From Ginja, Uganda - YL Training Camp

Sunday, December 28^th- 10:30pm

We arrive in Entebbe a tired and ragged bunch, but praise God that He delivered us safely to Uganda! We are here and have found our new home at the Rugada Student Center along with 45 Young Life leaders from all over Uganda. They have all come to be a part of a 3-day conference we will be leading. We are not sure how frequently we will have internet access, but we hope to provide you with as many updates as possible. You will hopefully be hearing sentiments and reflections from each of us at some point during the trip so please stay tuned for some further musings as we go. Again, we thank you all for your love and continued support and prayers. Keep it up!

Monday, December 29, 2008-

The end of the first day and we are all adjusting fairly well. Aside from one lost luggage bag and an upset stomach everyone seems to be in high spirits. It’s been a glorious day and God has already shown up in some wonderful ways. The following is a reflection from our time so far… I am now sitting in a jagged metal chair with just three legs, as sweat drips down my head even while I am typing. I am asking myself where I am and when I got here. The time leading up to the trip was swift and empty for me. I want to say that I should have thought about the trip to come for longer and prepared more, but I think the way in which I came to sit here was just the way God wanted it. God is working through my uncertainty. On the flight over and in the little time alone with God I have found here I feel as though simplicity is the reason I am here. Each fascinating and moving story I hear somehow leads back to simplicity. I am not saying I completely understand it or am ready to fully embrace it, but wow the beauty of the freedom to come. “… The simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3) can be seen in every heart I meet. Oh how I have loved seeing the same Young Life from America lead youth to Christ here. The leaders and their devotion are changing my heart as I type. Christ is ALIVE and He is so present in this world. The growth of Young Life over here has been a visual testament to His power. Let us all petition to the Lord for a heart of simplicity that is so sincere that it can easily transverse an ocean into a different culture upon our return. If this is day one, Great things are to come!

In Him,

Wilson

Matthew 4:19

To Mills Snell and the entire Uganda 2008 Team:

May the Lord Bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace.

Love DAD!

Friends,

As I sit here tonight on the eve of our departure I am filled with many emotions. Sitting comfortably surrounded by my most treasured loved ones I find myself straddling two worlds. I think I speak for the entire group when I say tomorrow will mark the beginning of an incredible, life-changing journey. God has blessed each of us with the opportunity to be a part of this great work He has already set in motion. There is such an incredible air surrounding this trip with such a strong group of 14 set to go. Please keep praying. Keep lifting this trip up to the Holy One whose name and love we seek to share with others. Thank you to our friends and families both near and far for all of your support and encouragement in our preparations. The time is come. May our Lord Jesus be blessed! Amen.

**please join the blog so you can be included in our updates from Uganda!**

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" ~ Romans 10:14-15 

Hey gang. Here is a sermon by Andy Stanley, the pastor at North Point Church in Atlanta. I'm a huge fan and listen to a lot of his stuff online. I'm really drawn to his ministry because you never walk away from his sermons feeling like he's preached at you, but rather he's had a conversation with you. Prayer has been a huge part of this gathering and will remain a huge part of this trip. Make time to listen to this one sermon by him. I heard it back in January of this year and it has made a profound impact on my life. The link below will take you to his sermon page. Scroll over until you find the series titled Q3. Click on the link to "Asking Big" from 1/1/07. Watch it if you can. I think you'll find his words inspiring. Hope you all had a great weekend. TWO MORE WEEKS!!! Can't wait!

http://www.northpoint.org/messages

Responding to His Call

"To become neighbors is to BRIDGE THE GAP between people. As long as there is distance between us we cannot look into one another's eyes. We forget that they love as we love, care for their children as we care for ours, become sick and die as we do. We forget they are our BROTHERS and SISTERS." - HENRI NOUWEN

“It is a response to a CALL... A Call from HIM who has no voice, and yet Who speaks in everything that is, and Who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being… For we ourselves are words of His. But we are words that are meant to respond to Him, to answer to Him, to echo Him, and even in some way to contain Him and signify Him…”
- THOMAS MERTON

“If we want HUMILITY, we should condescend to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow-creatures, cover their frailties, love their excellencies, encourage their virtues, relieve their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, compassionate their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and condescend to do the lowest offices to the lowest of mankind.” - "CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE"

