Real Contact! News from the Team!

The first V-Team dispatch from Uganda: The following update came in an email from the Team last night. It contains two sections -- some history of the region, and what daily life looks like, so far, for Christian, Evan, and Andrew at Canaan Farm. Amazing stuff.

"Lets start with a little bit of history..."

In 1986, Ugandan presidency was taken over by use of arms. The new government ran the opposing members out of the country, north intoSudan. Here, the outcasts began training and became what has beenknown as the LRA, The Lord's Resistance Army, commanded by rebelleader Josef Kony. The LRA began crossing back over into northern Uganda, terrorizing villages, killing, and kidnapping young boys andgirls between the ages of 10-15. The boys would become child soldiers and the girls would essentially become sex slaves. This caused thousands to flee from their homes in distress, broken, and no whereto go. Ugandan government began setting up IDP camps (Internally Displaced People) for the refugees to live. These camps, althoughmade with good intentions, were more dangerous than their homes to thenorth. Disease, famine, unclean water, and extremely rough livingconditions became what are now cemeteries. In Masindi District, justsouth of Gulu District (where most of the attacks occurred), theAngoma family owned 500 acres of land. Many people began asking ifthey could take refuge on their property, and without hesitation, theAngoma's allowed. In 2003, Richard Angoma felt God's call to move away from Jinja, Uganda where he worked on staff for an orphange, tohis family's property to the north and start what is now Canaan Farm.Canaan Farm is a place of refuge, where displaced people come andreceive skills in farming and agriculture, life management, a safe environment and ultimately the hope of Christ.

Now that you know some of the history, this is what we've been up to...

On our way here the first day we were confronted with our firstadventure very shortly (actually before) arriving to the farm. The van got stuck in the long drive way and being covered in mud from pushing it out was an awesome way to start off our adventure. We have arrived in this African paradise- and we don't know how to describe how thankful we are. In just a few days of being here, so much has happened that it is impossible to write it all out.

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The first night we ended with worship under the stars with Richard, Susan (his wife),Geoffrey and Jackson. We have started building a hut for a widow and are learning so much from that. Everyday from 3-4 we are leading a bible study for a group of guys (around our age). We have made two friends (Geoffrey and Jackson) that are Godly men. We are starting a bible study with them as well going deeper so they too can lead the other guys on the farm. A rough schedule of our day would go like this:

• Wake up, breakfast, someone will give a devotional (like share what is on their heart) and we'll go off to work.
• We have started farming by making two seed beds for cabbage.
• Then we go back, rest, and have lunch. We will have our private devotions- then do the guys bible study and music practice. This has been another amazing thing put in front of us. The bible study has been placed on our laps and it is so beautiful to see what God has done.

In the past two days probably 20 guys have heard the story about Jesus and are beginning to learn more scripture. Along with this, we have music practice. An African instrument is the harp and it is so beautiful with the people singing in Swahili and another African dialect. They play and we listen to them, and we play and teach them guitar.

Words cannot describe the presence of God. God has put His hand all over this place. God hasgiven us the opportunity to lay hands on people and pray for their healing. God has given us a beautiful... Utopia, really to seek Him in. Everyday we get to wake up and go into the farm and learn about the crops and animals. We have really been blessed by being with God's people here- and we want to be a huge blessing to them.

Church this Sunday was great as well. After the senior pastor preached, we danced and clapped and sang. We are currently building relationships with guys here on the farm who were directly affected by the LRA conflict.Getting to hear their stories have been impacting. God is so good.

Thank you for your patience. Considering the dial up internet-pictures will have to wait, and the blog entries may be few from us for now. The reason we have limited internet use is because the closest internet is in the town of Kigumba, 11 Km away, and the way we have to get there is by riding taxi motorcycles known here as "Boda Boda"!

Please keep praying for us- for our influence and impact onthe guys here. It is an incredible opportunity. Please pray for all these people living on the farm- most know who Jesus is and believe in Him. Please pray for their growth and that God will manifest His Word in their hearts- and it will grow. We pray that Christ will make His home in their hearts, and His roots grow deep into them, making them strong and producing fruit.

Thank you for everything... we are off now to go pick passion fruit and explore the farm more. May Gods peace and grace be with you all.

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~V-Team

Where ARE they?!

"It's been a while... it's been a while since I could call you..."

V-Team is in Masindi, Uganda. It has been a strange silence to have them so disconnected from the web. Andrew, Evan, and Christian will be able to connect to internet when they travel 2 hours to a neighboring town. We will look forward to more specific updates when they are available.

In the meantime, some of you may be wondering about the Team's current homebase country. So, below, find an overview of Uganda from someone who has been there. Kay Smiley is a child advocate with Compassion International and has recently had a significantly life-changing experience in Africa.

Andrew' Leigh's Grampa, Art Gay, served several years on the board of Compassion International, in Colorado Springs, with friend Wes Stafford. This organization is doing amazing work around the world empowering children by releasing them from poverty, in Jesus name. To see Wes Stafford's remarkable new book about children in poverty, click on the picture.


Check out the Compassional International site to learn more about sponsoring children.



http://www.compassion.com/




From Kay Smiley,
Child Advocate, Compassion International:

Uganda straddles the equator in east central Africa. It’s about the size of Colorado with 28 million people compared to our 4.6 million. The average age in Uganda is 15, the lowest in the world. Life expectancy is age 50. Childhood deaths are mainly due to malaria and adult deaths due to HIV/AIDS. Although HIV/AIDS was at 15% of the population, it has now declined to 6%.

