Jordon's rural visit and more!

Hello Everyone!
Leah and I have chosen to write separate blogs this time because we thought it would give you a larger insight of our experiences and of Africa. Starting with a field trip that both Leah and I went on last Wednesday I will tell you the events. We went to The Falls and Shrines on this day. “The Fall” refers to the place that in African Tradition is very sacred and is centered on a waterfall. People, to this day, continue to bring offering and come to receive blessings from the Supreme God, through ancestral spirits. It is a very abstract thought in which they perceive God. It is said that the very same God in which we believe, they also believe in. But the reason they pray to their ancestors instead of directly to God is because, similar to the Catholics belief through saints, they are not worthy enough to directly speak to God; therefore, it must be done in a channel. Here at this waterfall there are shrines set up and people come and place there offering near the shrine in order to receive there blessings.
Also, near the waterfall was a small village. There were many children which came out to see the muzungus, the white men that had come. We were able to visit with the children and play with them. They also to us to there mud homes with thatched grass roofs. In one of the photos there is a picture of a girl crying! While we were playing this small girl fell and hurt her knee, I carried her back to her home and she stood in the door way watching us play as tears fell down her cheeks. Her mother was very pleased to see us, although she insisted that we pay her to take photos at her house.
Next, our class visited the Shrines for the Martyrs. These men whose memorials we visited were very courageous men of God. Being some of the first Christians in this area they faced harsh penalties. The leader of a Christian group was being forced to walk to his place of persecution and once he became too tired to go any further his persecutors tortured him by cutting off his fingers, hands, then arms….toes, feet, then legs. Then if that were not enough because this man would not renounce his faith in Jesus Christ, even then, he was skinned alive and burned. This is the story of a man that suffered greatly on Earth, but now stands with Jesus Christ dancing in Heaven. Sorry for the graphic detail, but I believe that it is important in order to understand the power of that testimony. We had the privilege to visit his site of death, as well as the death of 22 other men who believed. These other men were wrapped in bamboo sticks then burned alive starting with their feet and burning to their heads. All of this happened to the first believers in the Ugandan area.
All right…On another note and much happier note I also went on a rural visit! (Wow, this blog is ending up being much longer than expected, I am sorry, but a lot happened since our last blog entries. I will try to sum up the rest!) On my rural visit I went to a place named Ngogwe. It was quite the experience. It rained all three day! I lived in concrete, tin roofed house, with no electricity, running water or plumbing. I use squatty potties and drank boiled milk. My group visited Lake Victoria, which is the source of the Nile River….which we will be going White water rafting on this Saturday! There was a small village next to the lake where we were greeted by around 40-50 kids that wanted to touch and see our white skin. One boy asked me to give him money. I told him that I was there to be his friend and he replied, “If you can’t give me money take me home with you!” This is the cry of most African children. It is very sad to see, but in it all there is God which can provide hope for these children. One last note concerning my weekend! When leaving to go to Alice, my Cornerstone assistants house which we stayed on my rural visit, we witnessed a riot on the street. It was stupid really…a man accidentally bumped into a police vehicle. This angered the police extremely and he pulled the man out of his vehicle and began to beat him. Then he took the man to a taxi driver and insisted that the taxi take this man to the police station. The taxi driver refused so the police officer had his men come and drag that man out of the car and beat him. There were hundreds of people that surrounded this riot. Maybe you can kind of see the pic with the cars and people, that is the one. It is really frustrating how corrupt the government and worker are here in Africa. There is so much more to say, but I will end on that note! Sorry that I just unloaded a ton on you! Hope you enjoy it! Love you all, Jordon

Leah's Rural Visit!

Greeting!

I am so sorry that we have not posted anything on our blog for a LONG time. The Internet has not been down. Lol! However, it has been really exciting in Uganda! Now Since the last blog we have done a million things! Therefore, I thought that this entry will solely be about this past weekend. This last weekend we went on our rural visit. I went to a little village an hour out side of Mbale. Which is about seven hours outside of Kampala. Now, let me introduce the people that i went with on my visit! They are super super stellar! The first one in the picture is Justin, Me, Britney and Florence.

