Uganda Compassion Trip, 1 Month in Counting!!!

We had an amazing overnight retreat with our Uganda Compassion Team, preparing our hearts minds and materials for what we will do in Uganda. We are getting very excited! We will be leaving home on February 20th (the day after Carrie's Birthday) We probably won't have time to celebrate Carrie's Birthday until we get on the plane because there is a lot to get done over the next 4 weeks. But we've already started having our fun as you can see in our team building exercises.


We have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us so far;
Through our Partners at Hesed Ministries, we have confirmed that we will be teaching 30+ Ugandan Church Leaders and at least 10 of their wives, Each of our team members are preparing to teach between 2-4 topics during our 4 day Pastors training conference where we will teach on topics ranging from Biblical foundations (God, Bible, jesus, salvation, the church ect..) to a complete Marriage Study as well as Health and Hygiene.

In partnership with Sixty Feet, we are also confirmed to go back and visit the Children's Prison "M1" where we visited last time. We look forward to humbly serving these children with compassion, worship and whatever else God equips us with..


We are hopeful in our plans to build on our partnership with Serving His Children.. We are planning to spend sometime serving the children and care takers and may also have the opportunity to go and teach in the village about Nourishment and Nutrition of children..




God has blessed our team with overwhelming unity, passion and vision. Everyone has approached this trip with reverence, obedience and faith in what God has in store for us.


Please pray for the preparation of teaching materials, our travels, our families and the hearts of those who we will meet and serve. We are expecting huge things and know that it could not be possible without God's provision and the blessings and support of His Church, our family, All of you!

Glory in the Uganda Tree!

Behold..!!! The Uganda Christmas Tree is complete. There is such glory represented in her branches.
God's Glory!!!

Each Branch represents your lives and your families that are unified in this mission of serving the wonderful people of Uganda.
Numbered are the Ornaments reflecting the fruits of the labor of our friends and family here at home. Those who's hearts are tied to this mission of teaching, serving and giving to a beautiful people that are grateful for anything we bring in Jesus wonderful name.
In the center is our Trunk; the center of all that we are and the source of all we can accomplish,... reminding us of the strength we can only receive through Jesus Christ! Apart from Him we can can do nothing of eternal significance.
Tucked among the branches are the Gifts that we have been given to accomplish the work we have been commanded to do. These gifts equip us to make disciples of all nations, to serve and seek what is lost, to mourn with those who mourn and celebrate with those who celebrate. To feed the hungry, to visit the imprisoned, to visit and pray for the sick or weak and to sacrifice our lives for the Lords purpose.
And the Star at the top of the branches is the light that unifies us all. The light that we may shine into an ever present darkness wherever we are!!! It lights the way, gives us clarity and draws us together in perfect unity.

This tree, with God's Glory, represents the unity of His people, bound by giving spirits for the work he has commanded from all of us.

Jesus tells us that because of the light that shines from our unity,... others will will more clearly see His Glory and believe in Him.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 1:20-23

We can' thank you all enough for being a part of this mission which is so close to our hearts. We are grateful for your gracious gifts and prayers. Above all your love and support. Each of your gifts are an answered prayer that we count as provisions from God. And our greatest joy is that you all are serving the Lord with us as we are humbled to be a conduit.

As a result of everyones generosity through the Uganda Christmas Tree, we raised a total of $1653. When added to the rest of our contributions, we are 61% to our total goal of $6100. Please accept our overwhelming gratitude to you and your families. We can't wait to see God in action and share His story with each of you!

with overflowing Hope and exceeding Joy, Jason and Carrie K

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Uganda Christmas Tree

Hello everyone, Christmas Week is here! We are building a Uganda Christmas Tree to represent the spirit of giving and help raise funds for our upcoming compassion trip to Uganda, which is coming quickly.
We need your help! Here is an easy way!

There are many parts of the Uganda Christmas Tree. (as you can see)

1 Trunk - $100

24 Branches - $25, $50 or $75

28 Ornaments - $10

1 Star - $150

Unlimited Presents - $ Any amount

Please "Comment" your pledge below and we will add it to the Uganda Christmas Tree so we can see her come to life.

Every donation makes a difference big or small. We are honored and grateful to have you, our friends and family, as a part of this mission.

