As a reminder, the main purpose and expectation of our teams' trip to Uganda was not to radically change the lives of the street boys in the 8 days we would be with them. Instead, we put on a sports and bible-school-like-camp to draw the street kids out of the slums in order to first and foremost love on and care for them and show them that there is a God that loves them more than they can imagine. In addition, we want to inform the kids of the weekly programs that Abby Tracy's ministry, A Perfect Injustice (API), and the "Uncles" put on for street kids in the slums. They provide food, medical care and equip them with knowledge of God's word in the scriptures, various trades and basic education. (Uncles are local young men who love Christ with all their hearts)
 |
| David and Abbey |
We landed in Uganda the morning of July 20 and were greeted by the smiling faces of David and Abbey Kakeeto (founder of the "A Perfect Injustice" ministry). The team of 13 people (ages 17 - 63) loaded into two vans and drove the 45-minute route to the capital city of Kampala. We checked into our rooms and quickly noticed all of the rooms at the place we were staying had names above the doors. My friend and roommate for the week, John (the leader of the trip) and I shared the “Romeo and Juliet” room. This provided the material for many jokes within the team during the days to come. After checking in, we headed to a coffee shop to pull together the supply lists with David, Abby and Uncle Abdul.
 |
| This is a bota bota. |
While the team compiled the lists, Uncle David and I hopped on a Bota (dirt bike taxi) and headed downtown to exchange money. We actually had to barter with the teller for a good exchange rate as they reduce the rate based on the age of the currency and condition of the bills.
So I walked out of there with 11.5 million schillings (~$4700), which was a bit unnerving because the exchange bank was in the heart of a bustling marketplace and I had four pockets bulging with cash, forget the fact that I was the only white dude in sight. By God's grace, we safely rejoined the team and headed out in separate ways to buy the supplies for the camp. John and I headed to the Kisenyi slum to buy the food since that is where you find the wholesale prices. As I mentioned last year, the Kisenyi slum is the roughest in Uganda and home to many refugees from the Sudan, Congo and Kenya regions. These are some of the scenes we encountered.
 |
| John and I deliberating during intense bartering for beans, although the guy in the shop with the knife probably has the upper hand.... |
 |
| John and I coming to the realization that someone is going to have to carry that 220 lb bag of beans, which took four guys to weigh.... |
We finished all the shopping, and returned to the guest house for dinner, had our first ice cold shower of the week and then hit the hay around 10pm.At 9am on day 2, Uncle David and Abbey met us where we were staying. We all headed out to visit the boys they have rescued from the streets. The boys are now living in new "forever" homes out in the country that were built last year thanks to God's grace revealed through our church (Providence).
 |
| One of the two homes recently built for Abbey's boys. |
We entered into a part of Uganda that I hadn’t experienced yet, which was more of what I imagined Africa to be like.
As we approached the gates to the API's "forever homes" we were greeted by the following sign.
 |
| Images of Ugandan countryside |
 |
| Local kiddos in the Uganda country |
 |
| Two little ones hanging around outside their home |
As we approached the gates to the API's "forever homes" we were greeted by the following sign.
The homes were amazing and they even had a recently completed basketball court. Now the American Mzungus, (as we are known there) were on our turf and could show these kids a thing or two….
 |
| The youngest boys in Abbey's homes (ages 5-8) |
After they gave us a tour of the land and the homes, the boys each got up and told us a bit about themselves, what they wanted to do when they grew up and expressed how grateful they were for all that Providence has done for them (see link to video below). The boys also showed great gratitude to the team's families, that they would allow us to come spend time with them. We schooled them at some basketball and then had lunch with them.
Here is a link to a video of one of the boys giving his speech to the team:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayJfh_rdpJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayJfh_rdpJ4
After lunch we walked through a neighboring village and gathered all the children for a bible story of Jesus calming the storm, which transitioned into the Gospel. It was really a blessing for over 80 children to be there and hear about Christ, especially since witchcraft is prevalent in the village.