My PRAYER for each of us tonight, is that He would continue to strip us of anything & everything which is about us, so that our lives would be a direct reflection of Him, would continue to respond out of selfless obedience to His Call... as it continues to lead us…choosing to hear HIS voice, rather than to live as slaves to the voice of the world....walking by Faith, & not ruled any longer by fear.... that He would continue to work out His will in our lives, one day at a time…maturing in our hearts, a Divine Wisdom like that of King Solomon, Absolute Trust unconditional of circumstance like Joseph, a Faith as we step forward & out into the unknown like Abraham, a Passion & Commitment to share God’s Word like Paul…and ultimately, a HEART after God’s own heart, like King David....

WE NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS US...

PRAY BIG...!

in HIM,

Drew

Silent Night, Holy Night

So nothing profound or prophetic today, mainly because I left my list of verses I wanted to use at home. But then again I'm a firm believer that God loves to use the ebb and flow of our daily lives, even our forgetfulness, to open the window to something greater than we had planned. There is a Caedman's Call song called "Table for Two" with a particular few lines (actually the whole song is amazing) that I love..."Well this day's been crazy but everything's happened on schedule, from the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt. 'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden, and You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt." I love how intentional our God is. How He knows each of us and loves on each of us daily. He shows up in the truly divine AND in a simple whisper. I pray during this busy season- that seems to have moved so far beyond its true meaning--you find yourself in a place where peace and love surround you. I pray that you open yourself to the Wonder that is your daily life. Please, during the busyness allow yourself time to be still and be moved, even in the smallest of ways. If you consider the title of this blog- not the first time I'm sure- you may very well be reminded of what I mentioned earlier about the true telling of this Holy event we celebrate this time of year. That it includes a hint of something silent and wonderful- something so uncanny and overpowering that we can't help but find ourselves entranced with the miracle of Christ's birth. May you continue to invite the unexpected and celebrate the seemingly insignificant in the coming weeks. May God bless and keep each of you as we prepare to take this journey together.


"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exhalted among the nations, I will be exhalted among the earth." ~Psalm 46:10


Lord Jesus, we pray for quiet wonder and simple joy today. We ask that as we celebrate Your unobtrusive entrance into our world, we would be reminded of the sacrifice You made through your life and death. Prepare us, Holy One, to venture forth in grace that we may share Your wonderous story with those in darkness. Quiet us, that we may take notice of Your all too often silent presence in our hearts and be open to the ways You are leading us. Amen

I am eager!

I am eagerly awaiting our trip to Uganda.  Drew sent an email out to our group today and it said, "God is Love, & He is so faithful.  He's absolutely who He says He is.  Jesus is alive.  The Spirit is moving.  His Kingdom is coming.   Pamoja Pamoja."   I am eagerly awaiting His kingdom to come in my heart and change my life.  I prayed for the trip this morning, and I prayed for the people we encounter, but also for my heart to be changed. I want the praises of God to be on my lips and I want my greedy eyes to be washed clean.  I need a new and fresh taste of who the Lord is; I am so sick of the mediocrity in my life, and I am waiting for the spirit of God to stir my heart and affections for Jesus.  Uganda is something I  have prayed about for a long time.

 I was reading in 1 Corinthians 1 about God being faithful and about the Church being unified.  I think these verses apply to us about to embark on this journey to Africa:

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with His son Jesus, is FAITHFUL.  I appeal to you that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in one mind and thought."  

This was on my heart today and my prayer for us.  May the Lord unify us and continue to reveal to us how ALIVE and FAITHFUL He truly is.

