Home

After 20 hours of lay overs and 21 hours of flying I'm home! The Lord is good! When I woke up this morning to find frost covering the ground I knew it would take me a few days to adjust to the coldness. I've been cold since arriving in Amsterdam. At least I have a nice tan to remind me of the sun in eastern Africa:) Here are a few pictures from my trip.

2 days left in Africa

Yesterday as I sat on a bus for 6 hours from Tsavo national park to Nairobi I decided I was ready to go home. It has been an amazing time in Africa but I miss home. The comforts of America have spoiled me forever. The freedom to get in my car and drive on paved highways and streets I will no longer take for granted:)
Turtle bay resort was so much fun! It is hard to imagine a more beautiful place. White sand beaches, palm trees and turquoise water. We laid in the sun, went snorkeling, wind surfing, rode bikes into the village and shopped for survivors. I could have stayed a few more days! There are pictures on Erica's blog if you want to be jealous of us:) www.ericalhanson.blogspot.com Monday morning we left for safari at Tsavo East, a national park. More driving on unpaved roads got us to and through the park. We saw elephants, zebras, lions and lioness, cheetah and several other animals. We found out that Kenya is a big tourist spot for Italians. So we were in the middle of Kenya surrounded by Italians. There were a few British people as well but most of the people were speaking Italian.
Tuesday we got the bus back to Nairobi. They told us it would take about 5 hours. We were on the bus for 6 hours and we got off early to meet up with a taxi to take us to our hotel. We are staying at a bed and breakfast on the west side of Nairobi. We were able to go to a coffee house/restaurant last night that had American food. So exciting! We plan to go again while we are here. This morning we joined a woman's bible study. It was a great time in the word of God. Tomorrow we have a school to visit and hopefully a ministry to women who are in prostitution on the streets of Nairobi. Then Friday I start my journey home and Erica goes to Leeds to visit our friend Katie P. Hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving and save some turkey for me when I get home!

In Kenya

The last post was interrupted b/c we had to get back to the hotel. I'll talk a little more on the festivals. They included an African praise and worship time which means an hour of singing and dancing. Erica and I tried to participate at a festival and we only lasted about 15 minutes they work hard while praising the Lord. Then there is a drama done by our team, I was in the creation drama a few times. Then a testimony and the evangelist. We did multiple festivals in a night so there was other people from the team giving the gospel. After the invitation was given our team would load up on the buses and head back to the hotel. The churches in the camps did the follow up details.
On Sunday we were back in churches around the area. At the church I went to there were a couple people who had received Jesus at our festival that week. That was awesome to see. Monday morning we loaded up and head to a national park to see some wild animals. On the drive through the park to the resort I saw giraffes, elephants and a lot of antelopes. Erica and I didn't go on the land safari that afternoon. We went on a river cruise on the Nile on Tuesday morning. I was hoping it would be like the Jungle Cruise ride at Disney land:) We saw hippo, crocs, water buffalo and lots of colorful birds. It was beautiful! I'm in awe of God's creative ability.
As soon as we got off the boat ride we climbed in our vans and started the drive back to Entebbe airport. It took over 9 hours to get there. We spent the first 3 or 4 hours driving on dirt roads, once we hit the paved road it was smoother.
Erica and I have made lots of new friends and although the van ride was long, hot and dusty we had a blast with these new friends. The last obstacle we encountered was getting separated from the other vans in Kampala just before Entebbe. Kampala is the capital city and pretty big. The Lord is good and protected us as we dove on dark, bumpy, dirt back roads to finally find our way to Entebbe.
Entebbe was where we left the team. They flew out and we stayed the night in Entebbe. This morning we flew to Nairobi where Erica and I are now. We will be taking the train to the coast this evening. So much has transpired in the last 10 days it is hard know how to feel about it. I'm looking forward to the next few days to process all the Lord has done. Please keep praying for safe travels I know your prayers have been felt by our team.

Last Festival

We just got back from the last festival of our trip. The last 3 nights the festival have been in Opit, the largest relocation camp. Opit is also where we did the medical clinic. So, the people there have gotten use to seeing us:) It was great to see faces that I recognized from the clinic or previous nights at the festival. There are some definite faces I will remember for a while.

