Day 9: #2 Church and Spoons. The Rest Arrives

            After the week of challenge and love, we got a day of rest.  Today was the peaceful calm before the storm of travel that is churning on the horizon.  It was our last full day in Africa.  It was wonderful.  We thank and praise God for this final day of fellowship and laughter.  Thank God for the love that we experienced here, for the transformation that took place here and for the hopeful vision of the future that arose here.  God is doing amazing things in Africa.  He has some amazing children here! It has been a blessing to see God's love in Uganda, first hand.
             The first part of our day was spent loitering around the Jinja house and getting ready for church.  Having nearly 21 people share one bathroom can cause an impressive traffic jam.  By the grace of God we were all washed and ready to go by about 10am.  The service we attended this week was much smaller and more intimate.  It was quite a juxtaposition to the loud crowded sheet metal tent we visited last week.  The small fellowship that we gathered in today was called Jesus Life Church.  It is shepherded by Pastor Jimmy and his wife Helen.  We have been delighted to get to know them over the past several days.
              During the service today,  Pastor Jimmy asked Josh from our team to share a message.  Josh told us that the Lord called him to give a message on the cost of being a disciple.  He gave a very convicting and heart felt sermon about understanding the difficulty of choosing Jesus. Pastor Josh emphasized that we can not follow Jesus with ulterior heart motives.  Jesus is very good at knowing our heart    We can choose Jesus or we can choose the world.  We can not have both. 
                 Jesus calls us to love him above friends, family, possessions, security, pleasure, food, country, and our very selves...  We can not put any of these things above Jesus Christ and rightfully claim to be His disciple.  Josh emphasized the difficulty of choosing Christ, but he said that it is worth it.  In Christ is life.  The narrow way of seeking Christ is worth it.  Wide is the path that leads to death.  The message was very convicting and edifying.  I am glad that Josh was willing to be obedient to God's call.  It is a blessing to receive words that speak truth, especially if it is hard to swallow truth.  The most healing medicine usually tastes the most bitter.

              To close the service, we were lead in worship by the Dove Voice Band.  Again we danced before the Lord to the rhythm of African drums.  Who would have guessed that American Protestants could shake their hips so wildly in a church service?  After the service, we loitered around the Jinja house again, until we said farewell to the Dove Voice Band.  It was sad to see them leave, even though we only knew them a short while.  They are a great group of young men.  We look forward to what the Lord will do through them.
             We spent the rest of the evening laughing together and playing some intense few games of spoons.  I sadly gained a bad reputation during the game because some people thought I was overly aggressive.  That is alright though.  If one must endure a smear campaign to win a game of spoons then so be it.
            Overall, I thank God for the day of rest.  Tomorrow night, we board a plane for the long flight home.  May God continue to guard us closely during these last moments in Africa.  Praise Jesus for all that we have experienced.  God is so very good.

In Christ,
Mark Tatham

Day 9: #1 Each Picture is Worth 1000 Words

 These are some selected pictures that were taken throughout the trip.  I will let them speak for themselves.

Day 8: Don't Be Afraid To Shake Yourself

             I have never seen so much dancing and shaking in praise to God.  Who knew that "shaking what your momma gave you" could be an offering of worship to God.  Things are different in Uganda.  Coming here has done something to change my paradigm about praise.

Shaking it with the island boys

            Today was a full day.  The morning was a free time. Some people went on a casual walk, but mostly we mingled around the house, until we had a late brunch.  At noon, we went into town, to "the island."  "The island" in a zone of grass in between two roads, where a group of younger men loiter and socialize with each other.  These men are known as the "island boys."  They have bad reputations and bad habits, but the Lord is doing a good work in their lives.  Paul has been ministering to them through friendship and love.  These men are receiving a taste of God's love through their friend, Papa Paul.

