At the airport

Mom decided we needed a picture before I left. 

Family time

Had a great time running down Stone mountain with Jayden. He is growing up so fast. 

Headed back to Uganda

I have been off the grid for a while - at least in the blog world - Facebook has been on fire!  But, I am heading back to Uganda today.

Challenges Pastors of Uganda Face

We had a meeting with some church pastors from the area surrounding the Village of Eden.  We wanted to first, let them know we are not trying to "steal" their members and secondly, to see how we could work together to further the Kingdom of God.

Brenda asked the question:  What are some challenges, you as pastors face?

Here are some answers:

1. Lack of enough knowledge in spiritual issues

2.  Poverty - most of the pastors are very poor, they don't have time for prayer, most of the time is used looking for food - no time to read the Bible, so it makes us unprepared to go to the church and teach

3.  Sometimes we fail to understand our calling and vision - we just work within the church and we do not go outside  - our vision is just rotating inside the church

4.  We want younger children to be uplifted to become leaders of tomorrow, but we don't have the materials to help us

5.  Some of the church pastors are back-biting, not respecting one another.

6.  If I want to go outside my community, how am I going to get there?  The challenge is how am I going to arrive.

Thought these were interesting.  The Village of Eden is going to help to train them, addressing the first point made and we can help with materials, but what do you do about poverty, failure to understand the calling and back-biting?

Announcement to Move to Uganda

This was published on the Helping Hands website.  I thought I would share it with you guys.

Jessica Matthews, who will celebrate her 9th  anniversary with Helping Hands Foreign Missions, this June, is making a big move.  She has answered God's call to move to Uganda to establish the school at the Village of Eden.

Eight and a half years ago Jessica made a similar "life changing" decisions, when she left her teaching career and moved to Bolivia to work with HHFM.  Her time in Bolivia has been very effective.  She started the Aguila Christ School 6 years ago and invested herself into the lives of teachers and administrators to the point that she is no longer required to be in Bolivia for the school to run efficiently.  She also served as the In-country Team Coordinator for visiting mission teams to Bolivia.  In addition to all of this, Jessica has been an integral part in developing our Bolivian Jungle Ministry  She is planning to continue working int he Jungle Ministry and is going forward with Plans to build a house in the village of Oromomo.  Jessica was Helping Hands' representative in Bolivia as the ministry began focusing most of their resources and personnel toward Uganda for the start-up of the Village of Eden.  Her efforts made it possible for Helping Hands to maintain the great partnership we enjoy with Word of  Life in Bolivia.

Although her primary focus will be on the school at the Village of Eden, Jessica will be helping with the day to day work involved in developing and running child care, farm, and medical clinic; all of which will be on site at the Village of Eden.

When asked about her move from Bolivia to Uganda, she said, "It is hard to leave my Bolivian family and ministry there, but I am excited about the new challenges God is calling me to in Uganda!  I can't wait to see what He has in store for me!"

Both of these were taken on the bank of the Secure River in Oromomo!  Look at the difference.  In the first one, alone, not knowing anyone, actually uncomfortable being there.  Second one, surrounded by friends, some of which have lived with me.  I am very comfortable being there and actually loving every minute!

Jovenes Involucrados - Involved Youth

Saturday was the Involved Youth Finals!  Youth from all over Bolivia came to Word of Life to compete in the Finals.  Think "Bible Drills" but much bigger!  There are competitions in preaching, singing, illustrated Evangelism, group presentation, teaching children, single monologues and finally Questions and Answers.

It was 12 hours of intense competition!  It is so great to see so many youth that have really been studying and practicing for months in preparation of this competition.  Their advice from Juan Lella, Word of Life Director, "Don't just do it for the trophy, go out and share what you have learned with the world."

Enjoy!

Juan encouraging the competitors

Banner from KM 0

Singing Judges:  Raquel, Wilma & Pablo

Illustrated Evangelism

Singing - This is Luisa, my student - She won !st Place!

Illustrated Evangelism

Illustrated Evangelism

Individual Monologue - This girl played the part of Mary

Group Presentation - This one was on living an empty life

Group Presentation - Presented the Crucifixion from the perspective
of a Roman Solider

Group Presentation

Monologue Judges - Viviana & Wilma

Medals - 3rd, 1st, 2nd

Questions and Answers - The third from left is Josue, my student.
He was sooo nervous!

The winners of each competition!

Students from KM 0, Cochabamba

Students from Ebe-nezer, Santa Cruz

Students from El Camino, La Paz

Group Praying after presentation of awards

I love these kids!

I just returned to Bolivia after being gone for three months!  "My kids" have grown so much!  I loved taking their pictures today!  They are all so cute and unique!  I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do.

Aguila Christian Academy: