This morning we had breakfast with the Bishop who we worked with before he transitioned things over to Patrick.  He and his wife, Vasta, son Gideon who stayed with us for 4 months in the U.S. and their daughter Sarah all joined us and it was great catching up with them all and hear how God continues to work in their lives and through their ministry.

Then we went to do a little shopping in the capital of Uganda, Kampala.  We ended the day with a debrief and had a great time beginning to process all that has happened here and what God has done in and through our lives.

We had a crazy 2 1/2 hour drive through traffic that makes LA look tame.  We have made it to Entebbe airport and are now sitting on the plane waiting to depart.  This will be the last post because we will be in LAX in 23 hours or so.  Looking forward to seeing you all and sharing what God has done.

See you all soon!!

The Uganda Team. 

We had a safe journey to Kampala and have just gotten settled at the Namirembe Hotel. What a difference from where we have been staying!  Good transition point as we start our journey home. The team has mixed feelings about leaving and I am so glad that we will have a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon to begin the debrief process.  This truly has been an amazing team!!!  Until the very end they have been supportive of each other, encouraging, accommodating.  What more could any leader ask for in a group of nine.  Looking forward to resting and a good dinner after the long drive from Rukungiri.  We will do some shopping tomorrow, start the debrief process and leave for the airport after dinner.  We are all looking forward to seeing our families and friends on Wednesday.  

This is going to be short because it's really late and we have to be ready to leave at 8 in the morning for our 9 hour drive back to Kampala.

We had a great day today as we wrapped up our time here in Rukungiri.  The team split up to go to two different churches.  John, Kari, Tammi and Pam went to Murama and did another Sunday School with the kids.  Terrilee, Keri, Matt and Liz went to All Saints which was a very different experience as it was  much more affluent compared to Murama.  After almost 3 1/2 hours we were ready for lunch!  Then we got to go and see the Bishops home in the afternoon and then tonight was the long drawn out but very special farewell dinner, where we are appreciated and get to thank our hosts and partners.

It is with mixed emotions that we leave tomorrow.  Of course we miss all of you, but the people and children here have captured our heart.  God has been working  in  all of us and we will not be returning the same as when we arrived. Can't wait to share pictures, stories and how God has worked.  Thanks for your prayers and support.

The Uganda Team.

Today was Mosaic Vision Center Day where over 100 children came to the diocese headquarters to have a time of worship, devotions, games, lunch and just getting to hang out together.  Many of these children we have known over the years and it brought so much joy to connect with them and see how they have grown and changed.  The time of worship was amazing because boy can these kids sing and dance!  So much joy and abandon!  After that we broke into 4 groups.

John and Matt took the older boys and shared their testimonies.  Liz and Pam shared with the older girls, Keri and Kari encouraged the caregivers and Nicole and Tammi were with the elementary age kids, this was a last minute addition, so kudos to them for their willingness to be flexible and do what it takes.  They did a lesson on creation and how we are all broken because of the first sin.  They did an amazing job and when they were done quite a few kids prayed to accept Jesus as their savior.

The Mosaic staff ended up having to do the translating for us, so were not able to get as much time building into them as we had hoped.  We managed to change things around in the afternoon and I was able to get a little over two hours talking with them encouraging them and praying with them.  They are an amazing group of people that truly are the hands and feet of Jesus to these children.  It has been a huge blessing to be with them.

We have church tomorrow and the farewell dinner then back to Kampala on Monday!!

Bye for now,

Terrilee for the Uganda Team.  

