Back in civilization! If you call being able to get on the internet being in civilization! This is Don and Gary writing from the Guest House in Nairobi. Got in this morning, all on the same flight, with all our luggage! It has been fun reading through April's blogs! Thanks for doing them! Not that numbers mean everything, but just to let you know that just in Uganda, we ministered to at least 10,800 children and hundreds have made decisions for Christ. Yea God! I wish you could hear the kids' "jewels" in the evening. God is working mightily in their hearts. We had a "talk" tonight as touches of pride were rearing their ugly heads. The spiritual attack is getiing stronger as we head into the home stretch. We reminded everyone of what God called us here to and to complete what He called us to in Kenya as He did in Uganda. The contrasts between the two cities is amazing. We had lunch in a shopping center that the kids felt like they were in Southern Cal. But then as we headed out to our ministry site, we crossed "the line" and we were in the largest slum in the world. There are between 500,000-800,000 people who live here. We had the heart wrenching opportunity to walk through part of it - breaks your heart since we did this after ministering to the 200+ children who laughed and sang praises to the Lord with us before heading home. The main street is shear mud and then turns into a river of sewer as you continue on it's ugly path. We thought the slums in Uganda were bad - it only touches on the little we saw tonight. How precious to see these little children praising the Lord when they literally have nothing as far as earthly possessions. Cyndi Peterson, no wonder these children stole your heart! They did ours as well. Your presents have been delivered and were greatly appreciated. All the children remember your Christmas party! Backtracking to our last days in Uganda: Ruth noticed a two year old boy trying to sing, "Standing on the Rock" Only problem is that he was on the back of his seven year old brother. Didn't stop the little guy though he almost fell off several times. Garrett was kneeling and praying as the salvation prayer was being repeated. Unbeknownst to him, a group of kids had gathered around him, but he heard this little voice say, "Thank you Jesus." He wondered if these were the only English words she knew. I have to admit that when so many children raise their hands for salvation, you wonder if they truly understand what you are asking of them, especially when there is a translator. But Mitchell commented how over the last few days, his attitude has changed about the ministry as he thought it was good but also unsure if the commitments are sincere. He has changed his whole attitude about the ministry as he noticed several adults on the outskirts who made very sincere decisions to follow Christ. Many of us are being challenged with attitudes and being judgemental as we minister to all kinds of people. We're off to bed - nice chatting with all of you! Lots of love to you all! Oh, by the way. Your kids don't know there is internet access here at the hotel as we don;t want them down here during all their free time - the little that they have!

Pastor Gary sharing the Gospel message in front of a puppet crowd in 2002!

The team is packing for a 5 AM flight to Nairobi, Kenya tomorrow morning. That means when we go to bed tonight they will be getting up and boarding their flight. Let's pray for safe travels.

As I spoke with him, he shared he, Gary and Theo were enjoying the beautiful sunset. Ugandan sunsets are gorgeous. Because it's an equitoral country, the sun rises around 6 AM and sets around 6 PM all year long. They have 2 seasons in Uganda, the wet season and the dry season.

Don said they were also getting ready to go to the farewell dinner with all of the SOI staff. Typically the dinner goes until midnight or so! It's always hard to say good-bye. Interestingly, Lee Martin, one of Don's closest buddies from college, was with Don on his first short term missions trip to Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya in 1995. That trip changed Don's life forever. He was never content with his old job once he came home. That trip was the catalyst for Don entering fulltime ministry with SOI almost 10 years ago. Lee commented to Don about the increase in staff and the amount of ministry SOI is actually doing. When they were there in '95 there were about 3 Ugandan staff, now there are approximately 30 SOI staff, all of them nationals who know their culture, their people and love the Lord! It's exciting.

Jim Band gave an awesome testimony yesterday at the Naguru Remand Home. This is a place for troubled boys. Boys who have comitted crimes. When Jim told them he was a police officer in America, the boys listened!!! Hopefully, seeds have been planted in the hearts of those boys.

