God is good!

Well it has been a bit over a week since I returned. I was warned that re-adjusting from the jet lag would take several days, and they were right! It kicked my rear! A small price to pay for all I got to see and do!

Looking back at the trip I truly see what a blessing it was to be playing a part in God’s plan. Prior to the trip I was concerned with “What could I do?” or “What skills do I have that can be used?”. I have since realized it had nothing to do with what “I” could do, but rather what the Lord would accomplish through me!

From all of this I know that the Lord will take anyone who is willing to serve and do amazing things through them. These things may not be immediately obvious, at least for me, but I now see that answering prayers is a blessing in disguise. I know, from actually being there, that these people have great faith and joy, unlike anything I have experienced, and being a part of that has opened my eyes to the broad scope and love of God’s plan for all of us.

I encourage anyone who is feeling led to make this or any mission trip; whether locally or globally. Be open to the direction the Lord is pointing you in! Stay focused in prayer and devotion time. Be steadfast in glorifying God in all things. This journey started for me helping with prison ministry, something I previously said I would never do, but being willing to follow this path helped prepare me for this larger one! It’s about being obedient to the will of God which is the key to spiritual growth (John 14:15).

I want to thank everyone again for all of the types of support you provided! This experience was such a blessing for me and I hope it was for you as well! God is good!

God Bless,
Rodger

Made It Home!!

Hi all! I wanted to let everyone know that we made it home safely!

I have so much stuff running through my head from the whole trip. I plan on writing up some final thoughts and impressions of this experience (hopefully over the weekend).

God is good! Seeing the impact he can have on lives is so amazing. So I pray I can write something that is meaningful and glorifying to Him!

Thanks again to EVERYONE for their support!

God Bless,
Rodger

The Journey Home

Wow, what a whirlwind! The experiences and blessings I received was so amazing! As I sit here waiting for our flight in Kampala, all the experiences are running through my mind. I loved my time in Uganda, but I am also ready to see my family who I miss very much!

I have a lot of flight and waiting ahead of me, but it was so worth every bit of it. It is amazing the joy you get when you are serving the Lord.

God bless!
Rodger

Acanga Carepoint

This was our last carepoint feeding visit. I was amazed at how many kids are in Acanga. I believe it is the most populated of all of them. While many kids still needs sponsors there, I saw many smiling faces.

It was really fun to play with all the little kids; so many here. I found myself in a group of students who were pretty good in English giving me a crash course in Ateso (local language). They got the biggest kick out of me trying to say the words, it was a blast!

Again we had a huge outreach from the community. So many people showed up for the meetings and tours. Again, it was amazing to see such an outpour of support from the community!

God bless,
Rodger

Obule-Ajet Carepoint

This visit was very special to me. I finally got to meet our sponsored girl, Abunyang Mary (they go by last name, first). Better yet, at each carepoint, the students present the community with songs, dance, and skits and Mary played the drums! It was really exciting
To see her in each skit smiling and excited to be playing!

It was wonderful to see the community coming together, in a way that Sean and Tom said they have never seen before! They also had the bull feeding, so everyone ate well! Seeing all the smiling faces on the kids brings true joy to your heart!

When the festivities ended, I was able to give Mary some gifts that we brought her from home as well as some items purchased at the village for her home. It was such an amazing experience! It's hard to describe in words how awesome it was!

God is good my friends!
Rodger

Ngariam Carepoint

Today we visited the Ngariam carepoint. We meet with the new Headmaster, council, and the sub county chief. Afterwards we were given a tour of the schools and were shown the needs from an education standpoint, which are many.

We also watched several students perform songs and dance praising Jesus, which was awesome! Followed by some more community meetings and then finished with a feeding for everyone. They ate beef (bull), rice, beans, and potsho.

It was amazing to hear from Sean and Tom of all the changes they have seen since the projects started. It was also amazing to hear how excited the villagers were to be playing such an active roll in there community and taking care of each other.

Today was such a blessing to see the Lord working through so many people.

God bless!
Rodger

Been busy

We have had an exciting few days! We were able to participate with a church in a local village during their Sunday service. It was a really cool experience. We were also able to make our first rounds to our villages.

It was an amazing experience to finally see our villages. It was great to see our care points with 1 completed and the remaining 2 in the finishing stages! These care points are going to be such a blessing to the residents!

The most exciting part of my day was meeting our sponsored girl, Mary. The principal was nice enough to take me to her class, which was in session, to introduce me. I should have more time to meet with her on Wednesday as we will be in her village for the day!

God is good!
Rodger

Arrived!

Well, we finally made it! It took over 30 hours of flying, driving,and layovers to get here, but we made it!

