We made it

Hola family and friends!

We are here and loving our apartment and the city! All the baggage came through and the flights were just fine. Didn't sleep a whole lot on the planes but we were able to rest when we got to our place. The staff took us out to dinner (at 9pm!) the day we got in to a little restaurant by the river that runs through the city. We ate on the roof with some spectacular views! No pictures yet but soon. We slept well that night because we were so tired from all the traveling!

Woke up to the sounds of a street sweeper and men being incredibly noisy as they set up scaffolding just a couple apartments down at 7:30am. That will take some getting used to.... we slept in as best as we could and got up to make an IKEA run. The IKEA is just outside the city.. a 10 minute walk to the bus station and a 10 minute ride and we were there. Bought a few fun things for our place and walked back to the bus station in the lovely 100 degree weather and went home! After a nice little siesta we went to do some more exploring in the city and have found a cafe down the street from our apartment with free WiFi, so here we are writing you a quick note.

We also thought we should share the actual address of our apartment, as we were misinformed about the number. If you want to look it up on

Google maps, you can search for: Calle Galera 12, Seville, Spain. You can look up when you are in the "street view" and see the windows to our place on the 2nd floor. The are a little to the right of when you first go to the street view... you should see flower pots in the window :)

Well, we are off to do some more exploring! Enjoy the photos below of our place and we will post more soon.

Love, Jordan and Sarah

Middle courtyard view from our floor

Our door!

Our TV, to the right of the door as you walk in

Jordan is a giant in our kitchen.

The windows in our living room.

The loft is to the left of the door just as you walk in. Can't even open the door all the way because of the stairs! Love tiny European apartments!

A view of the living room from the loft.

The loft, where many of you will be staying! No worries, the futon is comfy.

The bathroom

Bathroom still, including washer.

Bedroom. Jordan's feet stick out quite far on this bed.. a small adjustment from our CA king back home!

Window in our bedroom. The only fan. No air conditioner... for now...

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Colorado and Back

Well, Jordan and I survived our first road trip together! We wanted to have one last hurrah here in the states before we move to Spain and thought we should visit our good friends Brian and Lori in Colorado! We were gone for a total of 9 days... it went by way too fast, we wished we could have spent more time in CO because we loved it there and wanted to spend more time with friends! The weather was awesome and we had a great time catching up with the Van Eps. Here are some pictures of our journey.

We stopped at the Grand Canyon on our way out and LOVED it. Neither of us had been there before! Breathtaking.

Instead of camping in a camp ground like normal people, we went out into the middle of nowhere in the National Forest right outside the canyon, as per the suggestion of a park ranger. It was a little scary waking up to the sound of coyotes in the middle of the night but we loved it!

A little view of our spot.

Breakfast. Can't beat toast made on a hanger and peanut butter spread by a plastic fork from Jack in the Box.

The next day we drove along more of the southeast rim of the canyon and caught some more sweet views!

There were lots of road construction stops along the 160 on our way over to Colorado Springs but we didn't mind because we had nice scenery!

Brian took us to Garden of the Gods our first day in Colorado Springs.

Brian, being Brian.

Red Rocks!

"The Balancing Rock"

We also got to go camping with Brian and Lori and two of their friends Matt and Eilene from Fort Collins. The place we wanted to camp at was up by a reservoir, so we had to park and hike up and in quite a ways... proved to be quite difficult with a tent, air mattress, food, clothes, chairs, altitude, etc! But we had an awesome time!

I still don't know how Brian carried all of that up the hill... he had about 100 lbs. in his pack!

We of course wanted to play games with Brian and Lori like old times so we took the dominos out for some Mexican train but the boys could not resist making towers and trying to knock them down before we got started...

Stay tuned for more adventures soon.... we fly out to Spain on Wednesday!

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Road Trip

In the morning we are starting our road trip to Colorado Springs to visit our friends Brian and Lori Van Eps. The plan is to spend the first night camping at the Grand Canyon, then drive into Colorado the next day. We are excited to see some sights and visit friends. This is our last hurah in the U.S. before we have to rush back to make the big move to Spain.



Here is a picture of us at a camp we were all working in summer 2008.