Afterward we played a good game of soccer in a light rain, and the boys came from 2 goals down to beat the uncles and white guys 5-4.
 |
| The team and the boys and uncles (and dog) of Abbey's homes |
Day 3 was Sunday so we got to go to Grace Fellowship Church in the heart of Kevulu slum and again we were treated to beautiful worship of our great God.
 |
| The scene as we approach Grace Fellowship Church, which is in the building in the background |
 |
| Me, Allan (on right holding book) and Moses (a boy my friends Steve and Codey"adopted" last year) |
Following the service I got to see Allan, the boy you all may remember me telling you about from last year, who the Wags “adopted”. I learned from some of the Uncles before I got to see him that Allan had changed his name to Chad and apparently his teachers in school even refer to him as Chad. I got to see it firsthand after church as the other boys were calling him Chad too. It was really great to hang out with him and hear that he is doing well in school. I spoke to Uncle Abdul and he suggested that we put Allan in boarding school, which will help him to focus on his studies more than is practical in the Grace Fellowship home, which houses up to 50 boys in a small 10 room home. We weren't able to get Allan in Abbey's home last year because there wasn't enough room at the time.
 |
| Dancin' w/ a little sweetie after the conference (Pastor George is taking mental notes on my moves) |
Following the church service, we put on a men’s conference for young men of the slum to teach them about the image of a Godly man. There were three sessions, the first was on the necessity for the foundation of absolute truth to orient us. The second was on the characteristics of trust, obedience, and perseverance (using the examples of Abraham, Noah and Job from the bible). The final session dealt with fatherhood and what God has called us to be as fathers. Once the sessions were over, we fed the men. The turnout was much better than we were expecting, although I am sure a good number of them were only there for the free food. But, for those men, at least they heard the message and perhaps the Spirit will move in them to become more Godly men. Ultimately, for things to get better in Uganda, one generation of fathers are going to have to begin breaking the cycle - we pray that these in attendance will be the foundation of those men. After the men’s conference the church grounds were taken over by kids of the surrounding slum playing and young men learning to box, all of which was very entertaining.
 |
| The jewelry business of a recent graduate from Abbey's women's program. |
During the men's conference, the ladies from our team went and hung out with the women who had just graduated from Abbey’s program for abused women. Many of these women were beginning their own businesses based on the skills they learned in the program. Here are some images of the ladies in their homes and business locations in the Kevalu slum.
 |
| This is the septic system |
 |
| The living/dining room/kitchen of one of the recent graduates (and her four children) of Abbey's womens program. |
Day 4 - the first day of camp with the street boys was finally here. Camp was going to be much different that the format of years past. Instead of holding the camp in the slums, the Uncles and Abbey thought it would be more effective to bus about 100 of the younger boys out of the slum to a real camp (dorms and all). They felt strongly that the camp would be more impactful and the boys would be more responsive to the teaching and love they would receive if they were out of the street environment for a while (where their guard is always up), had a bed to sleep in and three meals per day. The Uncles had been advertising the camp for months at the weekly street programs and had told the boys to begin lining up for the buses at 7am for an 8:30am departure. The buses would take the boys 45 minutes south to the Scripture Union camp on Lake Victoria (second biggest lake in the world and beginning of the Nile River).
 |
| The main banquet hall at the camp |
 |
| View of Lake Victoria from the camp (aka the swimmin' hole) |
The plan was to bring the first 100 of the younger children that showed up for the buses out for the camp. Well, there were so many kids that showed up that Uncle Abdul called to see if we could handle 125 instead, and we said "sure". We didn’t really have enough supplies for that many, but figured the Lord would provide. And He did. There were at least 70 boys from the Kisenyi slum that did not make the cut on the buses. But although almost all the kids from the Kevalu slum did get on the buses. Uncle Abdul ended up having to stay back to calm those left behind and bought them all breakfast. I can’t express the love he has in his heart for these lost boys, I have never met someone like Uncle Abdul.
 |
| The infectious smile of Uncle Abdul |
 |
| The boys arrive and the beautiful choas begins |
We arrived at camp about 25 minutes before the boys did and started prepping for the onslaught. The buses arrived and as expected, the boys were hanging out of every opening on the buses. We formed a line and welcomed them with open arms as they piled off with the biggest smiles they probably have ever smiled.