We have been having a lo of rain here but today was an answer to prayer as we headed to the Child Survival Program in Kashenyi on a beautiful Friday.  We were welcomed by a large group of moms / caregivers who were singing and dancing and playing the drums.  Their beautiful healthy babies were with them, some strapped to their backs others their fronts.  This is a program that Compassion International started to reach moms who were pregnant or had children under 3 because 1 in 5 were dying before they reached the age of 5.  They give prenatal care, teach them hygiene and nutrition and help them learn a way to earn an income to just name a few of the things these families gain from being in the program.  The moms have community, they learn skills and the fathers are involved as well, which is not the norm in Uganda.  We got to go visit 2 of the CSP homes and really see how what they learned was put into practice in how they set up their homes and planted their gardens.  We were so humbled by the way they share food with us from the very little they had.  The moms put on a program for us when we got back to the project at the church and I had a chance to encourage and speak into their lives.  The Crossing funds this awesome program and if you are not already a part of it I would challenge you to join in by sponsoring at $20 a month.  It is so little but changes the lives of so many.

The team is a little tired because we are going nearly non stop so keep on praying for us to finish strong the next couple of days.

Love to you all!

Terrilee for the Team. 

Hey friends and families,

This is Liz.  I have written and rewritten this text multiple times.  I cannot adequately describe how today has impacted our lives and touched our hearts.  Today we met the children we sponsor.

I started sponsoring Emanuel because he had lost both of his parents to AIDS and was raising 3 of his 9 siblings.  We've only written each other once but seconds after I met him, he told me he loved me and was so happy I came to see him.  We spent the day getting to know eachother, praying and playing.  Emanuel skipped a lot of play time so that he could write me a letter.  The letter said that I will be his "mother until the end of his days ..."  

Everyone has a story from today that touched their heart and we can't wait to share them with you!!  We have seen in incredible ways the ENORMOUS value of sponsoring a child and the hope it gives them for a chance in life.  The whole team would agree with me that this was one of our favorite days!

Please keep praying that we can finish strong over the next 3 days with our partners, that we can show and share God's love to our partners and all the people they serve in this community.

We appreciate your prayers and support and hope you are in some way tracking with us on what God is doing in and through us.

Can't wait to share with you all,

Liz for the Team!!

We had a great and relaxing day today as we hit the midway point on our mission experience.  We left this morning and spent the day at Queen Elizabeth National Park.  It was very fun. The team was in great spirits and looking forward to a day of fun, rest and recharging for the rest of our mission.  We drove through the park and saw quite a bit of wildlife, warthogs, antelope, an some amazing birds.  We stopped at a Safari Lodge to have lunch and then go on a boat ride to see other animals.  We were near Lake Edward and Lake George and they are both full of wildlife.

Lunch was amazing and for many the highlight of the day because everyone was a bit tired of the same food we had been having at pretty much every meal for 4 days so it was a treat to have a burger or piece of pizza or pork chops.

After lunch at the lodge we got on a boat and right away we got to see some elephants right up close.  We saw many hippos and some just born babies.  Did you know that more hippos take more lives in Africa than any other animal?  We had a great guide who gave us a lot of interesting info on all that we ere seeing.

We had some rain on the way in but while on the water the weather couldn't have been better!  It was an amazing day and we got a ton of pictures we look forward to sharing .

This team is awesome!!! Everyone is approaching things with such great attitudes.  There is no complaining and we are all getting along well.  Couldn't ask for a better team!  Everyone is excited for tomorrow when we get to spend the day with our sponsored kids, some of whom have traveled for a couple days to get to us.  It is always a sweet time to be with them and encourage and speak into their lives and learn about their lives, families, dreams and challenges.

Love to you all,

Terrilee Stevenson 

Today was the 3rd and last day of Sunday School training & Terrilee has been amazing!!!  At first audiences were not sold on mzungu woman but she won them over and had them laughing and focused while bringing home the value of caring for and teaching children well.  She had some of the audience up acting out creation and Matt was the tree of knowledge and was as funny as one of the pastors acting like "the heavens".  Terrilee may have a new career.






We have had incredible storms but the team did not have to do much hiking around today.  The entire team is doing great.  They are all healthy, lots of laughter, deep sharing and growing together.  I love to see the change that takes place not only in country but in people.  God will not leave one of us unchanged.