They conducted a puppet show last night in the Katwe Slum, setting up stage on a small soccer field in the middle of the slum. Theo had been cleaned up a garbage filled ditch when they had been there before. He noted that when he tried to kick the soccer ball around on that small field it usually ended up in the ditch, but was happy to see the ditch was still clean! They had about 15-20 children raise their hands to receive Christ and about 5-10 adults! The SOI team will follow up with these precious people.

The people were so amazed that these "Moozungus" (white people or foreigners) were working in their slum. They also knew JNB had promised to handout the Salvation Message bracelets to them. These are the colored beaded bracelets that tell the redemtive story of Christ. As it got later and later and started to get dark, Don almost canceled handing out the bracelets because he knew he could have an uncontrolable mob on his hands. Often they are so excited to receive something...anything...that the crowd will rush forward surrounding our team. It can be a little scary! But Lee said, "This is the slum of broken promises. We have to fulfill our promise." And they did with no problems.

Many of the people in the slums are Muslim. Their leaders have given the ok for SOI to come in and set up soccer teams with their children to help keep them off of the streets and out of trouble. SOI also feeds the children and helps teach the children to clean up their home areas. At the end of each performance, the JNB team will stand out front and sing the "Blessing Song." Asking God to bless them. Crystal watched as one little child standing among 3 Muslim woman began to sing the song also. The Muslim women slapped the child telling her NOT to sing the song, but she kept right on singing! Jubilee watched a little boy climb up in a tree so he could watch the puppets too.

Kristin commented on how amazed she was to see these children living in the slums with nothing still be joyful, playful and happy!

Jim Boryska said, "I didn't realize how emotionally stressed I had been in Gulu, until we got back to Kampala." It's tough to see people living such difficult lives.

As they enter Nairobi we may not be hearing from them. Don will try to set up roaming on his phone if he can. He's not sure it will work in Kenya. He has said he would call me in a couple of nights or so. If there is an emergency we can call the number for Franklin Shelimba. They will be working with him in the Nairobi Mukuru slum...the biggest slum in the world. If any of you know Cyndi Peterson from RHCC, she and her children have worked in this slum also!

The team has had a little time today to do some shopping in Kampala helping to support the local peoples. He also mentioned that Janae is not feeling well and will not be attending the farewell dinner with the SOI staff. She is not throwing up, she just needs rest. Please pray for her.

I know all of their reservations for the mini safari on the Masai Mara Game Park are set. That will be a wonderful down time for the team and a real treat!

Continue with all of your powerful prayers on behalf of SOI and JNB. As the Ugandan's say, "God is good all the time! All the time God is good!"

The children of Gulu, Uganda.

I just spoke with Don at 9 PM our time. I couldn't call him this morning because Josh and I were in the hospital for a scheduled medical procedure for the day. It was 7 AM there and the team was rising, packing, heading to breakfast and then the long drive back to Kampala.

Don was awoken at 3 AM by a HUGE termite in his room he said sounded like a helicopter. Then a rooster began crowing at 5 AM in the courtyard! He was not happy with his interrupted sleep!

They had 4 performances yesterday with 4 different groups!!! They saw 2000+ people. They visited and performed at one IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) Camps with a population of 17,500 people. They were able to tour the camp after the performance. Tomorrow night they will perform in a slum church in Kampala.

Everyone is pretty tired. Joy stayed back for a couple of performances because of a funny tummy. Don also had an upset tummy, but took some medication and powered through. Janae slept on the bus, because she was so tired and Jubilee and Janae fell asleep at the dinner table last night!

Ruth said, "It is so amazing to see these people who have been through so much happy and singing, and dancing!"

Lee said, "The Bible tells us the greatest is LOVE, but HOPE is a close second. These people need HOPE."

Don commented on how many good changes have happened from just 2 years ago when he last visited. Then he began to tear up as he talked about Aloysious and Esther. "They have sacrificed so much for this ministry. What they are doing here is amazing." They have had to send their 3 children, Hannah, Job & Karen to a boarding school in Kampala. They just weren't receiving a good education in Gulu. This is common practice in Uganda, but they miss their children terribly. They visit them once a month and are happy as their children are at the top of their classes.

