Watoto Mission Team

Watoto Update

I just got a newsletter from Watoto with some great news in it!

1.  There are now 60 babies in the Bulrushes!
2.  On August 5, KPC opened a church in Gulu!  This is the project that they were praying so hard for while we were there.  They are currently looking for land to start building villages there.  This is an area that has been devastated by warfare, and where children are being recruited as soldiers.
3.  You can follow the Watoto choirs on their blog at www.watotochoirtour.blogspot.com.
4.  This year, Watoto will be adding 144 new children to their family!

Encourage your friends to give the gift of love for an African child this Christmas!

I plan on sending an update to the persons who sponsored our trip.  If you would like to help put something together--pictures and such--and get it sent out, let me know.  Thanks!

Pray for the children!

Brenda Heard
Director of Music and Worship Ministries
East Heights UMC

Lord of life, sing through me . . .

June 20

We made it!  We almost cheered when we touched down in good old Wichita!  It was an exhausting return trip, made even more difficult by the fact that several of us were still suffering from the virus that got about half the team during the last few days.  We spent the night in London and some adventurous souls went shopping.  Most of us crashed at the hotel in soft beds and took showers with water pressure and comfortable temperature!  It's amazing what you take for granted.

Now comes the difficult time--readjusting to our own culture.  It seems so strange to sit here at home and think that only a few days ago we were in a 3rd world country.  It seems strange to drive on the right side of the street.  It's a joy to have a variety of fruits to eat and to have dairy products again!  The convenience of shopping at the grocery store is something we take for granted.  There is so much here for which we should be thankful because most of the world is not as fortunate.  In many ways, we should be embarrassed by our affluence.

We have so many stories to tell and things to share!  Hopefully, there will be a time soon when we can share in worship the many exciting things that happened along with pictures and souvenirs.  Also, we would like to plan a time to thank the many people who helped this mission in so many ways.  We are looking forward to sharing the story of Africa with all of you!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support--we could feel the love across the ocean!

June 17

Our lucky streak with health ended today. Several people got some kind of stomach crud and others have sore throats. We’re all tired, but we’re getting close to a return trip home.

Today, we drove up to the Murchison Falls. Words cannot do justice to their power! We all experienced the feeling of insignificance in relation to the majesty of God’s creation. After checking out the falls, we gathered together under the shade of a large tree and had a worship service. We shared some of the songs we had learned here, had a time of prayer, and served each other communion. (The elements had been blessed at CSN prior to our trip and they survived in pretty good shape, considering.) What a wonderful time of sharing with each other in the beauty of God’s creation.

Did we mention that the roads here are very bumpy? Think narrow country roads with tons of potholes in Kansas and you will be seeing the highways here in Uganda. Our driver spends a lot of time swerving around potholes, often onto the “shoulder,” which is really just a red dirt rut that doesn’t have grass. All of this makes those of us who are susceptible to car sickness just a bit queasy. The good news is that we made it back to Kampala in one piece with all our souvenirs intact—thanks to our driver Joel. We spend the night here and then leave early tomorrow morning for the airport. We’re all filled with the wonderful tiredness that comes with accomplishing something beautiful. We have so much to share with all of you when we get home! Continue praying for our safe travel and for healing for those who are ill. We arrive in Wichita on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. on American 4428. We’ll be wearing our “tangerine” shirts so you can’t miss us if you come out to greet us. Thanks for the blessings of your prayer!

June 16

June 16 Safari Day! Yesterday afternoon we arrived at Murchison Falls National Park on the western edge of Uganda. We took a ferry across the Nile to our lodge. What a beautiful place! We were greeted by baboons and told to keep our room doors closed when we are not in them so the baboons don’t come in to take things. Last night we went on our first game drive. We piled into our buses and drove out into the grasslands. We were so blessed because we saw elephants, giraffes, hartebeasts, oribis, lizards, waterbuck, Ugandan kob, cape buffalo, monkeys, and even lions! We have lots of great pictures to show. Today, Saturday, we went on a barge ride up the Nile to the Murchison Falls. We saw so many hippos that they became routine after a while. We saw a crocodile bar with at least 25 crocs on it, up close and personal! The falls are beautiful. Tomorrow, we will be driving up to look at the falls from the top before we head back to Kampala for one night before leaving early Monday morning for London. The lodge is delightful, with great food and beautiful views of the Nile and the surrounding vegetation. This whole experience is a reminder that God is creative and abundant beyond the bounds of human comprehension! When we came back from the game drive, we found out a baboon had been in Rachelle’s room. She had gone to the bathroom and came out to find it trying to take the first aid kit. She screamed and it ran off! One of the most exciting, if short-lived, events of the past few days has been an earthquake. It was mild and didn’t last more than about 20 seconds, but had the floor moving and the windows rattling! Most of us have never experienced an earthquake before, so we have something to add to our list of “firsts.” Tonight there is a traditional African band playing and there’s lots of dancing. The instruments are really interesting, even though the songs all sound kind of alike! We will try to post some pictures if we can overcome some technical difficulties. Keep praying for our safe travel—so far we have had nothing more than a few cuts and bruises and some car sickness.