Medical Clinic

The past 2 days I've been working in our medical clinic. Yes, I know the sight of blood does make we woozy but it is a great apportunity to service and share the love of Christ. Yesterday, I prayed with people after they had received treatment and meds. It was an amazing experience! I lead 6 people in prayer to receive Jesus Christ! And many others we prayed for healing both physical and spiritual. Today at the clinic I got thrown into another role of talking with the patients before they saw the nurses and doctors. I basically wrote their symptoms down for the trained professionals. It was a little intimidating at first but after a while I got the hang of it. Praise the Lord I didn't have to see anything too gruesome. I did at one point start to cry.
There was a little boy with his mama and baby sister. I was talking with his mama, through the interpertor, and the little boy kept coughing and had a glazed over look. He was still pretty cute even though his nose was running. When it was his turn to tell me his symptoms I looked at him and he had these big tear drops running down his cheeks. He had the same look on his face with the big tears. It broke my heart.
It can be overwhelming to see the pain and suffering of so many. The camp the medical clinic is in is called Opit. We will be having 3 festivals starting on Friday in Opit. I'm excited for those festivals and for the people of Opit. We may be able to relieve some of their pain but only the blood of Jesus Christ can save their souls.
Please be praying for the teams strength as we have had many long days and need to finish strong. Also, be praying against the forces of the evil one, witch craft and ancestory worship is very strong here. Pray for freedom from the bondage of those things. Check out www.outwardchurch.com for for more details of the trip.

Relocation Camps

There are several relocation camps we are having the festivals and medical clinic in. Each camp has thousands of people living in mud huts spaced by 5 to 10 feet. The majority are children, a lot of them orphans. Everytime our van drives thru a camp the children flock an follow us where ever we go. Most will stare and some will hold your hand. The children are use to white people bringing them candy so they ask for sweets. We have bubbles instead of candy and the bubble create quite a commotion. It is hard to express what I've seen in these camps. It is heart wrenching yet inspiring to see these children laugh and play. It is apparent they need Jesus and they are open to the healing He offers.
I don't know the stats for last night but on Sunday the team spoke to over 6,000 people and there were over 800 decisions for Christ! Praise God! In churches here the pastor will say 'God is good' then the church will reply 'All the time' the pastor 'All the time' the church 'God is good.' And this from people who have suffered much and have very little. God is good, may His name be lifted high!

Gulu Uganda

We made it safely to Gulu! It was a long trip 3 days of traveling. We had a lay over in Amsterdam and took the train into town for an hour or so. It was early in the morning so not a lot of people were out. We spent 1 night in Kampala the capital city then drove in vans to Gulu. The van hold 14 people we had 12 in ours and there was hardly enough space for us. It was suppose to be a 5 hour drive and turned into almost 12 hours. Ahh African time gotta love it:) Sunday we went into the churches of Gulu and surrounding areas. Erica and I went to a church called Soul Gospel. There was a lot of soul going on. Their praise and worship time is like nothing in the US. It's really more like a workout then anything else. Burning calories and praising the Lord nothing better than that! Sunday night was the first festival, Reid did an awesome job sharing the gospel.
The hotel we are in is great! We discovered the pool last night, which might be the best way to get clean the whole week. I forgot the dirty feeling you have in Africa I'll just have to get use to it again. Love you all!

Leaving on a Jet Plane....in 2 days!

I can hardly believe I'm leaving in 2 days! The excitement is growing and the reality is seeking in. I have 3 or 4 different lists going right now of all the things to be done, packed or bought before I leave. It does feel really great to check them off when accomplished:) My flight leaves from PDX on Thursday morning at 8:30 am, I fly to Detroit then to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we have a 5 or 6 hour lay over, finally on to Entebbe. God willing we will get there Friday night at 9 pm. On Saturday the group will drive north to Gulu where we will be staying until the following Sunday.
There will be several different outreaches happening at the same time. Some of them are a medical team, prison visitation, school visitations, pastors conference and the evening festivals. Our schedule is packed with ministry opportunities. You can be praying for boldness to share Christ with every person we interact with. Both Sundays in Gulu we will have the chance to visit local churches to preach and fellowship with local christians.
The last few days in Uganda we will be going to a national park to go on a safari. The team leaves on Tuesday Nov. 13, while my dear friend (Erica) and I are going to go to Kenya. We fly into Nibrobi and will make our way to the coast, Malindi, and possible an island off the coast, Lamu, for a few days. The plan for me is to be back in the states on Nov 25th. Hopefully, I will be able to blog a few times while I'm away so you can keep updated.
Thank you for all your support! I would not be going on this amazing trip without my wonderful family and friends! May God be gracious to you, bless you and make His face shine on you!