Aloysious has taken a young man under his wing as a "Timothy". Just as Paul of the scriptures took Timothy under his wing for training and mentoring. This is a common practice for the SOI staff. This young man used to be one of Koni's soldiers! What Satan meant for evil, God is using for His glory! Don said he is very gifted and an exceptional young man.

Esther works with some children from Gulu and the Kampala School for the Physically Handicapped. The school is in Kampala, but 2 of these children live with she and Aloysious in Gulu. So Esther works with them and other children from the area teaching vocational skills so they can support themselves one day. They sew, pounding bark and making purses, wallets and other crafts. They need a sewing machine and Jim Band has decided to donate the money when he gets home! Thanks Jim!

Mitchel, Robert, Barnabas, David and the rest of the SOI team have been amazed at our JNB team. "They never complain. They keep going despite the challenges." "They are so flexable, which helps our SOI people so much!" "This ministry is like a well coached soccer team!" "I thought it was going to be junvinile, but it's not!" "The children of Gulu have never seen anything like it before!" "This will not be the end of what you have started!"

The climate as you travel further north in Uganda towards Sudan is dryer and hotter. They were so terribly HOT that first day...too HOT. Nan prayed it would cool off. Guess what? It has been overcast with a few rain drops here and there ever since!!! God hears our prayers!

Janey Rose called tonight to relay a message to Don and the team asking for prayer. I want to share it here, because we need to pray also. Robby Dugger, Liz Dugger's son was in a boating accident during the highschool camp at Lake Shasta and had to be life flighted out to a hospital. Evidentally, his feet were caught in a boat propellor. Allie, his sister, saw the accident and is pretty traumatized. The entire camp is upset, of course. Please pray for Robby, his entire family and for the campers. Pray for healing for his feet. Pray there would be no permanent damage.

If there's one thing I've learned through these last 20 months is that life is very fragile, but GOD IS THERE. He never leaves us whether we are in a remote part of Africa or on a California lake...He is there...He never leaves us...He never forsakes us. I love the scripture that talks about how we can never flee from God's presence. No matter where we go, He is there. I would look up the verses now, but I need to get Josh to bed.

Pray, pray, pray.

Please forgive my spelling...no spell check!

Children in the Gulu Displaced People's Camps.

The team is safe and sound in Gulu!!!

I called around 11 AM this morning just before I had to head out. I appologize if you've been waiting to read this blog. I JUST got home and am hurrying to update you as I know many of you are anxious to hear news.

I was only able to speak briefly with Don. I could barely hear him, because the JNB team was performing and boy were they LOUD. It was 9 PM their time. They were exhausted from a long 6 hour + drive over the dusty potholed roads of Uganda. Unfortunately, they arrived late and their "reserved" hotel rooms were given away! Aloysious felt very badly, but that's just the way it is in Uganda. Don said they are staying in a "dive", but he didn't mind, because they were there to serve the Lord not stay in a nice hotel. So they aren't staying at Acholi Inn. I didn't find out the name of where they are.

Don sounded very tired and he asked me to call him back in about 45 minutes when they'd be eating dinner. That means they were eating around 10 PM after an early morning and LONG bus ride. This is very typical of Africa and many other cultures...what we consider a late night dinner. I was unable to call him back, because I had a previous engagement.

JNB was performing in the Noah's Ark night shelter, which is small and the place was packed. What with the climate and the warm bodies, he said he was soaked with sweat and again mentioned how exhausted they all were. Pray for a good nights sleep for them all. Pray for strength, energy and zeal for the coming days ahead.

The Noah's Ark night shelter, as I mentioned before, is where the children, some even as young as 3 and 4 come to sleep after walking 4-5 miles each evening from their outlying village. There are other shelters and some sleep on the streets of Gulu. The good news is that there were only about 250-350 children where at one time there were 7,000 children coming to the city for refuge and protection! That's good news because that means Koni and his rebel army must not be nearby. In fact I just called Russ Carr the founder of SOI to ask about Koni and the reduced numbers of "invisible chidren". He said that Koni and his rebel army have been chased into Congo and are cornered there. The other governments are getting involved and Sudan is no longer supporting him. Many have already surrendered as they work towards amnesty. If you've read anything about Koni then you know the unspeakable horrors he forces on children just to gain power, soldiers and pleasure. He is evil.

