Preparing for the Next Trip!

Dear friends

It has been far too long since we last sent an update. Please forgive us for that.

The last couple of years have been a real whirlwind of planning and implementation of God’s plan. We know that many of you know exactly what has gone on for the past two years and others know only bits and pieces.  Here is the overview.

During our visit to Uganda in September 2016, we felt that God was calling us to do a big project with Watoto Church in Kampala. The main building at Watoto is an old building that is in desperate need of a power upgrade. We felt God was calling us to raise funds and material to be shipped to Uganda and then to take a team to work alongside the Watoto Church facilities team to complete this project. The church will benefit from having an upgraded power system and our Ugandan team will have the opportunity to learn from the Canadian team as they work together.  Since there is no apprenticeship program in Uganda, this is a very valuable training opportunity for the Ugandan team.

For the past year and a half, God has been making connections that have absolutely blown our minds! Honestly, we (especially Greg) has had to run to keep up. God has connected us with so many people who desire to see the trades advanced in Uganda. Everyday it felt like God was making a new connection or leading us to another donor who had materials to donate.

Firstly, God sent us someone who donated a sea container and another donor that allowed us to use a semi trailer to keep material in as it was organized it. When the container arrived, we looked at its massive size and had some moments of doubt- where was all the stuff going to come from to fill that thing?

But, guess what? That container is big, but our God is so much bigger! So. Much. Bigger.

God kept making connections and sending people that had material they wanted to donate. Greg was keeping very busy and found himself having to run even faster to try to keep up with all that God was doing.

Little did we know that making connections and gathering material would actually be the easy part. The organization and paperwork that is required to ship a container is way beyond anything we could have ever imagined. We are so thankful for the people God has sent to us to assist us.

For the last several months, Greg has spent about 30-40 hours per week weighing, measuring, recording and photographing every single thing that is going into the container. After it has been safely packed in the container, the time consuming part begins- finding spec sheets on every item, printing and organizing each one. It takes hours upon hours.

Remember that huge empty container we started with? Well, our great big God has filled that container. Material has been donated, money has been donated to purchase other items that were needed and hadn’t been donated. The container has just a little bit of room left to put in the last few items. Then we can get it on the water and on its way to Uganda.

The other exciting piece of the story is that the Canadian team is coming together. We recently had our first meeting and have six team members confirmed, with three more that may be added. Flights will be booked soon and we will continue to grow together as a team.

God has done so much since He asked us to take on this project. At the beginning, it looked like an insurmountable task. Part way through, it was pretty overwhelming, but we knew we couldn’t turn back. Now we just look back at all the Lord has done and say “Thank you”

There is still a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks. Please pray for Greg as he continues to wade through the mountains of paperwork that is required.

Pray also for the team God is putting together. Pray for all the right people to be included on the team and for unity among the team members.

God has been faithful through the entire project and we know that He will continue to be faithful to the end. The plan is to have the container shipped by the end of February, but we are still in need of some funds to cover the shipping and other costs.

If God is calling you to be a part of this project, we thank you in advance for your obedience.

Ways to give (all donations will be receipted by Watoto Canada)

1.     watoto.com

Click on Give and then Donate.  Fill in the information. In the comments field, put “Greg and Lorenda Selinger Watoto Church project”

2.     Cheque made out to Watoto Canada- can be mailed directly to Watoto (with a note stating “Greg and Lorenda Selinger Watoto Church project”) or given to a team member and they will be mailed to Watoto Canada

3.     Cash- can be given to any team member. Please include your name and address. This money will be sent by the team to Watoto Canada

Thanks so much for supporting the work God has called us to do.

Blessings

Greg and Lorenda

As promised...

Several posts ago, I introduced you to the team, but there were some missing. Here are more photos of the team. Please take time to pray for them.
Volunteers are a very important part of the team here at Watoto. People will come and volunteer in a department (many of them up to full time hours) to get experience and possibly a job with the department when a vacancy on the team opens up. We have several hard working and eager to learn volunteers that I would like to introduce you to.

Norbert

Daniel

Steven

Warren

Dorothy. There aren't many women in the trades here. I am so proud of this young woman and the way she eagerly works alongside the guys.

Timothy

There were some of the paid staff members the that were away when I took the last set of pictures. Here they are...

Robert is an electrician who has joined the team in the last couple of years. We met him on our trip last year.

Michael is an electrician and has been with the team since prior to our joining the team in 2013.