Now, I don't know where to start......ok Now, we stayed with Florence family and they where so welcoming! This is a picture of all of us outside their house.

The next day when we arrived Florence took us on a hike to the waterfalls and the caves. This place was the most beautiful place i ever been to in my life! This place was really neat because we would stop at the different waterfalls and caves and after playing they would tell us different African stories!

Then after we explored we got to see a play of an actual circumcision; it was very interesting....anyways, boys get circumcised between the age of 16-20. When it is time for this ritual to happen there are tons of dancing and singing! and the boys can not show any signs of emotion! If they do show emotion the father of the boy will have to pay money for his son because he not a "real"man! lol However, this ritual is a sign that you are now a man so this is very important! This was an experience of a life time!

So first picture is of the boys getting ready for the ritual, then the other picture is of me dancing in the ritual. However, Florence was just laughing at me the whole time! lol

The rest of the day we ate dinner, miked a cow, and we looked at all the bright stars! I swear that the stars are brighter here in Africa! I have never seen them sooooo bright!

Then, on Sunday before church we helped start lunch. Let me tell you what, we had to kill a chicken! well i did not kill the chicken b/c i was a chicken! So Justin did the honors for us. In Uganda it is considered an honor to kill a chicken. Now this is an experience that I will NEVER forget!

Then we went to an small village church that was on fire about God. However, the sad part about going to church was that the preacher said that to receive blessings from God one must give money to the church! This made me feel really sad for the people in the small village who are trying everyday just to meet their basic needs! However, the preacher had a great heart and talked about the blessing it was for us to go to church! We met his family and he had three children of his own and he adopted four other children. His hope is someday to build an orphanage in this community because there is not one any where around.

Pretty much that is the quick over view of my rural visit! But let me tell you there is more to the story! But i should save that for another day.

now....as a part of this blog I truly feel like I should share what I have been going through personally.

Now after attending classes and being apart of the culture, I have truly realized that American and others who come over to Africa with good intentions of helping them out, teaching them about Jesus has actual has hurt them and their culture. I am struggling if I should ever become a missionary in fear that i may make a culture fall apart just b/c I "think" I know what is best! I found out the God can look a little different than what He looks like in the States. So thank God that i am here at Go-Ed because I am learning WHAT NOT to do in a culture that is not your own! So Becca and i came to the conclusion that maybe the best thing we can do is to start a NGO or something that would tell different ministries how to effectively minister to their community or something! lol However, it is really cool to see that Food for the Hungry is taking the to time to educate students like us who is getting frustrated and passionate about missions!

Also, Jordon and I found out where we are going to do our practicum. I am going to Mbale, Uganda. There i will be working with a child's sponsorship program. In addition ill be working with after school program, hospitals, going to their houses, and such. Please be praying for me b/c Mbale is somewhat near Kenya! it is safe b/c FH would not send me if it was not safe. But Please be praying for Kenya because it is starting to get worst! However, we will be leaving in less than two weeks. Now, Jordon is going to Ethiopia teaching English to "10th grade" students! he super excited! anyways this is a long blog but, believe me it is very short and brief of what is actually going on!

Thank you for all your comments! Everything is going amazing! We Love it here soooo much, i think i am having the time of my life! I am learning so much and i truly believe that God is taking this time to truly shape Jordon and I lives! Oh we are going white water rafting this weekend YEAH! oh one last note! Jordon and I would like to extend a thank you to Bradleyville church for donating for our African trip! I can not express how much this church means to us! You guys are amazing and are an true example of what a church should be! Thank you again and may God bless you! Well miss you all. Hope to do more post soon.....if the Internet works lol