Before performing at Noah's Ark, they performed at Kirambe Center, a SOI funded project run by Aloysious and Esther. SOI has land and temporary buildings where children and adults are given vocational and educational training. One project is a huge brick oven where 40-50 loaves of bread are baked at a time and the sales helps to support the workers. Aloysious will also gather people from the displaced people camps (refugee camps) and take them to the Kirambe Center for traumatized counseling. Most of the traumatization is due to the war in Sudan and from the horrors inflicted on the children who were able to escape Koni and his Lord's Resistance Army.

There were approximately 1,000 people at the Kirambe Center and about 200 decisions for Christ!!! This is awesome!!! These people are the lowest of the low and in such dire need of not only physical help, but spiritual help as well. Please pray for Aloysious, Esther and their children as they work in a very difficult place. Pray for the Lord's protection, miraculous healings, His spirit and power, His love and peace to be over that place and over Aloysious and his family.

I really want to put some photos on the blog site from Don's past trips just to give you some visuals. But I need to figure out how...first!

Continue with your prayers as they will be staying in Gulu for 2 nights.

Thanks.

Don left a message on our phone while Josh and I were out today. It was evening, dinner was over, they'd had their "treasure / sharing" time and were heading to bed.

The day was spent in the Natete slum... cleaning up garbage. They'd also done some ministry with the Good News F. C. (SOI sponsored Christain football (soccer) club) on a soccer field with 500+ people. Typically, the team will conduct a soccer match or sports clinic (in this case a puppet show). Then everyone breaks up into small groups, our team pairing up with our SOI staff team and then they give personal testimonies, sharing Christ. It's always so encouraging to hear each other's testimonies! proximately 30 people accepted Christ.

While giving her testimony on the soccer field to a small group, Jubilee was asked by a young boy why she had come to Uganda. She said, "I came to share the Good News!" He then asked her how old she was. She stated she was 14 years old. "You are too YOUNG to share the Good News!", he said. She followed with..."No one is ever too young or too old to share what Jesus has done for the world!"

Don stated that Jim Band is now known as "Pastor Jim!" He didn't tell the story behind the name, but I'll find out later. Our SOI guys have a fun way of nick-naming our American team members or they find a fun way of saying their names with their Ugandan accents!

A child, whom I am told shall remain anonymous, has stated "I think I could live here! I think I'd like to live and work here!" I wonder who that was?

One last story, as Janae was cleaning out a very yucky trench in the center of the Natate slum she said, "I didn't realize just how spoiled I am. I didn't realize just how blessed I am!" And she finished with..."I love my toilet at home!"

As you can see, God is working in each of their precious hearts and souls. Continue your strong prayer support. It is crucial!

Tomorrow they will attend and perform in 2 different slum churches. These churches typically do not even have walls or if they do, they are made out of mud with small wooden benches for seats. It will be quite a wonderful experience for our team. I can almost hear the drums and the beautiful harmonized voices praising the Lord, creator of heaven and earth!

On Monday they head to Gulu in northern Uganda. I know some parents feel a little concerned about this part of the trip. I personally have not been to Gulu. I do know, however, that our SOI staff, nationals who know the country and know what is going on, would not take the team to Gulu unless they knew it was safe. Aloysious, his wife Esther and their 3 young children live and work fulltime in Gulu. They work with the displaced people and with the "Invisible Children" giving them a place to sleep each evening in the night shelters as the children walk in from the outlying villages. They come in for safety.

Thanks for your prayers and your positive comments about this blog site. I'm glad it's keeping you informed and knowing how to pray. I hope to call tomorrow morning and find out specifically about Jordyn.

God hears our prayers!

I just spoke with Don this morning.

Jordyn is better tonight (it's Friday night there). I spoke with her briefly and she is not 100%, but better and she's homesick. Who wouldn't be homesick...when you're sick all you want is to be home in your own bed with your mommy. I'm not sure if hearing my voice helped her a whole lot. Please continue to pray for her. She's now afraid to eat, because she doesn't want to start throwing up again. Poor thing.