This is my 4th time over here now and Uganda is in cultural transition for sure, there is much progress and more comfort than when I first came but the poverty and death all around is still overwhelming.

It is so great to have John an Matt on board with us and our groups are doing so well together.  Nicole, Tammi, Kari and Pam are amazing with the kids. We have met up with an Aussie partner who does some work here as well and that has been a great God shot.  What a great collaboration, we hope to keep developing that relationship.


My next project when I get back will be a history of The Crossing in Uganda so there is more detailed context for future teams.

Tomorrow we get a bit of a rest and are going to the National Park.  All is good, love to all families and supporters, we are all happy, well and thankful to be here.  Ian, your wife rocks!!  Big love to Terry and Conner.

Goodnight,

Keri Moore

Today was an amazing day for our team!  Half of the team  (Matt, Pam, Liz & Terrilee) headed to the Rift Valley to continue training Sunday school teachers how to effectively teach children about Christ.  They worked with 70 leaders today.  The other half of the team (John, Tammi, Kari, Nicole & Keri) were able to visit 7 homes of children in the Mosaic Vision program.  These were children old and young, with no parents altogether and a few with parents dying of AIDS.  We were able to see the amazing things that Mosaic has been doing in the lives of these children.

The value of sponsorship became so evident today as we prayed for and with families that welcomed us into their humble homes and hosted us with what little food they have.  They value their sponsors and praise God despite their circumstances.  The last stop we made was a surprise visit t the home of one of the boys I (Nicole) sponsor.  He was in school, but his 3 brothers were moved to hear who I was hugging me in tears and calling me "mom".  I am mom because their mom died of AIDS and so did their father.  They are 4 young men who sustain themselves with the help of Mosaic Vision's child sponsorship.  I wish I could relay in words what this day was to us, but I can't.  Our God is an amazing master who provides and loves all his children.  I saw this face to face and felt His presence today everywhere we went.

Thanks for reading our story.  Please continue praying for our time here and the people of Uganda.

May God bless you!!

Nicole Carter 

Greetings from Uganda.  This is Kari Zamoya sharing and today was a big ministry day and we saw the Holy Spirit speaking and working through us today.  We drove 90 minutes to the Rift Valley and joined their church service.  At the beginning of the service I came to tears when I experienced church Uganda style with drums beating, hands clapping and joyful singing.  Halfway through the service four of us went outside with about 250 children to teach Sunday school!  While we were with the kids, Keri shared from Psalms 121 and gave a short message about how we are all the same.  Then Matt came up and shared his testimony.  Both of them knocked it out of the park!  At the end of the time the kids all came back into church and we got to see how this little church did offerings.  We got to witness sugar cane stalks huge jack fruit, rice and eggs brought up during the offering time.  Not everyone had money so they gave what they have.

After church some of us went to visit a 17 year old young man who has been taking care of his two younger siblings since he was 9 years old when both of his parents died.  The rest of us stayed at the church to train the Sunday school teachers.  There were last minute changes to training, but God was faithful again and the time was very helpful for attendees.  We have had a good amount of heavy rain the last two days , but God's hand of protection is on us.

In Christ, for the Uganda team,

Kari Zamoya  

Great day today where we were all able to put our devotion into practice by learning what it means to "step out of the boat" like Peter did.  We spent the morning at the diocese seeing the economic projects that the Bishop and Eva have been working on.  We actually got to work with a crew to help finish off the piggery.   Just before we arrived they got their first 4 female pigs with the male arriving in the afternoon.

Later in the day we got to go visit the hospital that we have helped our partners develop here.  It is so coo to see the difference that has been made this last year.  There are now 2 doctors and a director in place.   The generator and housing will be in place shortly and the last big need is running water.   A plan is in place for the water so hopefully we can work with them to get that going.  We also found out that the diocese was able to purchase the land adjacent to the hospital so that is a huge answer to prayer.

