Preparations ...

So, what will Mary Beth be doing in Uganda? Here's what the Teen Mania folks say:

The entire project will be separated in half and one half will travel to Kampala and live and do ministry within Kampala while the other half will travel to Gulu and live and do ministry in Gulu. About half way through the trip the two halves will then switch giving everyone a chance to minister in both Kampala and Gulu. Gulu is about 6-7hrs. from Kampala.



In Kampala – the purpose for ministry is to evangelize in schools and teach students about abstinence. They will serve as positive role models and examples of how Christians find a sense of “belonging” with God.


In Gulu – will mainly minister in the IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps which have a HIGH population of children. Through a VBS like structure the missionaries will just love on the kids and make them feel special by playing games with them and telling them stories, etc.


In Kampala, we want to reach students with the Gospel and an abstinence message. The target audience is teenagers from 14-20 years old. Most of them are sexually-active, and they have a high risk of HIV/AIDS. They have been in boarding schools all their lives, where many of them have been abused and have lacked parental attention and love. They experience abandonment and rejection because their families are not involved much in their lives. Most teens do not feel loved or valued by their parents, so they turn to alcohol and sex. Also, there is a huge prevalence of witchcraft with people of all ages. Most Africans believe strongly in the supernatural, and as part of their culture, they typically revert to witchcraft to try to solve problems in their lives. As a result, serious strongholds exist among many of the students we will minister to. Because a small percentage of Ugandans have the opportunity to continue through secondary school and the university, these students will someday be the leaders of the country. It is imperative that they make serious commitments to God while they are young, so they will be influential leaders for Christ once they grow up.


In Gulu, we will be working in IDP camps which are large African communities full of people misplaced by previous wars and civil unrest in the country. There are many orphaned children in the camps as well who don’t know where their parents have scattered too. These children and teens have been through horribly traumatic situations, and they have little hope. Our merely being there with them will be an encouragement to them. We will mainly visit secondary and primary schools and refugee camps in Gulu. The missionaries will be shocked at the conditions in the schools (200+ per classroom with no desks or school supplies) and the refugee camps (up to 70,000 people in one camp with 2 water wells, little food, no clothing, with people living in mud huts.) This will profoundly impact the missionaries’ lives and hopefully motivate them to get involved with social justice. We will also hopefully be able to help bring about healing and restoration by loving the children and spending time with them. The teams should look for opportunities to participate in art therapy and dance with the children.

Housing: In Kampala, the team will be staying in a university-style hostel. Global Expeditions has been using this housing vendor for several years now and has a good-standing relationship with them.


In Gulu, the team will be camping out in tents on a hotel property. This is Global Expeditions first year staying at this location but they came highly recommended by our Global Partner AND they have a long track record with the nation as being one of the best housing accommodations in Gulu.


Showers/Bedding/Laundry:
In Kampala, All housing is dormitory style (2-4 to a room). Each room will have beds with mattresses and a bathroom (toilet, sink with running water, and shower with hot water). **Please bring sleeping bag and bed sheet**


There may be the opportunity to arrange laundry services through the facility, but it will be on an as needed/limited basis and their will be a fee associated depending on the amount of clothing being laundered.


In Gulu, Teen Mania will be providing the tents to sleep in and the teams will just setup on the designated area. The area is really nice. It’s a very well kept, very green and flourishing garden.


For showers and bathrooms the teams will use the pool house. There are two areas: one for males and one for females and each area has approximately 3 showers and 2 bathrooms.


The hotel does have capabilities of washing clothes but there is a few and will only be offered on a need basis.


Food you will be eating: Both in Kampala and Gulu the missionaries can expect something along the lines of: Breakfast: Eggs, with Veggies, Fruit, Chapatti, Juice, etc. Lunch: PB&J with fruit and snack. Dinner: Pilao (rice), Beef or Chicken in Sauce, Veggies, etc.


Intensity: 5 of 5 - this is rated a 5 out of 5 for the emotional intensity. The ministry in Uganda will be really hard especially in the IDP camps. Uganda is a war-torn nation and many of its people have undergone or witnessed horrible situations. The missionaries will be walking up to 2 miles at one time.
 
So, she'll be busy and challenged! We've been preparing by reading up on the climate (hot, yet dry), country (war torn and impoverished) and health conditions (a nightmare).
 
Mary Beth's been to Travel Health in Williamsburg twice now. Nikki, the RN, has been so helpful quizzing Mary Beth on WHAT NOT TO EAT and how to drink the water properly, etc. No salad, no salad, no salad! She has had the live Yellow Fever vacinnation -- and had a nice reaction to that! She also had Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Flu, Swine Flu shots. She'll start malaria meds prior to the trip and also has antibiotics for traveler's stomach (yuck).  Hopefully she'll avoid that!
 
Next, we'll get packing ... we have three long skirts and some light weight pants ... the packing list and flight information is supposed to be posted today.
 
Keep praying!  Thank you all for the wonderful support.