Thursday, June 18, 2009

First Day


Thank you all for your prayer and for reading our blog! Unfortunately, we were not able to post this blog last night because the website would not load. The electricity was on, however the internet was not very cooperative, especially with google mail and google-run blogs. Yesterday was the first day of our trip to Uganda, which will incorporate stays in Entebbe, Arua, and finally Kampala. For Ted and DJ, it is their first time in Africa, whereas this is Andy’s fourth time. We are coming to help promote economic growth in the west Nile (the region we are in) and to help encourage our Christian brothers and sisters in their business and spiritual lives. We were very thankful that we were able to arrive in Entebbe on time, as we only had a one hour and fifty minute layover in London’s Heathrow Airport, and if we had missed the flight to Entebbe, we would not have arrived in Arua for two days because of flight times. Also, Ted’s flight to Boston had gotten all messed up, and he had ended up flying into New York from Philadelphia and driving to Boston, arriving at Logan at 6 AM for the flight and getting no sleep. But God blessed and watched over our travel, and our driver, Dennis, from our hotel in Entebbe, was even at the airport when we arrived.
That afternoon, Dennis drove us to the zoo in Entebbe and we were able to see all of the animals; crocodiles, cranes, lions, white rhinoceroses, warthogs, snakes, etc. However, the best animals (especially for DJ) were the wild monkeys. We were within an arm’s length of some of the hundred monkeys running around the zoo. One of the monkeys even jumped at Ted after he got too friendly with it.
Then, Ted and DJ, suffering from a bit of jet-lag, had to take naps. After the naps, we went on a walk through Entebbe, seeing and greeting the people. Whenever we walked by a house, the kids playing in their yards would yell, “Muzungu!” or “White people!” as they ran up to us to give us high-fives.
Then, as we were walking back to the hotel for dinner, we were able to sit on on the last part of a mid-week church service going on in a huge unfinished building. After the service, we were told that the building could seat up to 8,00 people! After Dinner at the hotel, Andy then Ted then DJ finally got to sleep after a long day.

As we were praying during the first day, we really felt that God was impressing upon us the word, “others.” During this trip, we really want to give fully of ourselves to others. We don’t want this trip to be about us. We don’t want the business seminar in Arua to be about us, to show how smart we are. We want the seminar to bless, educate, and help the business people attending. Also, we want to bless our brothers and sisters here, both Ugandan residents and American. Also, please pray for the church which we visited, that soon, all 8,000 seats will be filled with Ugandans praising the name of Jesus. Just as a coach says to his athletes “Leave everything on the field at the end of the game,” we really feel God telling us to give completely of ourselves. Therefore, we sign this blog,
Sp3nt
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The Genesis of the 5810 Project

Vision

When Jesus was asked what was the most important command he answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your heart and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

As a follower of Jesus, it is challenging to obey these commands, particularly with regard to my neighbors.
How can I love my neighbors? How can I love my neighbors in a global context? How can I love my neighbors who are struggling to thrive in developing countries?

The classic response of western Christians has been to “send”. Whether we send those that have been called to vocational ministry, or send money and resources to “give to the poor”, or occasionally send ourselves on short-term missions trips. Each of these has value, but is this enough? Is it effective? Is it all that God calls us to?

The questions become more complex when you consider that no matter how much money we have spent on the “war on poverty” over decades, the problem remains as acute as ever. We are not winning the war, even here in the US. Are there other approaches?

As I struggled with these ideas, I was led to consider Isaiah Chapter 58. Here God tells us what true fasting is – to loose the chains of injustice; to set the oppressed free; to share food with the hungry; and to provide the poor with shelter. Then verse 10 says “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of others …….”

While we should send, we need to spend too.

What does it look like to spend ourselves?
For me I have been led to spend myself as follows:
• To go to a developing country, and to go repeatedly.
• To develop personal relationships with innovative leaders
• To use my own specific gifting and experience in business
• To find ways to move people out of the poverty cycle on a sustainable basis
• To invest money in parallel with my activities
• To share the love of Christ with my neighbor and to spend myself on their behalf.

5810 Project

The 5810 Project is predicated on the belief that while “teaching a man to fish” will provide him with a fish diet for a lifetime, it will not lead him out of poverty. To escape poverty people need to develop sustainable business activities. The 5810 Project’s vision is to provide an opportunity for business people from developed countries to share the love of Christ with their neighbor by “spending” themselves on behalf of others who are trying to build businesses and break the poverty cycle.

The 5810 Project is currently focused on two principal activities in Uganda.

Arua
Arua is a significant market town in the NW of Uganda, with Sudan to the north and Congo to the West. It is an agricultural market town that has grown because of government and NGO activity primarily in S. Sudan, but now increasingly in E. Congo. While the town has prospered and grown, the native Aruans have not enjoyed this economic boon.

Our efforts in Arua are centered on helping the church and Christian business people develop sustainable businesses.
We work with businesspeople to analyze the market situation in Arua, to offer training sessions, to encourage and mentor entrpreneurs and to invest in their businesses.

Kampala
Jesus Commissioned Ministries (“JCM”) is a church founded in 2000 serving three poor communities on the outskirts of Kampala. The leadership of JCM has a heart to reach the many underprivileged children in the communities it serves. Without education, there is little hope for these children to thrive. While education is available, the costs are prohibitive for most families. JCM has established Mercy Junior School (elementary) for these children. In addition to education, the children receive uniforms, food and school materials. The school currently has over 50 pupils in two Pre-K classes and Primary 1 (P1)and Primary 2 (p2) and is building classrooms for P3,4 & 5 for completion in the spring of 2011.

The 5810 Project has helped Mercy Junior School develop its rudimentary facilities and to buy a neighboring plot of land for expansion. We also advise the administrators of the school on business and education practices and have steered them through a process of becoming a fee-baseda significant drive to parent involvement and elevated educational standards and outcomes.

Opportunity
We believe that the 5810 Project offers a significant opportunity for the body of Christ:
• Grass roots opportunity to create sustainable businesses and deliver families and communities out of the oppression of poverty.
• Many business opportunities are apparent with relatively small investment levels necessary.
• Opportunities for talented business people to connect personally with emerging entrepreneurs and spend themselves on them.
• Opportunity for the body of Christ in the developed world to share the love of Christ with our neighbors in developing countries.
• Transformational impact on the “spender” and recipient alike!

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me Andy Mills at amills@tkc.edu