Since this blog is devoted to keeping people updated on my trip, I think I better tell you what this trip is about.
I and ten other people are spending five days in Israel to see some of the traditional Christian and Jewish sites, and then eight days in Uganda where we’ll be staying at the Show Mercy International Compound outside of Kampala. While we’re there we’ll be doing a host of cool things – including being involved in a conference to train and equip local pastors. But I’ll talk all about those things when the time is right.
I and ten other people are spending five days in Israel to see some of the traditional Christian and Jewish sites, and then eight days in Uganda where we’ll be staying at the Show Mercy International Compound outside of Kampala. While we’re there we’ll be doing a host of cool things – including being involved in a conference to train and equip local pastors. But I’ll talk all about those things when the time is right.
We’re leaving town Friday, spending the night in a motel in the same city as the airport, and then catching our first flight the next morning. After stopping in D.C. and Brussels, Belgium, we’ll land in Tel Aviv, Israel. We’ll actually be staying in Caesarea (see marker on map below) in a rented house that two members of the group are at present negotiating a price for: Our pastor and one other person in the group went a few days early to find lodging, buy food, etc.
Our plan of attack includes seeing the Wailing Wall (a.k.a. the Western Wall, the one wall of the Jewish temple that wasn’t destroyed during a Roman attack. People write prayers on rolled up pieces of paper and slip them into chinks in the wall), Jerusalem in general, the Jordan River, Mt. Carmel (where Elijah called down fire from heaven), and as many other places as a group of people with jet lag can hope to survive in five days. All the while, our dear pastor will be teaching us about what the Bible has to say about those places. What I’m most excited about is being able to picture these places and gauge the distances between locations when I’m studying the Bible. However, I must admit that I’m stoked about seeing the Wailing Wall, though I couldn’t tell you why, even if I tried.
From Israel, we fly back to Brussels and then to Uganda, where we touch down in Kampala (Circle in map at right. Original version of photo available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Un-uganda.png.) That’s when the real fun starts. We’ll be staying with Show Mercy International, a tremendous organization based out of Albany, Oregon that has an orphanage, a medical center, and a number of other programs. Our pastor is teaching a conference for local pastors who need to be trained in Bible study and teaching. It is common in that area for new Christians to be handed Bibles and then asked to preach, and they have no idea what they’re doing. I can only the kind of frustration and accidental bad theology that comes out of that situation. He and one other team member are also teaching in local churches while we’re there. The rest of us will get to hang out with the kids in the orphanage, pray with people in the local hospital, do outreach in the village, and do whatever else Show Mercy has planned for us. I believe that our Pastor just told them to send us where ever we’re needed, and I’m not sure that they’ve told us entirely what that entails.
By the way, if you haven’t checked out Show Mercy International, you need to. Here is their website. Here is their Facebook page. And here is their YouTube channel. Click. Go. Enjoy.
Uganda is the part of the trip that I’m both most excited and most nervous about. Because I feel called into missions, it’s really exciting to get to try my wings with an awesome group from my church. I’m also looking forward to doing something of eternal worth that I know will change me, too. On the other hand, I think I’m going to feel a little bit like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, too. : “Toto, I have a feeling we're not in [Oregon] anymore.” (Which reminds me, I haven’t left yet, and I already miss my dog, not to mention my family.) I’m walking into a place where showing up “on time” means showing up anywhere within a two hour window, where all the women have to wear skirts all the time, and where a number of diseases that have been controlled or nearly eradicated in much of the U.S. are a real risk. Despite the flu, tetanus, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, meningitis, and hepatitis A vaccines that I’ve gotten in the last month, I could still get seriously sick, if God so allows. But God protected Paul against snake venom, so why am I afraid of a few million lousy mosquitoes?
This, however, is going to be an amazing adventure, and I want to thank you all again for your support – your monetary support, your emotional support, your prayer support, and every other kind of support you have given. (I haven't forgotten about thank you cards. I just haven't gotten that far yet.) May God richly bless you for your generosity.
And please keep praying.
Uganda is the part of the trip that I’m both most excited and most nervous about. Because I feel called into missions, it’s really exciting to get to try my wings with an awesome group from my church. I’m also looking forward to doing something of eternal worth that I know will change me, too. On the other hand, I think I’m going to feel a little bit like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, too. : “Toto, I have a feeling we're not in [Oregon] anymore.” (Which reminds me, I haven’t left yet, and I already miss my dog, not to mention my family.) I’m walking into a place where showing up “on time” means showing up anywhere within a two hour window, where all the women have to wear skirts all the time, and where a number of diseases that have been controlled or nearly eradicated in much of the U.S. are a real risk. Despite the flu, tetanus, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, meningitis, and hepatitis A vaccines that I’ve gotten in the last month, I could still get seriously sick, if God so allows. But God protected Paul against snake venom, so why am I afraid of a few million lousy mosquitoes?
This, however, is going to be an amazing adventure, and I want to thank you all again for your support – your monetary support, your emotional support, your prayer support, and every other kind of support you have given. (I haven't forgotten about thank you cards. I just haven't gotten that far yet.) May God richly bless you for your generosity.
And please keep praying.