Our Journey to Jireh Children's Center

Mr. Harris Here from Masaka, Uganda

2010-04-05T10:53:00.003+03:00

All is well here in Masaka. Everyone is well with the exception of Ms. Gordon's sore throat. The work is going well at the Jireh Childrens Center. We have introduced rabbits to their facility! We purchased 3 does and are in search of a pure bred buck. We built cages and a shed to keep the rabbits in and are building a bed underneath the cages to capture droppings to develop fertilizer. We are also helping repair thier water catchment system and give them the ability to pump rainwater up to a large storage system.

The children here at Jireh are amazing. Their joy and laughter are humbling. Easter Services at Jireh Church were amazing! We took all of the Jireh children that had no where to go for the holiday to the Nabugabo Lake and the beach. A happier group of kids you could not imagine! We had lunch on the grounds, watched the kids swim, & took lots of pictures of the laughing, wet faces!

We are also trying to dig a latrine pit but it is very slow in solid rock. Stuart, Jonathan, Landon, Hunter, and Mitchell have been working up some new muscles in the bottom of this pit. The boys and Mrs. Lorie (now known as Mommie Stuart) have also been working on building door frames and doors for the showers that the FCA group from 2008 built.

The first couple of days the girls organized all the supplies (toys, clothes, school materials) for the kids. Then handed out all of them outside. You should have seen the mob of kids that were screaming and laughing. It was the greatest thing in the world for them. Most of the girls have been getting t know the older girls at the center. These girls have such a humble joyous spirit.

The children of course love to sing. So we have learned a couple of songs in Lugandan. They also have learned a couple of songs in english as well. Our team performed a skit and our songs at the childrens center and at the church on resurrection sunday.

The hotel Maria Flo has been very comfortable with the exception of the rooster that begins crowing at 4: 30 am. Its great the boys love it. But other than that it is safe and the food is delicious. every morning and evening we have meetings as a team and discuss what's on our minds.

One of the interesting "cultural" expiriences has been watching a spanish soap opera every evening during our dinner....LA TORMENTA it is dubbed in english. Hahah everyone loves it.

The Internet is slow & hard to get to but we will try to update you again soon. Pray for our team as God continues to break our hearts for the Children of Jireh and the people of Uganda.
Blessings H2 & Yanira.

And We're off

2010-03-29T04:59:00.003+03:00

We are heading out in the Morning.

Please pray for our safety as we travel by plane and for our health.

Pray that we will grow together as a team and in the Lord.

Thank you!

The end of our adventure!

2008-04-19T17:49:00.003+03:00

And we made it!!! After 4 long flights of restless anticipation we finally made it HOME. To the cold wet hormonal weather of Nashville Tennessee! We were so excited to be back, but so sad to have to leave! I hope that if this opportunity comes again next year that everyone will go, because it is life changing and will capture your heart forever!
i love everyone and hope to see you soon.
love Krsiti

African Wildlife

2008-04-14T15:07:00.002+03:00

Today has been quite an adventure. We went out about two hours outside of Masaka to a wildlife park. We left our hotel this morning at 5am "Kingdom Time" (Which means 5am sharp). You have to understand that here in Uganda the roads are terribly bad. Half of them are paved and half are not. Even the ones that are paved are terrible with huge potholes and tons of people walking on them. So its pretty risky business to get in a car and travel here (atleast according to Americans).

On the way there Emily got sick and threw up...thankfully in a pan. there were 16 of us in this van and it was inncredibly close. We finally got there and then drove around for almost 4 hours or so. We had a guide named Andrew who showed us around. We got to see antelopes, zebras, baboons, monkeys, cranes, buffalo, wart hogs, etc. etc. We have plenty of pictures to show when we get home. But the terrible thing is, while we were out in the park, Joanna got sick and started throwing up. so needless to say, it wasn't a fun day for the bransons. Kristi also has been really sick the past two days with some kind of bateria or perisite, nasea and diarehha. thats another thing here, we have al gotten extremely close and are willing to share almost anything. So keep everyone in your prayers in terms of health because it seems like these days we are dropping like flies!

There is good news, yesterday we found this great Mezungue resturaunt just down the road from the hotel. They have actually hamburgers, fries, grilled cheese, pizza, and even ice cream. I think it has been the highlight of our trip. A couple of us are here now. (the also have free internet which is amazing).

