Wow. I can't believe it's here already. Yesterday was my last full day on Hopeland. In a couple of hours we leave for Entebbe. Catherine, Kendra, Tim & Ryan all fly out tonight. Then my amazing friend & awesome staffer, Rachel, is spending the night with me in Entebbe. And tomorrow morning I get on a plane and fly to London. And by tomorrow night, I'll be back in Whatcom County! I still can't believe it!
We spent our last few days here seeing God do something awesome. Friday & Saturday we hosted a conference for the youth about HIV/ AIDS. Uganda has made some awesome progress in reducing the rate of HIV infections in the last 20 years. It has become a model for many other African countries for how to help bring cases of infection down. Sadly, though, the most recent statistics show that the infection rate is beginning to rise again. So we got to encourage this generation that it is in their hands - only through lifestyle changes, especially brought about by loving Jesus and living the way He commands us to (being faithful), can HIV/AIDS stop from being spread and eventually be eradicated. The conference was a great success. Friday night we had 95 students and Saturday there were around 140. They were mostly boys, which is awesome, because in many ways, they are the ones who can make the biggest impact with their choices. We had a good number of girls too, which was awesome... because at the moment in Uganda, women represent 57% of the people infected with AIDS, and young women are 9X more likely to contract HIV than young men due to many not so great cultural practices.
So... here is my last update from Uganda. I still can't wrap my brain around that. Please pray for journey mercies... my layover in London is only 1hr & 15 min, so if my flight is delayed at all, I could quite possibly miss my connecting flight and then be stuck in Heathrow for 24 hrs (that's the next flight out to Seattle on the airline I'm flying).
wohoo! What an amazing, crazy, hard, wonderful, perplexing, growing time the last 6 months have been! There have been so many good things... and not so good things... but all in all.. God has done some amazing works in my life, and I've seen Him in so many new ways! Yahoo!
so... all my love.. from Uganda... one more time!
-Kati Rose
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Blessed Be Your Name...
hello everyone.
well.... things have been..... not going according to plan. Well, my plan that is.
If you haven't heard already, our trip to Kenya did not go well. However, we have gotten to see the amazing goodness, faithfulness, protection & provision of God in a truly amazing way.
We stopped in a city called Kisumu for lunch on our bus ride, and someone there got ahold of my pin # somehow & stole a substantial amount out of my bank account. Then our first day in Mombassa we were mugged at knifepoint & assaulted. This is where the God-miracle work begins. Through a long and complicated process of communication we were introduced to an amazing man and his wife who work with YWAM Mombassa. They took the most amazing care of us that I have ever received. This family embodied hospitality in such a way that was as if the love of God was just spilling over through them in all they did. They dropped everything that they were doing to care for us, drive us places & deal with the police. We were fed amazing meals, and just truly experienced the care of the body of Christ in motion. They also arranged flights for us, so we wouldn't have to take another 21+ hour bus ride back, and just loved us.
And also People's Bank is amazing, and if you don't already bank there, you should. They are going to restore the $ stolen out of my account back! Yahoo. Not to mention they have the most amazing customer service anywhere!
we are now back at the base. We're (the girls) staying with Dr. Tim & Jackie (the base leader & his wife) and the boys are in a house next door. It has been so great to be back home at Hopeland, and just in Uganda in general. I don't blame all Kenyans for the stupidity of a few, and in fact, most of my favorite people on DTS were all Kenyans. However, just the general atmosphere of Kenya vs. Uganda leads me to prefer Uganda.
After much prayer, we also feel that it is not God's best timing for us to be going to Pader at this time. I still truly feel called to go at some point, but I have complete peace about not going at this time. Though I am sad, because I was really looking forward to ministry in the camp. No team is going at all at this time, partially also due to the increased movement & activity of the LRA in the North again.
Another change that has been made to my plan, also after much prayer, is that I will be returning to whatcom county at the end of July instead of the end of August.
Here's the thing, yes, something terrible happened to us. But we have seen the absolutely amazing grace of God and seen the body of Christ in motion in the most incredible way. We feel so loved & taken care of, and see the sovereign hand of God in all these things. I trust completely that through all of this God will be glorified and that good things will come. And I have gotten to see Jesus in a new way once again. What an amazing Savior King we serve!
"Through many dangers, toils, & snares I have already come. 'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."
"Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power & love. Our God is an awesome God. "
"Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise, when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name."
thank you all for keeping us in your prayers.
Praise & Glory to our Father,
-Kati Rose
well.... things have been..... not going according to plan. Well, my plan that is.
If you haven't heard already, our trip to Kenya did not go well. However, we have gotten to see the amazing goodness, faithfulness, protection & provision of God in a truly amazing way.