 |
| Some of the boys hitchin' a ride from the buses |
 |
| Giving my first African pedicure |
After the dust had settled, we lined the boys up and ushered them to one of thirteen plastic basins and washed their feet and many of the boys did not even have any shoes to remove first. The look on their faces was mostly of confusion and astonishment all wrapped up in one. Most of the boys have never been truly loved by anyone in their lives. As we washed their feet we told them about how Jesus washed the disciples’ feet to show his love for them and that we wanted to model that for them to let them know they are also loved.
Matthew 18:5 – And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
 |
| John and Uncle Abul getting the boys fired up in the banquet hall for the week ahead |
Once they had some clean piggys we gave them some new shoes and led them into the banquet hall. We had them find a seat while we served them poriage and doughnuts while some of the “musical” Uncles started getting the sound system setup (which was going to be run completely off a small gasoline generator). At first they had the generator setup and running inside the banquet hall, but we quickly convinced them it would be wise to move that outside if they wanted us and the boys to make it to the end of the week and not die from carbon monoxide poisoning.
 |
| I love this little dude, a Ugandan boy named Bob. |
Ultimately 142 boys made it to camp on the buses, and even though we were only counting on around 100, there was enough food for all of them and the 15 or so Uncles – a good prelude to the feeding of the 5,000 bible story we were going to teach them on Wednesday…. We separated the boys into four teams distinguished by different colored duck tape wrist bands that they would be in for the week. The group time got off to a great start as one of the boys hurled a rock at another boy and busted his head wide open and required a quick trip to the clinic, which was about 10 minutes away.
 |
| The swimming station on the beach of Lake Victoria |
We set up four stations around the camp through which the teams rotated – football (soccer), crafts, recreation (field games), and swimming in Lake Victoria. When the four stations were announced, soccer and swimming got standing ovations. Let me tell you about swimming... we shouldn’t have been surprised that 80% of the boys’ bathing suits also doubled as their birthday suit. Try to image 40 or so naked African boys splashing around, running on the beach covering themselves in sand from head to toe and then running back into the water to clean off. I don’t think the ladies on the trip were prepared for the scene that unfolded down at the lakeshore. Keep in mind that swimming is a big deal for these boys. They never get an opportunity to swim and hence don't know how. John W., the eldest member of our team, was the leader for the swimming station and what a trooper he was. Not only was the water fairly chilly, but he gave the boys individual swim lessons while still keeping an eye on all the others in the water. To top it off, there are parasites in the water that can enter the body and cause severe sickness. Fortunately, the water was cool this time of year so the threat was greatly diminished. (No, I didn't get in the water)
I was the soccer station leader/referee/player/fight stopper. Surprisingly, the soccer field actually had grass on it, although it resembled hay more than grass and hid many large rock and bricks. I had to clean up as we played not only to protect the boys’ feet but also to remove the potential ammunition used during many of the boys’ fights. We would spend about 45-minutes at each station and then rotate. Unfortunately, while I was playing with the boys and Uncles in the last rotation of the day on the first day of camp, I was winding up to clear a ball out in front of our goal and kicked a rock stuck in the ground and hidden in the grass. I thought my big toe had exploded in my shoe. It took a good 30-minutes or so before I got the courage to even take my shoe off and inspect the damage. Needless to say, the “player” duties in my title were removed for the rest of the week, which was a real disappointment because I really loved playing with the boys and Uncles.
 |
| John giving some swim lessons |
 |
| The "toe-incident" forced me to give up my player duties and was left to be the soccer leader/referee/fight stopper. |
I was the soccer station leader/referee/player/fight stopper. Surprisingly, the soccer field actually had grass on it, although it resembled hay more than grass and hid many large rock and bricks. I had to clean up as we played not only to protect the boys’ feet but also to remove the potential ammunition used during many of the boys’ fights. We would spend about 45-minutes at each station and then rotate. Unfortunately, while I was playing with the boys and Uncles in the last rotation of the day on the first day of camp, I was winding up to clear a ball out in front of our goal and kicked a rock stuck in the ground and hidden in the grass. I thought my big toe had exploded in my shoe. It took a good 30-minutes or so before I got the courage to even take my shoe off and inspect the damage. Needless to say, the “player” duties in my title were removed for the rest of the week, which was a real disappointment because I really loved playing with the boys and Uncles.
