Got to Lesotho Saturday morning.
Will spend the next month here working at an orphanage in Maseru. Possible ski trip in the mountains some weekend. Will be flying home end of July.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Weballe
Okay wow.... six weeks in Uganda has come to a close.
We're back to South Africa tomorrow morning. I can't believe our time here is over.
It was wonderful... rocky at times... but God really is at work here in this country.
Two people on our team ended up with malaria... Sylvia and David... and three people with jiggers (worms) in their feet. Gross.
So as for now we have a going away party here tonight and then we leave at three thirty a.m. for the airport. I think we will spend the weekend fighting over the washing machines and eating at Spur before we leave Sunday for our last week of outreach at the deaf and blind school in Qwa-Qwa.
Then we have a week of debriefing and then the DTS will be over. Unbelievable.
I will try and post again sometime, but just in case I can't my plans for after the DTS is that I will do some traveling in southern Africa.
I'll spend sometime with friends in Pretoria, then off to Lesotho for awhile where we may even have the possibility to spend sometime in the mountains snowboarding. And then there is a possibility of a trip to Botswana and Namibia but those aren't for sure.
I miss you and love you all. Thank you so much for your continued support.
It's going to be blistering cold when we get back to South Africa... I'm so ready.
Clare
We're back to South Africa tomorrow morning. I can't believe our time here is over.
It was wonderful... rocky at times... but God really is at work here in this country.
Two people on our team ended up with malaria... Sylvia and David... and three people with jiggers (worms) in their feet. Gross.
So as for now we have a going away party here tonight and then we leave at three thirty a.m. for the airport. I think we will spend the weekend fighting over the washing machines and eating at Spur before we leave Sunday for our last week of outreach at the deaf and blind school in Qwa-Qwa.
Then we have a week of debriefing and then the DTS will be over. Unbelievable.
I will try and post again sometime, but just in case I can't my plans for after the DTS is that I will do some traveling in southern Africa.
I'll spend sometime with friends in Pretoria, then off to Lesotho for awhile where we may even have the possibility to spend sometime in the mountains snowboarding. And then there is a possibility of a trip to Botswana and Namibia but those aren't for sure.
I miss you and love you all. Thank you so much for your continued support.
It's going to be blistering cold when we get back to South Africa... I'm so ready.
Clare
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Avos
Okay just a super quick update.
Got back to Mukono/Kampala this morning and will be here for the rest of our time here in Uganda... two weeks.
We spent two weeks in different refugee camps. The first one was called Corabelle and the second Dino, which was very rural and was actually next to the village that Joseph Kony and Alice Lakwena came from. Neither had electricity, we were living in huts, but the water situation was not as bad as we were expecting... so I took the braids out, ha.
This past week we spent building mud houses in a very rural village that our ministry director here actually grew up in. It was very fun.
I have lots to fill you all in on and could probably write for hours and hours but as I have four minutes left on my internet time this will have to do.
Thank you, love you all.
Clare
1 Thess 4
Got back to Mukono/Kampala this morning and will be here for the rest of our time here in Uganda... two weeks.
We spent two weeks in different refugee camps. The first one was called Corabelle and the second Dino, which was very rural and was actually next to the village that Joseph Kony and Alice Lakwena came from. Neither had electricity, we were living in huts, but the water situation was not as bad as we were expecting... so I took the braids out, ha.
This past week we spent building mud houses in a very rural village that our ministry director here actually grew up in. It was very fun.
I have lots to fill you all in on and could probably write for hours and hours but as I have four minutes left on my internet time this will have to do.
Thank you, love you all.
Clare
1 Thess 4
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Bye Mzungo
I have just spent the past five and a half hours sitting on the floor of a beauty salon while three women pulled at my hair and stretched my scalp while braiding it. I experienced pain I didn't even know exsisted. It was like some weird Vietnamese torture device.
And why you ask? Because this coming Sunday I will be going to place where the pathetic bucket and cup bathing method I'm using now is going to be an impossibility, and I will be walking 12 kilometers to fetch my water. This means that I will not be washing my hair for the next month.... hence, the braids.
