Hmmm

Whoa!!! Africa is much different than the OC. (Understatement!) So how does a Jewish princess acclimate in a poor foreign land? Here, you hold your nose and jump in. The people here have make up for all for all the discomforts, almost.
It really has been wonderful being here. All the photos and stories I heard before I came, does not fully describe what it is like here. There have been so many improvements already, yet the needs are still so great. When I come home, I hope to share them with you. The presence of God is really evident here.
Today we are going to dedicate the water well that so many of you have generously given to. It's going to be a great day.
Love to all,
Elaine

Monday July 5th 2010

It was the first day of the men's meetings today in Uganda. Pastor Aggrey, Pastor Edmond, Scott, a friend from Heart of God and myself travelled to Magale which is in the hills. A beautiful area for sure. The car we travel in vibrates like crazy once we hit 100 kph which we usually can't, due to the state of the roads. On the black top roads, they all follow the center yellow line which is right under the center of the car. The problem is that the oncoming car or semi is doing the same. Or they drive on the wrong side of the road until a car or truck comes, then switch back to the correct side of the road. Kinda like driving in the game "Crazy Taxi".
Approximately 50 men turned up to hear us speak about forming men's groups and why we must. We gave them examples of scripture that show us how to be a better father. A lot of it was totally new to them to affirm their children. We were asked some questions about women's equal rights, women pastors and homosexuality. They prayed for a man in our men's group in the US who is sick and in need of a kidney transplant. They first sang a song for him and then prayed hard for approx 5 minutes. A moving experience. For lunch we were all invited into the local Pastors home and eat the food his wife cooked. It is always an honor to eat in their homes.
The trip back to the hotel took 1 hour across bad dirt roads.
Africa sure is an eye opening experience.
Elaine will update for the rest of the team.

Sunday July 4th 2010

Today the team travelled to True Vine to witness and participate in Sunday's celebrations. It is always a moving experience to see how the Africans worship and praise God.
Larry and I travelled to Mumutumba and preached. Pastor Jessica had lunch prepared for us, but we told her we must go to Butacho to preach as well. After preaching and singing Pastor Justin asked us to stay for a glass of water which turned out to be lunch. We ate with Pastor justin and his wife and then went back to Mumutumba to have lunch with Pastor Jessica. Larry and I were stuffed. We rolled out of there at 3pm heading for Tororo Hospital and the team.
We met with them in the men's ward. We prayed over all the men with many accepting Christ. We then moved onto the childrens ward which I knew would be very emotional. We saw one baby with this huge head wound which the doctor said was malnutrition. It is way too graphic to put a picture on the blog, but I tell you. It brought us to tears. We are looking into moving the child and mother to a better hospital and away from this free public hospital. The next young child has Aids and is terminal. It is so sad to see this child just waiting to die.
On this special day of July 4th and all the celebrations going on at home and here we are seeing such suffering of innocent children.

I did not have internet access for the time in Kenya so all is updated today.

Thursday June 24th 2010
Pastor Chris Mayaka and his wife Jerita warmly greeted me at Kisumu airport after my flights from Dubai. They asked me to stay in their home and I feel honored to be asked. Their home is in the hills surrounding Kisumu. Over a home cooked meal Pastor Chris and I caught up on the last 12 months since we had visited different churches in Uganda. A car and driver John has been hired for the duration of my stay in Kenya.
Friday June 25th 2010
This morning is our first men’s meeting in a church in the slums of Kisumu. Pastor Chris has started pastoring in this church recently, when the last Pastor left. Four men turned up from a nearby church including their Pastor. After sharing my vision for a men’s ministry and the reasons why, we broke for lunch cooked by the women of the church. During the afternoon session I was unsure whether they had embraced it. That was until they started asking questions and became excited about the concept. Their Pastor stated that he had 17 men in his congregation and was sure they all would like the idea. We finished the day off with worship songs and prayer and agreeing to meet the next day at 10am.
Saturday June 26th 2010
Before the men’s group session, we visited the local market. Everyone wanted to sell me vegetables, or fish. “Promote me” they would say. Reminded me of when the Seaside Team in 2007 stopped to buy souvenirs in the Rift Valley in Kenya.
Today’s session mainly consisted showing the men some of the study books I brought with me and how they are relevant to our lives. Questions and answers followed. We broke for lunch and ended the day in prayer.
Pastor Chris, his wife Jerita and I went for a tour around Kisumu. We visited Kiboko Bay resort, which is right on Lake Victoria. Hippo’s wander up and feed on the grass at the lake edge. I checked the accommodation to see if it is suitable for a team next year. The resort has a swimming pool and restaurant and is a good place to relax after doing God’s work with the men. The resort is also suitable to bring our wives.
Sunday June 27th 2010