So needless to say, we are extremely tired today and ready for some good ol' American style food. (no more beans and rice please). We love you all dearly and miss you! Can't wait to see you all at the airport on Friday evening! XOXO

Love, Ris

Sunday April 13

2008-04-13T16:00:00.002+03:00

Yesterday we went to a traditional African Wedding Introduction where they act out a drama to introduce the two families. We got to wear traditional African dress and we were quite a spectacle. All the girls played the role of the brides sisters and it got a good laugh. Today we went to church from 9:00 until 3:00 whew! keith preached and the kids sang two songs. It was great.

Right now we are at a mezungu (white man) restaurant eating things like hamburgers, pizza and banana splits! They kids are quite pleased. Kristi woke up feeling ill this morning with stomach cramps and such. With medicine she is feeling better, but please keep her in your prayers. Mitchell has also been sick with fever but he is feeling better today. All the rest of us are feeling healthy and strong and enjoying all of our many adventures.

Tomorrow we are going on a day trip to an Animal Park to see some African Wildlife. We have to leave by 5:00 a.m. in order to get there early enough to see the animals.

Thanks for all your prayers. Keep praying for our continued health and safety.

Day 5

2008-04-11T19:12:00.002+03:00

Today we did a presentation for the children. Thank you Ashley M for your skit. It was perfect! And all the AIDS information was very helpful. We presented the gosped to two groups of kids through bead bracelets and many prayed to accept Christ! Wow. The team sang praise songs and danced! for all the kids. Several shared their testimony and encouraged the students to stay pure until marriage. We were taught Ugandan dance and some got their hair braided. By the way Rachel's foot is not broken. It is bruised and sore, but she is walking fine and it did not slow her down today. Both Marissa and Caitlin are feeling well. No one has really been sick and we are so thankful. The bath houses are almost complete. We have one more day to work on them.

We will be attending a traditional African wedding tomorrow in African dress. The kids are very excited! We will go to church (4 hours at least) on Sunday. The students will be leading 20 minutes of praise and worship and Keith is going to preach. We are going to an wild-life park on Monday, work at the Children's Center on Tuesday and head to Kampala on Wednesday to visit another village and school that is in worse shape than where we are now. Then we will have some time for shopping before we leave on Thursday.

We rode "African Style" today with nine people in a car about the size of a camry. We are quite a spectacle everywhere we go. We attract a lot of attention as everyone waves at us, smiles and laughs to see "Mezungue" (white people). The people here are so full of love and joy, so welcoming and fun. We are already beginning to feel sad about leaving. But we are all thinking of everyone at home. We are praying Week Without Walls goes well for everyone!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Love, Lisa & Rona

It is incredible

2008-04-10T19:10:00.000+03:00

This has been a great trip for everyone. It is an amazing thing to be in a place that God loves so much. Caleb and Rachelit is hard to get to internet so I just want you to know I love you and wish you were here. Thank you all FCA friends for your prayer and support. We feel your prayers.
Love Lisa

Day Four: African Style

2008-04-10T18:45:00.004+03:00

This is the first time I have been able to get to an internet cafe, so I apologize for the delay. I am in Masaka right now and it is quite humid today. We had the first rain this morning, but still worked in it. People here in Uganda are scared of the rain because it gets so "cold". When it rains here all the kids go inside and have hot tea. Rainy days are basically like our snowy days. Even many of the workers who are helping us told us to go inside today. We are working on the four bathhouses we are building for them. It is coming along fairly quickly.

Yesterday was our first day of building and I had to sit out and rest most of the day. My stomach had started hurting on Tuesday night and continued to get worse throughout yesterday. Thankfully I felt much better today when I woke up.

I cannot even express or try to begin to illustrate to you the things that are happening in all of our hearts. These children continue to touch us in the most amazing ways. The first day we got here we went to the orphanage for a ceremony they had prepared for us and across the room I saw this little girl in a purple dress. She immediately smiled at me because I too was wearing purple. Throughout the two hour assembly, we continued to smile and giggle at each other. I felt like in that moment, God spoke to me and said, "She is why you are here." It is amazing the impact we are having on these children. They are so interested in learning about America. I had one girl named Barbara, ask me a lot of questions about America. "What kind of fruit to you there?" "I have heard that America is very rich?" "Are you very rich?"

In Uganda it is a very good thing to be fat. When many of the men first laid eyes on Caitlin and I, they have told us that we need to eat more because Ugandan men like fat women. We thought that was pretty funny. Everytime we don't finish our plates they look at us and say, "EAT MORE".