Patience

Greetings,
So....for the past couple of days we have been really busy and the internet has been down. so we are sorry that we have not been keeping up on our blog! However, That is Africa for you, inconsistant and incovenient in most cases! Lol Jordon and I have been doing a lot lately and we are excited to tell everyone about our adventures. However, the internet is being corky tonight and we can not upload photos. Therefore we will try tomorrow! Lord willing.
After having a busy day going to the waterfalls and the place where the christian martyrs were killed in Uganda (we will tell you more later) we were able to talk to Steven Fuller and some other friends back home at COFO. Thank you all for the encouraging responses! Along with that encouraging note.... Jordon and I would like to thank everyone who reads our blog! It truly means the world to us! It is very comforting to know there are people at home who are thinking about us and praying for us! THANK YOU! Hopefully tomorrow we will have pictures and stories about what we have done! God is truly a big God! We love you all very much!
Jordon and Leah
Ps. Patience is a virtue, Right?!
this is something that we can all work on! lol

Buganda's soon to be King!

Today, we met someone really important! Although he seemed like a just another individual, we soon found out otherwise. This 18 year old boy was inline to be the next King of Buganda; his name was Mpaga Joseph. Oh...and yes I meant to write Buganda, with a "B"! Buganda is the central region of Uganda, otherwise known as the Kingdom of Buganda! He was actually really funny! We enjoyed him as he walked us throught the history of his Kingdom and also the making of the Kasubi Tomb, or the

Kings Palace. Today it is known as the LARGEST HUT in

all of the WORLD!!!

In this hut, the tombs of four past kings are buried. Prior to entering we had to take off our shoes. It was really interesting to us that the people of this particular kingdom believed that if a person were to look behind the vail which covered the Kings tombs they would disapear. *So Leah decided to look and well that is why I am writing this blog and she is not! Sorry! Just kiddin'! Actually she is sitting right beside me begging me to add my a sympathetic love ending to that story!* The true story is that neither of us were able to look behind the vail, but the people still believe that a man would really dissapear after looking behind it!!!

Changing subjects now, here is a picture of a real African Scavengers 'vultures'! Pretty good picture, huh?! That is straight from my (Jordon) new camera! I'm real excited about using this one on the safari! Although, we were told that there are no giraffes, zebra, or even Rhino's when we go on our safari!!! I know 'what a bummer!' ,BUT there will be elephants, lions, warthogs and hippos! So we will be quite enthrawled with what we see!

Today, we also went to the U.S. Embassy and learned a whole lot more about the Kenya situation and more about Uganda! And just so you all know, We are pretty safe, so NO WORRIES! That is really all for today! Thanks you for all of your comments and prayers! It is really cool to see God work here in Africa! Can't wait to tell you all more!

Greeting from Kampala!

So....the past couple of days has been so AMAZING!!! It is AMAZING that just in a few days that we have learned so much about the African Culture and how to get around town.

Yesterday, we all learned how to use a Matatu (which is a taxi or BUS) and let me tell you....this is an experience! A matatu can carry anywhere from between 12 to how many people can fit into a little bus and they will take you where you want to go. Matatu are a little scary when you first ride in one because they do not dive anything like the people in the states, Personally they make me crack up! it is sooooo funny

Here is a pic of me and Becca riding in our first Matatu however, this is not every scary one! lol Also, in Kamapla they have boda boda's and we are not allowed to ride them because they are one of the top killers in Uganda! However, i think that it is interesting all the boda boda's can carry the oddest things for example the picture below shows a Boda boda carry LOTS of eggs!

today was our first day of classes, now it was kinda funny because our literature class got cancelled however, we had our religion class! I am really looking forward to it! we already learned so much about the beginnings Christianity in Africa and some of their traditions. Africans has such a rich culture and the core of their culture rather it is religion.

although our first litature class was canceled, in place of this class we got to go to the an orphanage. This orphange was called Jordan's House and that baby that Jordon is holding in the picture is also named Jordon. We both loved the the Jordan house and we hope to spend almost all of our free time there! When we arrived at the Jordan House and all 44 kids greeted us. this is an experience that we will never forget! God is in Africa and in these kids lives. However, they need love.

We are excited for the days to come, they go by so fast! Through this trip Jordon and I really feel like God is going to transform our lives. Proverty is something that can be horrible if there is no one who will do anything about it! I truly believe that God's has a plan to slove this problem. Hopefully during these few months He can reval just a small part of that plan to us!