Ladies and gentlemen you have entered the no comfort zone.
Uganda is very green. Tha is something I have been very suprised by. As the equator runs right through it is also very warm and very sticky.
We spent the week up in a village called Kikuuta (GE KOO TA). In the mornings we went from door to door doing house visits and in the afternoon holding services and childrens programs. Sylvia and I got put in charge of the childrens program and it was an absolute blast playing with the village children. We taught on David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion's Den. They loved it and were all so smart!
One girl in particular really stuck out to me. Her name was Rebecca, she was thirteen years old. She was our interpreter for the teachings because she spoke, English, Luganda, and Swahili. (Luganda is most widely spoken here). She wants to be a doctor.
Yesterday (Wednesday) morning was definitely the highlight of the week for me. Godwin (the man in charge of the Youth Center we are staying at) took us to meet his pastor way, way up in the jungle, and to show us one of their ministries there. They took us to this little tiny village where their church has planted a coffee and banana farm. They came into this village two years ago, built a church, built the farm, and have completely transformed the village. What once was a place filled with drunkards and prostitutes, is now a proactive, entirely employed community all because of the farm there. It employs close to 100 workers and provides schooling for the workers children. The really cool part to me was that an American Christian businessman in California heard about this ministry and is buying the coffee to sell in his chain of coffee shops back in the states.
It was so awesome to me to see an entire ministry that is really being active and it wasn't based around the leaders ability to preach or evangelize. These people came into the village with a practical goal and by doing so have changed the lives of an entire community.
We leave on Sunday for Gulu where the camp is.
Please continue praying for us and if you get the chance watch the documentary, Invisible Children. We're going to be where this took and is taking place.
~Clare
Matthew 7
And why you ask? Because this coming Sunday I will be going to place where the pathetic bucket and cup bathing method I'm using now is going to be an impossibility, and I will be walking 12 kilometers to fetch my water. This means that I will not be washing my hair for the next month.... hence, the braids.
Ladies and gentlemen you have entered the no comfort zone.
Uganda is very green. Tha is something I have been very suprised by. As the equator runs right through it is also very warm and very sticky.
We spent the week up in a village called Kikuuta (GE KOO TA). In the mornings we went from door to door doing house visits and in the afternoon holding services and childrens programs. Sylvia and I got put in charge of the childrens program and it was an absolute blast playing with the village children. We taught on David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lion's Den. They loved it and were all so smart!
One girl in particular really stuck out to me. Her name was Rebecca, she was thirteen years old. She was our interpreter for the teachings because she spoke, English, Luganda, and Swahili. (Luganda is most widely spoken here). She wants to be a doctor.
Yesterday (Wednesday) morning was definitely the highlight of the week for me. Godwin (the man in charge of the Youth Center we are staying at) took us to meet his pastor way, way up in the jungle, and to show us one of their ministries there. They took us to this little tiny village where their church has planted a coffee and banana farm. They came into this village two years ago, built a church, built the farm, and have completely transformed the village. What once was a place filled with drunkards and prostitutes, is now a proactive, entirely employed community all because of the farm there. It employs close to 100 workers and provides schooling for the workers children. The really cool part to me was that an American Christian businessman in California heard about this ministry and is buying the coffee to sell in his chain of coffee shops back in the states.
It was so awesome to me to see an entire ministry that is really being active and it wasn't based around the leaders ability to preach or evangelize. These people came into the village with a practical goal and by doing so have changed the lives of an entire community.
We leave on Sunday for Gulu where the camp is.
Please continue praying for us and if you get the chance watch the documentary, Invisible Children. We're going to be where this took and is taking place.
~Clare
Matthew 7
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Safe and sound in Uganda.
No running water. No showers. No toilets.
Have been blessed with electricity, although power outages are frequent.
Hair is coming out by the handfulls because of my anti-malarials.
The people are beautiful. Can't wait to get more into the ministry.
I am very uncomfortable and I know that God is really going to stretch me these next six weeks.
Please continue praying for us.
Kampala/Mukono til Sunday and then leave for the camp
My cell number here is 0771674185.
- Clare
Ephesians 4
No running water. No showers. No toilets.