We stopped in a city called Kisumu for lunch on our bus ride, and someone there got ahold of my pin # somehow & stole a substantial amount out of my bank account. Then our first day in Mombassa we were mugged at knifepoint & assaulted. This is where the God-miracle work begins. Through a long and complicated process of communication we were introduced to an amazing man and his wife who work with YWAM Mombassa. They took the most amazing care of us that I have ever received. This family embodied hospitality in such a way that was as if the love of God was just spilling over through them in all they did. They dropped everything that they were doing to care for us, drive us places & deal with the police. We were fed amazing meals, and just truly experienced the care of the body of Christ in motion. They also arranged flights for us, so we wouldn't have to take another 21+ hour bus ride back, and just loved us.
And also People's Bank is amazing, and if you don't already bank there, you should. They are going to restore the $ stolen out of my account back! Yahoo. Not to mention they have the most amazing customer service anywhere!
we are now back at the base. We're (the girls) staying with Dr. Tim & Jackie (the base leader & his wife) and the boys are in a house next door. It has been so great to be back home at Hopeland, and just in Uganda in general. I don't blame all Kenyans for the stupidity of a few, and in fact, most of my favorite people on DTS were all Kenyans. However, just the general atmosphere of Kenya vs. Uganda leads me to prefer Uganda.
After much prayer, we also feel that it is not God's best timing for us to be going to Pader at this time. I still truly feel called to go at some point, but I have complete peace about not going at this time. Though I am sad, because I was really looking forward to ministry in the camp. No team is going at all at this time, partially also due to the increased movement & activity of the LRA in the North again.
Another change that has been made to my plan, also after much prayer, is that I will be returning to whatcom county at the end of July instead of the end of August.
Here's the thing, yes, something terrible happened to us. But we have seen the absolutely amazing grace of God and seen the body of Christ in motion in the most incredible way. We feel so loved & taken care of, and see the sovereign hand of God in all these things. I trust completely that through all of this God will be glorified and that good things will come. And I have gotten to see Jesus in a new way once again. What an amazing Savior King we serve!
"Through many dangers, toils, & snares I have already come. 'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."
"Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power & love. Our God is an awesome God. "
"Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise, when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name."
thank you all for keeping us in your prayers.
Praise & Glory to our Father,
-Kati Rose
Friday, June 27, 2008
GRADUATION!
Hey everyone! I know i promised a long update with more information about outreach and all that jazz, but that's because we thought our debrief week would be more just relaxing.. it's has actually been insanely busy... and we've had several power outages this week (surprise surprise). So... today is Graduation. Yep, we're done. 5 months of DTS finishes today! WOHOO! What a crazy adventure it has been!! There have been ups and downs.. and yes, I will post a more descriptive blog all about DTS as a whole at some point. It's just that graduation eats up pretty much all of today, and tomorrow I have to do tons of laundry, pack, & quite possibly move into a new room.. as well as go to town to pick up some stuff, because Monday morning we leave for Mombassa!! Yahoo! So, we'll be in Mombassa for a week, come back Tuesday morning... do lots of laundry & repack, because Wednesday we leave for Pader for two weeks (which, by the way, I will be incommunicado for those 2 weeks, no cell reception (I think) and definitely no power or internet (it is a refugee camp for goodness sake!) We should be back around the 23rd or 24th.
Yesterday was spent in a cleaning frenzy beautifying the base for all the visitors and setting up & decorating for graduation. Thursday we went rafting on the NIle! It was INCREDIBLE!! SO amazing (class 5 rapids! Our boat flipped in one, so we all "swam" through the rapid! We also took our 5m long boat down a waterfall that was 5m high (so we were vertical for a little while!!!). It was one of the scariest things I've ever done, but also so much fun. I'm a little sore, bruised & sunburnt... but throughly thrilled I did it. Also, they are building another dam on the NIle so in the next two years, most of the 11 rapids will be non existent.
This week we've also just gone to town, had a lecture, monday morning devotions, a massive homework assignment (a huge evaluation of DTS & Staff & ourselves... where we got to express all of our displeasure in many things, as well as answer very vague questions like "are you open?" with answers like: "Open to what?" or "Well, I'm not closed." etc. One student on our DTS wrote 13 pages about everything that had gone wrong, her husband wrote 8! Let's say that this DTS was a challenge, not what we expected at all... but still many good things have come of it. I am still very happy I came, and I still totally believe that it was God who directed my steps to come here, and intended for me to have this experience.
anywho... time to do some organizing and packing & cleaning, then eventually some getting ready. Grad starts at "10" which actually means it will start between 11 & 12. It should be interesting.. both DTS & SBS (School of BIblical Studies) are graduating today... that means with our 36 +7 there are 43 diplomas to hand out. And like a million guest speakers. We'll also have lots of LOUD music (some people have developed the technique of wearing earplugs to save their sanity & their hearing for things like parties & church services were the volume is pumped to the absolute loudest level possible.) Our dorm is also turning into madness comparable to a wedding or prom.. girls have been planning their grad outfits for months now. All of the african girls went out and got really fancy weaves done too. The sad thing is that i have to say goodbye to some of my awesome friends who are leaving today! The good news is that I will no longer have 16 roommates!
ok... well.. peace out for now!
love you all!!
