the glory! Amen! Angella K. Peters

The Amazing Staff of World Vision Uganda

What can I say about the staff at World Vision Gulu Office besides WOW! This is an amazing group of people, who are devoting their lives to improving the lives of the sponsored children, their families and their communities here in the Gulu District. As we have spent the week here with the staff here, I have gained a lot of respect for them and the work they do here. Every staff person that we encountered here is passionate about their work. They were very knowledgeable and able to communicate the information on the projects and programs that they oversaw. They are very devoted to their work. Their are too many to write individually about each, but I will highlight a few for you: Arriving at the Entebee Airport late last Saturday night / early Sunday morning, we were greeted by Charlotte, our Vision Trip Coordinator from the District office in Kampala. What a gem World Vision has! Even though we were late, Charlotte met us with a smile on her face and was ready to get to work. She did a great job organizing our week, making sure that we were able to see the many programs that World Vision supports here in Gulu. On Monday, after Jeff and Kim weren't able to see their sponsored child, Charlotte and the World Vision team went to work to make the necessary arrangements to have him brought to the World Vision office the next morning, so that they could meet with him. We truly appreciate her and thank her for spending the week with us. Next, we met our World Vision Drivers: Martin, Peter and Bright. What a group of guys this is! Not only were they great drivers (which you have to be here in Gulu - we will explain when we return), but they were also very knowledgeable about the culture and were able to answer all our groups many, many questions. Getting to know each of them and their own personal story was incredible. They were also full of questions for us and very inquisitive about the US and Michigan in general and asked many, many questions of us. A fantastic group of guys. Next up, Harriet. What a pleasure to get to know her. Harriet is one of five Child Development Coordinators working in the Koro Bobi ADP. With 4000 children in the ADP and only five CDC's, it's not hard to do the math and figure out how many sponsored children each works with. Harriet has 820 children that she works with. Harriet took Jody, Kim, Jeff and myself out on Monday to visit our sponsored children and you could see the relationships that she has built with each child and their families. She also went with us when we visited the Oxen Plowing program and walked us through the program. As I stated earlier, there are so many, that I can't write about all of them, but we also want to thank Arthur, Patrick, Max, Lillian, Jane, Pauline, Goeffrey, Janet, Olympia, Stella, and Denis for their efforts this week in showing us their work here. The total team work that this group has and the devotion they demonstrated toward the children was nothing less than amazing. We are totally blessed to be united with a group like this in trying to better the lives of the children and their communities here in Gulu. We thank God for them and offer them our many blessings and prayers. May God keep them and guide them each day as they continue His work here in Gulu. Pat

Kop anno (How are you)? Hope this finds our friends and family doing well. This is a phrase used often this week. The weather has been 95-100.4 this week. Today we had many God sitings. We visited the Laroo School for the Deaf. Two months ago the Minister for the Deaf lost his hut due to fire. We were sent information that he needed a new Bible. Pathway Book Store donated a Bible for this young man. We were able to deliver the Bible to Bongo today in person. Our team shared a song "Let your light Shine", in sign language with the students. The students shared a few songs with us. I was able to pray over the interpreter who has felt alone and under paid. It was wonderful to know God sent me to this interpreter to give her hope and encouragement. We visited a farmers field where the community grows crops. Our manly team members drove the OX team. This was during the hot sun. It did not take them long to realize how much work these farmers do daily. I spoke with the mother of the farmer who carried a huge basket filled with produce. The basket was balanced on her head and she told me she was on her way to give the produce to her daughter who lived eight miles away. Can you imagine walking with a huge produce basket balanced on your head for eight miles in one day? Most of us think getting in a car and going to the grocery store is a task. We visited a primary school today. A young man named Jacob (fourteen years old) lead the class and was the Sunday school teacher. This young man has an amazing story which we will share upon our return. I will say that one day he will become one of the best pastors you will ever meet. Our last visit was at the Pastors Training Center. The Sunday school Director spoke with us. They have over seven hundred children that attend their program and only six teachers for three services. Can you imagine our church with six workers and seven hundred children in the Sunday School program. I believe we are very blessed. Tomorrow we will meet with the World Vision Staff for our Farwell. It has been a busy-but fruitful week. We have had our eye's opened, hearts broken, and learned what it is to serve the least of these. We look forward to sharing stories and the "VISION" when we return home. Please pray for our team as we begin to process the week and debrief before we return home. Pray for travel mercies and our health as many members have had some health issues this week. We are all on the road to recovery, but need you prayers for good health to travel home. It is late and photo's will not download...I will post to facebook tomorrow! God Bless you! In Christ, Mary P