The team did 3 performances today seeing well over 2,000 children in various schools. One school had 800+ students and they were an unrulely crowd. The adults began to wonder if they should even try to give the gospel message, because the children were so noisey and wouldn't sit still. Don had the entire team start to pray and Gary went forward to give the gospel message and the audience was perfectly still and quiet!!! 400+ hands were raised to accept Christ!!! The Lord knows whose hearts were truely open to Him. We pray for these children as they walk forward with Christ in their lives.

I was able to speak with Jubilee and she shared about going out into the soccer field filled with chidren and dancing with her puppet..."It was fun, but kind of scarey, cuz the kids get so excited and try to grab the puppets!" She also told me she and Sam want to bring a young boy named Yasin home with them to America! They've already made friends.

Each evening, after a LONG day of ministry and performances, Don has the team share what their "treasure" of the day was. He passes a large jewel (pretend) around. Whoever is holding it shares about one experience from the day that touched them...where they saw God working. Our good friend, Uncle Lee began to cry as he shared what a delight, joy, and privelege it was to see his daughter Hannah give her personal testimony, telling what Jesus Christ has done in her life, in front of a large crowd of children. Oh what a blessing that was for Lee!!!

Look forward to hearing from each of your team members over the next few blogs as I have asked Don to ask each of them what they'd like to say about their experiences there in Uganda and Kenya!!!

Continue with your prayers of protection, health, safety and fruifulness for the JNB and SOI team and especially for Jordyn!!!

The trip to Bussi Island was a success! It was a long, long day and they had just returned when I called Don.

The island is quite remote with no power, no running water and huts with thatched roofs. They visited Pastor Kanabo and his orphange of about 75 children. The orphange now has 2 new buildings that were very clean and neat. The children sleep on bunk beds and each bed had a neatly folded blanket in the center with a Teddy Bear! We have seen some pretty dirty orphanages before, so this was good to see.

The children wake up at 5 AM each morning to pray for an hour, then go about their day. Another hour of prayer is conducted in the evening. One 9 year old boy prayed aloud for the Joyful Noise Team just before they left. His prayer was so sweet and heartfelt that it brought tears to Don's eyes.

The team had prayed for good weather as they knew there was a 2 hour boat ride going each direction. The lake was calm, there weren't any storms. This was amazing as it had rained EVERYDAY for 2 months straight between 9 AM and 11 AM! God answered their prayers! I've been on that lake before with choppy water and a lightening storm off in the distance! This was so amazing with the calm weather. Thank you Lord!

Upon arriving, they realized they'd forgotten their Bose CD player! So they had Patrick, from the Good News Team (SOI) play his guitar. Then some of the islanders located the 1 generator on the island and after searching 14 homes they discovered an older man who had a CD player. The islanders weren't sure if he'd let them borrow it as he had a reputation for being a "grumpy old man", but he did and they had music! Thank you Lord! Approximately 50-60 children raised their hand to accept Jesus Christ. Pastor Kanabo will follow up with these precious souls.

PLEASE continue to pray for Jordyn. This mommy is a little concerned. She went with the team to the island, but was not expected to do any of the puppet performance. Half way through the day she was very fatiqued and sat in the shade of a tree. She fell asleep on the boat ride home. Dr. Nicolette, the wife of one of our SOI staff, came to check her out. She had a low grade fever, so she put her on Ciparo. She's also taking acidolphalas. Dr. Nicolette believes it's food poisoning. The antibiotic should work within 24 hours. If it doesn't work they may check her for mono as we were exposed to mono a week before they left. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE CIPARO TO WORK!!! Please pray for peace for me...her mommy. Pray for wisdom for Don and Dr. Nicolette. Thank you!

The bags have been found!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Well, most of them. Only 2 are missing, but everyone has gotten their personal luggage, all the puppet supplies/props AND the life vests. The life vests are important, because they will be heading out to Bussi Island, part of the Sesse Island chain on Lake Victoria tomorrow morning. Lake Victoria is the second largest body of fresh water in the world! No the locals don't use life vests and the SOI staff couldn't find enough, so Don spent a couple of days here hunting down inexpensive, smaller type life vests. He didn't want the big bulky ones, because they would take up too much room in the baggage. He found enough at various Bi-Marts around town. Pray for safe, successful ministry on Bussi Island. Remember, when we go to bed tonight, they will be waking up and getting ready for a 2 hours boat ride to Bussi!!!