You can honor your pledge and "follow" progress through the links to the right of this post. We commit to keeping you updated on the Uganda Tree as well as the details of our trip in February.

Just as we are all vital parts of one unified body, all these vital parts of the Uganda Tree will make it complete with your help.

Let's build us a Christmas Tree!!!

Much Love,
- The Kanapkey's

A little bit about our Ministry Partners in Uganda.

The need for spiritual strength and community development is very real in the beautiful country of Uganda. In the midst of much poverty, there are also attacks heading into Uganda from multiple directions in Africa as Islamic groups, cults and others look to take advantage of the weaknesses of a region where education is not abundant and resources are not plentiful. It is our hope that the work that God does through us and these partners in Africa will help to add strength and stability through the power of the Gospel as we “Go” and be The Church, The hands and feet of Christ.

 

Hesed Ministries in Uganda, East Africa:

In July we had the opportunity to partner with Hesed to put on a 4 day Pastors Training conference. For these for days we poured into around 40 - 50 men and women leaders of the local Church. We provided training and discipleship in the areas of Biblical Foundations, spiritual living, living out the gospel and much needed community health and hygiene principles.

We were extremely humbled on arrival when we met the men and women Hesed had brought together for us. Many of the men were Arch Deacons who have responsibilities and influence over 100+ congregations in Uganda. You can imagine that at first we felt ill-equipped to teach people of such status, but they were extremely humble and hungry for the knowledge God equipped us with.

We built many rich relationships and really fell in love for their humble, giving and gracious spirits. God graciously blessed us materials, resources and preparations.

We really felt that our time was extremely fruitful  in strengthening and equipping these leaders with truth and knowledge that will be magnified and increase as they take it beyond the walls of their church buildings and cast it into their communities.

Hesed will continue to strategically organize groups of key people that we can teach, train, encourage and equip on each of our visits to Uganda.  Our hope and vision is for them to grow in their ability to recognize and serve the spiritual and physical needs of their local community. Our women teachers for the next trip hope to bring some of the women leaders into the community to see some of the very real needs of the orphaned, forgotten and hungry children. We hope to open their eyes to the need that are right next door and inspire in their hearts a desire  to serve these needs.

Founded by Michael and Florence Kyomya in 1995, the ministry’s objective is to be a catalyst for spiritual renewal and growth in the Anglican Church of Uganda. These 2 have the biggest hearts I have seen and their vision is amazingly clear. Here are some key focuses you will find on their website.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Establishing a Culture of Prayer

Noble Women of impact

Community Development through Busoga’s Women

Reaching Young People for Christ

Pastoral Training and Church Leadership

·        Reaching Ugandans through music, theatre and dance.

 

Amazima Ministries, Jinja Uganda

Also while in Uganda, we had the pleasure of going to see and briefly be a part of an amazing work God is doing in Jinja, Uganda. Mostly we just played and worshiped with these amazing children while showing God’s love. I think our hearts were more touched by the children than our own presence. But our eyes were opened to this Amazing ministry and the very real needs of millions of children in Uganda.

We hope to at least provide support to Amazima. Just being there you can see how far this ministry can make an American dollar go. It feels like anything we could give up providing more resources to this ministry and these children as a sacrifice well made!  In the Lugandan language, Amazima means "truth." Amazima desires to reveal the truth of God's unconditional love through Jesus Christ to the Ugandan people. Amazima Ministries was founded by 19 year-old Katie Davis in 2008. The organization, based out of Brentwood, TN, feeds, educates, and encourages orphaned and vulnerable children and the poor in the country of Uganda. They do this through:

·         Education Sponsorship

·         Masese Outreach

·         Community Outreach

·         Vocational Projects

·         Discipleship

You can read more about Katie and Amazima on her website or her book, Kisses From Katie

 

Children’s Prison and Orphan Ministry, Uganda

One of the things we most looked forward to on our trip in July was our visit to a children’s prison,… where there are many kids that have been placed there for simply begging on the streets. Because no one will claim them, they are forced to stay there until they are 18. This is just of the many places in Uganda that you will find abandoned, deprived , hungry and orphaned children.

