This is as reported from Sheryll to Tony. The team has had very little internet access and will have none for the remainder of the trip. They are able to talk via Skype on a cellphone purchased in Uganda.
The team’s camp in Arua is less than 6 miles from the Congo border. There are thousands of Congo and Sudan refugees everywhere, fleeing the violence in their countries. The team is housed in a brick house with an outhouse through the woods. There is no running water and sporadic power supplied by a solar panel. The kitchen for the camp consists of a firepit. They are sleeping on camp mats they brought with them that they will leave behind for others. Sheryll returned from a trip through total darkness to the outhouse and was greeted by a mouse occupying her sleeping mat.
She reports that the conditions there are desperate. If the people want to wash their hands, they pray for rain and go outside. The outhouse is simply a hole in the ground. One of the camp missionaries is named Eric. He is 24 and is from Rwanda. His parents were killed in the genocide and his sister’s arms were cut off. He survived by sleeping among the dead bodies at night because the killers came during the nights to kill again. Now he is serving others in the name of Jesus. Pastor Sam, the founder of the camp, started a church in a major African city that grew to 8 campuses and thousands of people. He left it to start this outpost in the middle of tens of thousands of hurting people. The YWAM missionaries staffing the camp have moved here with their families to live among these people and offer hope. They have taught Muslim women how to sew so they could earn a wage to support their kids. As a result, 16 of them have come to know Christ.
Today in the camp 3 children and 1 adult were taken to the hospital with malaria. Our team all brought repellant with them, but there is no repellant available in the country. Our team attended an Anglican church today that had 3 services—all of them packed with people sitting outside. They then met with the camp leaders to receive their assignments and plans. Tomorrow they will minister to men and women in the prisons and encourage a group of Christians. They were also told they will be meeting with a group of 60 pastors who are anxious to talk to them about the principles we are using at The Church at Mirror Lake.
Sheryll said she now knows a great way to increase the fervor in your prayer life. Simply get on a 1966 bus from Kampala to Arua for 7 hours going 126 kilometers/hour and being driven by a man with one hand texting and the other outside the window blowing the horn at the thousands of people crowding the narrow road!
More reports to come as we are able to communicate. Keep this team and these people in your prayers.
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Whether you are full of questions or ready to jump right in, there is a place for you at The Church at Mirror Lake. Our church is a place where you can build relationships with others, experience God in worship, be empowered by practical, life-giving teaching from God's Word, and have fun doing it.
Together, we are living the Winner's Life as we learn to love, serve, reach, grow and connect. So whether you're a spiritual seeker starting to ask questions about God, or a committed Christian looking to sink your faith roots even deeper, you'll feel at home at The Church at Mirror Lake.
If you believe Jesus really meant it when He said, "I came so people can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of," (John 10:10 Message Translation) then join us this weekend at one of our Jesus Celebrations. Until then, browse our website (a link is on the right of this page) where you'll find lots of helpful info and feel free to download one of our service messages or subscribe to our weekly podcast where you will receive the fresh, life-giving Word of God.
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