When he went to the airport to pick of the 7 bags that they were told had been found, he discovered most of the other bags locked up in a back room with tags on them stating "RETURN TO SENDER!" Then he looked in another area and found even more bags that the airport personel hadn't even told him about! So finding all those bags was a MIRACLE!!! The 2 that are missing contain the team T-shirts for the SOI staff and gifts for the SOI staff. Please pray that we find those 2 bags, so we can give our staff their gifts! Maybe the bags are sitting at PDX!!! Hmmmm. Maybe I should give PDX a call...wouldn't that be too funny! :)

Also, please pray for Jordyn as she is still quite sick. Don called late last night about her and we spoke again this morning. I called our pediatrician, Dr. Hoffman too, because he is very knowledgable when it comes to travel to Africa. Jordyn spent the day in bed after throwing up most of the night. She really has no other symptoms, so the plan is to stop the steroid medication (for poison oak/ivy) and see how she does. She was able to keep water and some crackers down by Wednesday night (their time), so hopefully things are looking up. Don was going to get her to eat some scrambled eggs and then take her Malerone. She has to keep up with her daily antimalarial medication as it's important NOT to get malaria!!! Don thinks she is just having trouble with the food. He also thinks she tried to do too much even though she wasn't feeling well.

Please pray for HEALTH and SAFETY for everyone! Please pray for wisdom for Don and the other adults as they decide if Jordyn should head to the Islands on Thursday. We don't want her to miss this wonderful experience, but we do want her to get better. Also pray for a fruitful ministry trip out to Bussi! Amen!

I received a phone call from Don this morning, it was Tuesday night there, around 9 PM.

7 of their 34 bags have arrived! They will pick them up Wednesday morning. They hope and pray the rest of the bags will also have been located. Thank you for your prayers and continue to pray for the rest of the luggage lost in "airport space"!

Another praise is that Jordyn and Kristin are feeling much better! Yeah! The team is doing well, but not everyone is feeling 100%. This is to be expected with 2 days of travel, jet lag, fatique, new culture and new food. Please continue to pray for HEALTH for EVERYONE on the team. Thanks.

Even though all of their puppet supplies are missing, the team was still able to minister at Dwelling Places and the Kampringisa Rehabilitation Centre. They grabbed their bed sheets and had a couple of team members hold the sheets up to create makeshift puppet curtains! Then Rita, one of our SOI staff was able to find all of the puppets and supplies that were left with the SOI staff from 2002 during Joyful Noise's first visit to Uganda! They were even able to perform "Arise My Love" because the stick props were also left there.

The Dwelling Places is a street kids orphange. The Ugandan government routinly rounds up all the children living on the city streets and places them in this orphanage. The Kampringisa Rehabilitation Centre is basically a prison for children who have been convicted of commiting crimes. During this outreach 17-20 children raised their hands, then came forward to accept Christ. The SOI staff will follow these children up by building relationships with them, starting Bible studies with them and encouraging them to make positive changes in their lives.

Tomorrow the team will be conducting puppet ministry training for about 50 people...SOI staff and various youth workers. This should be a fun time for all, especially if all the puppet supplies and props arrive!

Parents of the Joyful Noise team: Don's Ugandan cell phone is NOT the same number found in the Emergency Contact Book. If you need to phone Don in Uganda for an emergency situation, please call me and I will relay the message OR I'll give you the correct number to call him.

Thank you for your prayers and continue to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Your prayers really DO make a difference in the teams efforts! Please don't forget to remind others to follow the travel and outreach of the Joyful Noise Brigade by telling them about this blog site!

The case of the missing luggage! 34 pieces of luggage to be exact!

The Joyful Noise Team has landed safe and sound in Kampala, Uganda minus MOST of their luggage including ALL of the puppet supplies! Ooops! There were 3 blessed individuals who did receive their checked baggage...Don, Lee and Eric! Go figure! Please PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for the missing 34 pieces of baggage to arrive safe and intact...SOON! Very soon.