Today is church down in the slums. Approx 30 people turned up. I preached on “What it takes to be a Christian”. The worship was amazing with drums, dancing and singing. The African style of singing really moves you as they put their hearts into it, not like churches in the US. Because the church has no electricity or money they have no PA system or keyboards. Personally I prefer just the drums as the PA system typically have one volume and that is full.
The church ladies prepared lunch and we ate beef, chicken, greens, soup and posha.


Monday June 28th 2010
We left Kisumu early morning and headed towards Massai land to the town of Kilgoris. We stopped and visited with Pastor Chris’s wife Jerita’s grandmother who is 108 years old. She is an amazing woman with a sharp mind but has a little trouble walking. She told us Jerita’s mother is very sick so we hiked 5km along dirt tracks to visit her. She went to church Sunday morning and came down with sickness. She said a lot of people are sick in the area. We arranged for a doctor to visit her from the nearest town.
We arrived in Kilgoris at approx 11am, met with the district overseer over a soda and snack. He explained to me what was happening at the men’s conference and that he had already started men’s groups throughout the district. This news is awesome. This man caught the vision and is on fire. Pastor Chris met with him last December and explained the vision. He loved the idea and went straight to work. The men have wanted something but did not know what. Even the women wondered why the men have nothing when the women have conferences all the time. God is working his magic once again. The Massai men walked for many miles to attend this men’s conference. We finished the day at approx 9pm and I just crashed in bed at the hotel. Pastor Chris and the District Overseer are going to meet in Kisumu in two weeks to plan out the details of the men’s groups and the path forward. Using the books and class notes I took during the training I received at Saddleback church, they have a clear path to make the groups a success. I look forward to visiting next year, hopefully with a team.






Tuesday June 29th 2010
Today we will finish off speaking to the men by 11am and then we will leave for Massai Mara Game Reserve which is 70km away.
What an amazing day. Approximately 60 men attended the conference representing 13 churches. Half of the attendee’s were pastors which is essential to the success of the men’s program. I shared with them about “Men need models”, Models to gauge our life by, and hopefully it is a good model. It should be the father that is the model, but of course in today’s society the world over, the father fails in this capacity and the child looks outside of the family home. We all held hands and prayed for the men’s ministry, our health and for forgiveness for our sins.




We left at 12:30 for the Massai Mara Game Reserve. We went in the back road past Massai herding their cattle along the road and their village compounds called “Manyatta” which are surrounded by a thick fence made from sticks and thorns to keep the elephants, lions and other wild animals out.


We visited a resort which would be ideal for a team next year. It is right on the river where hippo’s and crocodiles live. Just downstream is where the migrating herds of wilderbeast cross.