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A big day in Africa

I was debating whether to share this story on the blog or not. It was the biggest event of the Africa trip for me yet for some reason I hesitate to write about it, maybe for fear of not telling it right.


Bruce Kane just recently posted the story from his perspective on his blog, http://epicbruce.blogspot.com, and I thought he did a great job of it. So here it is.

On this first day of medical ministry, we had finished setting up the clinic and most of us from epic were milling around looking for the areas in which we could be useful. I, myself, was feeling a bit like a third wheel when our missionary approached me to go out on a "house call." I had heard the muffled conversations about a woman out in the bush who could not make it to the clinic for care and it was obvious that the missionaries and the medical team were trying to decide what to do about it. Well, it was decided that Justice (mentioned in a previous post - "By the Hand of God") would take a team out to the house to treat the woman. We knew that she was being treated for HIV disease by a government program and that she was unable to make it into our clinic for treatment, which meant she had also been unable to make it the even further distance to the government clinic for help.


Scott, our missionary, asked me to pick a someone from the team to go along, and to quickly get ready to take off. My head spinning from the unexpected opportunity, I silently asked God who I should invite along. His answer was swift and specific. "Get Jordan," is what I knew God was saying. My impression was so strong that I immediately approached him and gave him the low down.


Soon we were loading up in the bus for out journey out to serve this lady who we only knew through the description of one of her neighbors. ( I found out later that the term neighbor would be very loosely defined in this circumstance. the ladies lived about 1.5 miles apart and could only travel to one another by foot.) We drove out of the village (we had set up our clinic in a church there) and down the road for what seemed like about 6 miles. We had the neighbor woman along for a guide. We made a turn or two and then quickly stopped near a walking path. We could see a hut off to the side of the road, so Jordan and I began to prepare ourselves to disembark. Well, the bus took a sharp left turn off of the road and onto the walking path (not that it fit on the single person foot path worn into the savanna grassland). We drove for just a little bit and then parked and got off the bus. As we began to walk out further into the bush, it began to rain and Jordan and I knew that we were on a genuine adventure.


We soon reached a mud and stick hut with a metal roof and a sheet hanging over the door. We waited outside for just a moment as Pastor James (one of our team hosts for the missions trip) called inside. Soon we were invited in and made our way through the dark, windowless front "room," past a dividing wall into a sleeping space at the back of the house. (There were 2 other sleeping spaces in the hut. Both more private than this one.) We found a young woman ( I guess in her upper 20s) lying on a mat with a bowl of very humble food sitting next to her. She tried to raise herself up to address us and it was obvious that she was paralyzed.


Justice began to discuss her medical condition and the course of her treatment with her. She was not improving in regard to her paralyses and the tuberculosis which had settled in her spine, causing an enormous deformity there. It looked as if it was very painful and the obvious source of the paralyses. Pastor James tried to keep us informed of the conversation and I was trying to pray for the situation, my thoughts interrupted occasionally by new revelations of other persons in the hut - previously undisclosed in the remaining sleeping spaces.


Eventually Justice turned around to face us and explain that he was instructing her to continue her treatments for HIV and for the Tuberculosis. He explained that her prognosis was very poor without physical therapy and that it was very unlikely that she would be able to get it out in the area where she lived. He then invited us to pray with him for her. He spoke to her and turned around to tell us that she had decided to invite Christ to be her savior.


We all prayed as Justice prayed directly with her in their native language. As we were praying, the woman jerked back violently and fell to her back, laid out flat as if in a seizure. We instinctively moved in closer to pray more fervently, and then the woman screeched in her own voice. Pastor James turned to us westerners and explained that an evil spirit had revealed itself.


Once again we pressed in closer to the woman, laying our hands on her legs and praying as strongly as we could. And after several long moments, there came a peace over the room. The oppressive environment that we had become accustomed to, almost unaware because the entire space was so foreign to us, was lifted. We finished praying.


Justice gave the woman some further medical instructions. Pastor James gave her some spiritual instructions. Jordan and I smiled to give her the only thing we felt we could: silent encouragement. Then the group began to leave the house. I felt so unfinished that I spoke in English to the woman to tell her that God would be with her and that He would bless her. I didn't know what to say and I know that all she could understand was my spirit, so the words didn't really matter.