Karla with Sera

           Earlier this week, we visited the island boys with Paul.  It was a great experience, even though we were still feeling quite a bit of culture shock.  The men were kind and welcoming.  One man named "Dove Man," even did a bit of a song for us.  Of course, Karla promised them that we would return and sing them a song.  Today, we followed through on our promise.  We visited the "island boys" to fellowship and sing.  Expect this time, we brought the Dove Voice band with us.  The Dove Band did most of the singing, and all the muzungus just smiled and danced.  We shook and danced before the Lord with our new friends.

Some of Sera's children

           After the "island boys," we visited our friend Sera at her home.  Sera has an amazing testimony, and she is working with great devotion to love children.  She is currently housing 24 children who need love and care.  We were blessed to meet her huge family and spend a short time with them.  I encourage you to hear more about Sera's story at serascaringplace.org.  You will not regret getting to know this amazing woman of God.
            To close the day, we had a moving time of worship and prayer with the Dove Voice Band.  We had some very intimate and intense moments as we gave our praises and petitions to our heavenly Father.  It was a great blessing to have the passion and authenticity of the Dove Voice Band with us again.  Josh said it best when he told them that they are good singers, but their greatest strength is their love and faith in Jesus.  He said that this world has many good singers but not many good Christians.  Josh was right, and tonight we were blessed to share the evening with several good Christians.  Christians who are not afraid to shake themselves in praise for their savior Jesus.  Praise God!

In Christ,

Mark Tatham

Day 7: Celebration

Young children immediately after a bottle fill

                  Today was a day of celebration and a day of emotions.  It was our last day at Rock of Ages.  To crown the day, we invited the students’ parents to the school, and we held a festivity of games and food.  The children played many games depending on their grade in school.  Footraces, musical chairs, bottle fills, banana eating…  No matter the age, fun was had by all.

                As well as games, we had a presentation by Pastor Jimmy and his wife Helen.  They both gave wonderful words of encouragement.  We were glad to have them speak to the parents.  Usually, the school ministers to the parents of Mbiko through the children.  Today, we were able to love and speak directly to the adults.

Some of the attending parents

                Saying goodbye was difficult.  Many of us connected closely to some of the children, and it was tough to leave them.  Because this trip has been so affecting, members of the team are already planning to return to Africa, but even if God does not call all of us to return to Uganda, we hope to see some of those children again in a perfect redeemed world. A world free of poverty and malnutrition.  A world with streets of gold rather than dirt and littler.  We wait in eager anticipation to see that day.

                This day though was busy, even after the Rock of Ages celebration.  When the festivities were cleaned up, we immediately traveled to a medical clinic to pray with an adopted daughter of our friend Sera.  We did not stay there long because we quickly returned to the Jinja house.  At home base, we were introduced to the Dove Voice Band.  After a brief introduction to the visiting band, Kirsten, Michelle, and I went for a quick boda boda (motorcycle taxi) drive into town.

                The conclusion of the celebratory day came with a performance by the Dove Voice Band.  The Dove Voice Band is a collection of Congolese men and boys who have gathered in Kampala, Uganda to worship the Lord.  They came together as a group in 2008 and formed a music ministry team.  They are dynamic with passion and love for Jesus.  Their raw, authentic, and skilled sound made for a blessed evening of worship.  The Dove Voice Band will be staying at the Jinja house until Sunday, and the team is overjoyed.  Thank God for more company and fellowship.

                Today had a sorrowful hint of goodbye, but we are blessed to have two more days in Uganda.  We will wait to reminisce and meditate on the sadness of goodbye.  For now, we celebrate the friends we have made and the time we still have with them.

In praise to Jesus,

Mark Tatham

P.S.

I was not kidding about the ear piercing

Haha… By the way mom and dad, just so you know, in a spur of the moment decision, I got my ear pierced today.  Jen brought an ear piercing kit with her on the trip for some of the young children, and as a joke, I told her to pierce my ear.  I’m just saying this now so you will not freak out when I get home.  Love you mom and dad.