Have been blessed with electricity, although power outages are frequent.
Hair is coming out by the handfulls because of my anti-malarials.
The people are beautiful. Can't wait to get more into the ministry.
I am very uncomfortable and I know that God is really going to stretch me these next six weeks.
Please continue praying for us.
Kampala/Mukono til Sunday and then leave for the camp
My cell number here is 0771674185.
- Clare
Ephesians 4
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Watermelons
I would like to dedicate this post to Melissa Redd, so I'm going to start out by saying:
Hello my good looking friends!
I kind of can't believe that it is outreach time. It seems like just yesterday to me that I was sitting in the Norfolk airport sipping Starbucks waiting for my plane.... And then getting off the plane, going home, going to Panera with two of the most amazing people I know, and then doing it all over again the next day. You know what they say, third times a charm. (Wait...what?)
Uganda has seemed like a far off dream to me and the fact that this time next week I will be in the country I have felt my heart pulling me to since before I even set foot on this continent is surreal to say the least... to be entirely honest I am quite frightened. I have no idea what to expect. We'll be in the capital, Kampala, for at least the first week and then we'll head up to the northern Sudanese border to the refugee camp. I know this might seem silly, especially since we are only going to be there for two months.
And I know that this next statement is going to seem even sillier but I just feel like after all of the documentaries I've watched on Uganda (I'm not a na•ve American judging an entire country based on documentaries, really I'm not ...but my mom did always tell me to believe everything I see on TV) - child soldiers, Sudanese refugees, fat women (did you know that in Uganda really fat women are considered beautiful, and that young girls will actually go through a "sitting in" period where they stay in a hut and drink full fat milk all day to fatten up... sehr interessant), well it just seems like this country has so much pain, deep seeded wounds. I know that Uganda needs Jesus, and Aslan is already on the move so much there. Actually, because of the missionary work being done in Uganda, it is the only African country that has a negative HIV growth rate. It's beautiful to hear about all the work there. But then you hear about the child sacrifices. You hear about the witchcraft. You hear about Sudanese rebels crossing the border and gunning down two hundred people in a church.
So yes, I'm frightened.
But as it grows closer I am so thankful for my classes here. I really do feel that because of all the spiritual tools I have learned here, well I feel like I have a whole arsenal to throw at Satan's face... I'm ready to destroy his work in Uganda, and bring Christ's work.
Our last week of class was on Biblical Theism. Basically, what a Biblical worldview should be like. It was very interesting. Marguerite, our teacher, told us that if you have the wrong idea of God, especially His character, then it is going to effect everything, and basically you'll have a wrong view of the world. If you don't understand that in Genesis we were created to have dignity then you'll never fully respect the dignity of any individual, whether its Bill Gates or a the mother of six living in a shack in Soweto. They were created with the same amount of dignity. That mother is a candidate for sympathy, not just charity (Please read "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller). Putting her in Bill Gates mansion and providing her with everything she could ever desire doesn't give her dignity. And by looking at her, anyone in need, and attempting to do that, well we are in fact taking their dignity away. And this is where the difference between community development and aid comes in.
Sidenote: She also used a lot of talks from Louie Giglio... please check him out. This guy is awesome, and so casual and humble about the pure gold that God puts through his mouth.
We had a nice long weekend break, so myself, Wilma, Sylvia, Lizzie, Nancy (Nigeria), and Jessica (Paraguay) all went and spent the weekend in Lesotho. We stayed in Maseru with two British girls who are volunteering with the Durham Link. Lesotho is a beautiful country. It is very mountainous and we went up one night to watch the sunset on top of this mountain that overlooks all of Maseru. It was so beautiful. The Besotho people are so lovely. They are so happy to have you in their country, and proud to show you what they have to offer. I am hoping to spend some time in Lesotho after my DTS since I will have a full six weeks afterwards. There is a village/town called Simongkong way up in the mountains where I would love to go. You have to use horses to get around up there.
We left Friday afternoon and came back Tuesday evening, around five o'clock. We wanted to be back before it got dark because this week was South African elections, and there was some talk of riots in the towns.