Wednesday June 30th 2010
Today is the day I say farewell to my hosts Pastor Chris and his wife Jerita. It has been an honor to stay in their home. We stopped off to buy a digital camera so he can send me photos of the men’s ministry in Kenya. We crossed the border at Busia and they dropped me off at the Rock Classic hotel in Tororo. I took my first shower in a week, it was cold but great. I was bucket bathing during my stay in Kenya. Pastor Eric called and greeted me and asked what time to come over to greet Elaine. He arrived soon after the team rolled in around 6pm. He greeted Elaine like an old friend.
We visited the True Vine site and then returned for dinner.
Thursday July 1st 2010
The team travelled to Mumutumba today for a woman’s day of foot bathing, nail polish and lipstick. Approx 50 women turned up. It was great to see Pastor Jessica, Pastor Justin, Moses and many familiar faces. We had the normal joyous greeting and welcoming to their church. The fruit trees are growing nicely and some are bearing fruit. Pastor Jessica has 6 orphan children living in her home. Their mother died a few months ago and they had nowhere to go, with both parents now dead. An all too familiar story here in Africa. Dress a girl dresses made by Seaside Community church were handed out and the girls looked great. What an awesome ministry.
Tom Eggum, Pastor Justin and I travelled to Butacho to see the rusty water being pumped out of the water well. The pipes and rods have rusted and tainted the water for drinking. The removal and replacement of the pipes with PVC and stainless steel was arranged so this will not happen again. The drilling company is covering the cost. Good news.
The team also visited Saka to hand out dresses and play soccer with the boys while the dresses were being handed out.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped and checked out True Vines fish farm. They netted up the fish to show us.
Friday July 2nd 2010
Today we visited Smile Africa at the women’s store and bought some beads. I also visited with Pastor Ruth’s mother who lives out the back of the store. She will be moving soon to her new home on the Karamojong site. It has a lot more room for her.
We left there to go to the Karamojong site to give out dresses for the girls and feed the children. I always feel tore up when feeding the children. They look so much healthier today than 2007 thanks to the food supplements from “Feed my Starving Children” and Pastor Ruth for taking it to heart the plight of these kids.
I also was able to greet a young teenage girl who had surgery to remove a goiter or tumor or something from her neck. It was huge and affected her whole being because of it. She would have died if not for the surgery. Now she is smiling, self confidence has returned and is a normal happy young teenager. It is amazing how little money it costs for a life saving operation.
I met with Pastor Aggrey in the late afternoon and into the evening to discuss the men’s ministry in Uganda. We covered the class I attended at Saddleback church for men’s ministries. After reviewing the contents he was impressed with the ideas in the manual. He also reviewed the men’s bible studies on temptation, family, being a Godly man etc. There is over a year and a half’s worth of weekly bible studies in total in the books. We agreed to do 4 days of men’s meetings in 6 different churches in 4 different districts surrounding Tororo.
Saturday July 3rd 2010
This morning some of the team climbed “The Rock” while the rest of us had breakfast. After family time everyone went to the Prison with Pastor Eric. I stayed at the hotel catching up on blogging and men’s ministry stuff and my sermon for tomorrow.

Today was another great day in Uganda. I went on a 5 hour drive to Lake Victoria on dirt and muddy roads (we had a huge rainstorm yesterday) to dedicate a new boat, so True Vine can administer to the islands. The village we were in had never seen white people before so some were stand-offish and others were very friendly. The children were in rags. Being on the coast the village had a lot of fishing boats on the beach while others were out fishing with nets.

Gene, Eric and Robyn and a few others from the team went to visit Tororo Hospital with Pastor Eric. The hospital is basically a place you go to die as it is nothing like a hospital in the US. Very little medicine or nusing staff. The family has to supply bed linen and meals for the patient.

Tonight we had a farewell feast at True Vine. Great food and great music with Pastor Aggrey thanking us for the visit and assistance the team made in Tororo.
It is sad to know that this is our last night in Uganda. This trip has been extremely fruitful because, after explaining my vision for the men and the to see them embrace it. The men are hungry to find out more and how the bible tells us how to love our wives and children. Now I just have to find men's groups in various churches back in the US to assist. I am sure that God will see to it.

Mark

Thursday July 9th 2009

Today all the Seasiders and 3 more from the main team made the trek to Mumutumba. We visited with Pastor Jessca and some of the women. They were most welcoming, with lots of hugs and rejoicing. We were given a tour of the projects and the womens sewing ministry and an update on some of the problems they have been having . Uganda has suffered a major drought recently so some of the fruit trees have died. 18 Mango trees, 4 Papaya a few orange trees and lemon trees are still alive and growing well. They are still growing corn, groundnuts, (peanut like) jack fruit, banana, and some other fruit tree. Flowers are planted on the drive into the church grounds and on the perimeter of the crops. Some played with the children with bubbles, soccer picture taking, frisbee and just hanging out. A great day and enjoyed by all.

Mark

Tuesday July 7th 2009

Today we had another men's meeting with 40 men in attendance. 75% were Pastors from the area with some from outside of True Vine. We also had some non-believers wanting to join a small group. All Pastors are now going to start men's small groups. It is awesome to hear a group of men worshipping God in a way that only African's can. All the men in attendance seem to be embracing the concept of regular meetings. This is a huge step in the right direction to become leaders in the family, church and society.