 

We were able to visit this prison with Foodstep, where we worshipped, prayed, preached, played  and showed loving acceptance to some amazing kids. Many of these children showed a faith and love for God beyond anything we have experienced in the states. One thing is for certain, the gospel was very real in this dark place of depravity! In the midst of much pain and suffering children are experiencing love and truth because these organizations have a passion to take a stand and we have hearts that say “Yes” to God’s promptings to go half way around the world to show love to these children!

 

Between 2 ministries we are working with in Uganda, Foodstep and Sixty Feet God is doing some amazing things. The kids are hearing and living out the gospel, having some of their most basic needs met and most of all experiencing what it means to be loved so that they can know what it means when we tell them “Jesus loves you.”

 

We hope to continue to work with one or both of these ministries and we are planning to return to the prison we visited in July on our next trip.

 

In Between the Lines, People of Uganda

We realized that beyond the obvious ministry opportunities we had lined up, there is ministry all around us. I  really believe that Life is a Ministry, just like We are the Church. When we are at home and when we are traveling half way across the world.

While out and about in Uganda we came across many amazing people with some of the most humble and giving spirits. People who had very little wanted to offer us the best they had, for simply being “visitors” They served us in such amazing ways it brought tears to our eyes.

Along the way we also made some great friends with our bus driver Rajab and his traveling companion Keith. We came to love these men as we learned their stories and really look forward to seeing them again when we return to Uganda. Since we have returned we have had the opportunity to stay in communication with and encourage our new great friend Keith.

 

We continue to pray for the new friends God has granted us in prisons, on the playground, at the conference and especially those he granted us in between the lines!!!

Response of Responsibility; Return From Uganda

This is NOT a recap of what an amazing, inspiring and impactful (not a word) time we had in Uganda. Hopefully that will be soon to follow. This is more of a spew of thoughts and emotions that have been inspired by our recent travel....

We have seen and experienced that God's love is bigger than the United States and so is the responsibility He has entrusted us with. Take one look at the life of Jesus, take one listen to his desires for how we relate to one another, meditate for one moment on what he commands of our lifestyle and it is hard to miss. It has become ever-more clear to me that it is our duty to give, to serve, to be a resource and to fight for justice in the current state of life. I'm not sure I should of had to travel to Africa to see that.

   It is in our desire to see God's kingdom come more fully into the present that a passion is ignited that would move us to give our lives completely to His purposes. In love and compassion our actions can lead us to a place where we are no longer living for ourselves but allowing "ourselves" to be used in the restoring work God is already doing to create His will on Earth as it is in Heaven.

I can say with confidence that God's will is to see His plan of restoration come to full completeness. So for us, doing His will is as simple as following His commands to love one another, to die to ourselves and to care for those in need. Because when we do these things, God's will is being done as His creation moves closer to His desired state of peace, purity, and Glory...

You never know what kind of feeling you will have when you return to your home in America with all the cush and convenience our country affords us. Many warned us that coming back from Uganda we might expect to feel anger or disgust about all that we have...and all that we waste. I think it is right to look at all that we waste with a holy discontent but my perspective, returning to the U.S, was slightly different than I expected. Rather than feeling guilt or the need to renounce all that I have, instead I look at IT ALL and think of what a great responsibility we have as Americans who have been entrusted with so much excess of resources. Us Americans, who have been born into (with no merit of our own) this great country that affords us so many resources and liberties.

We often live life thinking we deserve what we have because we have "worked so hard" to earn it. We even wonder why we should "GO" to another country to help others. After all, we have all kinds of needs here and no one is coming to bail us out.We waiver, complain , him and haw about our 401K's and the condition of our financial portfolios. As if everyone in the world has them and we are the only ones who are having these little set backs.
            I even find myself regularly complaining about stupid things like the taste of the water (once a year) and having too many cars parked in my drive way... RIDICULOUS, I tell ya'!!!

But to me, it seems,.. that not a single one of us has done anything to earn the privilege to be born in a country that affords us so many conveniences to complain about.... You could call it lucky, but I am beginning to wonder. According to Jesus, these are the things that bring us farther from God's blessings because we become paralyzed, distracted and enamored by the tyranny of ownership.

