I just returned to Kinshasa from a two week trip in Uganda. I really had no plans of ever traveling to Uganda. God made it happen and I was blessed to be a part of His work there.

When I was asked to join the team that was to set up a satellite Internet station at an orphanage, I didn't hesitate. The team that was going had more work than they could do in two weeks and I figured I could make myself useful in some way.

As it turned out, I found myself helping a British team who had had some trouble setting up the solar panel system which was to power our satellite antenna. I had learned about solar electrical systems when I installed some panels at our home in Kikongo. So, the skills that God had given me earlier came in useful in Uganda.

In two days time we installed 24 solar panels and 32 large solar batteries, and were ready for the rest of the team when it was time to start up the antenna. We worked long hours finishing up the antenna, as well as setting up the wireless radio system to provide Internet and email to the village, the local high school and the hospital. When we finished at the hospital, the head doctor confided in me, "You have no idea what a great help this is to us." I was just happy to be a part of the work.

When we arrived at our work location, we were quickly told that the place was not an orphanage. Instead they called it a "family village." The folks who set the place up had a great vision for raising orphans in a family setting. So they created a village with several "neighborhoods". Each neighborhood is called a family and is set up with a parents house, a boys' hut and a girls' hut. The boys and girls grow up in that neighborhood until they finish high school. The orphan-village system works because the children get to be part of a stable family, and also the "parents" are very involved in their lives. It's a great ministry to these children who have no other family.

We finished our work at the family village late on our last night and then drove back to the capital city, Kampala, early the next morning. In Kampala we worked with Mission Aviation Fellowship to help them to install wireless Internet antennas at their office and guest house. These antennas will make it possible for the pilots and staff of MAF to have Internet and email in their homes and to be able to stay in contact with their loved ones back home. Having lived upcountry in Congo with no email, I know what a blessing it is to be able to easily write the folks back home. It makes being away much more possible.

For me the trip to Uganda was a great blessing. We were able, in just a few days, to make several peoples lives much less difficult. It was great to be a part of what I believe was God's blessing for them. In the end, it was our work team that felt the most blessed because we could see the love of God in our Ugandan friends. It's great to be able to be a part of what God is doing in the world.

* Please pray for the Kasana Children's Center in Uganda. They have had to turn away children because they don't have enough parents to care for them. Pray that God will provide the parents that these children need.
* Please pray also for MAF in Uganda as several families are planning to return to live and work in Congo now that the war has finished. Pray for wisdom as they seek God's will on where to live and serve.

As always thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Mike and Jill Lowery