Two Weeks in Africa

I sent this in a email but here again are the words from a Caedmon's Call song that I seem to have fallen victim to repeat on my ipod.  The Lord is far bigger that what we comprehend this trip being.  I love the line in the end that says "he doesn't need us but he lets us put our hands in." I think we so often forget power of our might God.  He is going to do GREAT things on this trip and I am confident in that. (sorry my computer will only type in 'underline') Excited to be with you all.  Blessings, Emily

"Two Weeks in Africa"

From Johannesburg to Cape Town, the plane had barely touched down
She was taking photos for the friends back home
This was where she had always felt her heart belonged
She was finally here, the sky was bright and clear

Two weeks
And we all can feel the calling
Two weeks
To make the world a little smaller
So a girl got on a plane for two weeks in Africa

Johannesburg to Houston she came home on a mountain
But school was starting, things kept moving on
Before you knew it seven years had gone
She found a picture of her standing smiling,
Arms around the starving kids she swore to not forget
She swore to not forget

Two weeks
And we all can feel the calling
Two weeks
To make the world a little smaller
So a girl got on a plane for two weeks in Africa

And if we follow our dear sun to where the shores are not familiar…

Faces turn to numbers, numbers fall like manna from the sky
Why, oh why, oh Father, why?

One village in Malawi now has water running pure and clean
One church alive in Kenya's full of truth and love and medicine
We put the walls up but Jesus keeps 'em standin'
He doesn't need us, but He lets us put our hands in
So we can see His love is bigger than you and me

Two weeks
And we all can feel the calling
Two weeks
To make the world a little smaller
So a girl got on a plane for two weeks in Africa

Re: YL Uganda Trip - Prayer Time 8:00am

Hey Y'all-

I'm so excited that we'll be in Africa in just 24 days....WOW! I wanted to let y'all know that I got a STEAL of a deal by getting my shots at the Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Atlanta. I am only paying $300 as opposed to $600 by having it done at their travel clinic. If anyone is interested, the number is 404.224.3600. Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone was interested. The travel clinic is only open Monday through Wednesday. Have a great day!


REH

Reagan E. Hardy
Southern Proper, LLC
www.southernproper.com
404.805.3825

---

From: "Drew Voyles"
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 17:59:30 -0500
To: Bailey Pouns (YL WA Leader)<jbpouns@gmail.com>; BLOG - Uganda Trip 2008<drew.voyles.uganda@blogger.com>; Elizabeth Gonda<elizabeth.gonda@gmail.com>; Emily Stone<emilychristinestone@gmail.com>; Haley Gage<haley.gage@gmail.com>; Hunter Lambeth<MHL23@juno.com>; Lauren Harper<SLaurenHarper@hotmail.com>; <Leighvail@gmail.com>; Mia Morgan (YL WA Leader)<miamorga@uga.edu>; Mills Snell<millssnell@gmail.com>; Reagan Hardy<reagan@southernproper.com>; Schroder Voyles<schroderv@gmail.com>; Simon Okiria - Uganda<simonpokiria@yahoo.com>; Stephanie Hinton<stephhinton@gmail.com>; Turner Outlaw<turneroutlaw@mac.com>; <wheelerbrx@yahoo.com>; Wilson Carroll<hcarroll3@gatech.edu>
Subject: YL Uganda Trip - Prayer Time 8:00am

Reminder that all of you are invited to meet to PRAY with us over our Trip to Uganda tomorrow at 8am, here at the YL Office.  If you can't be there, take some time tomorrow morning to PRAY on your own.  Our #1 priority right now is to cover this very special time the Lord has in store ahead of us, together in Uganda, with PRAYER...

PRAY BIG

"If you CLING to your life, you will LOSE it, but if you GIVE it up for me, you will FIND it..."

               MATTHEW 10:39

          

                         Young Life Africa  - www.africa.younglife.org

               Young Life Expeditions - www.Expeditions.younglife.org 

                             *PARTNERSHIP - YL NW Atlanta + YL Africa    

--
"The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing , & forceful Men lay hold of it."    MATTHEW 11:12

YL Uganda Trip - Prayer Time 8:00am

Reminder that all of you are invited to meet to PRAY with us over our Trip to Uganda tomorrow at 8am, here at the YL Office.  If you can't be there, take some time tomorrow morning to PRAY on your own.  Our #1 priority right now is to cover this very special time the Lord has in store ahead of us, together in Uganda, with PRAYER...

PRAY BIG

"If you CLING to your life, you will LOSE it, but if you GIVE it up for me, you will FIND it..."

               MATTHEW 10:39

          

                         Young Life Africa  - www.africa.younglife.org

               Young Life Expeditions - www.Expeditions.younglife.org 

                             *PARTNERSHIP - YL NW Atlanta + YL Africa    

--
"The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing , & forceful Men lay hold of it."    MATTHEW 11:12

Give Thanks...

