Monday, September 26, 2011

Calvary Chapel Entebbe

Day 14 - Thursday

We woke up in Entebbe realizing that this would be our last day in Uganda. Jess and I flew back into Uganda late last night after spending the day in Rwanda with Gedeon. Our first mission this day was to re-connect with Mark and Shai who were staying in the same hotel. They arrived last night and checked in earlier than we did. We had breakfast together; then Jess and I took a walk down to Lake Victoria (30 minute walk), which is the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world. (Lake Superior is the biggest.) As you look out over the water, you feel like you're standing on the shore of an ocean because there is no visible shoreline on the other side. It is big, and it is very beautiful.



After our walk we met with Pastor Craig Lindquist of Calvary Chapel Entebbe. Several months before our trip, I contacted Pastor Craig through Potter's Field Ministries, asking to visit CC Entebbe so that I could see what the Lord is doing there. We had a full day of visiting classrooms, making house visitations, and taking a boat ride across Lake Victoria to the church's farm.

The church and school sit on about 3 acres (of what used to be a garbage dump) that extends all the way down to the lake. They purchased the property about 7 years ago, and after clearing it of all the debris, they met in tents for a season. Within the last few years they have constructed a chapel and several classroom buildings. The school grows as the number of kids grows. Right now they have preschool through P3 (3rd grade) classes. The classroom sizes are small with about 12 children at each grade. Next year they will bring more children in at the lower level and add a P4 class for those who are moving up from P3. The buildings, with pillars added for support, are probably  the best constructed school buildings that we have seen in Uganda. Most buildings are constructed using bricks without any of these support pillars; bricks are just stacked one atop another, and these structures look like they would collapse very easily if there was an earthquake or high winds. These classrooms at CC Entebbe look much like a classroom you would see in America with maps, pictures, alphabet letters on the walls, etc. The P3 classroom has several computers in it that are old but operational. The classrooms also have white boards in them! I say this because most of the classrooms we have seen have makeshift cardboard or plywood chalkboards in them. I can see that it's been Pastor Craig's heart to lean on God's wisdom, wait on Him, and build well as resources have been made available. Nothing looks thrown together here; it is very evident that they have waited patiently for the Lord to act and provide the funding for this endeavor.

The latest project is the completion of a new latrine for the boys and girls. What is really cool about this is how the sewage system is a one-of-a-kind system in Uganda. There are several filtration holding tanks down in the lower field that will flow into each other with the last tank set to leach out into the lower field (which will become a soccer field). City officials are very interested how this system works because it could be utilized in other areas of Uganda.

After visiting the classrooms, we went with Pastor Julius into the village on home visitations. We met with four families in their homes to encourage them by reading scriptures and praying for them. What a blessing!! Then we took a 30 minute boat ride across Lake Victoria to CC Entebbe's working farm which is on an island. We were met by Peter and Deus who gave us a tour of the gardens and piggery. There are probably 6 to 8 acres of land with fruit trees and vegetable gardens. We tasted some of the bananas which are sooo sweet!! The produce is used to supplement the children's diet; some of it is sold also at the market to help the school become self-sustainable.

 Before going to the airport, we went with Pastor Craig and his wife, Loren, to a restaurant for dinner. They shared their calling to Uganda and vision for their church/ministry.  You can read about them on the website I've linked to this page.  The pictures are great, too. Then it was time to head to the airport for our long journey home.

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