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
"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.
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"He must become GREATER; I must become LESS." JOHN 3:30
"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
2 comments:
This trip could be the best thing that ever happened. I am humbled to think we could teach anything to the Young Life volunteers. My hope and prayer is that God uses us to give them insights into the ministry and to give them encouragement in their personal relationships with Jesus and others. I think it's like heaven when I get to sing with friends in Africa Young Life. May God direct all of our hearts as we prepare to go to Uganda! I'm excited to meet all of you. <><
My Name is Dan Thomas, I came to uganda and stayed for six weeks, I visited the orphans and had a good time with them. I also went to the ginja rafting, not knowing the intensity of the day trip i believe that it was there that i found myself in a special way. Uganda is a special place,... it was in the capitol centre where i was struck by tear gas, i was folling a jounalist , Heather McClintock and we went into the depth of a civil riot, it was te day the opposing president was let out of jail... i cant remember his name but he saw me and was suprised to see these white people.. it was an amazing experience in uganda that i had,..... Dan Thomas
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