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving filled with plenty of food and family. I hope too that you were able to take some time to be enlightened to all the good things in your life. Cliche, perhaps. But never the less, it is often this time of year that we ARE especially in touch with the blessings God has lavished upon us. Now that we've gotten our fill of turkey and green bean casserole I pray that we would begin to move deliberately into this most Holy of seasons.

As we begin the celebration of Advent, I encourage you to reread the Christmas story. For it is, afterall, because of the miracle of Christ's birth, the wonder of His life, and the graciousness of His death that we are each making this journey in the coming month. During this time of year I pray that we be reminded of not only Christ's redemptive sacrifice through death, but His miraculous yet quiet entry into our world. When we read Luke 2:1-7 we find that Jesus reset the standards even in birth. His presence in our world, as foretold years before, was radical even from infancy. The King of Kings did not come in a flashy display of glittering robes and crowns. He came humbly that we may be open to the presence of God in everyday places. So many years later, I pray that we are still conscious of His gentle and often silent presence in our lives.


What is God doing in your everyday places during this Advent Season? Today seek the ways that God is using the everyday familiar places to work out His divine plan for your life and for the world. How can you be preparing your spirit to receive Him during your time in Africa? Let us ask for softened hearts and child-like wonder so that Jesus may enter in and steal our certainties and self-dependencies. May you be open to the moving and molding of the Holy Spirit today and always.


Prayer: God of Prophecy and Perfect Plan
We travel the journeys of paths that our known to us each day. Yet, we long for your will to break through our every day familiar places. We sing the familiar hymn “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel,” and we long to make that prayer our own. Take our history, our everyday, and enliven us to see the ways you are at work and present within and through it all. Open our hearts to receive your coming this Advent Season. Use our everyday places to bring about your unexpected plan for our lives and for the world. Our hearts yearn for you, O God, and our lives seek to rejoice in your grace. Bring forth your power and will in our everyday, and shine your light upon us all the days of our lives. In the Shepherd’s name we pray. Amen. *


In praying today, I encourage each of you to begin praying especially for the Ugandan leaders we will be serving. Give thanks for their willingness to live and move with the Spirit's guidance; to step faithfully along the path that God is calling them to. Pray that their spirits may be strengthened and empassioned with the grace and love our Jesus has for each of them. Pray that these saints know and trust that His goodness will follow them everywhere they share God's love. Give thanks that they have the hearts to love on kids and to bring the light Jesus into the midst of a very dark continent. Humble us away from thinking that we could possibly have anything to offer them on our own. Ask for compassion, for broken hearts in meeting with them on common ground; in realizing that we are all children of a great and loving God.


"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too" ~ Frederick Buechner

*as taken from First Cup Advent Devotion- Westminster Presbyterian Church and Rev. K Threadgill

Good morning! So I know I'm a day behind and was going to consider waiting until next week to start the devotions, but I'm thinking late is better than, well later...

God has been oh so good to bring this trip together and call us each to be a part of it. Keeping in mind His grace and love for each of us I thought I would start this thread by sharing the following:

"The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among the wolves." - Luke 10:2-3

It seems today that everywhere you look there is plenty of work to do. There is never a dull moment and often times we are consumed not only by the day's business, but the ever present busyness that seems to crowd our time and thoughts. Every time you turn around there will be something else or someone else who needs tending- someone who needs to hear and feel God's love, some situation that needs prayer and encouragement. Just as Jesus challenged his followers so long ago, He challenges us to be alert to the needs and dangers of this world and to pray for God's help as we serve one another. He nudges us to be open and willing to GO, to answer the call "whom shall I send?". If we are faithfully abiding in Him, Jesus will equip us with the strength to answer "Here I am, send me!".

A Prayer
May today there be peace within
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you
May you be content knowing you are a CHILD OF GOD
Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love
It is there fore each and every one of us.
~St. Theresa

God give us your vision and courage to see the plentiful challenges and tasks you put before us as divine opportunities. Give us grace to step away from our 'to-do' lists and simply be available to be vessels of your love, agents of mercy and kindness to those around us in the name of Your Son. Amen.

