FBC in Africa: Going and Going

By Rev. Joe Bumbulis, FBC Minister to Students and Missions

 

If the theme for the first post was "being sent," in the past few days we have been going...and going...and going. After nearly 24 hours of travel, all members of the East Africa team arrived safely at Entebbe, Uganda. For the most part our travel was uneventful, but just long. 

We spent our first night at a beautiful, little hotel near the beach of Lake Victoria in Entebbe. On Sunday, we met with Missy Ward and a few interns from Refuge and Hope. For lunch, we ate the appropriate beach meal: fish and chips. Of course, the fried grasshopper appetizer was an interesting way to begin the meal. 

 

Sunday afternoon, the team split into two groups. Dorothy, Robbi, and Pancho headed toward Kampala to begin the work with Refuge and Hope. That night they enjoyed a meal with CBF missionaries Jade and Sheila Acker. 

 

Joe, Mary, Harvey, and Robert flew from Entebbe, Uganda to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. On Monday morning, we met with David Harding as well as a few of his partners in Ethiopia: John Troup and Keith Errington. Keith shared an incredible vision for community development based on the development and dignity of local people called "Self Help Groups." These groups target the "poorest of the poor" who are often left off development methods such as micro-lending or development. This is a powerful and proven model for lifting the poorest of the poor as a community out of the strangle of poverty to life-sustaining work. 

For the next few days the team in Ethiopia will travel with David and John into the Ethiopian backcountry. Our base will be in Sabana which is about a four hour drive from the capital Addis Ababa. We will be meeting with local pastors and groups who have been affected by the efforts of "Water is Life International" as well the development of self-help groups. 

Be in prayer for both teams. For the team in Ethiopia, pray for safe travel as well as a presence of being open and listening to those they are meeting with. For the Kampala team, pray for their transition and preparation for the big events coming at the end of this week.
 
Continue to pray for the continued recover of jet-leg for all of us as we work to be present to one another, our partners, and God in our midst.