Children's Camp

Last week we had our annual children's camp for Buyamba. We had expected about 600 students ages 8-16. However, we never know how many will be there until we start the camp on Monday. This year, the number of pre-registered students was about 400. That number scared me a little because I knew that on the day of the camp many students would show up without us being able to prepare for them.

Registration was chaotic. The lack of overall planning by all of us (me especially...no excuses) did not help our situation. We had students crowding around every person doing registration. Luckily for me, we were blessed with 11 visitors who could help us with all of them. Thanks so much for them bearing with our disorganization. Students and parents alike did not understand what line they were supposed to be in...I could go on and on about registration. To make a long story short, I don't think we successfully got all students registered, but the final number that we registered before arriving at the came was 650. When I finally arrived at the camp, I found the number of students to be closer to 700. Then you add in all the facilitators and other leaders and we were close to 750.

Remember that we were planning for about 600. Our budget was for 600. The amount of money raised to pay for the camp was about four-fifths of our budget. All this means that God had to provide the rest of the money to pay for everything for us to be able to run a successful camp. And though there were MANY challenges, the camp was an overall success. Students were blessed; leaders were blessed. And most of all God took control of everything. In the end, many made decisions to follow Christ and more than 180 chose to take part in our previously unscheduled baptisms! I was able to get a little more of a visual than I wanted when I looked at the clear water before baptisms and the very dirty water thereafter. A reminder of how Jesus washes away our sins....literally!

Thank you for all that prayed for our camp. Hopefully next year there will be more students, more decisions to follow Christ and more of God shining through in the lives of the people of Uganda.

Dinner at Dallen's

So I just realized that I haven't ever talked about the fact that I'm having weekly dinner parties at my house. The guests? Children from our boarding section. One of the ideas I had when I was formulating a plan to work here as a missionary was to get to know all the kids. In the youth group back home, our youth pastor used to have "dinner for 10" at his house so that students would have a chance to hang out with him, and he would have a chance to get to know them. So as I calculated how much I needed to raise each month to be in Uganda, I added this line item to my budget.

At the end of March 2009, I finally organized the first "Dinner at Dallen's". I invited about 15 students to my house on a Saturday night and enlisted Teacher Deborah to be my cook for the night. Ashley and I led the students in some fun youth group games from back home. We learned the names of all of the children and had a meal that left many of us practically passed out on the floor. It was a giant success. After that first one, kids would come and tell me that they were going to be the ones at my house for dinner that week.

Since then, I've been able to host about 5 more dinners at my house for between 15 and 20 students. So I'm slowly getting to know each of the 170+ students in our boarding section by name. Right now we're on our in between holiday break so there won't be any dinners for a while, but I look forward to more fun with these students in the future.

FYI...dinner for that many costs me less than $20 and everyone leaves with a full belly of GOOD food...not posho and beans!

Out of the funk

Sorry that I haven't been online recently. I hit a rut there for a while. I guess it finally hit me that I was no longer a host for visiting teams, and I actually had other work to do. It just took me a few days to snap out of a funk that I was in. Thank God for the blessing of music that ministers to my heart. The following is the anthem that I have been running through my head the last few days. The bottom line is that I have to let go and allow God to have control of my life. You would think that I had already learned this lesson, but what I know about myself is that I'm stubborn and often have to learn things the hard way!

We will separate ourselves from everyone that we know (We say, we're so misunderstood,)
We can't allow a single doubt or weakness to show (But I know we don't do the things we should)
Just one more day without the shame and I can move on (So long to what I thought was)
I'll be happier, happier when I've given up

Pictures people...PICTURES!