June 14

Today was a special day. We dedicated both homes built by our combined team. The workers were there as well as representatives from Watoto. Bob the Builder is the construction supervisor! We sang “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” and the workers sang a song to us in Lugandan, which is their language. We gave the house to the glory of God and dedicated it in prayer. It was a very special time for all of us and there were even a few tears shed. Then we greeted each worker individually. They were such a positive part of our experience here and had a lot to teach us—not only about construction but about their culture and life in general. We hung the plaque we had brought outside the home and had pictures taken before we moved to the other site to dedicate the teachers’ home that the West Heights team built (plus George—we outnumbered them and so George volunteered to help their team out).

Some of us were treated to a tour of Bbira Village. Bbira means “forest” and there are lots of trees and beautifully cared for plants and lawns. We got to see the children in some of their classes. In other parts of Uganda, children are often in classes as large as 90 children (if they go to school at all), while in Watoto the class sizes are much more manageable at about 25-30. The children all seemed to be happy and focused in their learning. The Ugandans place a great value on their teachers, knowing that the only way to get a quality education is to get quality teachers. Currently, there is only a primary school at Bbira, grades equivalent to our K-8. Buses take the older children to Suubi. Bbira is in the process of building a high school, provided enough partners come through to support the building.

After lunch on site, we went to Kampala Pentecostal Church to get our passports and extra money that they had been keeping in their safe. We had a debriefing with our tour hosts Andrew and Melvin and they told us what to expect for our next few days at the safari lodge. Now the vacation part begins! We also learned about the vision Watoto has for the children of Africa and the planting of a new church and Watoto ministry in the northernmost part of Uganda, where there is much war and consequently, much need. The biggest problem in northern Uganda is the child soldiers. We really admire the people of God here in Kampala for taking a stand for justice and moving to plant a church and Watoto ministry in the heart of a most desperate situation. Put the children of Gulu on your prayer lists! KPC is also trying to spread the concept of Watoto among other African nations so that the continent as a whole will benefit from increased education and attention to the needs of the children—the future leaders!

Tonight we are being treated to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant called Fang Fang. We have no idea what to expect, but are all getting a little tired of the lack of variety in the African diet compared to the American diet. We have started dreaming of the foods we want to taste again when we get home. Most of us will miss the fresh pineapple here but will be happy not to have some form of banana at each meal!

Even though the work on our home is completed (at least on our part; a crew will come in to place the plumbing, electricity, and roof before it is painted on the inside and landscaped outside), we realize that there is still great need. Watoto is clearing land in this village for another 6 clusters, holding 9 houses each of 8 children each. Each of these homes is in need of partner churches to raise funds and send teams to build. The goal of the Watoto ministry is to care for 10,000 children, and they are well on their way. Please pray for the people of the world who might be moved to be part of this exciting and important ministry.

June 13

Today we finally laid the momentous last brick but not before the mortar mixers decided they were done and had put away all of the mixture’s ingredients.  So after a short delay and light rain shower the orphan’s home has finally been completed! (at least as much as we are supposed to do while we are here).  We have been working alongside a group of 14 from

Minnesota

who finished the house next to us shortly before we did--  though our house is of much higher quality than theirs we are sure. 

A few days ago the

Minnesota

group challenged us to a game of soccer, which was mostly developed from the rivalry of our two team hosts.  The match was set for today, house 93 (us) versus house 94.  Each of the team’s workers played with their own house team and all the kids had just finished school in time to watch.  They especially enjoyed the slipping and sliding in the wet grass, especially when a player went over the side of the hill.  It was a close match at 5-5 (Jake hit a header in for a goal to tie the game) and we went to the “shoot out”, which really thrilled the kids.  Unfortunately, with all the pressure on our hosts, the Minnesotans were labeled the winners.