Liz, Nicole and Kari were invited by Bishop to a "Give Away Ceremony"  which is a precursor to a wedding, where the future groom has to pay the dowry and the bride is given to the grooms family.  Is is a custom in Uganda and  formal yet fun type of event. They have some great stories to share when they get back and had us all laughing at our debrief tonight.

Terrilee spent most of the day with a woman from Australia preparing to do the 1st Sunday School training which is way more extensive than what we were expecting.  This is definitely a stepping out of the boat moment.  The team continues to amaze Terrilee with their heart and willingness to do whatever is needed.  Their support and encouragement of each other and their complete flexibility is impressive.  She can see God's hand every day in the way he has pulled these 9 people together.

Please pray for us tomorrow as we experience and share in church tomorrow and share do the Sunday School training time for leaders.   Thanks for reading!! and being in it with us. 

Everyone was raring to Go this morning as we ate breakfast and had a great devotional time this morning at the Central Inn.  Catherine and Fiona from Mosaic Vision joined us and they will be with us paving the way for our whole trip.  The Five first timers (Pam, Liz, Tammi, Matt, Kari) were especially excited to actually see Uganda in the day light.

We started our drive through the capital city of Kampala.  It's congested, full of people and has practically nor rules for traffic.  The people are obviously poor and dealing with  challenging circumstances.  Like most cities there are big buildings and business, but there are also slums and shacks, and many children in the streets. As soon as we got outside the city it's totally different.  It's very green because it is the beginning of rainy season.  There is much less traffic but much to see as we drive through village after village and see the lush country side.   In our debrief tonight several people shared how they were struck by the faces they saw along the roadside, some happy, but many disinterested, sad even desolate.  We saw the need for Jesus here in the faces of the people on the this 9 hour drive through beautiful country.  Some of the team slept, some stayed awake the whole time so they wouldn't miss a thing.  We had fun singing worship songs and even learning hand motions to a couple of soungs we are going to teach the kids.

We arrived in Rukungiri and had a few minutes to freshen up at our hotel before we headed off to the Bishops house for a Welcome dinner.  For several of us this was the highlight of the day, getting to see dear friends and reconnecting with them.   They are so gracious to us and we had a great time of meeting new friends and carrying on with old ones.  They let us go early because they understood our body clocks were still a bit off, so we ended our day.

Pray for us tomorrow as we work on building the piggery and rework our teacher training time for Sunday.  Love from the Team!  

Wednesday morning our fantastic team of 9 was sent off with a lot of love, support and prayer.  About 40 people were there to circle around them and let them know we are in it with them.   It's always so cool to see the team get loaded up and pull out of the parking structure knowing they are going to show and share God's love with others and transformation will take place not only where they are going but in them.

I got word at about 1:00 p.m. that the team arrived safely into Entebbe Airport  at 10:30 Uganda time.  They had a bit of a rain delay in Kenya and one suitcase didn't making it yet, but everyone was excited to finally be in country. Terrilee said Tammi & Liz slept well on the flights everyone else it was more hit and miss with sleep.  They checked in to an Inn at about 12:30 a.m. and will get some rest before an 8 hour drive west to Rukungiri.   At this point in the journey the team will be ready to sleep and when they wake up and hit the road, they will see things they have never seen before.  So far it has been dark and they are a bit tired, so pray for them to have a good rest and to wake up refreshed, with their eyes and heart wide open to see and experience all that God has for them.  They will be warmly welcomed into Rukungiri and their work will begin.  Check back tomorrow night for an update.

For Team Uganda, In His Strength,

Ian Stevenson 

Our last day in El Salvador was amazing!  In this community of Las Dalicias, in a region known as San Martin, with challenges more and deeper than we really see there is The Church and one small congregation called El Buen Samaritano, (The Good Samaritan) which has that very reputation in this area.  It has worked hard and continues to do so, fixing roads, digging latrines, releasing children from poverty in Jesus name, and working to bring fresh clean water into the homes of 10,000 people.  The pastor of this simple church has a huge heart but only a 2nd grade education, yet he is the leader of his denomination in El Salvador, he is leading this local church and he is leading a community effort to bring this water project to reality.  We are so blessed to be in partnership with Pastor Miguel and El Buen Samaritano.  There is much for us to learn from them as we serve along side them.