Our hotel is extremely nice. The most western place in town. We actually have western toilets which we have not found anywhere else. And let me tell you, it is a trip trying to use the restroom in eastern toilets. talk about needing aim!

Anyways, I am trying to make sure i haven't left anything out, but there is SO much that you will just have to wait to hear. Please keep us all in your prayers. Especially in terms of spiritual battles (a couple of the girls have had bad experiences with demonic spirits--witchcraft is very prevelent here) and also for our health. Caitlin is still not feel up to par and Rachael think she might have broken her foot today when a brick landed on it. So please pray for us!

I have no idea when I will be able to talk to you again. I love you all very much and will see you soon! The Lord is doing amazing things within all of us! We miss you all!

hey!

2008-04-10T18:41:00.002+03:00

Hello friends and family!
Just to let you know, we are still safe and sound and having a blast! There are a couple of things that take getting used to like "African style" everything, as Pastor Benjamen calls it. This means cramming 18 people into a 7 passenger van, getting places when you feel like it, virtually no road rules, don't have to wear seatbelts, and eating, ALOT. The food here is delicious! There have been a few things I have been afraid to try, for example: the kids at the orphanage were picking up termites off the ground and eating them today. I wasn't about to do that, but Kristi, Joanna, and Kristin gave it a shot. Also the toilets, well if you can call them that! But i won't go into detail. There are certain sights and smells i feel like i'll never get used to.
The people here are beautiful and so welcoming to us. I feel right at home. As soon as they see us they run up, grab our hands and begin conversation. The language barier can be a little difficult at times, but most people here have some base of English, so you can normally at least get their name. Some are extremely hard to pronounce or even just understand when they say them and they will laugh and laugh when you say something wrong.
It is so obvious that they are not used to seeing white people here at all and everywhere we go people wave at us and laugh with excitement. Some have even been blowing kisses to us! ha! It's hilarious! I feel like a celebrity!
Yesturday we went dress shopping, because one of the local ladies has invited us to be in her wedding! When we went into town everyone was staring at us. Some men even climbed up on roofs so that they could see us!
Anyway, I better not stay on anymore, but we love and miss you all!
Hannah Noelle.

Day Two at the Children's Center

2008-04-08T18:06:00.003+03:00

We made it here safe and sound!

After a long and gruelingly bumpy ride, we made it to the most beautiful place on earth - Jireh Children's Center.
Its located on the top of a huge hill surrounded by the greenest everything you could ever imagine.
We were welcomed so warmly by the children. They had songs and dances prepared for us, and we were blown away by their love, and we have been every day.

We started on construction of the shower houses today - a LOT of digging for the foundations. Some of us taught in the classes at the school, and we all spent a lot of time with these beautiful kids.

Thank you for your prayers! Its so encouraging to remember that we have all of you at home praying for our team.

Our internet connection is pretty unstable so we'll try to update as much as possible, but we're never sure.

Thanks for praying! Don't stop. :-)

Love,
FCA

London!

2008-04-05T15:31:00.002+03:00

We made it to London! ...after delays, landing gear trouble, "audio/visual" problems, and an unusual plane ride.
Time changes have got us all feeling kind of strange, but please keep Marissa and Caitlin in your prayers specifically, they are not feeling well.

We arrived in London at 10:30 this morning and our plane to Nairobi leaves at 8:00 tonight. Pray that there will be no trouble on this flight!

We are all so excited to get to Uganda and have no idea what God has planned, but we're ready!

Unfortunately, we can't upload pictures for now, hopefully we will be able to once we reach Uganda.

We miss you and only have 53 seconds left of internet,
so this is goodbye.
:)

2008-04-04T11:55:00.000+03:00

We already have had a change in the airline schedule that will cause us to be frustrated or we can anticipate what God will do with this change and be ready for Him to intervene. Pray that our hearts will be open and ready to allow God to rearrange our lives for His glory.

2008-04-04T07:45:00.001+03:00

Top row, left to right: Keith Branson, Carter Clark, Colin Bodayle, Kristi Singleton, Kristin Zimmerman, and Hannah Tichenor

Bottom row, left to right: Rona Branson, Joanna Branson, Emily Branson, Marissa Hyatt, Rachael Singleton, Lisa Harris, Caitlin Ishee, Mitchell Branson

We leave in the morning!