 |
| Lunch and dinner each day |
 |
| Teaching the boys some kickboxing, perhaps not the best idea in hindsight given their propensity to fight at the drop of a hat... it's better than hurling rocks at heads though. |
On Tuesday morning, I woke up to feel the pain in my stomach that I had been fearing. I wasn’t able to make it to breakfast with the team, but John brought me some bread and a banana. He informed me that a few of the other members of the team had begun feeling ill over night as well. Tuesday morning began a three day stretch that involved very little eating for me and a great deal of misery. Unlike last year, I took Pastor George’s advice and didn’t take a Cipro this time as soon as the fun began to see if Imodium would get my system reoriented. This proved to be a mistake. The others who fell ill popped a Cipro they had brought and were back to near full strength within about 24 hours.
I was able to make it to camp and during a break in action on the soccer field, I was talking to a little boy named Mohamed who was 6 years old. I asked him how he slept and he said that he didn’t sleep. I asked him why and he responded in pretty good English, “I was thinking of my mother”. I asked where she was and as tears began to fill his eyes, he told me that she had recently died and that is why he was on the street now. I hugged him tight for a few minutes and then sat down in the grass with him and asked him to teach me some Ugandan words and phrases, which he really enjoyed and took his mind off the sorrow. My heart was broken for little Mohamed and there are so many more stories just like his with the 140+ boys that were at camp with us.
 |
| I got too close to the craft station on face painting day |
Tuesday afternoon is when Pastor George informed Uncle Abdul that we wanted to bring him to America for our church's Missions Festival next February – his reaction was priceless. He was overcome with emotion and assured George that he would be praying fervently to bring a blessing to the church. George indicated that one major hurdle to him being able to come to the States was his ability to get a passport – this is where the story gets even better. Uncle Abdul explained to us that many months ago he had a dream that he was asked to go to another country and when he got in line to depart, he didn’t have a passport and had to stay home. He was so struck by the dream that he immediately started working on obtaining a passport and that just last week he had received it – God works in amazing ways. So Uncle Abdul is coming to America (and planning to stay at the Wag Casa) and will get to speak and sing during the Missions Festival. Boy is our church in for a treat.
 |
| Pastor George tearing up the line dances with the boys |
I still wasn’t feeling very good on Wednesday, but was able to muster the strength for the boys. We found out when we arrived at camp in the morning that 10 of the boys actually left camp to walk back to the slums, which was a 45-minute drive. The desire for drugs was just too much for them. Wednesday was unique in that it is was cool, windy and rainy. The first two rotations of boys swimming were absolutely freezing so we decided to bring everyone into the banquet hall and have one of our team members, James, teach them some line dances. It was a hit and Pastor George was even out there doing it up with the boys.
Here is a link to a video of the boys getting their grove on....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0zqaMYR55I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0zqaMYR55I
Wednesday night I began running a fever and hardly slept, so Thursday morning I got some Cipro. Again, I was only able to eat a half-piece of toast and then gathered the strength to head to camp, but I was miserable. It was hot and sunny and I was forced to coordinate and referee the soccer games seated against a fence. At one point I had one of the uncles take over for me and had to go sit under a shade tree. About 1 o’clock I started to miraculously feel better, the Cipro started to do its job and praise the Lord, I was on the mend. I am so thankful that I was able to make it on Thursday because it was the climax of the week in many ways. To begin with, the Gospel was presented to the boys by one of our team members named Blake. He laid out the Good News to an attentive crowd and many of the boys responded and came forward to accept Christ as Uncle Abdul and David led them in prayer.