Duncan is another team member who "draws pictures" i.e.. he creates the plans for  what needs to be built. Duncan  was on leave when we arrived so we have only seen his smiling face for the past week.

A Weekend of Blessing

Our days are quickly coming to a close here and we are getting busier and busier. We have lots of adventures to tell you about but no time to stop and update you. Here is a quick tour of our weekend and the events that are yet to come.

On Friday night we went to Pizza Hut (yes they have Pizza Hut in Uganda) with Grace and Julianna. Grace is one of the original members of the team we worked with in 2013 and Julianna will be his bride in just a few short months (April 2018). We always love the time we have away from work when we can get to know people better. Grace visited our apartment quite frequently in 2013, but we had not yet had the opportunity to get to know Julianna. We had a nice visit and Grace told us today that she still plans to marry him- we didn’t scare her off, so that is always a good thing!

On Saturday we made a trek a little way out of the city to visit with Jackie and her family. When Greg and Mike were here in 2015, they had the opportunity to visit Jackie and her family, but I had not yet had this privilege.

Everywhere we go, our friends serve us pineapple because they all know how much we love it and how we are working hard to get our fill before we leave. This home was no exception. We were fed yummy, sweet, juicy pineapple and papaya while we visited with this wonderful family.

Jackie’s mom is a delightful, feisty woman who is very well educated and has worked in management positions with organizations in east Africa and globally.

It is very easy to see where Jackie got her strong work ethic, desire for knowledge and love for the Lord. She was raised by an amazing woman. Jackie’s father has been very ill recently and is now recovering, but we were very privileged to have him join us for a portion of the visit.

After we finished our appetizer of fruit, we moved on to the main course. I should have mentioned at the beginning about the amazing smell of meat grilling that greeted us as we arrived. What an amazing meal we had! Wonderfully seasoned pork and beef, pea curry, avocado, rice and matooke with the best taking g-nut sauce ever. And I can’t even begin to describe the fresh pineapple juice and fresh passion fruit/tangerine juice!

Visiting with Jackie’s parents after the meal was an absolute treat. One can read about a country’s past in history books, but sitting down with two amazing people who have spent most of their lives in Uganda was a lesson that no history book could ever teach! It was one of those moments that you wished would never end. We also learned that both Jackie’s parents come from Mount Elgin area in eastern Uganda, very near the Kenyan border.  The coffee we bring back to Canada is grown in this location.

And that started another learning session. We learned so much about coffee: how it is grown, when it is picked, how it is processed and so much more. I’m sure we could have sat there on that porch for the next ten years listening to this couple pour out their wisdom on us and we still wouldn’t have scratched the surface of the extensive knowledge and experience this amazing couple possesses.

After the dishes were done, us ladies and Greg sat around the table and enjoyed dessert and coffee together. I haven’t said anything about Jackie’s sister Stella yet. During dessert and the time visiting afterward, is when we got to know Stella. You know when you meet someone for the first time, yet you feel like you have known them for your whole life. That is how I felt when I met Jackie in 2013 and also when I met Stella on Saturday. It is probably a good thing that we live on two different continents, because I think we could get into a lot of trouble together! Stella has stated that we MUST visit the village (where the coffee is grown) on our next trip to Uganda. It doesn’t sound like it is optional so we are going to need God to multiply our time so we can get the work done and make the journey to the village on our next trip. That is one regret we have from 2013, we didn’t travel more and get to see more of this beautiful country. Please pray for God to multiply our time so we can travel to the village on our next visit.

To say that we came away with our tanks (and stomachs) full, would be an understatement! What an amazing, blessed day we had!

On Sunday it was our dear friend Albert’s birthday so we were invited for the party. Last year we showed you a picture of their little baby Darren who was 3 months old. He is now 15 months old and he is such a cutie! It took a while for him to warm up to us and our pasty complexions, but eventually Jajja got to enjoy a few cuddles.

We were treated to more pineapple- Albert asked “Do you want some pineapple?” We both just looked at him, he laughed and said, “Let me get you some pineapple.” It is kind of like asking us if we want to breathe! Diana had prepared a fantastic meal for us to enjoy and then came the birthday cake. Of course, the best part of all was visiting with our dear friends and enjoying every single minute we could with them. It was another day loaded with blessing!

