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Monthly Archives: July 2013

Day two…finally arrived in Uganda

(For some reason…the pictures I’ve attached below are not posting…so I check on it later and worst case…I’ll repost pics to my descriptions below after we return to the great USA.)

Well, we finally got out of Amsterdam via London. When we got ready to check on to our next 9 hour flight, Riley and I were just standing at the gate waiting to board, when Riley leaned over and said to me, “Dad, I think that guy is the Machine Gun Preacher.” We debated a few minutes about whether or not it was and then finally I just approached the man and asked him. Sure enough…it is Sam Childers…aka The Machine Gun Preacher. You can look him up…there was a movie done about him recently called “The Machine Gun Preacher.” Gerard Butler played the role of Sam Childers.

Riley told me he didn’t care if he was in the picture with him, so I took advantage of the situation and asked for a picture! After the photo op I was able to sit and chat with Sam for a few minutes and he mentioned how he needs a couple fresh water wells drilled and I told him about Hope 4 Kids International and Water 4 Kids International and I think we made a connection. He gave me his cell phone number and it’s all just cool! (I’ll keep you updated about some joint effort possibilities.)

When we arrived in Entebbe Uganda…we waited and waited for our luggage. We checked in 3 big bags and NONE of them showed up. Ugh. You’ve got to be kidding me. As I am typing this…Riley and I are still wearing the same clothes we were wearing on Monday and it’s Wednesday….AND…we don’t know if they will be here tomorrow at 4pm. I’ll let you know. Neither Riley nor I have the right shoes for the work we are doing here, our clothes are comfy for flying, but not for mission work. We are trying to keep positive attitudes.

On our way to Tororo Uganda, where we are staying in a hotel called The Rock Classic Hotel, we stopped at a village where a Church group from Gilbert AZ…traveling in our group…had raised money to drill a fresh water well in the village. The well was finished recently and this trip to their village was to dedicate that well. This is my second trip to Uganda and I am sure that when we arrived into this village it was the most incredible and loud welcome we have ever received. I shot a picture of the crowd storming the bus with excitement and joy as we pulled in.

The community leaders of this village gave the church group, who raised the money for the water well…a goat. So…we had an hour plus van ride to the hotel tonight with an extra passenger. The goat didn’t even make a sound. To receive a goat in Uganda would be the equivalent of receiving a small car in America. Such generous people.

Today has been good. Riley and I have probably slept no more than 5 hours since Monday. Not sure why we had such a hard time getting sleep on the plane. So…I’m calling it a night.

I’m dirty.
I’m exhausted.
But…I’m in Africa with my son…visiting orphanages and seeing desperation and poverty at levels I’ve never imagined.
No complaining.

If you are reading this…I’m grateful for you. I need to get some sleep…I’m feeling a little more emotional than is normal.
After Good night’s rest….and I’ll post again tomorrow.

Trent…and Riley


Africa 2013 Begins…

My brain hurts and my body is numb. I can’t remember what time it is in the U.S., yet I know I still have a 10 hour flight from London Heathrow airport to Entebbe Uganda. Riley and I during our first flight to Detroit found out that our connection to Amsterdam was delayed two hours due to bad weather. Finally released to fly from Detroit to Amsterdam, we soon discovered that we would miss our connecting flight to Uganda. When we arrived at Amsterdam I quickly got in line and was told that we wouldn’t arrive in Uganda until late Wednesday night. At first I accepted that horrible news and prepared to spend the night in Amsterdam in some hotel. As I contemplated the whole scenario a bit, I began to doubt the lady who curtly told me that there were no other flights. She must have been tired or just plain impatient and rude. As I used my free 30 minutes of WiFi I discovered there were multiple ways to get to Uganda…I would just have to get creative. So…I marched back to the same lady, showed her my iPhone App and asked her if she really tried her best. She apologized and forwarded me to an official desk…instead of kiosk…and Riley and I were off to London! As I type this I am currently sitting in the London Heathrow Airport with Riley and we are using our electric converters to charge our ever important Smart Phones!! We are tired, but excited. Our plane leaves London at 9PM tonight and arrives in Entebbe Uganda at 7:30am. I’m going to watch a couple of movies and try to get some sleep. We arrive just a half day in front of the majority of the group. Hopefully we are early enough to help Hope 4 Kids International prepare for 50 Plus people eager to make an impact for Jesus Christ in Uganda.