Day 6: Distribution

      Today was a big day for us. It was a day that Karla made many preparations for.  Seriously, she spent many hours this trip stressing over this one day.  This one day emptied at least half of the baggage that we took on the trip.  The reason for the stress was because today we distributed all the blessing bags to the children.  Today, about 140 bags were given to the students and faculty of Rock of Ages.
      Karla's hard work paid off.  The organized system of distribution worked very smoothly.  Karla, Abdu, Betty, Jeff, and Kirsten handed bags to the classes one by one.  At the same time, Jen and Josh did a short demonstration on tooth-brushing, and Michelle lead a bracelet craft that outlined the saving grace of Jesus.  I mostly spent the time outside, with the neighborhood children.
      As we handed out the bags, we watched the caring and love of hundreds of people go out to these children.  Just six people purchased tickets and flew to Uganda, but hundreds of people arrived in Africa today and left their mark of love.  Through their giving, the donors from the US went with the six team members to Africa .  Today we told the children at Rock of Ages, "I love you," with a bag of gifts.  Sometimes, a piece of candy and a book speaks love louder than a sentence with an empty hand.

Some of the children with their gifts

       This morning, during preparation, our host Jeff emphasized that we have no idea the impact we are making here.  He said that we need to open our eyes and see what we are doing through God's eyes.  From our point of view, our actions can seem like a drop in a huge bucket of need.  The giving can seem trivial.  And honestly those feelings of hopelessness would be true if we were not sent by our heavenly Father.  With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.  The will of the Father brought this team to Africa.  We can not imagine the tremendous work that God does through our "small" attempts at service.  No act of love is "small" when the God of the universe is speaking through it.
        I was especially happy today because we did our best to give every child some kind of gift, even the neighborhood children outside of Rock of Ages.  On our way to school, we purchased some sugar biscuits and distributed them to non-students throughout the day.  It was wonderful to see these bystanders receive love.  The phrase, "Yesu akwa gala," has more weight when a child's stomach receives nourishment in the process.
     Additionally, after school, we met with several widows in a nearby village, who used to be sponsored through Pam and Paul.  Now they are self-sufficient.  It was great to hear their words of thanks and praise for God.  They have seen hope and salvation come from their savior Jesus.  One widow said that though she is a widow, she has a strong, loving, caring man in her life... Jesus.
      Overall, we saw the love of Christ today.  We saw a testimony of His love in the widows, and we saw his love go out with the blessing bags.  Only God knows what impact was made today.  Only with God did the impossible become possible today.  Praise the Lord that all of us were able to be part of His will, that we were included as delivery persons in His divine distribution of love.

In Christ,

Mark Tatham

Day 5: Visiting Familes

One of the greatest pleasures we've had is visiting the families of the children attending Rock of Ages. Most are woman, grandmothers or single moms caring for the children.

One remarkable family is Eric and Harriet, an intact family with thirteen children. It is rare to have a family with both a mom and dad committed to each other in the village of Mbiko. They  live in a two room cement building probably about the size of a one car garage. They are subsistence farmers, both working daily in the fields to put food on the table, The dad is also a part time pastor. Three of their children attend Rock of  Ages. Despite their efforts, malnutrition is a big concern in this large family.

Michelle with Eric & Harriet and family

Jaja (grandmother) she takes care of several ROA students.

Karla with Decline, Spec and Frank modeling their new clothes. 

The 2 younger children are in the front.

 One of the many tragic is the story of these 3 orphans who survived  a boat accident. Both parents drowned but the oldest boy Frank saved hos two siblings by clinging to the boat until  morning when a fisherman saved them. They now live with an Aunt and have found new hope at ROA. All three children were sponsored by one donor when she heard their story.  We delivered new clothes, books, toys and hygiene supplies to the  new family which includes the aunt and her two small children.


Karla  Reynolds
(We gave  Mark a break tonight!  Hopefully this post is not too bad. Michelle proofed it an gave it her approval.)