Both Saturday and Sunday, we stayed out past dark. That seems like a strange thing to be telling you, but driving in the dark is a whole new experience here in Uganda. As we have said many times, the traffic is a challenge and could be described as chaos. There are many cars, taxis, bodas, bikes and pedestrians, everywhere. When you add in the darkness, it becomes a whole new challenge. In most areas, there are no street lights to illuminate the area and the glare from the headlights of the oncoming vehicles make driving very difficult. Prayer is a requirement before setting out and during the journey.  It takes two pairs of eyes to be on watch for vehicles, people, animals that may appear out of no where in front of you or beside you. Greg does an amazing job driving here and manages to get us back to our guesthouse safely everytime- even in the dark.

Our last few days are jam packed full! We have a supper with some of the Watoto Church leadership tonight and supper with Joanna tomorrow night. There are still meetings, more organizing to do during the day, and somewhere in there, we need to pack for the trip home. We would appreciate your prayers for our final couple of days here. We always want to finish well- each trip, each project, each thing that God calls us to do.

Thanks for partnering with us as we serve the Lord here in Uganda.

Let's Catch Up, shall we?

As I told you in the last post, we have been doing a lot of wonderful things in the last several days so it is time to get you all caught up.
On Saturday, we went to hang out with an amazing group of kids. You have all heard about Joanna and her kids- that's who we got to hang out with. Only Brian (the oldest, who celebrated a birthday two weeks ago) knew that we were in Uganda. When we arrived at the place where the kids were having dance practice, there was much yelling and excitement! It is such a joy to see these kids, get their hugs and watch them dance!

Greg and his special little girl Vivian.
Usually when kids are comparing our hands with theirs, it is because they are comparing the colour of their skin vs ours. However, Vivian is very used to being around Mzungu, she was actually comparing her straight fingers with Greg's crooked ones!

Wherever Greg is, there is Vivian (sshh- don't tell Hayden)

After watching the kids practice dance, we went to Joanna's home and had a birthday celebration for some of the kids and for Greg too. Brian made a cake for all of us to enjoy and by the end, there was not one crumb left!
Then it was on to the show! Brian coaches a dance group of boys and they put on a show Saturday night to showcase their talents and also to raise money for uniforms. This was also Brian's birthday gift to Greg so we, along with Joanna and two other people, were seated at a table just off the stage. There were several singers, DJs and dance groups in addition to Brian's boys. At one point we had to get up and dance (it was supposed to be the parents of the dancers, but somehow we ended up being up there too) and Greg was asked to speak about Brian also. On our first missions trip we were told as missionaries, one always has to be ready to "preach, pray or die". After our first trip to Uganda, we added "sing" to the list and now we have also added "dance".
It was a late night full of all kinds of fun and we were exhausted when we arrived back to the guest house just before midnight.
Sunday was the day of Kampala Festival- it is utter chaos! There are four or five stages with entertainment scattered throughout the downtown area where various groups and individuals perform. In addition, the streets are filled with "all things carnival"- face painters, food vendors, booths to buy nearly anything. Saskatchewan has one million people spread out over a very large land mass. We saw more than a million people (not exaggerating here people) in the two hours we were at festival, and they were all packed into an area not much larger than a square kilometre! The only reason we went to the festival was to see Joanna's kids dance and we didn't even get to do that because we were at the wrong stage and they danced way later than they were scheduled to (no surprise there!) So we ended up walking several kilometres (up hill both ways) in the blazing Ugandan sun, getting sun burned, all for nothing!
Fortunately, our day got much better after a cool bath, a little rest and then our visitors arrived. Ed, Phina and six month old Jeremiah came to see us. This was our first time meeting this little man and Jajja made sure to get lots of cuddles. He is such a pleasant, content little man with an ever present smile on his gorgeous little face.

Jeremiah loves his bananas

Monday was Independence Day in Uganda and was a public holiday. Uganda has been an independent nation for 55 years. Both our homes had celebrations on that day- Thanksgiving in Canada and Independence Day in Uganda.
We had the privilege of spending the day with a couple of our team members. Ambrose and his lovely wife Moreen invited us to their home and Jonathan came along to be "the map" (insert the song from Dora the Explorer here). In Uganda, there are no addresses so when you go to someone's home for the first time, someone has to take you there (then we mark it on our GPS and we are good to go). We had a lovely time visiting with Ambrose, Moreen and Jonathan, getting to know them all a little better. We got to see Ambrose and Moreen's introduction and wedding pictures. There is so much to learn about the traditions here and everytime we look at photos from someone's introduction, we learn more. We enjoyed a wonderful meal (the best meal we have had since we arrived in Uganda) and then went to see the house Ambrose and Moreen are building. What a joy it was to see the home they will soon live in and to pray over this house where they will raise their family- oh, did I forget to mention that the baby is due in April!
That, in a nutshell, was our amazing weekend. As we have said from the beginning, it is all about the people and we had many people to love on, and be loved by, this past weekend!