This last week 27 of us from The Crossing came into this community and congregation and were able to:
   1. Come along side of them and encourage, help and serve the leaders that work with the children at their            Child Development Center (CDC)
   2. Tend to the Dental needs of many of these children and some of their parents.
   3. Build into the moms and a few dads who dropped off their children for the CDC.
   4. Work with our partners on the water project.
   5. Facilitate a Leadership Training Program for 40 Salvadorian youth and 10 from our team.

The shear number of interactions, the stories we shared each night as we debriefed the day and the life change that took place in both Salvadorians and Americans, could all never be captured on this blog, but that makes them no less real.  I am so proud of the 5 teams that I got to travel with and how they showed up on this journey together.

As we closed out the last day, there was a soccer game, lots of just hanging out with our new friends, sponsored children and others in this community and then a celebration service.  We celebrated the teachers at the CDC, we celebrated that it was Jesus who brought us all together, we celebrated the students that completed the week long Leadership Training Program.  The exclamation point however was when all the students surprised us with a performance to a song called "Thank You For Giving To The Lord", and they came up to us grabbed our hands and proceeded to express how our time there has impacted their lives.  We were all humbled by this, but in my mind as I looked at these students and recalled some of the visions they have for LEADING in their community, schools, churches and homes, I started to imagine the potential that stood in front of me.  When God sees us I believe He sees even more potential.  I believe He wants to work in and through each and every one of us to show and share His love with others.  What we experienced, this week was both giving and receiving that love.  There is no doubt in my mind that the ripple effect of this journey will be felt for years to come as not only these young leaders but every single traveler continues to process and live out what God showed them and allowed them to experience this week.




Thanks to everyone who participated, prayed, gave, blogged and supported this mission trip!!!  May God bless you all as you were a key part of this journey!!

In His Strength,

Ian Stevenson
Pastor of GO Ministries

This is a post from Ralph and Sharon Hulett. We wanted to let everyone know what today was like for the Team here in El Salvador.  The people who don't have sponsored children went to the volcano and beach. The rest of us went to El Corralito, a park that had lots of fun activities for the children with their sponsors.

Sharon and I were anxious to meet both our sponsored kids.  We had already met Karen at Pastor Miguel's church on Sunday.  We had never met Fabricio.  When we saw him, he bonded with Ralph right away. Karen grabbed Sharon's hand, and we were off to literally go to a higher level with these two--on the trampoline!  All four of us were bouncing up and down like crazy people, laughing and yelling.  We tried to see who could last the longest without falling.  Ralph never fell, which was nothing short of a miracle!  Karen came up a close second place a number of times.  The bouncing threw Fabricio off balance and the poor little guy was rolling around in between us.  He loved all the attention. While we were doing this, a wild and crazy soccer game with lots of kids and their sponsors went on in the field nearby. Next we made our way to a tire swing, made to look like a horse, where Ralph pushed Fabricio.  After that the kids rode on real horses, which they really liked.  Our translator, Nelson, did a great job on communicating between us, the kids, and their parents.  We were able to talk about our lives back home, find out how the kids were doing and share information.

Both our children are eleven years old, yet they liked different activities.  Fabricio enjoyed hanging out with Ralph and interacting with him.  Karen turned out to be the daredevil and doing wild things by herself.  She took to the rock climbing wall like a champ, getting near the top before sliding back down.  Next came something Sharon and I passed on but not Karen--the zip line!  Karen got on her gloves and helmet and bravely went up the ladder, then flew all the way down to other end of the park.  Then she returned and we both just were amazed at this little girl's bravery and determination.  Even Pastor Miguel got in on the act and went on the zip line.  We returned to bounce on the trampoline some more and then we exchanged gifts. The kids got backpacks with lots of goodies inside, from a stuffed kangaroo for Karen to toy cars for Fabricio. We brought lots of pictures of us from our recent trip to New York, which the kids really enjoyed looking over.  We gave Fabricio's mom and Karen's grandma gifts; and they even gave us presents.  Group pictures with all the kids and their sponsors were taken, and we prayed for the kids and their families. There were lots of hugs and praises to the kids and their parents.