Day 4: Commitment

         Today was a hard day for my heart.  We can not help every person, every child.  Only God is big enough to provide for all people.  Even knowing that, it is hard to say yes to some and no to others.  It is hard to commit to some and not to others.  It is hard to put up walls, even the walls of a school, and include some but not others.

Tim, a local boy, watches the students

         We had another blessed day at Rock of Ages.  The physicals have all been taken. Students homes were visited.  Gifts were given to children and parents.  More crafts were completed.  Silly songs were sung.  Posho was eaten.  We were even blessed to have a visit from Pastor Jimmy, who lead a fellowship time with the students.  We spent wonderful time loving the students of Rock of Ages.
         But my heart was divided.  Not all of the children I met today were students at Rock of Ages.  Some of the children of Mbiko do not have the ability to attend school.  Those children hear the laughing and the singing coming from the school.  They see the mzungus (white people) playing with the students.  They smell the lunch the students get to eat.  But these neighborhood children can not join in with the students.  They can not learn inside the walls of the school.  Instead, they stand across the street and watch.  My heart broke today for these children.

Some neighborhood children

         We can not provide for every child. Instead, we can love a few intensely.  That is why this is titled commitment.  Deep wounds take a long time to heal.  It takes a deep undertaking of love to soften the hurt of abandonment.  Promises that are kept and not broken, even when things are painful.  That is a hard thing to give.
            So some children can not be included.  We are limited in how much we can give.  The leaders at Rock of Ages are only human.   They can not provide for every child in Mbiko.  The school only has so many rooms.  The cook only has so much food.  Our human compassion can only reach so far to the hurting.  Our human hearts can only love and help a limited few.  That is the reality.  That is the truth.  But my heart broke today when I saw the limits of our human love.  I saw the walls of Rock of Ages as the boundary between commitment and "I wish I could help."

Students pray with Pastor Jimmy

            But there is still hope.  There is more love in this world than limited human love.  God's love is not held by walls. It has no limits.  There is no greater commitment than the love of God.  God's love gave everything to say I love you.  Jesus spread His arms as a sacrifice and as a welcome to adoption.  My hope is in the Lord.  My hope is that God loves the children outside the walls as well as those inside the walls.  I trust that God provides for all His dearly loved children.  In my weakness, He is strong.  God's commitment is strong.  

Day 3: Yesu Akwa Gala

Hello

            Yesu akwa gala means Jesus loves you, in the Luganda language.  I learned that today while forming a band with my new friend Peter.  Peter is our driver for the week, and he is one of the most joyful people I have ever met.  Today was in fact very joyful.  It was our first day at Rock of Ages School.  What a blessing to finally see our dreams become a reality.  At the end of the day, it was very fitting that our host, Jeff, emphasized that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Today was a joyful day.

Children cram into the door of a classroom

          Rock of Ages was not like I expected it to be.  There is hope there. A lot of hope.  Rock of Ages is located in the village of Mbiko.  The reputation of Mbiko is that it is rife with prostitution, which leaves a lot of children but not a lot of parenting.  However, the students at Rock of Ages are full of joy and learning.  God is doing a great work at this school.  The Lord is using this school as a light of His love.  A light to shine in a dark place.
             Rock of Ages was founded by Betty Wasswa.  When she gave us a testimony yesterday, Betty said that she started the school with a shaky hope. On her first day, in 2007, Betty walked through the village of Mbiko and tried to recruit students by talking to the local parents.  At the end of the first day, she had one student.  She nearly gave up, but her husband, Abdu, encouraged her to continue.  Praise God that she did persevere, because now the Lord has grown the school to have one-hundred and forty-four students.  The biggest struggle for the school now is that it is growing very quickly, and they do not have enough land or buildings to hold the expansion of new grades.  Currently, Rock of Ages teaches three preschool classes and first through third grade.  The hope is to teach through eighth grade.  This will require new land and facilities.