We were invited to a traditional wedding ceremony yesterday. It's was not an actual wedding you might think, but rather a negotiating ceremony for the bride. They couple involved have actually been married for 10 years, but did this to be official and teach the kids how the traditions work. Afterward we had a huge African meal! It was awesome!

Today (Sunday) we are planning on going to church and then planning our trip(s) into the village(s) for the week. I am very excited we will be there soon!

Thanks again everyone for your support!

God bless!
Rodger

Update on the mission...

Well, It's been a month since I last updated and thought I would share what has been going on. First, I want to thank everyone for there support, both through prayer and financially; everything helps!

I have officially received all my shots, at least all I need to get going. For the curious, here is what I had to get:

Meningococcal - Meningitis
Typhoid
Twinrix - Hep A&B (2 doses so far, 1 to go next year)
Yellow Fever (Required to enter Uganda)
MMR Booster - Measles, Mumps, & Rubella
IPV Booster - Polio
Tdap - Tetanus/Diphtheria

We will also be having a garage sale/fundraiser this weekend. Thanks to all who donated and helped!

I also got a letter on 10-11-11 from our girl Mary in Uganda. I found it very moving halfway through by what she said...

I was amazed when I read "In the name of Jesus amen I know you will come and see me". Well, I haven't written her a letter saying I would be coming. They recommended that we be very careful not to tell the children that just in case something changes.

While I know that she could just be hopeful that I would come and see her, the fact is there are so many kids and only a few people from our church who are able to make the bi-yearly trips. This comes off the heels of me telling Tracie that I still wasn't sure how I could best serve the mission; I'm not a preacher, my writing skills are pretty bad :) , I'm certainly not very eloquent; however, I do love to serve and help others. That's when she told me to remember that these people are praying non-stop for the Lord to provide for their needs. And maybe me going and being there is answering a prayer for a need they have or just to strengthening the faith of others by just being there, willing to go out into the world for the Lord. That, in part, is why the letter was moving. I know the Lord will have something amazing come out of this! (Tracie, Thanks for all your love, strength, and patience this year :) !)

Again, thank you all for your support for this trip. It has been a wonderful journey so far and such a time of spiritual growth for me over the year. I pray that all of you are blessed through this as well; during this mission (and beyond!), for your love, and support!

I hope to update this blog while I am there and share my stories and experiences with you. So in a way, you can feel as if you were there as well.

Also please excuse any grammatical errors :)

God Bless,
Rodger

2 Cor 9:12-15
Col 3:23-24

Mission Letter

Greetings family and friends,

I wanted to let you know I will be going on a mission trip to Uganda, Africa this November. Our church sponsors 3 villages in the Ngariam area that is home to over 500 orphans. Our church has funded projects to build/repair water wells, provide education, medical/preventive medicine and most recently building 3 Care-points (these are meeting/eating/worship buildings). My family has sponsored a girl named Mary for about 2 years now (she is Sydney’s age).

In December of 2010 it really started to weigh heavy on my heart to make this trip. I wanted to go, but wasn’t sure when would be a good time. In January of 2011 during a fellowship dinner, our music worship leader approached me and asked if I would be interested in going on his next trip. It was at this time it became clear the Lord wanted me to go therefore, kicking off a growing period for me.

I felt strongly this was something I was being called upon to do. I believe the seeds for this were planted about a year and a half ago when I started going with our church to Prison Music Revivals. I remember years earlier when they would look for people to help with these ministries saying to myself, “There is no way I would ever do that”. Fast forward, now I can’t imagine not doing that work for the Lord. Words can’t describe the feeling you get when you go against your own nature and do something the Lord lays on your heart to do. You then see and understand it’s all for his glory, not ours.

With this, I ask for your help. I ask, after prayer, you do only what the Lord has laid upon your heart, not out of guilt or pressure. Regardless if you are able to help financially or not, I ask you to keep me, my family, and the others on our mission trip in your prayers. We will need them. I will be leaving November 10th and should be back on November 21st.

If you are wondering why the church doesn’t cover the travel expenses on the mission trip here is why. The trip costs over $3,000 per person. There are 4 of us going this trip which would take away $12,000 that could be used for the mission and would be counter productive to what we do. This is why I have reached out to you. Any amount you feel you can give willhelp and is greatly appreciated. If I reach what I need for the trip, anything above that will be gifted to the mission and used wisely.

Gifts can be tax deductible with a donations receipt, if needed. Please let me know and I can tell you how that needs to be handled. If this is not a concern, donations can be made directly to me, which I promise will only be used towards the mission.

Again, I ask only give what you can and not out of any guilt or pressure. There will be no hard feelings if you cannot give financially. Please, just keep us in your prayers.

Sincerely,

Rodger Rinehart

Matthew 25:34-40
1 Peter 4:10-11