When it was time to leave, we were really choked up and let the kids know how grateful we were to have spent such a wonderful  day with them.  Karen was smiling the whole day, and Fabricio was so glad to finally meet us both.  It was a day that we will never forget--meeting these kids that we have spent years writing back and forth to.  It was beyond special--it was truly a gift.       

Hola from Evan of the Leadership Training Program!  This was our groups last day working in, and with, the community.  As such it was a day filled with many emotions.  We were at once excited to see the growth of relationships, yet sad to know that we would be leaving all of our new family.  Especially within the small groups at our leadership conference, a special bond had formed.  We had all been blessed by getting to work with students that were extremely receptive and eager to grow in both their leadership and Godliness.

In this last day, Pastor Sean spoke of encouraging the heart.  He spoke of how a leader must speak life, and build up their people in order to achieve their vision.  He spoke with great clarity and conviction, and his message was well received.  Often when placed in positions of leadership we tend to think the focus should be on us, the leader.  His words served as a great reminder that the purpose of a leader is to motivate others, and to find joy in their achievements.

All of this lead to a point on servant leadership, and choosing to model our leadership habits after Jesus.  It was with this in mind that Pastor Sean asked all us on the team to follow His lead and wash the feet of our Brothers and Sisters at the conference.  This was a big thing to ask.  Some of us were nervous, others were simply not feet people.  On the other hand, this was a big thing to ask of the Salvadorian students as well.  To allow someone to wash your feet while speaking words of affirmation to you can be just as humbling as being ask to wash the feet of another.

But it was with this seemingly awkward task that we were acting out the most important components of God-honoring leadership: No one is above another.  A leader must humble himself in two ways.  Firstly, taking the place of a servant and putting others above yourself.  Secondly, that a leader must embrace their own inherent weakness in allowing others to assist and motivate you.  With this in mind we began to wash one another's feet.

As we washed one another we spoke words of encouragement, both to them and their vision for their future (Personal side note- I love to compliment people.  Often I think people do not always know how to receive a compliment so having a free pass to compliment away made my day).  The room filled with prayers and ran high with all kinds of emotions and tears.  This act became proof positive to us all that simple words of genuine affirmation can have a huge impact.  It is something that can become a challenge in everyday life, to see the good in all people, and to not be too embarrassed to publicly recognize it.

This day was a true blessing to our whole team.  We heard similarly inspiring stories from the others as well. Our time here so far has been blessed.  All the people we have interacted with have had a true and endless joy that comes from their reliance on and love for God.  They have received us with open arms.  Speaking openly about their dreams and aspirations, and even the obstacles they face.  We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.  Knowing that they have both the vision, and know the tools, to initiate and greatly positive change for their community.

One last thought to be kept in your prayers.  Two of our team members, Mike and Chris, unfortunately picked up injuries during our day.  Please pray for their quick recovery, and that the rest of our team may remain healthy for the rest of our trip.

Adios from San Salvador!

Evan Swerdfeger

Buenas Noches.. from San Salvador, El Salvador.. As the Lord strikes thunder around our hotel,  I have the opportunity to share how HE has shared HIS glory here in El Salvador today.  Initially, this trip was planned to GO globally to serve Him, however, I did not know the depth or the capacity He would ask me or us to serve.  Have you ever seen light reflecting off of a rain drop?  This is best way to describe the beauty of the El Salvadorian people.  Each one has such beauty that goes beyond themselves.  This alone is pushing our team to a new level of unity and passion for the people here.