Jen administers a physical exam

            When we visited Rock of Ages today, we did a few things but mostly got our bearings.  Jen did physicals for two of the classes. Michelle and Karla worked on some name-glitter crafts with all of the classes.  Everyone spent time in the classrooms, and everyone saw joy in the children's faces. Tomorrow, we plan to finish the physicals and visit some of the children's families.
            After the school day, we returned to the Jinja house, and we were blessed by some time socializing with our driver, Peter.  Peter taught me a Ugandan worship song, and he helped "write" a new song with me.  Later in the evening, Peter told us the story of how he and his wife became married.  It was a very moving testimony of sacrificial love, commitment, and the redeeming hope of Jesus Christ.
            It truely was a day to remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Even when the darkness is thick all around us, we still have the joyous strength of God in us.  Jesus has won victory over the darkness.  Jesus continues to make that victory known every day.  We see Christ's victory in Peter's testimony, and we see Christ's victory at the Rock of Ages school.  Today was a joyful day.

God's peace,

Mark Tatham

Day 2: The rest is yet to come, and won't it be fine

           Today was a day for church in the morning and preparation for Rock of Ages school in the afternoon.  The Lord calls us to a day of rest, and that was not today.  The rest is yet to come.  Also, we look forward to the future, how we can make ourselves ready for the rest of our lives in the service of the King.  The rest is yet to come.  With Jesus as our master and savior, it will be more than fine.
            We were blessed to experience a church service in Jinja today.  The service was about two hours long, very high energy, and very loud.  Honestly, there were not many differences between the Ugandan service and many high energy services in the US.  There was one out of the ordinary moment though. At one point, a man went unconscious and collapsed in the row behind us.  It is uncertain how much of the situation was of a spiritual or physical cause, but we pray that God would be with this man.  After the service, we learned that he was being taken to the hospital.
            The message at the service was very helpful and empowering.  The pastor spoke on Proverbs 24:16, though a righteous man falls 7 seven times, he rises again.  Some things that the pastor focused on was that failure is momentary and passes away.  Even when we fail, we are not failures.  We can rise.  We can only fail if we do not rise again.  The pastor suggested that we look to the future and live with an attitude of hope in God.  He ended the sermon by emphasizing that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Karla with most of the organized blessing bags

             After the sermon, we returned to the Jinja house, and we said goodbye to Paul Hunter, our main missionary host.  Paul is going to the US to watch his parents receive and award of recognition for their mission work.  We are sad that we will not get to see Paul again for the rest of our stay, because the time we had with him was so enjoyable.  Having said our goodbyes to Paul, we organized supplies for the week.  There were a lot of blessing bags and donations to sort through.  Afterwards, we tried to brainstorm how to best serve Rock of Ages School and a local Mbiko health clinic.  Much of this trip is focused on establishing reasonable long term goals for the Hands4Uganda group.  It will still take more talking, researching, and planning to understand what projects God is calling Hands4Uganda to work on specifically.
              Today had much planning in it. We look forward to the future when we will get to walk out what God made ready today.  Tomorrow is our first day at Rock of Ages, our first day to finally meet the children that most of us have only known by photographs and our imaginations.  Tomorrow we will rise and meet these children.  We look forward to the future.

Day 1: Pray for Uganda

             As the jet lag smoothed itself out of our bodies, we spent most of today immersed in the Ugandan culture.  Although today was supposed to be a day of recuperation, I think that it was less draining to travel 40 hours across the world.  I say that to mean that my first experience in Africa was quite intense and fatiguing.  I now know that I know nothing…  nothing about rejection… nothing about abandonment…nothing about adoption… nothing about hope.  Maybe I’m being overdramatic.  Maybe I’m just empty after the long day.  What I do know is that there is still dirt smeared on my bare legs from the hands of the reaching children in Masese.

Some children in Masese

              
             The day began with a wonderful meal and a few orientation talks, some solid advice about how to not be the ugly American.  Immediately after, we drove to the nearby impoverished village of Masese.  We were given a tour by the local pastor, Pastor Joseph.  He walked us around the village and gave us a description of the atmosphere of the local people. 