So I've been in Uganda for over a year now. It's been a crazy ride here. I've been challenged in so many different ways in my life. I'm learning and growing in my faith. Things have changed dramatically not only based on where I live, but how I life as well. However, I think the end of summer marks a point where I begin to miss home. Teams have been here pretty much non-stop since middle of May, and now there is no American presence here. I think having people for that long then none is like a culture shock all over again. Anyway, that's not what this short blog is about. Really, I'm begging for some pictures of my lovely friends to put up on my boards so I can remember all the loved ones back home. As you can see...there are lots of blank spots for pictures. Please help!!! Send them to darren@ugandabuyamba.com I have a photo printer here to print them...or even better send me snail mail.

Darren Yui
c/o God Cares School
P.O. Box 26977
Kampala, Uganda
East Africa

My Back is to the World

For the past few years, I have been trying to find a recorded version of a song that the youth worship bands in middle school and high school used to play. It always touched my heart and reminded me of who I am in Christ. This song has and continues to be an encouragement to me especially in my current situation.

For those that have dedicated their lives to being a disciple of Christ, I want to encourage you to stand with your face to the wind, and your back to the world...don't turn around to follow the things of the world. For those struggling with the back and forth tug-o-war between surrendering your life to Christ and living for the pleasures of this world, I challenge you to turn you back to the things of the world and follow Christ at all cost....HIS WAY!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:24--27

Stand

Here I am still waiting
For how long I don't know
It's a long way back from where I've been
And there's no where else to go

So I'll stand with my face to the wind
And my back to the world
I'll follow you
I'll go where to tell me to go
No I don't be afraid
No I won't be afraid

I feel your wind is moving
I'm not sure where it's going
But I'll let it carry me away
Cause I'm not staying in this place

So I'll stand with my face to the wind
And my back to the world
I'll follow you
I'll go where to tell me to go
No I don't be afraid
No I won't be afraid

And I won't turn around

You're a missionary TOO!

I often get the comments from people about how awesome it is that I have moved overseas to an unknown country to serve as a missionary. I never really thought of it as much of a sacrifice. I was only trying to listen and obey the calling of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you've seen where I live then you know why I think I'm not sacrificing much. I have most of the comforts of home here in my little house/apartment. But I can't deny that my life has changed drastically in the eyes of most people. In my eyes, my life is pretty much the same apart from the fact that I am far away from most of my family and friends.

While in Uganda, I enjoy listening to podcasts at home from speakers that I am familiar with. My favorite is not that of my own home church, but a church that is not far away from where I had lived in the US. That church has committed millions of dollars to support different ministries around the world. But it wasn't the fact that they were donating millions of dollars worldwide that recently caught my attention. Instead it's the words of their pastor who challenged the people of his church to be a light in the community in which they live.

You might be thinking that this is nothing new. You've heard pastors speak about the importance of being in a small group or a smaller community within the framework of the church. You've probably heard over and over how you should "love your neighbor". You've probably heard that you should preach the gospel to those who live around you. I too had heard all those things, and to be honest, most of the time I ignored those pleas. It's only as I've moved to another country that these things really hit home in a recent message. The pastor said something to the effect that if you can't be a missionary in your own community, how can you be a missionary to the rest of the world. You can see how that hit home for me. I had never cared to share with those in my community while I was in the US. However, it's easy to go door to door in Uganda to share the gospel with anyone on the street. I mean who cares what those people think about me. It's much more difficult to share with people in the US who will judge me: the guy next door to me that hates my dog, the people on the other side of my house who are constantly partying, the couple across the street that is co-habitating. I distinctly remember my grandma to hide when she saw some Christians approaching her door.

You might think that it's awesome that I'm overseas trying to disciple young people to be the next generation of leaders in Uganda. For me, I think what I am doing to serve the Lord is easy. Instead, I look up to that remnant of people in the US who believe so strongly in our Lord Jesus Christ that they will preach the gospel to their neighbors in the US no matter what those people might think of them or how they might judge them. If you are one of those people, I pray that you will continue the good work the Lord has put before you. If you're a believer and like me didn't do this very well, I pray that the Holy Spirit will give you "power" (Acts 1:8) to witness for Christ. After all, if you call Jesus your Lord and Savior, you're a missionary too.

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.