Hola!  This is Sue Swerdfeger typing on behalf of the Compassion Team.  The 5 of us are working alongside the teachers, cooks and students here at the Compassion School Site.  The kids range in age from about 3-11 years.  Compassion International funds this school.

Boy has this trip made me realize the importance of child sponsorship! I know it probably says it on the brochure, but it really is true that sponsorship can totally change the life of a child.

The teachers here love them, teach them, laugh and sing with them and tell them about Jesus.  A wonderful, hardworking woman, named Consuelo, serves them a hot meal.  Many of the kids come with plastic containers so that they can take home their leftovers.  I'm thinking that it might be their only meal of the day.

Mindy, Scott and Carmen on our team each have a sponsored kid at this school.  They have had the chance to play with them and get to know them.  Their kids' parents have come up and embraced them and expressed their thanks. The feeling of love is so strong that it's pretty overwhelming.  Scott's little girl is pretty feisty and it's clear that she is just craving attention, lots and lots of it!

The kids also get medical and dental check ups through Compassion.  The last check up revealed that every single one of the over 200 students has worms.  Compassion gives them medicine to clear it up, but it is bound to come back due to the poor water quality that they have available to them.  They get so much rain here, but they lack a water system to collect and then get the water to their area.  (There may be a blog from the Water Project team later in the week).  Please pray for the Water Project to get the funding it needs to be completed.  It's just not right that people can't have clean water in a place that gets 6 feet of rain in a year.  In the dry season, water is collected from a dirty lake and the people have to pay about 1/3 of their income to get murky water to drink and cook with.  There shouldn't be anyone, anywhere that has to do that.

It is the first Missions trip for my entire team, but we were immediately embraced by the kids.  They have learned our names and we're working on learning theirs.  Today we got to sing and dance with the 3-5 year olds in Senora Mira's room.  It was so fun and I was really hoping to be able to show you a video of them singing a beautiful worship song, but it was too big to upload.  :(  We all got so teary watching them.  I am loving this experience.  I could go on and on, but my son, Evan, informed me that Blogs are supposed to be concise. Oops.

Anyway - if you've ever thought about Sponsoring a Child - I encourage you to do it.  If you've ever thought about going on a missions trip - I recommend it.  I'm here with my husband (Bruce) and kids, Evan (17) and Jenna (12).  We've all felt totally comfortable here and I have no doubt this experience will be life changing for all of us.





Imagine 50 students seeking God for vision, realizing that He DOES have something for them, He can equip them and enable them to accomplish it.  No matter what their circumstances, no matter what others have told them, if God has tapped them on the shoulder to do it, they will be able.  Today we saw that happen in a very vivid way.  It was powerful!  As I listened to students share about how they felt God was calling them to impact their peers in the community who have had to leave school due to a pregnancy,  as they spoke of reaching the many gang members in their community and building homes for those who have none, when what they have themselves is barely a home, I could not control the tears that rolled down my cheeks.  As I talked with the young men and women God brought to this Leadership Training Program, it was powerful.  Pastor Miguel shared with them his story how a simple man with a 2nd grade education, is now leading a church, a denomination, and driving the vision for clean running water for 10,000 people it helped them understand how God can use them.  As we were down at the well/pumping station for the water project showing them the immensity of this project, God put on my heart to share with them about how God had Joshua build an alter once they crossed the Jordan rived and entered into the promised land.  That even though they had many battles and struggles ahead, it was time to be remembered because they had chosen to cross the river and GO for it.  So, we built an alter right there.  Each student, that was ready to make this the defining day for them in terms of pursuing God's vision for them, placed a stone on the alter.  Every single student did it, each teacher and leader did it, I did it.  It was a huge moment for me. I was so caught up in it I forgot to get a picture, Sorry.  Clearly a highlight for me today.  When I think about the leadership potential in that room and how God can work it fires me up.  What an amazing day.  Here's the five groups of students working hard on their vision:

How do you multiply impact in a community on a missions trip?  You break into 5 teams, you invest in the people in the community who will carry on ministry long after you leave and you invest in young leaders with a vision.  We started all of those things today and will do so all week.  Let me have one of our young leaders share with you about his experience in the community today.

