5 Short Term Missionaries + 3 Resident Missionaries + 2 National Missionaries + 400 students + 18 Teachers = a fun day of VBS!!!!!!

July 8, 2014

Last night we had a wonderful time of praise & worship with a visiting team headed to Far Reaching Ministries in South Sudan. After a time of prayer & singing we had communion. What a special time it was on the eve of our VBS.

Today we had our first full day of Vacation Bible School (VBS) ----- boy did we have fun…I think the kids did too J After our crazy intro of the chicken dance at morning assembly we loaded up our supplies & headed to our respective class rooms. There were Bible Stories, games, songs, crafts, snacks & health education for all. 

Here are some highlights:

·         Susan “supervised” as Tameka washed 102 pairs of hands as she taught the K2 & K3 classes proper hand hygiene…she was a little wrinkly by the end.

·         Deborah was very happy to find that the P2 class, which she had last year as P1, had matured so much…especially since there are 50 of them.

·         Cindy’s class got to dig for “treasures” in the sand bucket while learning about “digging” for all the treasures God has for us in His word.

·        Rhonda was so encouraged to see the excitement of the children as they worked the “simple” games of a floor puzzle & memory matching game while learning about being a part of the team – the body of Christ.

One of the greatest highlights of the day was the 68 children in P5 – P7 who made commitments today to be Health Mentors. We had met with them yesterday & did some intense health education. At the end of the classes we talked with them about becoming a “Health Mentor”. While the word “mentor” was new to them we explained that if they choose to they would be responsible to not only maintain good personal hygiene and first aid, but would be responsible for watching out for the younger children. These responsibilities would include helping to educate them, as well as, reinforcing good personal hygiene by the younger ones.  

It is not uncommon in a society, such as here, that there is a lack of knowledge in things that we in America take for granted. When you live in a mud hut in the dirt, have to walk miles for water that is usually not safe or clean, and your parents are struggling just to survive simple things like proper personal hygiene and first aid are not a priority. By educating the children to take responsibility for themselves and others we prayerfully hope to instill a sense of empowerment that they do have control over, at least, part of their lives, and they can make a positive impact on not only their future but the future of others. They were very proud to receive their “SOG Health Mentor / Matthew 25:20” dog tag necklaces and their Certificate of Completion for the teaching.

It was very encouraging to us that so many of the P5 – P7 children remembered the teaching they had received yesterday. Some of whom have already put their new knowledge to work.

Tomorrow is another day of VBS fun with some amazing, bright eyed, eager, beautiful children!

God;s Divine Timing

Uganda Newsletter #2                                                                                    July 6, 2014

Tameka here: We started our journey early this morning from Entebbe in route to Gulu. We arose and loaded all of our trunks; that we are so grateful to have finally picked up from Entebbe Airport yesterday.  Prior to pulling on our journey, we took a few minutes to thank God for His divine timing, and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. We took our first stop at a local café, which was totally warranted since some of us are professional coffee drinkers.

So we arrived, and as the newest member of the team, I (Tameka), describe Gulu as a breath of fresh air. We met the newest members of Sanctuary of Grace (SOG): Teresa, Jenny and Elizabeth. We then quickly began unpacking supplies for VBS and got settled in our spaces (preferable bunks). Before long it was time for dinner. The Coggins were so grateful for the smallest things like parmesan cheese and ranch dressing. It was quite the finishing touch to our delicious spaghetti dinner. We sat around the table like a big happy family and began telling of how we all came to meet. In that very moment we all realized that nothing can compare to God’s divine timing.

The Bible says “obedience is better than sacrifice” and we as children of God, should always incline our ear to the heart of God. This is when we can firsthand experience God’s perfect will and not just His permissive will.  God’s timing is always perfect no matter how inconveniencing we find it at times. He reassures us of His promise, His guarantee that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and His timing is not our timing. We look forward to all that He has in store here at SOG and are marveled of all He has allowed to happen. Tomorrow is pregnant with possibilities.

Rhonda here: how Blessed we all feel to be serving within Gods will for us. He knows just who to bring together to make a complete “team” with each bringing the special gifts that He has nurtured within them.  No matter how many times I’ve been before with Cindy, Susan, & Debra each time, to include this one, is filled with new Blessings.  There is always so much to write about, but I want to share what I wrote today in my journal as we took the 8 hr bus ride from Entebbe to Gulu (awesome experience within itself).  Each page in my journal has a “Thought for the Day” & a scripture to go with it.  My scripture today (06 Jul) is from Mark 1:15 (NIV), “The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!” It is the “Thought for the Day” that got me thinking, it reads: Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.  I wrote…”absolutely, especially if you travel as a missionary to a 3^rd world county where there is extensive poverty that is increased by an enormous lack of clean water & health care & education.  It’s more of a reality when you’re physically staring at it, when you’re shaking its hand, when your sharing the Love of Christ with it. Really, what is 1,000 of miles & money when you’re serving God? All you have means nothing if you are not serving God. How far would you walk to church carrying your own chair to sit in simply to hear God’s message & be part of the body of Christ? Oh, the walk is in the heat of noon, on red dirt roads/paths, & without shoes. Do you really mean “use me God”

TRUST, FLEXIBILITY, & THANKFULNESS.....That is the name of the game.

Thank you Lord!!!! First off everyone arrived safe & sound & everyone is doing well. It never ceases to amaze me how God can bring a group of people together, some of whom we have never met before arriving in Uganda, and everyone works together like they have known each other for years :)

Again we say...Thank you Lord!!!! ...since arriving late Thursday night we have been stretched, flexed, and the sifted...all we can say is we are so thankful that God is control. We arrived minus over half of our trunks, which translated into having less than half of the ministry supplies needed for Gulu. We were told they would be in on July 6 & would be delivered to us in Gulu in about 2 more days....For those of you who have been to Uganda you can certainly understand our concern. Time here has a whole different meaning & what you think, and are told, should take an hour or so, can easily turn into several hours to days.Prayers were sent out that everything would arrive the night of July 4th & we would be able to get them the morning of July 5 & head to Gulu - having missed only one day of ministry activities. We headed to Jinja to rest, wait on our trunk, & were able to catch up with some friends. Prayers answered - the trunks arrived & we headed to Entebbe this morning to get them & head to Gulu....well at least that was the plan. As things turned out by the time we had them it was too late to get on the road & head to Gulu....change of plans again....we are staying in Entebbe for the night & will leave early in the morning.

What does all this mean???? Well in short it means that God certainly has a reason we were not to be driving to Gulu yesterday or today. Do we know why???? No, and we may never. But there is one thing we are sure of...He IS in control. We came to serve as He directed us & we will continue to follow His direction....regardless of the "schedule" we thought we would have.

Please continue to pray for us - safety, good health, and for the ministry work God has in store for us.

We are so thankful to be here & be available for whatever He has in store for us!
Cindy, Susan, Rhonda, Deborah, & Tameka

PS Internet has been very unreliable so we will post when we can.