One highlight of the day was learning “Trash Talk” in Ugandan.  We have learned a lot from the workers.  The low point of the day was our arrival back at the Regency to find the water tank truck pumping water on to the roof tank, while leaking down the stairwell, and then having a constellation of water situations—none, only cold, only hot, or just low pressure.  Maybe everyone will get to bath before they go to bed.

Tomorrow is the last day at the worksite and dedication ceremonies for the houses.  We are really looking forward to FUN FUN at the FANG FANG tomorrow night.

June 12

We started the day waiting on ice.  Apparently, they have to chip it off the block when you buy it, and it took a while.  Typically, the person who chips the ice sleeps in and we have to get it later.  While we waited, we enjoyed handing out candy to passing children and watching the traffic go by.  We could develop a game of African car bingo:

            Man carrying strainers and plastic wares in a basket on head

            Man with pig on back of bicycle

            Bicycle loaded down with sugar cane

            Pelican-looking birds waiting for remains from fish market

            Banana truck

            Banana bicycle

            Bananas on lady’s head

            Child who chases bus and screams “sweets”

            School children in uniforms of all colors, including pink

            Toddlers with no pants (potty training)

            Random cows in pedestrian crosswalks

            Chicken cages stacked high

            Fish market smell

            Guards carrying rifles

            Bicycles with timber poles

            Streetside shoe salesmen

            Termite mounds

            Pot holes deeper than the tires on the bus

            Small rivers flowing through the street on rainy days

            Person wearing glasses or braces (very difficult to find!)

            Woman with laundry on head about to be hit by motorbike passing taxi in front of Hindu temple (see picture)

We finally made it to the work site and we managed to complete the outside walls of our house.  Simple things in our world are not so simple here.  The sand to mix the mortar didn’t arrive, so we had to make do with other sand from the lake that was not so good.  This slowed us down considerably.  We did get to try a new food—kosava root.  It tastes, well, like chewing a stick.  They say it is better sliced and fried.  It couldn’t get any worse, so we imagine they’re right!

Jake turned 16 today, and some of the house mothers brought down a special surprise of fresh fruit.  They sang us a traditional song and then sang “Happy Birthday.”  Everyone got fruit, even the workers.  The house mothers are so grateful for what we are doing.  We shared some dried apricots with the mothers, and they pretended to like it.  Most had a puzzled expression on their faces when they tried it, and called it “interesting.”  We realized they had the same reaction to the apricots as we had a few days ago to the traditional African foods we were served.

We witnessed an actual accident with a vehicle today.  Actually, it was a taxi that hit a curb and then got high-centered.  We got stuck in a traffic jam downtown and got to see some different parts of the city, including two different Hindu temples.

Tonight we expect another night without power—very typical here.  The cool thing is that the internet café uses a generator so you never lose computer access!

June 11

It is amazingly easy to get really dirty!  We worked all day today at the building site and we are covered with mud.  All the rain that we had last night really made a mess of things.  We are at the point where we had to set scaffolding, and when you put scaffolding on mud, it sinks—especially when you pile bricks on it!  We had to redo the setup several times and ended up propping up most of it with spare bricks and bits of board.  But no one fell off or was hurt. 

We are starting to get better at bricklaying, although none of us are planning it as a future career!  It is hot, dirty, smelly work, but we just keep thinking of the children that will be helped by having a home and someone to care for them. 

We are working on setting up our church to sponsor the mother of the house we are building.  We can do this with the contributions we received beyond the required amounts.  How rewarding it will be to be able to keep up with the mother and children that are placed in the home we constructed.

Tomorrow we will finish the inside walls as well as the outside walls, and will probably get done early enough to exchange more money and do a bit of shopping.  Wednesday afternoon, we have been challenged to a soccer game against the team from

Minnesota

that is building the house next to ours.  We have lots of youngsters, so we’re sure to win!  The architect of the project, Dave from

Australia

, thought it would be fun.  Fortunately we get to have our Ugandan workers on our team, too.

We are becoming more familiar with the city of

Kampala

but will never get used to the difficult conditions for most of the people here.  The markets are outdoor rows of little shops with fresh meat or fish hanging in many of them.  Most of them have a little charcoal burner and are cooking something—sometimes grasshoppers!—and so the smell of smoke permeates everything.  There are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere, but we have been advised not to buy anything from them for the safety of our digestive systems.  There are little booths along the streets where a person will sit and sell you a phone card and then let you use the phone he has right there.  A lot of the stores have their clothing hanging right outside, and even the furniture is outside.  Yesterday when it rained, not all the furniture was overed with a tarp.  Glad we don’t have room to bring home a recliner!

