Summerteams...not really summertime

We're halfway through what is called summer in the US. (In Uganda, we don't have four seasons, only 2: rainy season and dry season.) Summer for us means teams. We have had a barrage of teams visiting us since the middle of May. Let me give you a short description of where each team was from and what they did while they were here.

Westmont College sent 5 students our way. I was very close to this team as they shacked up in my small two bedroom guesthouse for 6 weeks. During their stay, they blessed me most with their company. It was a blessing to have Americans to joke around with and talk on the same level. While they were here, they busted their butts painting, digging, carrying bricks, preaching the gospel in the community, teaching chapels and Sunday school, and much more. Most of all, they got to see all the challenges that can occur in a 3rd world country...no water or fetching water from down at the well and carrying it up 5 flights of stairs...no electricity...eating posho and beans...and having their freedom to go anywhere at anytime taken away. Hopefully they learned valuable lessons from their time here and come back to visit soon.

Liberty Christian School from the Dallas area was the next team. They have been the team that over the past two summers I have never met, yet I always see tangible things left behind by them that impact the school. This year, their focus was on our new land for the high school. Although things didn't go quite as they planned, they were still able to make a huge impact there clearing much of the land and helping to grade the plot that will be used for the high school. At the primary school, they played with kids, taught chapels, put up our much needed basketball hoop and built a new swing set for the children. I can't wait to see what they'll accomplish next year.

Oaks Christian School from Westlake Village, CA was next to visit. They spent their first week in Uganda with us and the second at another ministry. While here, the teachers continued to work with the teachers at the high school. From what I hear, our teachers at God Cares High School were blessed by the resources they brought and the discussions that took place. The students and other leaders were at the primary school completing between 30-50 single student desks for the high school. I was especially blessed by this team as my "adopted brother", Connor, was here with that team. He received rave reviews as a hard worker while here. We were able to have one night together at my house, but I wish it could have been more like a week together!

Hillcrest Christian School from Thousand Oaks, CA came next along with some board members from Buyamba, Inc. Their focus was also making desks, but while Oaks focused on varnishing and assembling the desks, Hillcrest started from scratch. It was a lot of work, but they were blessed with some skilled men to help organize everything that needed to be done. They also were able to bless both schools with books and supplies as well as a special meal of meat for the students at both schools.

While Hillcrest was still here, we received 24 people from the high school group at Calvary Community Church (my home church). Because of their visit, I am now stocked with hopefully enough chocolate chips, peanut butter, jam, and pancake mix to last me through much of 2010. I was blessed to have many students visit whom I have known since they were in middle school. It was amazing to see the Lord working in many of them while they were here as they focused on preaching the gospel in a poor area called Bukasa (We have many students at our school from that area) They also taught Sunday school and chapel at our schools.

After a week off with no visitors, a team of 8 arrived from Houston. The team consisted of half teachers who worked with teachers from both schools. The pastor led a 3-day conference in the village on the "kingdom of God" while his wife and two other ladies taught a women's seminar at our church and another church in Kawempe. There was also a carpenter on this team and he decided that while he was here he would make some things for us. The final output was more than we could have imagined: 2 bookshelves and a storage closet. These would be used at our high school.

This last team just left tonight. We receive a family of three tomorrow, but then we're done until the end of August when we host a team from Dallas that will be integral for the children's camp we will be having.

As you can see teams blessed us in many ways. I'm sure I forgot to list many of the things that these teams did while they were here, but you get an idea of how much has been done so far this summer through the blessing of visiting teams. The best part of it all is that in May before all the teams came to visit, we needed approximately 250 sponsors for children at God Cares Schools, but the latest numbers reflect that we need only 61 sponsors as a result of teams and Pastor Dongo's visit to the US. Would you also consider sponsoring a child's education? It's only a dollar a day. Contact me if you are interested.