So we're sitting in the hall around six-thirty, casually eating our dinner, and sharing stories from our weekend apart when we hear this big bang, kind of like a bomb going off, right outside the hall. All of the sudden, four South African Army men come charging in the hall telling us that we have thirty minutes to pack a bag and then we had two move because the "rebels" were on their way. This is what they call outreach/survival week. I would like to call it hell. They took us off in the middle of the night, no clue where we were going, with only a backpack and a map. We hiked 5km in the pitch black, freezing cold (its almost winter here) to get to this farm. When we got to the farm we were split up into groups of two, given a quick (five minutes, literally) lesson on how to orientate a map, and a watermelon (turns out that was to be our only food for the whole week) and then taken off and separated. I was set in the middle of a sunflower field and told to wait there until he came to get us in the morning. Luckily, I had an amazing partner, Lean, from Pretoria, because otherwise I don't think I would have made it through that first night let alone what was to follow.
Long story short we spend the next three days hiking forty kilometers, sleeping in the mountains in shelters we made ourselves, taking courses on how to drudge through the bush, how to spot land mines, and purify water, all courtesy of the South African Army. [Ben Travis - I'm not really sure why, but this kind of seemed to me like something you would like.... And I mean that in an entirely masochistic sort of way.] I would have to say that the highlight of my week came on the second night, though. We all had to hike to the top of this mountain and set up our own individual camps, making shelters out of what we found there. Lean and I were really set way away from the rest of the group on the other side of a swamp on top of this hill. At first we didn't really mind because there way this cozy little cave there that we decided to clear out and use for our shelter... and then, it got dark at about six. As we were sitting in our cave casually discussing what we would rather be eating then watermelon we heard a growl just outside the cave. Yes, that's right ladies and gents, we had a visitor - your friendly neighborhood mountain lion. So Lean goes out and scares them off, or so we think. About an hour later we go to bed, and Lean is sound asleep snoring away and I hear it again, only this time there were multiple growlers. I frantically wake up Lean, we pray, and then decide that we are going to try and trek down the mountain, in the dark, to make it to one of the other camps. So we set out, nervously singing praise and worship as we take baby steps down and after about twenty minutes (should have taken us ten tops) and several wrong turns we made it to another groups camp where we were able to spend the night next to a big warm fire.
All in a day's work in the life of a bush missionary... I think I maybe called to a more urban ministry.
Well I'm sure you're all used to this by now, but I'm not sure when I will be able to post again. I leave for Uganda Thursday morning and the next few days are going to be pretty busy getting ready to the trip. I'll be in the capitol for a bit, so hopefully I'll be able to post something there - give you my first impressions of the country and more details as to what exactly our work will be there.
Please pray for us - for us and the other team from our base which will be going to Mozambique. Pray for safety, particularly in the area of malaria. A team from the School of Frontier Missions just got back from their outreach in the Refugee camp and every single one of them got malaria, and that was while they were on anti malarials. Pray for the hearts of the people that we'll come in contact with... that got will prepare the way for them to hear the gospel, particularly in the refugee camp where Jesus could bring such hope to these people. It is amazing to see what God has already done for this trip, I can hardly wait for what is to come.
Thank you all so much for your support, for taking the time to read this, and for your prayers. You are all such an encouragement to me here.
- Clare
Colossians 3:15-17 ....this passage as become a real comfort to me and it is something God has showed me a lot during my quiet time these past few weeks, I hope that it speaks the same to some of you.
Hello my good looking friends!
I kind of can't believe that it is outreach time. It seems like just yesterday to me that I was sitting in the Norfolk airport sipping Starbucks waiting for my plane.... And then getting off the plane, going home, going to Panera with two of the most amazing people I know, and then doing it all over again the next day. You know what they say, third times a charm. (Wait...what?)
Uganda has seemed like a far off dream to me and the fact that this time next week I will be in the country I have felt my heart pulling me to since before I even set foot on this continent is surreal to say the least... to be entirely honest I am quite frightened. I have no idea what to expect. We'll be in the capital, Kampala, for at least the first week and then we'll head up to the northern Sudanese border to the refugee camp. I know this might seem silly, especially since we are only going to be there for two months.