Greetings from Gulu, Uganda! Today was another busy day for our team filled with much learning and interacting with World Vision Volunteers. What an incredible day! We visited a farm where the Community Volunteers go into villages and teach the village people about planting healthy foods like sweet potatoes that have vitamin A and iron rich beans so that they are getting a balanced diet. We helped prepare sweet potato cakes and donuts along side the volunteers. This was a special treat for all of us as they are very yummy. Sweet potato cakes, donuts and sweet potato fries are made and sold at market as a way to earn income for the volunteers. Attached you see two photos of a sweet little girl who was initially very shy and stood back from us. I along with Michelle have been battling a little bit of a bug and we were feeling a little tired so we choose to stay back and sit with the children while the rest of the team went to see the garden. As you can see in the second photo, this little girl started walking towards me and singing softly. Eventually, she walked up to me and allowed me to hold her. I started singing Jesus Loves Me to her and very quickly the other children in the village ran over. Michelle and I then spent some wonderful time with them teaching them this song and how to sign "Yes, Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so." It was a joy to be able to hear them sing and watch their faces light up as we encouraged them. When they walked away and went off by themselves you could hear them softly singing the song we had just taught them. God is Good! We also had some great time with a Community Volunteer who works directly with the sponsored children. This man has volunteered in his village for World Vision for 18 years. He has such a great heart for the children and his community. These types of volunteers know the children you sponsor very well since they live in the same village. They are checking on them every other day or so and making sure things are going well. They then report back to World Vision staff on how the children are doing and if they need to assist any of the families or children in the village. Your sponsored children are being well taken care of by these faithful volunteers. One thing that I was impressed with is how many layers World Vision has in each aspect of working with the people of Gulu. They educate, teach and come along side the villages so that they can be self sustaining and not reliant on others. I walked away thinking World Vision does not do this for their gain in anyway, but truly for the least of these to instill pride, sense of community, a purpose, better health and quality of life. The week is flying by and tomorrow will be another packed day. Please continue to pray for our health, safety, stamina and opportunities to shine the love of Christ to everyone we encounter. Love, Jody

