Day 1

Today has been a great day. We started out visiting Bishop Daniel Wandabula at his office. They gave us a presentation of the work the East African Conference is doing in its area of Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, Kenya, and Rwanda. The conference is doing some great work in building schools, medical clinics, and churches. They also are working on HIV/AIDS education, empowerment of women, and job training all in the name of the Lord. The Bishop is a great man who smiles a lot and has a great sense of humor. He was very welcoming and thanked us for our time here. Tony invited him to NWA to preach at our church which the Bishop said he was going to work on. I cannot imagine the burden on this man as he leads and cares for these countries. But they are doing some great things and seeing membership increase. I always love to visit the Bishop.

We also stopped at the Humble House on our way to Jinja. This is a school established by the conference for orphans. Les and Sue Havens have raised funds for various projects that have directly benefited the school. We took a tour of the grounds and saw the tent they use for worship (Havens) and the walking tractor (Havens) they use to work the garden. This walking tractor has been a huge help to the school as they can now grow their own food to feed the children instead of buying it. This is the school where the children’s choir that performed at Central is from. We got to see the choir perform 3 songs for us. Jody also had the team form a tunnel and all the children walked between us and we blessed each one. It was so wonderful to see children with heads bowed and blessing us as they walked through! I was able to see two of the choir members who performed in AR. When I told them I knew them and showed my kids pictures they laughed and remembered us! I even got a hug from Patricia! Both my kids asked me if I might see Fred and Patricia since we were coming to Humble House and I did! It was great to visit with them. Erica, Emily, Randi, Allison and Diane all had children attached to them as we walked around. The sentiment on the bus was it was hard to imagine 300 kids without families, although that is not a drop in the bucket of the global orphan crisis. We did not want to leave. It is always special to be with the children.

And the choir members who visited us asked me to send everyone their greetings and love. They long to come visit us again. And they all asked where Mr Keith was. Yes our very own Keith Hoggard has his own fan club with the choir members! Next year you have to come Mr. Keith. The children said they love you and want to see you!

We have now arrived in Jinja and we are at the hotel. Tonight we will get our medicines together and have communion as a team and then rest for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a busy day. We have a group doing medical clinics, a group working construction to build a home, and a group going to a special needs orphanage. Busy day but great day today; tomorrow it just gets better!

We have some minor health issues some team members are battling. Nothing major but a drag. Overall everyone is doing great and getting along and working together. I have already seen a lot of ministry among the team with and to each other. We have a great group once again!
Please, keep us prayed up!!

Good night all. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

CRT