Day 4-Grace Fellowship Ngomannene

What a wonderful day in the Lord! Today we visited Pastor Nelson's home village of Ngomannene. This was a true example of the harvest being plentiful but the workers few. Upon arrival we were greeted by many adults and even more children. As has been the case in all of the churches we have visited, the people were most gracious and extremely happy to see us. We are treated almost like royalty when we show up. It is the most humbling experience I have ever had. In some of the villages the children and women will even kneel as they greet you. It is difficult to put in writing the range of emotions that you experience when you see these people and their great need, but I know I can truly say that my life has been forever changed by this trip. We started the day with praise music and introduction of the team to the congregation then got started with our different ministry areas. The carnival team that I worked with was especially busy with several hundred area children showing up for the games, face painting, bubble blowing, and balloons.While we were at the public school with the children , the women's and men's ministries, medical team met at the church and the evangelist team took to the dusty streets of town carrying the gospel to those who would not come to us. At the end of the day they had a total of fifty one people accept Christ. God truly is blessing this mission. We also enjoyed a meal prepared by the women of the church. Another humbling experience. They prepare a feast and are so proud to have us join them for lunch, yet we all understand what a tremendous sacrifice they have given to place this meal before us. We serve a big God ,though, so I am assured that He will bless them abundantly for all they gave. The end of the day held lots of laughter and fun for the children as brother Larry headed up a group of would be singers(the team members) and a beautiful bunch of song birds(the village children) in singing praise choruses. The children learn very fast and enjoy singing praises to our Lord. We left with many still in need , yet feeling like we had done a good work for Him today. All of the team is well and happy. We miss our families especially with tomorrow being Thanksgiving but we know in our hearts that God's will is for us to be here at this time. Maybe as we are here tomorrow with all of the obvious need around us, our future Thanksgivings will hold more meaning and we will well remember how truly blessed we all are! In Christ, Cassandra Knight.

Team Member Blog

Please be sure to read more about the Uganda mission team at http://natalieinafrica.blogspot.com/. This is Natalie Kelly's blog - a team member from Birmingham, Alabama. She has included some great pictures and moving updates!

Day two on the mission field!

Today we went to the up-country and experienced how beautiful Africa really is!  We were all mesmerized at God's creations on the hour and a half long ride to the village we spent the day at.  The people were all so warm and were so glad to see us.  We opened the day with a short welcome service and then went straight into our ministry activities.

We all had a very special and delicious treat - lunch prepared by the women of the village!  It was delicious and it was obvious the meal was prepared with love.  The whole team was mesmerized by the beauty of our surroundings today - from the scenery to the people.  Today I just kept thinking how awesome God is to make us so different and our homes so different, but has made us all the same in His son Jesus Christ.

The entire team is doing well and looking forward to another great day in the Lord!  I even think some of us are planning to eat fried crickets tomorrow....

Keep us in your prayers (especially for those who are eating crickets)! ;-)

In Him, 

Natalie Kelly

Birmingham, Alabama

Today was a wonderful day in Kampala, Uganda! We began our day with African praising, singing, and dancing in six different churches that were planted by Pastor Nelson Kyasooka. Teams of two went to 5 churches and everyone else went to the home church of Grace Fellowship. Wayne Woods preached here and Josh gave his testimony. We all agreed that worship here must be like it is in heaven! Even in the Ugandans' circumstances, they are still praising God. There is much joy in the church body here! It truly humbles us.
After worshipping, we had much to do. We ate ham/cheese or peanut butter/jelly sandwiches for lunch, then began our different ministries. The medical team (Beth Wheeles, Harold Harmon, Josh of Lake Wedowee, Jerry Flummer) left early in the morning to get started seeing patients with our Ugandan doctor. They worked especially hard today. They saw over 180 patiients and Harold Harmon dispensed many, many medicines. Our men (Wayne Woods, Allen Haynes, Pastor Larry, Jimmy Sprayberry) taught discipleship lessons to the Grace Fellowship deacons and church leaders. Our women's ministry team (Christy Wilson, Angie Jones, Natalie Kelly, Sherry Sprayberry) taught their women about health, hygiene, nutrition, how to teach their children to learn scripture, how to pray, and how to share Christ in daily life. Our carnival team (Rebecca Shelnutt, Cassandra Knight, Julie of Oxford, Andrea Phillips) painted fingernails, painted faces, played with the parachute, had races, and hugged, kissed, and loved about 200 children today. They were awesome! The Evangelism team (Richie Farrow, Drew Bernard, Wilbur Steward, Steve Looker) had 37 decisions to follow Christ today!
People think that the Ugandans are receiving such blessings because of what we are doing here, but that is not all there is to this mission. God is doing the work and we are ALL receiving the blessings! Please continue to pray for us. Love especially to our families!

Blessings,
Sherry Sprayberry

Greetings from Uganda!
I can't even begin to tell you all our experiences of today... It has been a very long day as well as busy. We began the day here at the Hotel with breakfast all together. We went to visit the Kusabi Tombs and learned a lot about the history of uganda. We traveled over to Pastor Nelsons orphanage and what a treat that was . The children were so glad to see us. They sang to us and that was truly a blessing! We then went to see where his his church was and were greeted again by so many children. They need to be loved just like any one of us,the only difference is that they didn't get very much attention it seemed and they came to us. It reminds me of the picture in my children's Bible where the children were all gathered at Jesus' feet. We have really had an eye opener here. It is unbelievable. Please please pray for us tomorrow as we go there again for worship and have other things like carnival, medical, and teaching with them. This has been a day of many many tears for me and the others in our group. We love and miss you all back home. We will be praying for all of you Please do the same for us. God Bless You, Rebecca Shelnutt

Welcome to Kampala, Uganda 2008

The team made it to Uganda and arrived at the Speke Hotel Friday night around 10:30. What a day of travel we have had. We left Atlanta, GA Thursday afternoon around 5:30. 20 hours later we reached our destination. The flight was tiresome but enjoyable. We are so excited about the opportunity to help others in need of hope, minister Gods' amazing grace, and share God's love. We serve and awesome God!!!

We're here and ready to serve in whatever compacity God leads. Thank you for your prayers and support. God has provided us with extra protection at our hotel. (haha)

Julie Winfrey

Jerry Flummer

Pastor Woods Wayne

FCM Staff Land in Uganda

I enjoy traveling to every country where FCM has established partnerships but no group of people move my heart like the Africans. Many Americans travel frequently to Central and South America but it is rare to hear of a group leaving for Africa.

I landed in Entebbe, Uganda yesterday to prepare for the 22 team members that will be arriving on Friday night. In addition to finalizing the logistics that accompany any trip, FCM has purchased $3,000 for emergency food distribution to take place through Grace Fellowship Church in the slums of Kampala, Uganda's capital city of some 3 million. The ministry has also purchased $1,000 worth of Bibles to be distributed through partner churches in the "up-country", including Masaka, Ngomannene, and Luwero. Providing people with food for their stomachs and eternal nourishment for their souls would not be possible without the hundreds of generous donors that support FCM....thank you!

This year's team is double that of last year and is made up of individuals from four states: Alabama (Roll Tide!), Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The team will focus their efforts in four areas: carnival, discipleship training, medical, and evangelism. I hope you visit the blog daily and follow their efforts over the next week.

I am so proud to serve with this great group of guys and gals. They are traveling out of desire, not duty and I am fully confident that God is going to use them to glorify his Son.

- Tripp Skipper
President of FCM