The official national language is English and is used in all schools. Most villagers in the areas we visited spoke Luganda for their everyday language. All the teachers and Compassion staff we met spoke 2-5 languages. Some had to translate for the children, depending on how much schooling they had. Whatever language is used, Ugandans generally speak softly with a beautiful lilted British accent.

Baboons. We stayed in another hotel for one night when we went on safari. It was located close to a jungle and they have trouble with baboons stealing food from the open- air restaurant and tearing the outside of the hotel off.

Uganda is simply gorgeous. Palm trees, grasses, open spaces. This was wintertime and everything was green and lush. The best part of traveling on a bus was being able to wave and smile to lots of people and to see the countryside~
People carrying heavy loads on their heads or on their bicycles
Empty, partially built houses
Children wearing uniforms, walking home from school
Children wearing ragged clothing sitting in the dirt playing with a strip of
cloth or a stick or nothing
Women washing clothes
A cow
A goat
Yellow plastic water jugs
Women selling fruit and vegetables
Women sweeping
Hunks of beef hanging from hooks
Men making bricks or metalworking or woodworking
Trash burning
Men washing work vehicles by driving them into wet ditches
Women carrying infants and toddlers on their backs
Giant anthills
Men shoveling mud out of road ditches
Women sitting on the ground selling roasted corn from a small stove Small patches of crops
We learned that poverty is not laziness.

The best part? Playing with the kids. Holding their hands. Taking their pictures and showing them the LCD screen, getting a burst of giggles. Singing and dancing together. When I looked at all the photos, the constant theme is smiles. Happy, wonderful smiles.

Arrived in Uganda

V-Team has landed safely in Uganda. They were picked up at the airport by Canaan Farm hosts, Richard and Jackson. Before heading off to their new home base, the guys took malaria medicine and were able to send a short, cryptic email update from a small internet cafe in Kampala. Fighting with technology and keyboards, their message looked like a code and started out with the words, "we hav landed safelyin uganda..."

They expect this first week to be some hard work. The Team will be learning from and working with Families Empowerment, Uganda. FEM is a Christian organization, that was founded in 2002 by Christians who were moved by the plight of war-displaced families affected by regional conflict in northern Uganda. It was also driven by HIV/AIDS needs. FEM-Uganda is located in the north western district of Uganda in Masindi, just two hours drive to Gulu district. Since it's foundation, FEM-Uganda has helped meet the needs of families who are victims of war, poverty, and disease with the purpose of sharing God’s love through Jesus. (brief website on blog sidebar) Watch for more information about this organization and the people of Canaan Farm.

On the agenda for the 3 guys, this week -- building a hut for a widow and learning to farm. They will also begin relationships and have conversations about life and faith with farm workers, during soccer games, and possibly around a bon fire with music.

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For the next 2 months, Uganda will be there home.

.~kjl

From Cairo

So we have reached the airport in Cairo, Egypt and everything is perfect! We took a 2.5 hour train ride to Munich airport and set sail this afternoon at 2 o clock. Everything has gone extremely smoothly- no complications thus far. Its amazing- we finding that the further we get away from home, the more different it is. South America is so close to the United States the further away we go. We don't even know where to start as far as the language goes. This is a whole new world- much different than quaint, little Kronburg Germany. Even though we are on the other side of the planet, it has been such a huge blessing that everyone we have asked for help speaks english and directs us right to where we need to go. Nearly every person has been so helpful and this whole travel has been just amazing. Thank you for praying today! How beautiful.

Well, another two hours, a long plane ride and a long bus ride ahead of us. Please pray for wisdom in this time. We want to be smart so we are not targets but bold- not having spirits of timidity.

GODSPEED!


friends,
Christian Andrew Evan

Snapshots from Germany

Ciao Deutchland!

The rest of our time was filled with so much fun. We visited a lot of ancient churches and castles. Once again, it was great getting to know Philipp more. He has grown so closely to us three and its hard to communicate what all has happened- but here is our attempt... the final Germany video!

Leaving Germany

Hot to cold, to hot again. In the last 3 weeks, the Team has gone from sweating in shorts in Brazil, to chilly weather and coats in Germany, and now... back to the heat.

In the Air Tonight.

They are on their way, again. This week, V-Team will enter the fourth continent of their global trip.

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Tomorrow, the Team departs from the airport in Munich, Germany and will fly to Kampala, Uganda. Which, as the crow flies, is 3,533 miles or 5.685 kilometers. However, obviously they won't be traveling by crow. From Munich, their flight heads to Cairo, Egypt. Then, from Cairo, they fly to Entebbe/Kampala, Uganda. From Kampala, the Team will have to drive 110 miles to Masindi -- the home base of Canaan Farm. Tomorrow's trip will come to a grand total of 3,789 miles traveled.

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As the team leaves, they will be heading into an area of Africa that does not have readily available or consistent internet connections. They will be living in a place with less ability to communicate. We will hear from them less, but the blog will continue to provide updated information about where they are and how to pray. Stay tuned ... and, please pray as they depart for this next leg of the adventure.

~KjL