Mark

Went with Eric Willaims today, on the back of two buda-budas (motorcycle taxis), to the Tororo Regional Hospital today and had lunch with Pastor Eric Sabiet and his hospital crew at Eric's cousin's house; a delicious spread of beef, chicken, beans, hot cabbage, chiptai, potatoes, and sodas. I praised the crew for the work that they were doing at the hospital...telling them that they were the hands and feet of Jesus, AND SEASIDE. I also presented them with a cash gift that was collected by our children's ministry--Big Blue--over a two-year period from 2007 until now...AN AMOUnt OF $180. After lunch, about ten of us--5 men and 5 women--carried over several large pots of food and entered into the men's ward of the hospital, which was divided into two 14- to 18-bed sections where we prayed and shared the Gospel with the men. The highlight was when Eric Williams shared the Gospel and Eric Sabiet translated. Over a dozen men--and one women (probably a relative)--gave their life to Christ. The Christians of Uganda are STRONG Christians, and know the Word of God and are mighty evangelists--both men and women, but especially the men. We will never forget this day.

Gene & Eric

Monday July 6th 2009

Today was the first day of the Men's Empowerment program. This program will teach the men the godly principles of being men and our responsibilities to our wives and children. The Ugandans thought this is a great idea and wrapped their arms around it. 7 small groups were formed that have committed to meeting once a week on an ongoing basis. Tomorrow I am heading off to another district for the same discussion. We provided lunch to the men and they discussed a question relating to family issues which the Seaside men had used at a weekend retreat.
Gene, Mikhaila, Eric & Robyn and the rest of the team all travelled to Lumino to paint the outside of a newly constructed church. Pastor Justice and his family provided lunch for the team. The team called into Mumutumba for a real quick stop to say Hi to Pastor Jessca.

Mark

Sunday 07/05/09

Today, we visited Butacho with Mikhaila, Robyn, the cousins Shawna & Kristi, and Gene. Mark spoke and exhorted the church to be responsible for their Christian walk, and I prayed a blessing over Butacho (Col. 1). It was a long, bumpy ride to get there and back, but worth every inch!
Afterwards, we had lunch at the house of the mother of pastor Justin. Justin’s wife and family served us fruit, rice, avocados, beef, pork, chicken…and some soft drinks – Stoney’s and Krest's. We were surprised at how clean and modern the house was.
We were in awe at the quick maturity of the church of Butacho. The pastor preached – and I mean PREACHED – with authority and power, the worship was wonderful, and the children (about 25) were absolute angels.
All of this topped with 2 hours of travel-time fellowship…always a plus.
Can’t wait to see what God will do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next… -- Gene

Friday July 3rd 2009

The flight to Entebbe from Amsterdam was delayed two hours and Eric and Robyn were already in Entebbe to greet us. At the airport also to greet us were Pastor Hillary, Shake and Bake Bobby and Matea. Pastor Wilbur was returning from the US and met us in Amsterdam.
Gene, Mikhaila and I made it to Tororo last night in one piece and were very tired after a 10 hour ride which is normally 5hrs. We were stopped by the police 3 or 4 timesa and was instructed to buy 2 new tires. The bridge dam at Jinga was shut down to one lane and sometimes every lane was shut for road works. The traffic was worse the LA freeways at peak hour. One pick up next to us had a dead body laying in the back with others people (live ones) sitting around the edge of the truck bed.
Eric and Robyn went to Fort Portal to visit orphanges, a farm and to go on safari with the rest of the team. They will arrive in Tororo Saturday evening.
Today we met with Pastor Aggrey discussing the men's ministry. We will be visiting 5 different churches in 4 different areas to talk to the men. They are expecting up to 1000 men to attend.
We also met with Pastor Eric from Tororo hospital outreach. He shared with us the great things that God has been doing with his visitation team, and that he's looking forward to taking us to the hospital and -- and if all works out -- into a local prison.
We also visited True Vine. Three new classrooms have been built since last November and another dorm is under construction.
I visited very briefly with Caroline and Filish (2 of Seasides sponsored children) in the dorms. The are healthy and appear all happy. The new kitchen and dining room for the children is great. Now the children do not need to eat outside.


Gene, Mark, Mikhaila