We know that God has brought us here for a reason, and we appreciate all the support and prayers of everyone back home.

June 10

Today we went to worship at Kampala Pentecostal Church-Central.  KPC is “one church celebrating at five different points” because they have churches central, north, south, east and west, and churches at each of the children’s villages.  Today at KPC-Central, there were 4 services in a row, each 2 hours long.  The congregation leaves one set of doors while the next set of worshippers comes in, and they do this for 8 hours!  Incredible worship energy in the room, although in many ways not unlike other contemporary services we have experienced.

The biggest treat of the day was experiencing a traditional African lunch at the homes in

Bbira

Village

where we are building.  We divided into groups of 3-4 and went into the homes to eat with the families.  It was pouring rain and the roofs are all made of tin, so conversation was difficult until the rain let up.  The menu was interesting—carbs and more carbs!  We had fried bananas and mashed bananas called matoke that taste like mashed potatoes.  We also had bread that was much like a tortilla.  There was a little bit of meat in a stew and greens that were much like eating mown grass.  There was the ever-present pineapple and fresh bananas for dessert.  We even had Irish potatoes!  There were some different things made out of peanuts that we never quite got the name for. The families were all delightful and glad to have us in their homes.  They are quite grateful for the work we are doing for them.  When we try to compliment them on what they are doing for the children, they always deflect the compliment with “it is God’s grace” or “God has been good to us.”  They are the perfect example of Christian humility.

We visited

Buloba

Village

this afternoon, although it was questionable whether we could get through on the muddy road.  This is the oldest of the villages, and is not as nice as the newer ones like we are building.  The toilets are like latrines, outside in groups, not in each house.  We happened to come on a day when they were honoring retiring mothers.  When the mothers retire, some of them return to their families, but those who have no place to go stay in the village and become grandmothers to the children.  All of the house mothers are unmarried, whether single or widowed.  Many have grown children.

On the way home, we saw our first accident—very surprising since the traffic here is horrendous!  A motorcyclist—one of the few with a helmet—got hit by a banana truck.  Things stopped for a little while as he got up and dusted himself off, and then off everyone went again—no 911, no police reports, no exchange of insurance information.  No road rage.  No foul language.  Quite a different experience.  Our tour hosts are in their 20’s and have never driven and don’t have driver’s licenses.  Our bus driver Joel has seen us through a lot of slippery situations, like yesterday when the bus was sliding down a muddy hill into

Suubi

Village

.  We are blessed that he is such a good driver.

Tonight we are enjoying a relaxing evening before heading out to the building site tomorrow.  Hopefully it will not be too rainy to work.  It will undoubtedly be muddy, as we had quite a lot of rain today—it is the rainy season here. 

Pray for the rain to stop so we can complete our building in the time we have.  When we see how little we are actually giving them, it really makes us wonder what the situations were like before they came to Watoto.  There is an incredible need here.  We are making a difference, even if it is only a drop in the bucket!

June 9

Today we experienced the Watoto Babies’ Home, call The Bullrushes. The first boy baby that came to the home is named Moses. The babies for which we have been collecting items became more than vague images or numbers—they are real persons, with devastating pasts and, now, hopeful futures. The facility is beautiful and the children are very well cared for. We spent several hours just playing with them, rocking them, feeding them. They are truly beautiful children of God!

One of the pictures we are trying to upload (sorry for the problems with this—technology is in a different place here) is of Doctor Moses, one of the Watoto babies. He was brought to Bullrushes after he had been in the hospital. He had a broken arm and broken ribs that he had received when his mother tried to kill him. Another baby, Hope, was rescued from a fate of human sacrifice (an interesting story we can tell you when we get back).

This afternoon we visited one of the other Watoto villages, Suubi. It was here that the West Heights team built their house in 2005. We were able to interact with the children and some people caught up with the choir children who stayed in their homes last June. The village is wonderful and is still growing as they add teachers’ homes and classrooms. They recently built an administration building that houses a library and a computer lab. We spent some time talking with one of the teachers there and were really impressed by her passion for her work and her love for the children.

We had a little time today for shopping and packed the bus with our souvenirs! Tomorrow we will go to worship at Kampala Pentecostal Church—the church where the Watoto ministry was birthed—and then will travel to the third Watoto village, Biloba. Monday we head back to the building site for 4 more days of work. The house will be dedicated on Thursday.

Our passion for the welfare of the Ugandan children has only increased since we have arrived. There is great joy and great beauty here, but there is also great need. Please keep praying for the children of Uganda!