Buenas! This is Skylar Chaput typing now! Today the high school students, as well as myself, got the amazing opportunity to break off from the initial team to go start our first day at El Liceo de Cristiano, the school about a mile away from the community. Today was a great day to say the least, for multiple reasons, but primarily because we were joining alongside 30+ Salvadorian students, ages 13-18, embarking together in an extensive week-long Leadership Training Program led by various leaders from The Crossing, as well as El Salvador. Today, our usual interpreter and host from Enalce, Walter, gave a very insightful and encouraging message, touching base on how to lead by example and model the way for others. After the lesson, we broke off into small groups, girls with girls, boys with boys, the usual. I was lucky enough to get a group of 4 strapping young gentlemen, 3 are pictured below. One of which was named Elvis....sweet. The groups were very interesting, a good interesting, though, something that I have never experienced before. I have led high school small groups back home at The Crossing, but never one where an interpreter was necessary, not to mention the obvious language barrier and cultural differences in between us. At the beginning, it was obvious that the students were very shy, very standoff-ish, and dont get me wrong, I completely understand how they feel. I'm sure they all thought, "uh who is this gringo?!". With that in mind, I shared my personal testimony with them. I told them how my past life was, mistake after mistake, and how as soon as I allowed Christ into my heart, I was entirely transformed, freed, and made new and built up to where I am today. After, I began to ask more questions, unfortunately they were still a bit distant, which led me to let them know that a small group is intended to be a safe place, a place where deep things can be shared and not gossiped about, but grounded. A few seconds of silence followed, and from that silence I could see the ice cracking. Immediately after, Jonathan, the young man in the middle of the picture, said, "...I want to tell you my story." He completely opened up and shared his entire testimony with myself and the rest of the group. It was a defining moment for them, not only did he step out of his comfort zone, but he also led by example, modeled the way for the other students, which ignited a chain reaction among the other boys. One by one they shared deep, personal struggles, emotions, feelings, dreams, and visions for their future. So rad. From then, we had lunch, mingled, and headed down the hill in our groups to a small community called Bonanza, with excess food, packaged and ready to disperse among the families there. This was an awesome opportunity. I asked one of the boys who was the most in need in Bonanza that they knew of, and without hesitation, he named an old elderly woman, with no husband, kids, or family. I told him to lead the way for us, and he did just that. We met her, blessed her with the food, and the students and I prayed over her for about 10 minutes. She was thankful, it was great. I was blessed with the opportunity to see these students taking hold of leadership within their own community. Anyways, I have Sean and Ian over my shoulder right now literally laughing at me and giving me a hard time for "writing a book" on this blog so ill wrap it up. To say the least, it was a great day and an awesome start so something huge.

oh and Sean is wearing a really ugly floral dodgers hat and wont take it off so if you see him wearing it on campus when we get home please tell him to take it off, that is all

While 27 of us are in El Salvador we have a team of 4 in Uganda.  They are working with Mosaic Vision and touching the lives of children who have lost everyone and are completely on their own.  Due to Aids, Malaria and other realities is is not uncommon for a 10- 12 year old to be the head of a house, taking care of 2-3 younger siblings.  They are in an area called the Rift Valley. They visited 6 families of orphaned children, AIDS orphans who have lost mom and dad to AIDS and are either living alone or living with an elder grandparent. Mosaic Vision has just started to minister in this unreached area of the Rift valley 3 months ago. Currently they have 50 children that are in need of sponsors there. It is much different and un-reached in terms of any help. It also has a drastically increased AIDS rate – the first group of children they took up have an HIV rate about 60% higher than other areas of Uganda.  Here are the comments via text from Kelly and Brynn below.