Books to Read:
-Celebration of Discipline per Drew's suggestion
-The Shack by William Young
-Dance Children Dance by Jim Rayburn III ("If you want people to come to Sunday school, don't have it on Sunday and don't call it school" - Jim Rayburn)

Movies to see:
The Last King of Scotland
Invisible Children documentary

Songs to listen to:
Albertine by Brooke Fraser
The Saints Are Coming by U2
Signature of Divine (Yahweh) by NeedtoBreathe

So here is a link to the actual company I think we were talking about using...Adrift. Check it out. I know one thing... I'll be trying not to swallow the river (that, and I'll be ironing my clothes!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu16HdpsC0Y

Looking forward to so much more than rafting! God is truly amazing and I can't wait to share these 2 weeks with each of you. Keep praying and listening!

Gentle me, Holy one,
into an unclenched moment,
a deep breath,
a letting go of heavy expectancies,
of shriveling anxieties,
of dead certainties,
that softened by the silence,
surrounded by the light,
and open to the mystery,
I may be found by wholeness,
upheld by the unfathomable,
entranced by the simple,
and filled with the joy
that is You.

-Ted Loder  Guerrillas of Grace, Prayers for the Battle

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For those of you asking for it...a small clip to get you excited about getting wet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_RlTSwTy-8

UGANDA TRIP 2008

 

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the Truth, whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me."         MATTHEW 25:40


UGANDA 2009 TEAM,


*Please be sure to let me hear from you to confirm the following items...
1. If we still haven't received your INITIAL DEPOSIT of $150, I need for you to get that in the mail to me asap, at our office address listed further down below.
2. Are you planning to RAISE $ SUPPORT to cover either all OR a portion of the Trip Cost...? Have you MAILED out a Support Letter...?
3. Please email me your MAILING ADDRESS.

*SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS :
- Group Roster : Phone #s included.
- Shots / Passports : You need to be sure you have a valid Passport, that's not expired. More information provided in attachment.
- Flight Schedule : Note that we'll be both departing from / returning to Atlanta as a Group.
- Fundraising Guidelines + Sample Support Letter : Instructions to follow... Should give you some helpful ideas & direction re/ how you might proceed to raise support for this type of trip. 
- List of Items to Donate : Items we'll work to collect to take with us to donate & give away to the Staff/Leaders/Community we're going to serve in Uganda.  We'll talk more about the List, at our next Trip Meeting on November 16th.  If you should see something you can or want to be on point for collecting/bringing, please let me know.
- Packing List : Your goal will be to pack all of your Personal Gear in # 1 large duffle bag, 50 pounds max.  We'll pack #2 duffle bag full of Donated Items, 50 pounds max, we've collected to take with us to give away.  You can also pack a Backpack, etc, as carry-on.
- Info re/ Travel Safety
- Background Info on Uganda

*IF NOT FUNDRAISING :
You can make a Check out to "Young Life Expeditions" for $2,100, to cover your Airfare, which you can mail to me at our Office Address listed below.  Same goes for Field Costs ($900), to be received by deadline given further below.  Even if you're not raising $ support, you may still want to send out an Email or Letter to friends & family, asking for Prayers & to share with them about our Trip.  Above all else, we need people at home to be committed to Praying for us.

*IF FUNDRAISING :
Those of you Raising Support, should be working now to get your Support Letters & Mailing Lists done ASAP. Be sure to carefully follow the directions in the "Fundraising Guidelines" Packet that I've attached, & remember that in your Letter, you want to be sure to ask for PRAYERS as well as $ FINANCIAL SUPPORT.   Another way to raise support, would be to organize a group or individual Fundraising Event.  I really encourage you here, to remain PRAYERFUL, & to be creative & open to how the Lord leads, as you move forward in this process.... You'll want to be sure to communicate to potential donors, that the focus of our trip mission will simply be to serve & support YL Africa's local outreach ministry today in Uganda.  You can also note that a portion of your Personal Fundraising Goal of $3,000, will go purely as a donation to support YL's mission in Uganda. We encourage you to put as many names on your Mailing List, as you can come up with & feel lead to.  You can have donations sent to our office at the address below. That way I can track them here, & keep you updated periodically of your progress, so you can be sure to thank each of your donors. Please email me a copy of both your Letter & Mailing List if you would...