And I know that this next statement is going to seem even sillier but I just feel like after all of the documentaries I've watched on Uganda (I'm not a na•ve American judging an entire country based on documentaries, really I'm not ...but my mom did always tell me to believe everything I see on TV) - child soldiers, Sudanese refugees, fat women (did you know that in Uganda really fat women are considered beautiful, and that young girls will actually go through a "sitting in" period where they stay in a hut and drink full fat milk all day to fatten up... sehr interessant), well it just seems like this country has so much pain, deep seeded wounds. I know that Uganda needs Jesus, and Aslan is already on the move so much there. Actually, because of the missionary work being done in Uganda, it is the only African country that has a negative HIV growth rate. It's beautiful to hear about all the work there. But then you hear about the child sacrifices. You hear about the witchcraft. You hear about Sudanese rebels crossing the border and gunning down two hundred people in a church.
So yes, I'm frightened.
But as it grows closer I am so thankful for my classes here. I really do feel that because of all the spiritual tools I have learned here, well I feel like I have a whole arsenal to throw at Satan's face... I'm ready to destroy his work in Uganda, and bring Christ's work.
Our last week of class was on Biblical Theism. Basically, what a Biblical worldview should be like. It was very interesting. Marguerite, our teacher, told us that if you have the wrong idea of God, especially His character, then it is going to effect everything, and basically you'll have a wrong view of the world. If you don't understand that in Genesis we were created to have dignity then you'll never fully respect the dignity of any individual, whether its Bill Gates or a the mother of six living in a shack in Soweto. They were created with the same amount of dignity. That mother is a candidate for sympathy, not just charity (Please read "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller). Putting her in Bill Gates mansion and providing her with everything she could ever desire doesn't give her dignity. And by looking at her, anyone in need, and attempting to do that, well we are in fact taking their dignity away. And this is where the difference between community development and aid comes in.
Sidenote: She also used a lot of talks from Louie Giglio... please check him out. This guy is awesome, and so casual and humble about the pure gold that God puts through his mouth.
We had a nice long weekend break, so myself, Wilma, Sylvia, Lizzie, Nancy (Nigeria), and Jessica (Paraguay) all went and spent the weekend in Lesotho. We stayed in Maseru with two British girls who are volunteering with the Durham Link. Lesotho is a beautiful country. It is very mountainous and we went up one night to watch the sunset on top of this mountain that overlooks all of Maseru. It was so beautiful. The Besotho people are so lovely. They are so happy to have you in their country, and proud to show you what they have to offer. I am hoping to spend some time in Lesotho after my DTS since I will have a full six weeks afterwards. There is a village/town called Simongkong way up in the mountains where I would love to go. You have to use horses to get around up there.
We left Friday afternoon and came back Tuesday evening, around five o'clock. We wanted to be back before it got dark because this week was South African elections, and there was some talk of riots in the towns.
So we're sitting in the hall around six-thirty, casually eating our dinner, and sharing stories from our weekend apart when we hear this big bang, kind of like a bomb going off, right outside the hall. All of the sudden, four South African Army men come charging in the hall telling us that we have thirty minutes to pack a bag and then we had two move because the "rebels" were on their way. This is what they call outreach/survival week. I would like to call it hell. They took us off in the middle of the night, no clue where we were going, with only a backpack and a map. We hiked 5km in the pitch black, freezing cold (its almost winter here) to get to this farm. When we got to the farm we were split up into groups of two, given a quick (five minutes, literally) lesson on how to orientate a map, and a watermelon (turns out that was to be our only food for the whole week) and then taken off and separated. I was set in the middle of a sunflower field and told to wait there until he came to get us in the morning. Luckily, I had an amazing partner, Lean, from Pretoria, because otherwise I don't think I would have made it through that first night let alone what was to follow.