-KatiRose
Yesterday was spent in a cleaning frenzy beautifying the base for all the visitors and setting up & decorating for graduation. Thursday we went rafting on the NIle! It was INCREDIBLE!! SO amazing (class 5 rapids! Our boat flipped in one, so we all "swam" through the rapid! We also took our 5m long boat down a waterfall that was 5m high (so we were vertical for a little while!!!). It was one of the scariest things I've ever done, but also so much fun. I'm a little sore, bruised & sunburnt... but throughly thrilled I did it. Also, they are building another dam on the NIle so in the next two years, most of the 11 rapids will be non existent.
This week we've also just gone to town, had a lecture, monday morning devotions, a massive homework assignment (a huge evaluation of DTS & Staff & ourselves... where we got to express all of our displeasure in many things, as well as answer very vague questions like "are you open?" with answers like: "Open to what?" or "Well, I'm not closed." etc. One student on our DTS wrote 13 pages about everything that had gone wrong, her husband wrote 8! Let's say that this DTS was a challenge, not what we expected at all... but still many good things have come of it. I am still very happy I came, and I still totally believe that it was God who directed my steps to come here, and intended for me to have this experience.
anywho... time to do some organizing and packing & cleaning, then eventually some getting ready. Grad starts at "10" which actually means it will start between 11 & 12. It should be interesting.. both DTS & SBS (School of BIblical Studies) are graduating today... that means with our 36 +7 there are 43 diplomas to hand out. And like a million guest speakers. We'll also have lots of LOUD music (some people have developed the technique of wearing earplugs to save their sanity & their hearing for things like parties & church services were the volume is pumped to the absolute loudest level possible.) Our dorm is also turning into madness comparable to a wedding or prom.. girls have been planning their grad outfits for months now. All of the african girls went out and got really fancy weaves done too. The sad thing is that i have to say goodbye to some of my awesome friends who are leaving today! The good news is that I will no longer have 16 roommates!
ok... well.. peace out for now!
love you all!!
-KatiRose
Monday, June 16, 2008
week 3 in FP!
hey everyone! we're all safe and sound.. PTL Persis is all better! things are going awesome.. only one week left! so crazy.. time flies!! Jesus is amazing as usual!
well, gotta run!
love you!
well, gotta run!
love you!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
malaria strikes again..
hey everyone just a quick update... a girl on our team, Persis, has malaria. Apparently it's pretty bad, but she is refusing to stay at the hospital. Please keep her in your prayers! As well as just general health for our whole team, a bunch more jiggers made their appearance yesterday.
love you!
love you!
Monday, June 9, 2008
A week in FP...
Hello everyone!!
we've been here in Fort Portal for just over a week now.. and what a crazy week it has been. It turns out that as I was on the internet this time last week, they were taking Catherine to the hospital... she had +4 Malaria.. which is about as bad as it gets. I spent 2 nights with her in the hospital, but by the grace of God, she is totally better now! YAHOO! We've also been working with schools, basically doing a crusade for them. We went to a school for nurses and I got to "preach" to them.. we found out when we got there that they were actually all born again, so it was just fellowship. We spent all day at church yesterday, attending service and then putting on one of our own. As for what this week holds, I am not sure. Last night we went to this little place in a back alley way and watched the first 1/2 of Poland vs Germany in the Euro cup. Tonight the plan is to go back and see Italy vs the Netherlands. We'll see about that. We've also started doing a prayer chain at night instead of praying at 5 am. We pray in hour long shifts, usually one guy & one girl. and we each take 2 shifts a night. so we can pray from 6pm to 6am. We've also been on a sweet prayer walk. God sure has a lot to say! We're asking for boldness and for God to capture the hearts of this generation. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!
love you!
miss you!
we've been here in Fort Portal for just over a week now.. and what a crazy week it has been. It turns out that as I was on the internet this time last week, they were taking Catherine to the hospital... she had +4 Malaria.. which is about as bad as it gets. I spent 2 nights with her in the hospital, but by the grace of God, she is totally better now! YAHOO! We've also been working with schools, basically doing a crusade for them. We went to a school for nurses and I got to "preach" to them.. we found out when we got there that they were actually all born again, so it was just fellowship. We spent all day at church yesterday, attending service and then putting on one of our own. As for what this week holds, I am not sure. Last night we went to this little place in a back alley way and watched the first 1/2 of Poland vs Germany in the Euro cup. Tonight the plan is to go back and see Italy vs the Netherlands. We'll see about that. We've also started doing a prayer chain at night instead of praying at 5 am. We pray in hour long shifts, usually one guy & one girl. and we each take 2 shifts a night. so we can pray from 6pm to 6am. We've also been on a sweet prayer walk. God sure has a lot to say! We're asking for boldness and for God to capture the hearts of this generation. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!
love you!
miss you!