 |
| Uncle David leading the boys who accepted Christ as their Savior in prayer. |
 |
| Loading the chickens into the van |
To give you the full impact of the next event of Thursday afternoon, I need to step back a few weeks and tell you about a discussion that Uncle Abdul had with the street boys one day during the weekly programs. Uncle Abdul told the boys that God was telling him that one day they all may get to eat chicken together. Uncle David kind of got onto Abdul for getting the boys’ hopes up for something that would likely never happen. Eating meat pretty much never happens for the boys because it is too expensive. Here comes the good stuff…. John, the eldest member of our team, and his Life class at our church collected money to buy and feed the boys chicken one night. When we told Uncle Abdul and David about this early in the week they would not have been more shocked if they woke up with their head stapled to the floor. We began telling the boys on Monday that they would be eating chicken on Thursday night, but most of them just didn’t believe it. That was until Wednesday afternoon when Uncle David’s van showed up with 150 live chickens in the back (boy what a mess was left to clean up). The class had raised enough money for each of the boys to have their own chicken! The live chickens were loaded into a room in the banquet hall and the smell that pervaded the room was unexplainable, but the excitement level shot through the roof. The Uncles killed, plucked, dressed and fried up all 150 chickens and we served it to the boys on Thursday afternoon. Each boy had their very own whole chicken, it was priceless. They could not stop thanking us and persistently tried to give us pieces of their chickens. They shared with each other and posed for countless pictures. There was so much peace among the boys. What a blessing God poured out on these boys. Unforgettable.
 |
| Chicken tonight |
 |
Some leftovers
|
Luke 14:13-14 – When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Thursday was the last night that the boys would be sleeping at camp so we had a big bonfire down on the shore of Lake Victoria, complete with a multi-media presentation of pictures that had been taken throughout the week by the Uncles. The pictures brought many laughs from the boys, but none more than a picture of one of the boys walking out of the lake in his birthday suit, aka bathing suit. We handed out tons of glow sticks to the boys and they had a blast with them. After some time, just throwing them around and making jewelry was just not doing it for them anymore, so they discovered that if they bit into the sticks the liquid could get sprayed on everyone’s clothes and they would glow. This eventually transitioned to putting the liquid in their mouths and spitting out what looked to be fire. I shared some words with the boys from 2 Corinthians and Revelation about the things of this world being temporary and the promised glory that God has prepared in heaven for those who have placed their faith in Christ, prayed with them and then Pastor George closed the night down with a fun-filled group benediction. What an awesome day.
 |
| The boys packing into a bus (2-layers deep) at the end of the camp |
Our hearts were heavy as we realized were they were going back to and by comparison what we were going back to. Only the Grace of God separated what we were born into and what they were born into. It is a very humbling place to be to stand in that realization. Many of the boys barely had a shirt on their backs, but during craft time when they where given shirts and backpacks to design, it was surprising how many of them wrote bible verses and(or) proclaimed their love for Jesus. Despite their situation, the love and gratitude for Christ I saw in some of the boys was amazing and something that we in our comfort and prosperity should ponder.
This year's trip was a little more challenging physically for me than last year, given the toe incident and extended sickness, but I felt our time with the boys was slightly more impactful given the "comfortable" setting of the camp. Although the living conditions of the street boys is just as dire as last year, we were encouraged to hear many stories of how boys from last year's camp are now off the streets - some in trade school, some in various group homes and some in Abbey's homes. Despite the feeling of despair you get when first walking through the slums, it is very evident that God is continuing to do wonderful things in the slums of Kampala for his glory.
Here is a link to a video (set to the music of Uncle Abdul) that encapsulates the entire week in less than 3 minutes....
Once again, I want to extent my deepest and most sincere appreciation to all of you for your prayers and support that made this trip possible. We serve an amazing God.
 |
| Hangin' out with some of the Uncles in the "kitchen", where all the food for the camp was prepared |
 |
| The "Green" team - Camp football champions (it wasn't even close) |
 |
| This is little Chris, the youngest boy in camp (5), and he loved to hug on us. Poor litle guy could not keep his shirt though, we had to help him find one each day... |
 |
| Couple of our loud and aggressive neighbors |
Matthew 19:14 – Jesus said, Let the little children come to me , and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