I hope you will stay tuned over the next days as I will blog about this incredible journey. It has already started off with some shifts and I know that we will have to remain flexible throughout this whole trip!

Shift Happens.
Lesson I’ve learned so far….Never take NO as a blind answer without looking into the possibilities yourself. I’m convinced most people are not trying to promote your progress or your purpose and are only trying to get home from a long days work. I don’t blame them…but I pray that we as followers of Jesus Christ will always be about promoting other’s progress and purpose. (I think I should give a disclaimer here…not for bullies.) If you are bully, followers of Jesus will behave like Jesus and make a “whip” and without sinning, put you in your place!.

However…for everybody else…followers of Jesus should be about promoting other’s progress and purpose!
If we do this…I believe Jesus will take care of our progress and purpose!
He’s one we can count on!
He can handle our progress and purpose better than we can!

Uganda…Here we come!
By the way…Riley is a stud. He has a great attitude and is enjoying the journey so far. He’s as tall as I am now and we are suffering cramped quarters together. However…as we venture into Africa together….we will soon be reminded we have nothing to complain about!

Stay tuned.

Trent


God would get an F in Math class…

“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 (NLT)

Does God always approve of the rules of scholarship and education? You decide for yourself in the next few paragraphs.

How many sins have you accumulated so far in your life?
or
When your heart beats its last beat, how many sins will you have accumulated?

Let’s just make up a number.
893,497… (That’s a a lot of sin) Dreadful to think about it.

Let’s do a little Math…God’s way!

1 Savior dying for my ALL my sin and yours. (That’s a lot of sin on one person)

“He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.”
— 1 Peter 2:24

So…according to the Bible…The math goes like this…

893,497 Sins
+ 1 Jesus on the Cross                                                                                                                                           + 1 acceptance of Jesus as your Lord & Savior
_______________
= 0 sins

God’s forgiveness math breaks the laws of human wisdom.
God gets an F in math class today, but that means you get an A in life class.

Have you gone through Jesus and accepted your “A” that has been given to you.
Oh…let’s be sure of this…you didn’t earn that A. It is given to you. You don’t even have to cheat to get it. You just have to go through Jesus. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…nobody get’s to the Father (Heaven) except through Me.”

Do God’s Math today. It’ll hurt your brain, but heal your heart!

Zero has a lot of meaning in the Spiritual world. Below is a definition and history of Zero from Wikipedia…

In 976 AD the Persian encyclopedist Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi, in his “Keys of the Sciences”, remarked that if, in a calculation, no number appears in the place of tens, then a little circle should be used “to keep the rows”. This circle was called (ṣifr, “empty”) in Arabic language. That was the earliest mention of the name ṣifr that eventually became zero.

Zero means…
Empty!
Clean slate.
Forgiven.
Fresh start.
Wiped clean.
Erased.
Vacant space.
Zero, nada, naught!

If God can break the rules of math and offer you TOTAL forgiveness…can you forgive yourself? Think about it…forgiveness prevents your offender from destroying your heart. (You can be your own offender.) God forgives you through Jesus when you go through Him. Make sure you forgive yourself too.

Don’t tell me God doesn’t love you. God IS love. There is no greater love than this, one who lays down their life for a friend.

All my sins. All your sins, plus Jesus on the Cross, equals zero.
That’s weird math.
To use Math terms…that’s “ABSOLUTE VALUE“!

We will never grasp God through human wisdom.
I’m so thankful for that truth.

Let’s multiply!
Trent