Just outside of the house (the rain stopped), Pastor James told us that the demon had said, "I came here to kill here to kill her. But since you are not going to let me do that, I am going to leave."


Back in the bus, Jordan and I sat unnerved. Excited, thankful, worshipful, relieved, and I was feeling unsure about how to retell this story to anyone. Jordan told me that he had experienced praying in other tongues during the most intense season of prayer. And He was obviously thrilled to have had God prove Himself present in that way.


Before we left Africa, we were informed by our missionaries that the woman had been approved by her attending physicians to be moved to the missionary complex in Masaka for physical therapy under the constant supervision of the staff nurses there.

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"DID U KNOW?"

During our short visit at the equator, a man convinced us to do the water experiment with him. The price was 10,000 shillings. A couple people in our group even got the official certificates afterwards. This first video is how water drains in the northern hemisphere. Notice the water draining clockwise(like we are used to.)

And here is in the southern hemisphere. Now it drains counter-clockwise!

And this is right on top of the equator. It doesn't spin, but gets sucked straight down.

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Daniel

On the day of the first medical clinic I found this guy standing in front of the church looking pretty distraught. I greeted him and was surprised at how well he spoke English. He was asking many questions about America and he shared his desire to one day come and visit. He appeared to forget about whatever was bugging him. He told me about his education at a Christian school and his desire to go to Bible college. I wish I could recall his name, but for now I'll call him Daniel.

He seemed healthy so I asked him what brought him to the clinic that day. Daniel told me he was there to pick up medications for his mom. I knew that people had to be prescribed by the clinic to get medication so I told him his mother must come to get it. I could see the pain in his eyes as he told me his mother was too ill to come that day, almost breaking into tears.

I immediately approached Scott, our wonderful missionary host, and explained the situation. He asked the pastor of the local church, who was beside him, if he has seen Daniel around before. The pastor said he had not. Nobody could vouch for him.

Scott approached Daniel and asked if the mother could ride a boda boda to the clinic. Boda boda's are the motorcycle taxi's that can take you almost anywhere for 1,000 shillings a.k.a. 50 cents. In fact, here's a shot of Bruce and me on a couple. (The guy is laughing because I am probably the biggest person he"s ever had on his bike.)

So Scott handed Daniel 2,000 shillings and told him to get a boda boda to pick his mom up, then to bring her to the clinic. As Daniel ran off we couldn't help but wonder if we would see him again. 2,000 shillings is almost a half a days wages in Uganda. I love how Scott responded when asked if he thought Daniel would come back, he said, "either way..... he is blessed."

Nearly an hour later, when I wasn't even thinking about it anymore. Daniel rushed up to me and with excitement told me that he had brought his mother. We brought her to the nurses right away to be looked at.

I could tell that Daniel was very proud that we had faith in him and he was able to prove himself to us. I think there is a great lesson for those of us who are too skeptical at times to give to those who show need.

Before he left, Daniel wanted so badly to have some sort of remembrance of me. He wanted a picture to take home. I really wish I had a polaroid camera because all I could do was show the small screen of my digital camera. So, even though he doesn't have access to a computer or internet, this post is for Daniel, hoping he may come across it one day.

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Stories From Uganda

Hello all! Jordan and I are home from Uganda and adjusting back to life in the US. We saw and experienced so many things when we were there that touched our lives deeply. It was hard to leave knowing that there is so much more work to be done there! God is doing some amazing things in Uganda. But, we are glad to be home because we do not have much time left before we move to Spain! We fly out of CA on August 24th, we will spend a couple days in Chicago (where Trinity Christian College is, the University I will be working for) and then we fly out on August 26th!

Enough of that... more about Africa! I will warn you, this post is a little long but I hope you get a good glimpse into our time spendt in the beautiful country of Uganda. I will say that it was different than we were expecting. We thought that we would be doing a lot of physical labor, but we only had one work day that was hard on us physically. The rest of the trip was more spiritually draining instead of physically draining. It was definitely a time of growth for me in my faith.

