What is the Value of a Shilling?

Consider the exchange rate for a moment...not dollars for shillings; but rather, two weeks in Alabama for two weeks in Uganda, an American culture for an African culture, the gospel message of hope and life for the hopeless false teachings that have permeated the homes, shops and churches of Kajjansi. My faith has been strengthened this week as I have watched with awe and joy as God has worked mightily through a partnership between fifteen Eastwood team members and our new friends and fellow believers at New Life Presbyterian Church.
Pastor Francis Mayanja and three elder-elects, Ivan, Francis, and Alfred, graciously received us and have grafted us into their ministry this week. Our typical day would began with a devotion and prayer at New Life. We visited primary and secondary schools, where we shared the gospel through singing, skits, interactive sports contests, stories, crafts, puppet shows, gospel presentations and preaching God's word. Our team walked door-to-door and shop-to-shop sharing the gospel with the people of Kajjansi. We divided up into sub-teams with a team leader, two team members and an interrupter from the church. We shared the gospel and testimonies and invited the people we met to join us for "Good News Gatherings" in the evening and to worship with New Life. Eastwood donated bibles to the church written in Lugandan and in English. Few people here own a bible; however, Pastor Mayanja can now give bibles to those new members that complete a "Beginners Class." Our last outreach was a Futball match that pitted the newly formed New Life/Eastwood team against the skilled and well-coached team from the High-Tech Secondary School. An intense and entertaining game was decided in the last minutes of the game as High-Tech broke a 3-3 tie with a game winning goal that tipped off of the outstretched fingers of our American goalie. This game was well attended and earned our team their ear for an ending program where Pastor Mayanja was able to speak to both teams and the crowd. Spencer gave a passionate gospel presentation and challenged the players to turn away from the world and to make Christ the Lord of their lives!

Now some short comments about the Eastwood DreamTeam:
Chip - the music man of humble heart
Matt - picture this, he has a huge heart for the lost
Joel - loves Jesus, and shows it
Daniel - not Matt's son now, he is God's man
Rome - has had quite the growth spurt here in Africa
AJ - always pondering, confidence increasing rapidly in the Lord
Spencer - his fervor and zeal for the Lord is contagious
Jack - young Jack has captured the heart of many with his love for Jesus
Aaron - has already started a D-group of young men from Kajjansi!!!
Ashley - sugar sweet goes a long way in Africa
Emily - a big smile and compassionate spirit
Mary Grace - sorting thru the marriage proposals, and singing "Power of the Cross"
Dottie - JaJa the Grandma, my mom, a real blessing and clay in the potter's hands
Hannah - high energy for Jesus, she will give her testimony anywhere, anytime

So what is a shilling worth??? I'm not sure....but the exchange rate has eternal value.

JR

Technology - Sometimes for us, sometimes not

So, I'm sure many of you (COUGH Brenda) have been wondering what exactly happened with the blog - where was everybody at? Well, even with a super awesome amount of technology, including smart phones and Jack's iPad, we couldn't quite get it all in sync, and on top of that, JR wanted to be busy from sun up to sun down. So without a dedicated laptop that someone could take to their room, and with everyone being so tired, well, not too much time to blog, let alone explain to Aaron how to use an iPad or to troubleshoot Jack's email problems on his iPad.

All that being said, we should have a pretty sweet video to share once we get back.

So, some funny moments to share...

Joel tried to do a double bounce backflip off the raft in the Nile. He didn't take into account that if your foot is wet it will slide on the rubber raft. So one jump, foot connects with raft, and a very nice slip lands Joel on his back and bouncing off the raft from his back and into the Nile.

Also, there is nothing on the planet, aside from Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" movie, that Hannah does not love. Things including, but obviously not limited to: dogs, cats, Twilight, that shirt, those kids, that really cute kid, Justin Bieber, dancing, Gilmore Girls, the Nile, the food on the Nile, flipping over on the Nile in a raft, rafting the Nile, baby goats, baby lambs, baby dogs (safe to assume anything that is a baby or tiny in size)... The list goes on and on and on and on....

Hannah also almost died on the Nile, but A.J. saved her.

Hannah also performed the ritual betrothal dance with a 7-year old. One Ugandan mother is very proud of her son.

Pastor Aaron can't remember the words to the doxology anymore...

Emily, while trying to throw water on me, don't know why she would want to do that, missed me and doused Chip, covering his whole right shoulder and hat, with water. Chip yelled, "what did I ever do to you?!?!?!"

Emily, also, apparently, is easily freaked out if you stand outside her bus window without her knowing you are there until she turns around, screams, and smacks the window with her fists. She also, apparently, is unable to learn that someone might do the same thing twice to her and thus not freak out when it happens again...

Sodas in glass bottles are only a quarter, in a plastic bottle they are about 60 cents.

Neither Emily nor Chip are good at haggling prices at the gift shops. I thought Chip's blood pressure was going to explode as he tried to negotiate for a better price. Emily would just accept whatever outrageous price was offered. Jack, A.J., and Rome haggled their way to some great deals.

But that is about all I got for the evening since Ashley needs the iPad.

Hope you all are well and trusting in th Lord Jesus Christ.

At least we can tell you all our stories when we get back.

- Matt

Soccer at the church