God is so big and Amazing! Africa is beautiful and the people are beautiful, I think we are having the time of our lives!

We love you all so much and we also miss you!

Jordon and leah

We're Finally Here!

We finally made it! The airports were crazy and as you can see in the top left picture we are a little tired. The flight was long, but it was worth all the wait just to be here in Uganda. It is so pretty here! The people seem to be very nice and our house is wonderful! Hopefully, here shortly, we can make a small video tour to put on here so that you can see our new house for the next 16 weeks! We can hardly believe that God has brought us here again! There are 10 other students besides us and we are all very excited to be here! We are having alot of fun hangin' out and getting to know eachother. Thank you for all your prays, we are very tired from the flying; so this is going to be short, but just know that we are here safe and that both of us recieved all of our luggage once we arrived. Here are a few pics and we love you all very much!

In case you would like to give us a call on our cell phones here are our digits:

Leah Mullins # o774 308672

Jordon Brights # 0774 64330

Any time you call us we can talk for free for as long as you want, but calling cards can be expensive. I think that if you have a Skype Account you only have to pay 3 cents a minute compared to a lot more if you do not use it! Love you guys!

Our African Purgatory

Alright...so, here we are another day hanging out with the fam in Pheonix. Last night we had a blast. Ada, Joe, Paulina, Angel, Leah and I all went to Santa Land (that's right...It was Jan. 5 and Santa was there!). It is sorta like the Springfield Fair, but better! There were lights everywhere and Christmas displays. We rode all the rides and ate corn dogs. I think the only one to not get sick after that experience was my little cousin Angel; he begged to go on more! At one ride we were even trapped inside a cage after someone else had vomitted in the same ride! Luckily,the man in charge noticed the vomit and got us the heck out of there!Today after we awoke, Ada picked us up and we went to watch I Am Legend at the theaters with my uncle Burley and his wife, Rose. We had alot of fun! I think Leah almost peed her pants a couple times during the movie. Right after the movie, We all went the Arizona desert to go 4-wheelin'! We had alot of fun! Tonight, we are sleeping at Burley's house. I feel like we have already done alot of traveling, cant wait to travel BIG! But, in the meanwhile Leah and I are having the time of our life...Afterall, Purgatory in Arizona during the winter is not so bad!!!

Here is the house that we will be living in once we arrive in Uganda, Africa...

and here is the inside!!!

We are so excited to finally be on our way! Keep us in your prayers!

First Class All the Way Baby!!!

Well....today we woke up at 4:00am and headed to the Springfield airport flying to Pheonix, Arizona. Fortunately, for us, my (Jordon) wonderful aunt Stacey booked First Class flights here! It was great! We arrived in Arizona at 6:30 pm and we are staying at my aunt Yolanda's house for the week! We were excited to see Angel (my 7 year old cousin); he has taught us all the important things we need to know about cartoons! Tomorrow morning, he will be making us eggs, so we will see how those turn out! Paulina has a boyfriend! He just asked her out tonight before we arrived --In his Car!!! His name is Aaron. My other cousins Aracely and Daly are doing great! We are getting very excited about going to Africa! We will be leaving next Wednesday to arrive at Food for the Hungry. We will leave the states next Friday! We can hardly wait! We are all packed and ready to go! This is our day, not too much to say! One funny thing that happened today before I stop writing is that while boarding the plane in Springfield Leah and I both were stopped for a security check, not once but twice!!! I had no problem getting through, but Leah on the other hand seemed a little suspicious! Her laptop tested positive as an explosive devise....How in the world did this happen? We thought this was quite comical seeing how Ben Seiler so graciously allowed Leah to borrow it! Well they destroyed the laptop right in front of us....just kidding! We added that last part, but they did test it again and Leah was able to go through! Really this was our entire day! It was difficult leaving our parents and friends, but we are sure that God has something great in store for us and we are stoked to find out exactly what that is!!! Over and out, stay tuned for our next blog! Please leave comments if you wish to do so, we would love to hear from you! Our Email address is: jordonleah@yahoo.com God Bless!