The 1st day of ministry we did was at 3 different prisons, way out in the countryside. These prisons had men who had committed small crimes, or who were waiting for trial. It was heartbreaking to see the kinds of conditions these men live in. Here is a picture of some of them.
The prisoners are treated as less than human. They are not always fed. They wear clothes not much better than rags. They are put to work in the fields to grow their own food. They sleep on concrete. It was so hard to see the look of desperation in their eyes. I have never been so aware of how blessed I am. It is crazy to think that sometimes I feel that life is hard here in the States. We should have nothing to complain about. But, God showed up there at those prisons.

Through some testimonies and music that we shared at each prison, God worked in the lives of those men and several made commitments to Christ that day! We even got to lay hands on those that had asked for prayer and that was incredible. They were so hungry for the Lord and for his healing and love. What a privilege to be a part of that!


The next few days after that were mostly spent doing medical clinics. We raised enough money to do 3 of them! The missionaries we worked with (Scott and Brenda Volz) were amazing and helped us organize everything. We went to 3 different villages on 3 different days, providing medical treatment to over 600 people. WOW. The nurses that work with the missionaries are incredible ladies and they did most of the medical treatment.

At these clinics we also had a separate area for those who felt like they needed to be tested for HIV/AIDS. We tested about 175 people total. Our whole team was trained on how to prick the fingers, use the test strip, and read the results. Each test only took about 10-15 minutes, it was an incredible process. Each time I prayed it would be negative. Praise the Lord that only about 10 people were tested as positive for HIV. Seeing those positive results was so hard take in. Many of them won't be able to get to a clinic to receive further treatment because it is too far away for them.

Those of us not running the HIV tests were packing up pills and other medicine, playing with kiddos, taking temperatures and blood pressure, and talking to the people. Being a part of these clinics was so eye opening. We saw many people come in with incredibly swollen ankles, swollen jaws because of issues with teeth, yellow eyes due to malaria, burns, coughing, you name it. Basic first aid is more medical treatment than most people have seen in their lives there in the villages. Those that were seen for medical treatment were given prescriptions for what they needed and they were filled that day by Paul.


Here is a photo of the girls and me helping him get the pills organized. There were many other stories of people we met and the care they were given. Many were led to Christ through the nurses that worked with us. Not to mention that we had fun playing with the kids and I know that they felt special that someone would take the time to play with them. Parents do not give their kids affection in Uganda, which is a very foreign idea to us Americans. We loved every minute of it.






Here is a picture of Jordan with some of the kiddos. I will have Jordan do another post to add even more stories of his own!

In addition to ministering at the prisons and medical clinics, we also got to spend some time at an orphanage, which I was really looking forward to! There was an orphanage, school, and church all on the same campus that we visited. What a perfect combination! The orphans have an amazing teacher who works with them. More than teaching them academics, she choreographs cultural dances for them. The kids also sing and it is so beautiful.

They performed many of their songs for us and it was amazing! If you could only see them worship with their whole hearts and bodies.... it was like nothing I have ever seen.
I was blown away by how innocent they were and how their main response to God for his faithfulness was to dance and sing to them with all their hearts. I think that we could learn some lessons from these small children. Here are some pictures of Jordan and I hanging out with the sweet kids.

Last but not least, I must mention the water well that was dug and installed when we were there! Raising enough money for a well was our top priority for this trip. We knew that God would come through and help us raise the money and He DID. It cost a pretty penny (about $8,000 to be exact) but now a community in Uganda has a clean source of water!

We were so excited because we got to see day 2 of the installation. They had dug everything the day before, and were installing the pump the day we came to see it. The moment that water started coming out was a glorious one! There were many kids and adults gathered 'round to watch the process.


The photo on the right is where they used to get water from.... a natural spring that was capped off, about a quarter mile down the hill. And for several months out of the year, it does not flow more than a few drops at a time. I cannot imagine drawing water every day from that place (some months taking half an hour to fill a plastic jug), then having to carry it up the hill to my hut, where it still needs to be boiled. We are so used to turning on the faucet and most of us don't think twice about it when water comes out. Now I think twice. Or three times. Every time I turn it on.


Well, I'm sure there will be more to come as we find more time to post more of our stories! I hope you are encouraged by our stories and experiences. God is doing amazing things in Uganda because His people are being obedient to His call to love the people there and tell them about the Good News.

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