Long story short we spend the next three days hiking forty kilometers, sleeping in the mountains in shelters we made ourselves, taking courses on how to drudge through the bush, how to spot land mines, and purify water, all courtesy of the South African Army. [Ben Travis - I'm not really sure why, but this kind of seemed to me like something you would like.... And I mean that in an entirely masochistic sort of way.] I would have to say that the highlight of my week came on the second night, though. We all had to hike to the top of this mountain and set up our own individual camps, making shelters out of what we found there. Lean and I were really set way away from the rest of the group on the other side of a swamp on top of this hill. At first we didn't really mind because there way this cozy little cave there that we decided to clear out and use for our shelter... and then, it got dark at about six. As we were sitting in our cave casually discussing what we would rather be eating then watermelon we heard a growl just outside the cave. Yes, that's right ladies and gents, we had a visitor - your friendly neighborhood mountain lion. So Lean goes out and scares them off, or so we think. About an hour later we go to bed, and Lean is sound asleep snoring away and I hear it again, only this time there were multiple growlers. I frantically wake up Lean, we pray, and then decide that we are going to try and trek down the mountain, in the dark, to make it to one of the other camps. So we set out, nervously singing praise and worship as we take baby steps down and after about twenty minutes (should have taken us ten tops) and several wrong turns we made it to another groups camp where we were able to spend the night next to a big warm fire.
All in a day's work in the life of a bush missionary... I think I maybe called to a more urban ministry.
Well I'm sure you're all used to this by now, but I'm not sure when I will be able to post again. I leave for Uganda Thursday morning and the next few days are going to be pretty busy getting ready to the trip. I'll be in the capitol for a bit, so hopefully I'll be able to post something there - give you my first impressions of the country and more details as to what exactly our work will be there.
Please pray for us - for us and the other team from our base which will be going to Mozambique. Pray for safety, particularly in the area of malaria. A team from the School of Frontier Missions just got back from their outreach in the Refugee camp and every single one of them got malaria, and that was while they were on anti malarials. Pray for the hearts of the people that we'll come in contact with... that got will prepare the way for them to hear the gospel, particularly in the refugee camp where Jesus could bring such hope to these people. It is amazing to see what God has already done for this trip, I can hardly wait for what is to come.
Thank you all so much for your support, for taking the time to read this, and for your prayers. You are all such an encouragement to me here.
- Clare
Colossians 3:15-17 ....this passage as become a real comfort to me and it is something God has showed me a lot during my quiet time these past few weeks, I hope that it speaks the same to some of you.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Okay quick run down of the past two weeks.
The last two topics have been Deliverance and Discipleship. Both speakers Jorge and Tabo (from YWAM Lesotho) were amazing. Discipleship was really awesome because it talked about the difference between fellowship ministering and discipleship.
Last weekend was a nice quiet one. Myself and two other DTS students stayed on the base and watched Lizzie while everyone else went to a wedding near Durban. It was very relaxing and for sure needed since we went on ministry two days this week (Tuesday to Bohkolokong and Wednesday to the hospital ward where myself and two other girls, Wilma and Anna, got to go pray in the maternity ward. What and amazing experience!) and am about to leave for a mini outreach to Lindley - so again everyone is exhausted but excited to see what the Lord has in store for the upcoming weekend.
Love and miss you all! Will write more after this weekend and will hopefully be posting pictures soooon! Please keep us in your prayers. We leave for Uganda in a little more than three weeks!
Clare
Psalm 121
The last two topics have been Deliverance and Discipleship. Both speakers Jorge and Tabo (from YWAM Lesotho) were amazing. Discipleship was really awesome because it talked about the difference between fellowship ministering and discipleship.
Last weekend was a nice quiet one. Myself and two other DTS students stayed on the base and watched Lizzie while everyone else went to a wedding near Durban. It was very relaxing and for sure needed since we went on ministry two days this week (Tuesday to Bohkolokong and Wednesday to the hospital ward where myself and two other girls, Wilma and Anna, got to go pray in the maternity ward. What and amazing experience!) and am about to leave for a mini outreach to Lindley - so again everyone is exhausted but excited to see what the Lord has in store for the upcoming weekend.
Love and miss you all! Will write more after this weekend and will hopefully be posting pictures soooon! Please keep us in your prayers. We leave for Uganda in a little more than three weeks!
Clare
Psalm 121
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