The team had to spit in London as Kenyan Air overbooked their flights. 7 team members stayed behind and eventually arrived in Uganda at 5:30 AM. Don's comment, "I don't know if I'll fly Kenyan Air again!"

Please pray specifically for Jordyn and Kristin as they have both suffered upset tummies upon arriving. Pray that rest, sleep and a bed will help them to recover quickly. Pray that no one else gets sick.

I haven't heard what their plans for ministry are without their puppet stuff, but they are expecting their luggage by Wednesday. This is what ministry is ALL about...being flexable, constantly changing plans, hurry up and wait. It can all be very frustrating unless we remember who is in control. God knows the problems and the plans and what is really going to happen. Pray the team rests in Him and His control.

Yes, We are movin' on out and ready for Africa, but we need your PRAYERS!!! Here's what's happened in just the last week: one team member was bitten twice by a wild mouse! No rabbies, thank the Lord. Another was bitten by a pet rat and is on antibiotics. The entire Brenneman family was exposed to mono...no symptoms so far...we trust everyone will be fine. One team member fell and banged up her knee, twisting an ankle at the same time. Another team member has poison oak! So you can see how Satan is attacking, but "Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world!!!" Amen!

Please pray for God's protection and His hand to be over us and our families.

Thank you.

April Brenneman

"Movin' on Out"
We're down to the final stretch. Loaded up all the gear ready to take it to the airport! One thing that you don't see here are 20 lifejackets that Don purchased this week. We have a very unique opportunity to go to a church on an island in Lake Victoria. A 2 hour canoe ride will get us to some people who live like the Americans did 200 years ago. What does God have in store for us all? This world will be a different place for all of them and for us! As the Holy Spirit brings us to mind, we ask for your continued prayers!

What do we anticipate God doing on this adventure?
Jimbo: How God will use this in the next chapter of my life and changing my worldview to see thru God's eyes
Eric: God will speak through me to touch the hearts of those we see in Africa and when we return, God will have changed me so that I may influence others when I return
Kristen: I and other team members, along with the Africans, will grow in their faith and keep growing after we leave
Gary: God would take the scales off our eyes so we can see the children as Jesus does - that we would not just share the Good News, but our hearts as well
Samantha: God would completely use me and change my perspective
Jordyn: Really touch the hearts of the children and adults and I would grow in Christ
Crystal: Bring us close as a family and open our hearts to others. Lots of people would come to Christ with the seed that we plant.
Jubi: Please use me in ways I could never imagine!
Jenae: I would be a willing servant without hesitation and do whatever God asks of me
Theo: God would reveal Himself to me, would fill me up, and help me through.
Ruth: Sharing the Good News with other kids from other countries.
AJ: God would open the hearts and minds of the people we meet so they may see and understand God's message
Nan: Give out more hugs than last time!
Joy: I can be a tool that God can use, that there would be none of me present, only Him. I just want to be a light that shines His name.
Don: Anticipating and expecting God to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever imagine.
Garrett: Use the team in ways we don't expect.

Flight Itinerary for Africa 2006 Joyful Noise Team updated 6/1/06

In case you want to send us off, greet us when we return, or anytime in-between! :o)

Date Location Flight # Depart Arrive
June 17/2006 Portland/Chicago UA686 0759am 150pm
June 17 Chicago/LHR UA928 627pm 0815am (18th)
June 18 LHR/Nairobi KQ103 1020am 850pm
June 18 NBO/Entebbe KQ416 1100pm 1115pm
June 30 Entebbe/NBO KQ411 0905am 1010am
July 4 Nairobi/LHR KQ102 1150pm 0645am (5th)
July 7 LHR/Chicago UA949 1240pm 315pm
July 7 Chicago/Portland UA371 6:00pm 811pm

PDX= Portland, ORD= Chicago O’Hare, LHR= London Heathrow, NBO= Nairobi Kenya
EBB= Entebbe Uganda, UA= United Airlines, KQ= Kenya Air