Brussels...half way home

Brock and I are tired. It was hard saying goodbye to Charles "Chuck", Patrick "Scooter", and Tom but now that we are half way back to the states we are hairy faced, worn out and ready to crawl into our own beds.

Last night in Uganda, a few things I'm bringing back with me...

As I get ready to lay my head down on my pillow for my last night in Uganda there are many things I have taken away from this trip. Too many to ever be able to communicate in a blog post. Hopefully if you're reading this and want to know more we will get the opportunity to visit further.  But, I'll list some that are top of mind.
First, the people of Uganda are the most beautiful hearted people I've ever met. From the children up to the elders. Their sweet spirit is humbling and calming. Their thankfulness that God is meeting their needs and faith that He will continue to meet their needs is truly, truly amazing. Jesus's work on the cross is sufficient for them and they believe that the Gospel can work in everything they do.
Two, don't feel bad for all that I have in America. Feel thankful and blessed for what God has given me and be a good steward of it. Watch over it as if it were something that belongs to Jesus, because it does. Coming into this trip my natural reaction upon seeing poverty on the ground here was to wallow in guilt. But, a lesson I learned from some wise men this week was that we shouldn't feel guilty for what God gives us because he does it for a reason. Instead shepherd it well, be a good steward and don't put pride in possessions harboring as much up as possible for yourself. Be generous,  but not out of guilt. The people of Uganda are generous with what they have to each other as well as others out of thankfulness.
Three, God is not American. He came to save the world, not America. After meeting believers in Christ whose faith just oozes out of them this week, it really makes me wonder if the way I practice my religion in America, high upon my moral statue I've built in an attempt to earn God's love, often handicaps my walk with Jesus and ability to build relationships with others.
Four, sometimes what I as an American think other people need, they don't. One of the biggest takeaways for me this week is that hand outs aren't a solution. Sure passing free things out to people over here helps them in the moment, for a day, maybe a week.  But, the saying I heard from Charles "Chuck" this week was "Give me fish and I'll come ask you for fish again tomorrow. Teach me to fish and I'll never ask you for it again." Handing things out is good. Don't get me wrong. It provides answers sometimes to urgent short term needs. It also provides opportunity to talk with people and meet them. But, it doesn't solve the ultimate solution that people struggling in poverty need. The ultimate solution is providing people opportunity. That is what Water4 does.  "But Josh doesn't Water4 go drill water wells for people?"  Please visit www.water4.org and watch their videos or come talk to me to learn more about how Water4 provides people opportunity. Bank2 in partnership with Water4 has provided the Young Men Drillers opportunity, which I can tell you first hand they value above a hand out.
Five, but not last because I could go on forever, is...have fun! The people I met here this week have so much fun. They do everything with joy and a smile. They love to laugh. They do life together as a family,  as a clan, and as a village. They are happier and stronger because of it. Maybe our challenge isn't finding clean water or medicine, but we do have challenges. The more people we have with us through challenges the easier it is and better we become. Having fun makes any challenge easier.

Some pictures...

Sorry for the lack of posts, wifi is hard to come by...

Chuck & Scooter

We'll start this post by letting you all know we have been spending our time here in Uganda with two young men named Charles and Patrick who have traveled with us pretty much the entire trip. We have gotten to know them very well and have nicknamed them "Chuck" short for Charles and "Scooter" which sounds identical to Patrick's real African name which I won't even attempt to spell. Patrick was Ross Hill's driver here when he visited Uganda. He is a very nice young man that is ambitious and wants to see his country's young people make a difference. He has great ideas on ways Uganda could revamp its agricultural and exporting industries.  He loves God and makes that clear when interacting with him. We are glad to now call him a friend.
Charles is the young man that Ross Hill had previously met from the village of Buluwe. Charles is somewhat of a hero in his village.  His vision for his village is great. He wanted to bring water to his village and Bank2 is helping make that dream a reality for his people. He is also in the process of working with the local utility company to bring electricity to his village of Buluwe. If that weren't enough, Charles is also building a house for his father Valentine and the rest of his family. (Picture of house attached). Additionally he is currently supporting someone he knows to attend school. Charles is an amazing guy that has done more for others in his young life than we could dream of doing in our entire lifetime.
These are two of the most generous men we have met and they represent the spirit and heart of the people here in Uganda. We have had so much fun getting to know them and staying up late laughing until we are ready to go to bed. We can't say enough words about them on a blog to express our feelings for them.  We will forever stay in touch with these two and have a life long friendship with them.  We hope that when they visit America many of you reading this will get to experience "Chuck" and "Scooter" also.  -Josh & Brock

Internet Connection

Hello everyone!
This is Jennifer, Josh's wife. I'm posting to let everyone know that Josh and Brock are having trouble connecting to the internet to post a blog. They will continue to try to post, but it may be tomorrow before they can get a better connection.

They did say that things are going great and they are having a wonderful time building relationships with the people in the village. They are ready to go back even though they haven't even left yet!

I just wanted to let everyone know to keep checking the blog regularly as they will post as soon as they are able.

Thanks!

- Jennifer Pape

A few pictures from today

Positive attitudes

Today was another great day here in Buluwe. We of course had plenty of time to play with the kids. In addition to the games we taught them yesterday, today we taught them how to play leap frog, hand clapping games, the hand slap game, and hopscotch. The kids love hopscotch and Charles says they'll be playing it for a long time after we are gone. I can't say it enough how much I love the sweet spirits and smiles of these beautiful children.
As for the drillers. Today they were going to finish up a well they had been digging for a few days. As they were clearing mud from the hole it kept collapsing. It collapsed enough times that they had to give up on that hole. Let me tell you from observation and a small amount of experience digging a hole the way these guys do is HARD WORK! Plus, it is HOT. But, when Bitek was telling me how they had to move on and start an entire new hole, after all of the anticipation and actually reaching water, he said it with a smile on his face and was so gracious.  I said, "Bitek isn't that frustrating after all that hard work with the whole community watching in hope?" He said, "It happens. No problem man.  We will drill another hole and find the water tomorrow", again with a smile.  None of the drillers were upset. They literally covered up the collapsing hole and immediately went down to the next spot. They prayed over it and then had Brock and I start the hole for them which was an honor, much like a ground breaking type act. These guys then continued to dig 21 feet worth of a new hole in less than 2 hours with smiles on their faces and joking around laughing in brotherhood.  Between these guys' faith, work ethic and attitude...they are now role models for me. Some are younger than me but still are setting examples for me as a man.  And, Bitek is truly a great leader. It's amazing! Tom says we are doing a lot for them being here and supporting them. This may be, however they have done more for me than I could ever explain to them. -Josh

Fetching Water

After visiting the well site, Bitek decided to take us on "the walk", to see just how these people get their water. The walk, is a very strenuous one. The people of the village have to walk many kilometers to reach the source of water. We videoed the hike but will have to wait and show it when we return. He explained to us that this water they're drinking, gets contaminated by all of the drainage/runoff from atop the hill. You can't even imagine the condition of this water, it's nothing we would even remotely consider drinking back at home. We then saw a broken down well just feet from this water source. It had broken down 3 months ago but the village could not afford the repairs. We then got to tour the area and see some of the finished wells. The good news is, soon, the village will only be drinking clean water. God is good! -Brock

Pictures of the Village