So should we renounce all that we have? Maybe, if that's what God is calling you to do. But for me, I am reminded that perhaps with our great blessings comes great responsibility. The responsibility to give our lives and resources to helping the meek, weak, poor, hungry and oppressed of other lands.
 The truth as I see it is that our most desperate times in America hold a fraction of the struggle of those in a majority of the other countries in our world. Many of our our homeless in America live better than those with "homes" in other lands. This doesn't mean there isn't a great need for our love and compassion right here at home.

The point is that the terms RETIREMENT, 401K, CAREER PATH, WEEKEND, VACATION, ASSORTMENT, CHOICE and DRIVEWAY don't even exist in the world of many of those we share this planet with. Running water? Electricity? Closet? 2 pairs of shoes??? these are all things that would get you an unexplainable look of confusion from the hearts of many in conditions most of us could hardly comprehend. Myself included of course... but hat is the challenge I face today...

It seems we all have a choice,... We can sit on our piles of material accumulation with entitlement, like kings in our own domain... or we can humble ourselves and become the servants we are called to be. We can allow ourselves to be a conduit of resources to those who were not born into a life of excess. A conduit of resources to those who have not been afforded the opportunity to have, or better yet, to squander much of anything.... a conduit to those who live among words I don't understand; HUNGER, THIRST, HURT, HOPELESSNESS, SLAVERY, GENOCIDE, MALNOURISHMENT or just plain STRUGGLE... All which rise out of POVERTY, another word I can't really comprehend. But I am trying.

I personally have a long way to go. But I am now forced to live with this new challenge and conviction...
  That Heaven on Earth is not coming any closer through my stockpiles of meticulously collected objects and storehouses of carefully guarded liesure time. I hope as a community and a family under God you will all encourage me to remember that becoming great isn't about what I can GET out of this world but what I can ADD through the work our Lord can and will do through us. Many of you have already encouraged me through your great response to our preparations for the trip to Uganda. We loosened our grips on much of the stuff that cluttered our lives to help those who have greater need through that Monstrous Garage Sale and selfless contributions!
We look forward to where God is leading us through these revelations of His will above our own. We are praying about where He will lead us next. But until then we already know what He has asked us to do....

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”      Mark 10:43-45

Pray...

So, we are days away from leaving for Uganda.  We are super excited and can't wait to see how God uses us while we are there.  We have been preparing our hearts, minds, curriculum and luggage for this journey.  We appreciate everyones support and prayers and thought it might be helpful to attach a prayer calendar so you can pray for specifics each day.

Click here for Prayer Calendar

You can also get ministry updates by "liking" Uganda July 2011 on Facebook.

Click here to go to the Uganda July 2011 Facebook page

Thanks again, we'll see you and tell you all about our trip when we return.  Thanks for partnering with us!

Jason and Carrie Kanapkey

Women...Uganda...Blessings...What's this about?

As you know, we are going on a mission trip to Uganda!  Last night our mission team of women got together for our first training session! See, the women in our group are going this July to teach, and learn from, a small group of women. We will be teaching them some Bible study methods, as well as some important health and hygiene lessons.  It's exciting because this small group of women will be able to take what they learn and go out to teach and influence others in their community. We are so grateful that God is already preparing the hearts of these strong, intelligent, beautiful women to spend this week with us.

The ladies on our team have decided we'd really like to make this training practical by equipping them and leaving them with practical gifts when we go.  We have already been hard at work raising money for our trips and this would be an additional expense.  So, we are asking if any of you would want to help us bless these women in one of the following ways. We would be SO grateful and you would definitely be impacting many lives in a significant way.

1. Donate 20 of the same item. (There will be approx. 15 women in our training and up to 5 serving us at our guest house that we want to include.)  Please contact me for a list of items so that you can choose--we don't want the same ones to be purchased.  Examples are certain medicines for the health portion, band-aids, tweezers, markers or pens, magnifying glasses, page protectors, etc.

2. Donate money for items we can get there.  We would love to make sure all the women have Bibles and to give them Bible handbooks, but these would be better bought over there because of the weight in transporting. The same might be true for some soaps and other items.

3. Donate an item for a Facebook online auction.  We can't plan a fancy event because we're using our money and our time preparing for our journey, but if several people want to donate an item, we will be so glad to put an online auction on Facebook to run for a week in June and advertise for the donor.  We will let everyone know when it's up and send the link out!

Thank you for your prayers, support and love,

Carrie and Jason Kanapkey