ATTN: Drew Voyles - Africa Expeditions
Young Life Northwest Atlanta
PO Box 724731
Atlanta, GA 31139

All costs up $3,000 are tax-deductible, thru YL.  Your donors will receive a tax-receipt in the mail, after their check has been processed.  Note that donations may continue to come in all the way up until & after we leave.  Remember that we're Raising Support as a Team... if you should raise above your fundraising goal, extra funds will go both towards the purchase of supplies/materials associated with the Trip, or else to anyone who's still short on support.......  If you want to, you can invite people to send you their Email Address so we can add them to the Mass Email List we'll use to send Email Updates home from Uganda.  We'll then compile a Mass Email List using the email addresses you send us.  If you have any concerns or specific questions about Fundraising, etc, you can reach me either via email or on my cell (# 770-851-2949).

*DEADLINES :
Group Airfare Payment ($2,100) is due November 25. Field Costs ($900) are due December 10. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.  If on Nov 25, you're still short of cost of airfare, then you can simply send us a check for the difference you owe, & we'll reimburse you later after we've received checks from your donors. 

*LINKS to Give Friends/Family/Supporters:
 - Trip Blog : yltanzaniatrip2008.blogspot.com
   Folks at home can view updates & photos of our Trip which we'll be posting from Uganda. They can also
    write & send comments to our Group...
- YL Africa Trips Info : www.nwatlanta.younglife.org  (Click on Africa Trips Link)
- YL Africa Website : www.africa.younglife.org
- YL Uganda Homepage  : Offers some general background info & the story of YL's mission in Pallisa,
   UGANDA, put together a few years ago in 2005, following my first Trip there to be with Simon
   & his Leadership Team.  Includes Photos collected over 3 Trips to Uganda over the past few summers.

*PRAYER TIME / MEETINGS:
Those of you in Atlanta are invited to meet to PRAY with us over our Trip @ YL Office, every Wednesday Morning @ 8am, up until we leave. Those of you outside Atlanta, I want to challenge you to commit to Pray for the Trip on your own, every Wednesday Morning at the same time.... Bottom line, NONE of this is about us.  Period.  PRAYER will remain our absolute #1 priority & commitment as the Lord prepares our Hearts for the AWESOME journey He has in store ahead of us.  This service opportunity we're so BLESSED to get to be a part of, is absolutely ALL about the Lord, His Heart, & His awesome movement  today in & through the relationships He's building, uniting more of us together with our brothers & sisters serving Him over in Africa.  Lives are absolutely being transformed here, for HIS Glory, through the awesome power of HIS Love.  This is about God's Kingdom.  Although it's up to you, I do want to encourage each of you to begin keeping a JOURNAL of your thoughts, prayers, etc, leading up until we leave in late December.....

*FACEBOOK GROUP : If you haven't joined the group yet, please do so.  We want to use this Page to serve as another way to communicate with each other up until we leave for Uganda.

*TRIP BLOG : Same goes for our Trip Blog... I really encourage you all between now & when we leave, to post ANY thoughts, encouragement, expectations, prayer requests, personal introductions, ridiculous humor... that you want to share with rest of us.  After we come home in January, you'll each receive a copy of the Blog, along with a bound copy of our Group Journal, which we'll talk more about later.

*READING : Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline :
I really want to encourage you to read the 2 Chapters on "Simplicity" & "Solitude".

*MOVIE : "Last King of Scotland" :
You may also want to check out this movie, set in Uganda, if you get an opportunity to.

Our Next Trip Meeting will be back at our YL NW Atlanta Office on Sunday November 16th, @ 7pm... we will then begin talking about who's going to be ON POINT for what, re/ the Camp & Leadership Training we'll be hosting, in addition to other important responsibilities associated with the Trip.  In the meantime, PLEASE don't hesitate to Call or to Email me if you have any specific questions re/ Fundraising, Shots, Passports, Packing, Donated Items, etc.  Remember that I'm here to serve you... & am praying for each of you today.  Thanks Everyone!