Gulu Women Living Positively with HIV/AIDS

The past several days have been so incredible that words can't even begin to describe all that Team Gulu 2014 has experienced. It is like drinking from a fire hose (in a good way) from the moment we begin our days to the time we debrief in the evening. Today was no exception. I will give a brief overview of our day, but would like to focus on one part of the day that touched my heart deeply. We left our hotel at 7:45 a.m. and headed straight to the World Vision office for our morning devotions with the World Vision workers. It is so special to worship with them! Right after devotions, Jeff and I had the privilege of meeting the last of our five sponsored children. His name is Innocent and he and his father traveled over one hour two days in a row to meet us after they missed meeting us yesterday. The time with Innocent was precious and such a blessing. Directly following our visit with Innocent, the entire team hopped into the World Vision vehicles and drove to a community where we were able to see the progress that has been made with the WASH project (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). We were so impressed with the pride the community has taken in maintaining this life-sustaining project. Our next trip was a visit to a medical center where we met nurse Agnes who does a phenomenal job vaccinating, diagnosing, educating and even counseling patients on various medical issues. Each of the above-mentioned visits could be one blog in themselves, but I promised to focus on just one, so I will hold to that promise. Our last visit was with a group of women who are living positively with HIV/AIDS. All of these women have HIV/AIDS and they have become an amazing support group for each other. Each of these women have started small businesses that allow them to save a portion of their profits, which they pool together to help provide for medical expenses, food and their children's education. In the midst of physical and emotional suffering, these women rely on God for their strength and they are so full of joy as they acknowledge that God is providing for their needs and the needs of their children through their support group. Our team had the privilege of meeting each of these women and hearing some of their personal stories. We also had the privilege of handing out "Caregiver Kits" that have been provided through World Vision's partnership with various churches/sponsors/donors(see picture above). The kits include badly needed items such as wash clothes, latex gloves, ointment, petroleum jelly, cotton balls, acetaminophen, and a log book. These are items that we could easily go to the store and purchase in the U.S., but they are not readily available here in Gulu, especially for someone who is too sick to travel to the store on the rugged roads and in the heat. The kits that we handed out included handwritten notes from the individual who prepared the kit. It was incredible to see the joy on the women's faces as they opened their personal kits and found notes that someone across the globe had taken time to write to them. This concept of the kits reminds me of what Midland Free does with the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes! I can't help but wonder what kind of impact we could have as a church body and even within Children's Ministry and/or Women's Ministry if we decided to take on the "Caregiver Kit" project specifically for the Gulu district with whom we are already partnering. Only God knows if He will allow circumstances to come together for something like this to happen. I am going to pray about this and ask that you pray along with me. The unspeakable joy that was on these women's faces when they received the kits is an image that will live in my memory forever! God bless all of you, and thank you for your continued prayers. In His Service, Kim G.

Three Roosters, Two Cabbages, Several Tomatoes, and Two Bags of Ground Nuts

During our debrief time at dinner tonight, Don asked each team member to share one highlight and one lowlight from our day. Today was the day that we had the privilege to visit our sponsored children. Kim and I had five children that we were scheduled to visit. The lowlight of the day is that we were unable to meet one of our children due to unforseen time constraints. We will, however, meet him tomorrow because World Vision is making sure that will happen. We are amazed at the extent to which World Vision goes to ensure things run smoothly for the teams and sponsored children. The highlights are too many to blog in one evening, so I will focus on one thing that stuck with me on an emotional level the most. Each family we visited was so gracious and hospitable. Knowing they are living in extreme economic poverty, I was blown away by their incredible generosity. During our visits we first spent time getting to know our sponsored child and their family. We brought a few special gifts for all of them as a token of our friendship. They treated us to a prepared snack of bottled flavored soda and a special Gulu treat. We talked for a while and I kicked soccer balls and jumped rope with our sponsored children. As each visit drew to an end, our World Vision worker would explain to us that the family wanted to present us with a gift of their love and appreciation. On our first visit, we were presented with a rooster! On our second visit we were presented with two cabbages, several tomatoes and a bag of delicious raw ground nuts (we call them peanuts). On our third visit we received ANOTHER rooster and a bag of salted/roasted ground nuts. It didn't end there...on our last visit, we were given a THIRD rooster! At the end of each visit, we asked the family how we can pray for them. Several prayer requests that were consistent was good health, that the children would continue to be successful in school, and that their harvests would do well after a difficult harvesting season they just went through. These families were giving us items that are life-sustaining for them and they literally could not afford to give us such generous gifts. This reminds me of the widow's mite in the Bible where the woman gave all she had to give and her gift meant more to the Lord than the gifts of the wealthy. I found that incredibly humbling and was not able to hold back tears as I processed the enormity of what the giving of these gifts meant to these families. After expressing concern about the generous gifts to our World Vision worker, she helped us understand that in the Gulu culture, giving these types of gifts represents a life-long friendship between the giver and the receiver. I found encouragement through what I experienced today and saw first-hand how one can be economically poor yet extremely rich when it comes to the joy of the Lord. With great gratitude, Jeff G.