Monday, June 2, 2008
welcome to Fort Portal!
Hey Everyone!!
I am in Fort Portal now!!
We had 3 awesome weeks in Mityana district in a village called Kalyankoko(which translated from Luganda means "asks chicken" (it comes from a witch doctor woman who used to ask for a chicken in payment for her services). We had such an awesome time! The church there was incredible, the pastor so humble & the church members so devoted & hungry for more of Jesus! Our work was definitely Spirit led which was amazing. We were all crammed in a little tiny house (no doors or even curtains between rooms.. so we got to know eachother REALLY well!!) and the boys slept shoulder to shoulder.. it was on dirt floors and we had no running water (but the water was clean & clear & amazing people were always fetching water for us!)We all got sick too (barfing in the banana trees!Or sick in other ways.. it was all intestinal to be sure).. and there was a jigger epidemic (I had two in one toe!) We did some crusades & some door to door. then the last week we did seminars & tim & I did kids ministry (mark & ryan each helped one day too) while the parents were in seminars in the church. 10 kids gave their lives to Jesus! It was so cool! We played a lot of soccer with the kids & the adults in the town. They all laughed at me, a muzungu girl who is not too good a soccer.. but tried anyway! We also built a house out of mud in one day (and had a huge mud fight with each other!!) I can't say much more than it was amazing and a huge blessing! Now were here in FP in a huge house... that has some weird western features to it.. so we all had culture shock the first night we got here. Catherine is sick.. please pray for her.. she has been sick since Tuesday afternoon with a fever & chills... she plans to go to the clinic tomorrow. we don't exactly have a church to work with here yet. the first one backed out on us, but it sounds like we may have one now. Msaki & Millie met with a pastor today, and we'll find out tonight what's going on. Internet is expensive & i'm almost out of time.. I'll try to be back on next monday. Pray that GOd will guide us to the right ministries & the right people & just work mightily through us. FP is HUGE.. seems bigger than Jinja. Hard to say though, this is the first time I've left the house. OK.. blessings on all of you!
love you!
miss you!
Happy JUNE!!
I am in Fort Portal now!!
We had 3 awesome weeks in Mityana district in a village called Kalyankoko(which translated from Luganda means "asks chicken" (it comes from a witch doctor woman who used to ask for a chicken in payment for her services). We had such an awesome time! The church there was incredible, the pastor so humble & the church members so devoted & hungry for more of Jesus! Our work was definitely Spirit led which was amazing. We were all crammed in a little tiny house (no doors or even curtains between rooms.. so we got to know eachother REALLY well!!) and the boys slept shoulder to shoulder.. it was on dirt floors and we had no running water (but the water was clean & clear & amazing people were always fetching water for us!)We all got sick too (barfing in the banana trees!Or sick in other ways.. it was all intestinal to be sure).. and there was a jigger epidemic (I had two in one toe!) We did some crusades & some door to door. then the last week we did seminars & tim & I did kids ministry (mark & ryan each helped one day too) while the parents were in seminars in the church. 10 kids gave their lives to Jesus! It was so cool! We played a lot of soccer with the kids & the adults in the town. They all laughed at me, a muzungu girl who is not too good a soccer.. but tried anyway! We also built a house out of mud in one day (and had a huge mud fight with each other!!) I can't say much more than it was amazing and a huge blessing! Now were here in FP in a huge house... that has some weird western features to it.. so we all had culture shock the first night we got here. Catherine is sick.. please pray for her.. she has been sick since Tuesday afternoon with a fever & chills... she plans to go to the clinic tomorrow. we don't exactly have a church to work with here yet. the first one backed out on us, but it sounds like we may have one now. Msaki & Millie met with a pastor today, and we'll find out tonight what's going on. Internet is expensive & i'm almost out of time.. I'll try to be back on next monday. Pray that GOd will guide us to the right ministries & the right people & just work mightily through us. FP is HUGE.. seems bigger than Jinja. Hard to say though, this is the first time I've left the house. OK.. blessings on all of you!
love you!
miss you!
Happy JUNE!!
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