KEEP PRAYING... Pamoja Pamoja

in HIM,

Drew

Cell # 770-851-2949
Office # 770-850-1888

The Focus of our Trip's engagement will be to serve & support YL Uganda Staff & 25+ Volunteer Leaders, who will be coming from all across the country to be with us... We'll be hosting a Leadership Training Camp, doing Contact Work, running Clubs, Program, etc... Together, we'll be serving in communities in Pallisa & Ginja, Uganda, where Simon Okiria (YL Uganda Staff) & his leaders have been praying/building relationships/loving kids/laying groundwork, trusting the Lord to help them pioneer YL's mission across their country, & reach Uganda's next generation with Christ's love.  During our time with the leaders, we'll have the opportunity to do a group homestay, visit their families, play with their children, etc.  Anyone whose been to either Pallisa or Ginja before, will tell you what a very, very special people & place this is.  Simon & his Team of Volunteer Leaders are truly some of the most giving, God-loving, servant hearted brothers & sisters you will ever meet.  In addition, at the tail end of the Trip, we're looking at spending 2 days rafting on the Nile River, which begins at Lake Victoria in Uganda - this is still to be confirmed.

"If you CLING to your life, you will LOSE it, but if you GIVE it up for me, you will FIND it..."

               MATTHEW 10:39

          

                         Young Life Africa  - www.africa.younglife.org

               Young Life Expeditions - www.Expeditions.younglife.org 

                             *PARTNERSHIP - YL NW Atlanta + YL Africa    

*PHOTOS of YL UGANDA 2005 - 07

"A couple of nights ago we met with all of the Uganda Leaders for the first time to have dinner together with them.  After dinner, we worshipped… to hear all of our voices together as one chorus glorifying the Lord was something I will never forget.  Not all of them knew the English songs we were singing, & although I learned the words to the Swahili song we sang, I had no idea what they meant just that they were praising the name of Jesus.  But it didn't even matter… for even the rocks surrounding us will praise His name.  God is so BIG.  I have been humbled greatly here in Africa."  
                                                                                       Jenn Anderson – YL Uganda Trip 2007

*First-Ever YL Uganda Outreach Camp.

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"Look at the nations and watch, and be UTTERLY AMAZED. For I am going to do
 something in YOUR DAYS that you wouldn't even believe if you were told."  HABAKKUK 1:5

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"We are committed to real Partnership and Friendship between African Young Life staff and ministry, and Young Life in the United States. We Pray for a Great Movement of the Holy Spirit  among young people in Africa and in your home America."         AUGUSTINE (YL Uganda Leader)

*YL Uganda Staff & Volunteer Leaders

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"My own VISION & FAITH is nothing compared to that of Simon & his Team of Ugandan Volunteer Leaders here.  I realize now that I Pray too small, & don't truly believe when I Pray that God will & can use me to do something GREAT.  We must all plant a mango tree. God is so BIG.  I have been humbled greatly."         
                                                           Stirling Douglas – YL Uganda Trip 2007

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"Our group of 29 has been serving together alongside 25 YL Uganda volunteer leaders, as the Work Crew for around 220 kids, at the first-ever YL Uganda outreach Camp, out here in the heart of rural Uganda.  There's no doubt, the Lord is moving to make history here before us.  We're running the camp on power  using a tiny generator loaned to us by the community mayor.  The village has been without water or electricity for more than 2 weeks...  & honestly, thats just the beginning."   Email Update I sent Home – YL Uganda 2007
 
*YL Club Say-So

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"These Africans just give, give, give, & share, share, share.  Although they have nothing, they give away everything.  They so openly share their possessions with us and among themselves, so openly share their lives.  With their dance, there is no shame, their struggles, their story… they are confident in who they are in Jesus."                                                                  Randy Harding – YL Uganda Trip 2007

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"To become neighbors is to BRIDGE THE GAP between people. As long as there is distance between us we cannot look into one another's eyes. We forget that they LOVE as we LOVE, care for their children as we care for ours, become sick and die as we do. We forget they are our BROTHERS and SISTERS."   HENRI NOUWEN

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"He must become GREATER; I must become LESS."   JOHN 3:30

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"We must LOSE our life to SAVE it."   MARK 8:35
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"The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing , & forceful Men lay hold of it."    MATTHEW 11:12