Ambrose and Moreen in the doorway of their amazing new home- just a few more months and they will be moving in.

No Internet!

Hi All
Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you. We have been without internet access for the past several days. Things that we take for granted in Canada...well, it's just not the case here.
We have so many exciting things to tell you about. We have been very busy in the past several days and want to share that with you.
But first we want to ask you to stop and pray. We are very busy here and have been trying to get as much done as possible before we head back home in 9 days. Please pray that our days will be fruitful and we will get everything accomplished that God sent us here to do.
Prayer is so important in everything we do and when God prompts you to stop and pray, do it!

We use Dr. James Dobson's Devotions for Married Couples. Here is the devotional from October 6. A good reminder to all of us...

"The missionary rose and prepared to leave the campsite where he had spent the night en route to the city for medical supplies. He extinguished his small campfire, pulled on his canvas backpack, and hopped on his motorcycle to continue his ride through the African jungle. Every two weeks he made this two‐day journey to collect money from a bank and purchase medicine and supplies for the small field hospital where he served. When he completed those errands, he hopped on his bike again for the two‐day return trip.

When the missionary arrived in the city, he collected his money and medical supplies and was just about to leave for home when he saw two men fighting in the street. Since one of the men was seriously injured, the missionary stopped, treated him for his injuries, and shared the love of Christ with him. Then the missionary began his two‐day trek home, stopping in the jungle again to camp overnight.

Two weeks later, as was his custom, the missionary again made the journey to the city. As he ran his various errands, a young man approached him—the same man the missionary had ministered to during his previous trip. “I knew you carried money and medicine with you,” the man said, “so my friends and I followed you to your campsite in the jungle after you helped me in the street. We planned to kill you and take all the money and drugs. But just as we were about to move in and attack you, we saw twenty‐six armed guards surround and protect you.”

“You must be mistaken,” said the missionary. “I was all alone when I spent the night in the jungle. There were no guards or anyone else with me.”

“But sir, I wasn’t the only one who saw the guards. My five companions saw them, too. We counted them! There were twenty‐six body‐guards, too many for us to handle. Their presence stopped us from killing you.”

Months later, the missionary related this story to the congregation gathered at his home church in Michigan. As he spoke, one of the men listening stood up and interrupted him to ask the exact day the incident in the jungle had occurred. When the missionary identified the specific month and day of the week, the man told him “the rest of the story.”

“On the exact night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here in Michigan, and I was on the golf course. I was about to putt when I felt a strong urge to pray for you. The urge was so strong that I left the golf course and called some men of our church right here in this sanctuary to join me in praying for you. Would all you men who prayed with me that day stand up?”

The missionary wasn’t concerned with who the men were; he was too busy counting them, one by one. Finally he reached the last one. There were twenty‐six men—the exact number of “armed guards” the thwarted attacker had seen.

LOOKING AHEAD . . .

Do you ever find yourself so caught up in the busyness of life that you forget about or postpone a time of prayer? I’m sure the missionary in the story above is one man who was grateful his congregation took seriously the urge to pray!

My father, James Dobson Sr., also took his prayer life seriously. He was known to spend hours at a time on his knees in conversation with the Lord. At Dad’s request, the words “He Prayed” are written on the footstone of his grave. Through his example, and through God’s response, I learned firsthand the power and privilege of prayer. In the week to come let’s take a closer look at this awesome opportunity.
-James C Dobson

• “Protected by Prayer” by Cheri Fuller. Taken from When Families Pray by Cheri Fuller. © 1999. Used by permission of Multnomah Publishers, Inc."

Just hanging around...

