Monday, April 27, 2015

A Few Thoughts Before Uganda


As a Team, we look forward to all of the excitement that goes along with an international experience.  We are ready to begin the mission God has called us to in Uganda!  The preparations are many and none of our schedules are slowing down just because we have this amazing mission trip coming up!  We thank all of you who have prayed for us, and we ask that you continue on this journey with us.  We are so thankful that 88% of our funds have been received and look forward to seeing God provide the final amount as our last week of preparation approaches.  Below are more specific thoughts and expectations from a few of our team members.
 
I am so looking forward to "wheels up" and all the planning part behind us.  The planning for this trip has been exhausting and I can't wait for the peace that will come with being in Uganda and the quiet that will be enjoyed at GSF.
I am looking forward to reconnecting with the simple things of life again as I return and I cannot wait to see my friends, the missionaries I have grown to love and nationals I met last year.
I am excited for our team to see the light and beauty of this part of the world (as well as the darkness) and look forward to seeing how God will tug at all their hearts.
I pray for fertile soil in all our team members' spirit so God can do some major planting and harvesting.
As our departure time grows nearer my excitement becomes overwhelming, I wish we were leaving tomorrow!  

Steve



I pray I will make myself available for whatever the Lord has in store for me! I figure the less plans I make now, the less I will get in the way. 
GR


As we prepare for our trip to Uganda, which is less than 2 weeks away, I am overwhelmed with so many emotions including: 
-excited about how God will work in & through the team, 
-humbled by the opportunity to go & the support we've received so far, 
-slightly anxious/ stressed with the details that remain/ short amount of time that remains, 
-delighted to be able to use my nutrition and lactation knowledge to help others, 
-full of peace & joy that can only come from Jesus, 
-in awe of how faithful God is in every way, 
-gratitude for all the hard work the missionaries & team members have put into the trip so far, and
-appreciative towards my wonderful co-leader Steve and the Global ministries staff at Westover Church for all their guidance & help.

My prayer is that God will use this trip to draw me closer to Him while sharing my passion of the Gospel, nutrition, and lactation to those I meet in Uganda. Since I am a very detail oriented person, my prayer is that I'll 'get out of the way' so that God can work through me and I will be in step with the Holy Spirit before, during, and after the trip. I pray that this trip will have lasting impacts on myself, the other team members, the missionaries, the locals, and our team of supporters/ senders.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers & support thus far - we could not do it without y'all and we have felt your prayers already, so please keep them coming!

May God Bless you,
Laura


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Meet the 2015 Uganda Team


Back row from left to right: Vicki Nichelson, Bruce Nichelson, Steve Holbrook,       Randy Smith, Jon DeLine, Debbie DeLine, GR Higginbotham II
Front row: Laura Smith, MaryBeth Hancock, Rebecca Lee

We have the privileged and honor of going to Uganda on May 7th, 2015 to serve along side missionaries Sharon & Tom Batley and Carolyn & Bob Jacobsen in Jinja, Uganda and at the Good Shepherd's Fold Orphanage. We will be there until May 18th, and we are very excited to see what the Lord will do in & through us during this trip.

Westover Church sends out many short term trips around the world each year to love on missionaries that the church supports, so our main focus will be encouraging & helping the Batley's & Jacobsen's in any way we can. Besides this main objective, there are 3 areas of ministry we will be focusing on while we are there: medical, business, and construction. God has put an amazing team together with almost the exact skill set the missionaries asked for - praise God!

We have started meeting as a team as we prepare to leave in less than a month- praying, getting to know each other, planing details, sending out support letters, and praying some more. While we have a tentative schedule, only God knows exactly how we will be used on this trip to share the love of Jesus with others and deepen our relationships with Him. We continue to look to Him for wisdom and peace as we meet and prepare.

This blog will be updated throughout the preparation phase and as we are able to once we are in Uganda so feel free to bookmark this blog to follow our journey.

We covet the prayers of our supporters, so thank you for bringing our team & this trip before our Lord & Savior, Jesus!