One reaching hand

                To say the least, it is difficult to conjure kind or hopeful word to describe Masese.  Pastor Joseph’s talk made it sound like the primary darkness over Masese is rampant alcoholism that is fed by the local production of a homemade alcohol.  As we walked the impoverished streets, we were overrun by a mob of empty handed children.  By the time we ended our tour of Masese, at Pastor Joseph’s church, we had accrued a gathering of at least 40 children.  I looked into their faces, and I have never felt as insignificant in my life…  How could I actually impact their lives?  How could I bring hope?  All I could do was squeeze their little hands in mine and bless them in the name of my savior, Jesus.  Knowing Jesus to be who He is, I think our visit was not as insignificant as I first thought.

Offering up prayer for Pastor Joseph

The rest of the day was not quite as emotional as Masese, but it was not far off.  To summarize it, we walked through a market, observed the origin of the White Nile River, met a group of men called “the island boys” (those men alone could fill this blog, but we have lost space),  and had an emotional post-dinner worship and prayer meeting with Jeff and his family.  (Jeff, by the way, is Paul & Pam’s close friend who is our host for the week.)  Honestly, this day was so full of experiences that a short blog post does not cover it.  Just know that Masese is a place that you can pray for.  “The island boys” are men you can pray for.  Jinja is a place you can pray for.  Uganda is a place you can pray for.  Our prayers to our Father in heaven are heard.  They are needed.  After what we watched today, they are needed.

In Christ,

Mark Tatham

The Road to Uganda

             By plane and car we traveled for what seemed like an age.  Day turned to night and night into day, and after that, our bodies gave up trying to feel what time it was any more.  Our bodies lost their circadian rhythms and danced to the beat of turbulence and airline food.                Overall, four of us left Pocatello, Idaho at 6am, and we arrived 40 hours later at 10pm in Jinja, Uganda.  The four of us from Pocatello met up with the rest of our team in Amsterdam.  Finally, the group was united.  What we had only imagined apart became face to face airport greetings.

The crew, just after we got off the plane in Entebbe

            Apart from lasting a long time, and I mean a long time, the travel to Uganda went off nearly without a hitch.  The only setbacks were some unplanned checked luggage for Kirsten and some air sickness in a hat for Mark.  The long road to Uganda was as pleasant as could be, and we praise God for His hand of protection and comfort.  Thank God for all that He does for us in His abounding grace and love.

In the love of the Father,

Mark Tatham

Meet the team #4: Josh and Mark

Well, it is a little bit late, but it is time to meet the last members of the team, the manliest men on the team.  It is quite easy to be the manliest men when you are the only men.  Here is how Josh Robinson described himself, followed by my own personal testimony.

“Josh Robinson was born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho.  He attended Boise Bible College and Pacific Christian College receiving degrees in Biblical Studies and Human Development.  He married Jennifer Robinson 14 years ago and now has two beautiful baby girls (Eliana and Maya).  He has worked at Gate City Christian Church as an associate pastor for the past 13 years where his responsibilities include preaching, teaching, and facilitation of youth activities.  His hobbies include reading (Sci-Fi) and exercise.  Most recently he has undergone his fifth rotator cuff repair surgery and is looking forward to a challenging six month recovery.”

“Hi, my name is Mark Tatham.  I was born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, and I went to two and a half years of school at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.  Currently I am taking some time off of school to consider my priorities, identity, and the will of God for my life.  In His grace, the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to experience Uganda for the first time.  I had no idea that I would be traveling across the world when I left school, but then again we never know what the Lord has in store for us.    Praise God for this wonderful chance to build relationships in another culture.”

That concludes the introduction to the April 2012 team.  May God alone be praised for the formation of this group!  He has been in every step of our team’s formation, and He has now brought us together.  Praise our Father who has brought us all into His family by the sacrifice of His son Jesus.

God’s peace

Mark Tatham