Many of you know that one of the big reasons we are in Uganda right now is to determine what needs to be done prior to the Canadian team arriving to do the power house project. In 2018, we will be bringing a team of tradespeople from Canada to upgrade the current power situation at Watoto's main building in downtown Kampala.
The project will serve two purposes:
1) To upgrade the power in the building so the organization can enjoy more stable power (something we take for granted in North America) and the organization can stop losing expensive equipment due to poor power supply.
2) The facilities team members will be working alongside the Canadian team members as this project is completed. It is going to be a great learning experience for the facilities team (and for the Canadian team, as they see how things are done differently here in Uganda). Ugandan schooling for the trades is very different than it is in Canada- there are no hands on experiences and no apprenticeship where one can learn from an experienced journeyman. This project is going to be like a "mini apprenticeship" for the team members and will give them more knowledge, more experience and more confidence.
Building into people- that's what our ministry is and always has been about. If you read our blog from our time here in 2013, you will see that theme presented repeatedly. We love people and we want to build into people. We are so thankful that God has given us the opportunity to do that.
So...back to our present trip. One of the main reasons that we needed to make this trip was for Greg to assess what needed to be done, particularly what needs to be done by the facilities team before the Canadian team hits the ground. Greg and Ed have been doing some preliminary work in that area and have had some discussion about it. However yesterday was the day they did the crawling around in the attic to determine what really needs to be done. I'm not sure what all they found but here is what the process looked like. I'm glad it was them and not me!

Ed crawling about in the attic while Jonathan pops up like a gopher to see what is going on!
Greg is up there too- he is the one taking the picture.

Meet the Team

We are always telling you about our team so we thought that today you should get to meet them. You may have heard us refer to them as "our boys". That was a habit we got into in 2013 and even though there was one young lady on our team for the last few months of 2013 and Greg's replacement was also a young woman, we still continued to call them "our boys".  There are now three young women on the team and we have tried to get into the habit of calling them "the team", but every so often the phrase "our boys" does slip out. No matter how you slice it, this is a fine group of people who we are privileged to have in our lives.

I wish you could come here and meet them all, but I know that is unlikely so I will bring them to you.
I think we were only missing two team members today- Michael and Duncan. I will catch up with them next week and then you can meet them too.

Jackie- the team leader
Jackie is an architect by training
She took over Greg's job when we left in 2013.
For all my coffee drinkers out there- it is Jackie's family who grows the coffee.  
You still have time to order coffee!

The plumbers
Johnson and Isaac
Isaac is one of the original team members from when we started here in 2013.
Johnson joined the team late in 2013- just before we left Uganda to return to Canada

This one- what can I tell you about this one?
Mama's little brat!
He gets himself in trouble and then just flashes that smile!
This is Grace

This is Emma and we met him for the first time when we traveled to Uganda in 2016.
The first question he asked us was, "Will you adopt me?"
Emma works upcountry at the Watoto Church campus in Gulu.

Fiona is the facilities department administrator
We met Fiona when we traveled to Uganda in 2016
She works alongside Jackie and Saul to see that the place is running smoothly

Ronnie is an electrician and has taken a keen interest in air conditioning.
Ronnie has married in the past year since we were here last and his beautiful bride has the same birthday as Greg (today!)

Joseph is an electrician and seems to coordinate stuff- when the car needs fuel, he is the guy. When we needed passport photos for our Watoto ID last year, he was the guy.
He also is one of the people working from this side to get the container here.

Ambrose is an electrician who joined the team late in 2013
He takes every opportunity he can to learn from Greg and often calls him when we are home in Canada, as well
Ambrose is another of the team members who got married since our last visit

Elton has joined the team in the last year so this was our first time to meet him.
Elton draws pictures (aka does drawings/blue prints)

This is Jonathan (aka Trouble!)
Greg met him on the 2014 trip while working at the Big Party
I met him on our trip in 2016 and knew right away that he was trouble

This is Amanda and she draws things- that is the answer I get whenever I ask one of the guys!
Amanda is at a very exciting time- she is getting married in two weeks.

This is Saul.
What does Saul do? He bosses me around when I'm here!
I don't know what he does the rest of the time, right Saul?

                                           

And this is Edward. He is one of the original team members that was here when we started in 2013
Ed is an electrician who has taken on some leadership responsibilities and is working closely with Greg, Mike and Adam in the planning for the new powerhouse.
Ed and his wife Phina had a baby boy since our last visit- Jajja is excited to get Jeremiah cuddles!

                                                

This is Jack, the Operations Manager for Watoto (I think that is the right title!)
He has been steering this ship since before we arrived in 2013.
He and Greg have become good friends.
The ritual that goes on when they see each other for the first time when we arrive in country cannot be explained- it has to be seen!

So that is the team we keep telling you about. We learn a little more about each of them on every trip. I really can't explain to you what a privilege it is to have a home and a family on each side of the globe- we are so blessed.

Now, all of you who are reading this need to leave a comment about yourself so the team can get to know you too!