Monday, June 22, 2009: Day 6
Please go to look at the pictures!! http://gallery.me.com/run4bases/100041
Karibu Sana! Welcome to our blog! A few thoughts before I start. First of all, I, DJ Jauss, will start talking in the first person from now on because I am writing the blog. Andy and Ted told me that I should take credit for my own work, which really means that they don’t want anyone to think that they are making any mistakes on the blog!
Secondly, as a lover of country music, there is a great country song entitled, “I Saw God Today” by George Strait In this song George Strait sings about how he sees God in everyday beauty, when he takes the time to look. Being here in Uganda, it is almost impossible not to see God in the beauty of his creation. When we were flying to Arua, we were lower to the ground than a normal plane flies and, looking down, it was like seeing His fingerprint. The sunsets, the sunrises, the nature, the animals, the trees. We are amazed by the beauty and reminded of how mighty a God we serve.
Third, we are not sure if, as Isaac sometimes says, we “smell like America” much anymore. Because the power is so inconsistent, there usually isn’t hot water at this hotel. So when we take showers, they are pretty cold, which doesn’t encourage me to take showers.
Also, I just want everyone to know that the Coppedges have been extremely hospitable. They have helped us with some laundry, they have fed us dinner, they have let us use their internet to post the blog and pictures. Billy is also going to take us to the game park tomorrow morning, and he is an expert guide! The Coppedges have an amazing heart for the people and, as we have experienced, a heart for all people. We were very happy that we were able to bring a few things from home like M&Ms and Skippy peanut butter to thank them!
Finally, no matter where I go, I cannot escape it. Billy took Ted and I to a place in Africa which I had never heard of. No more than four or five hundred people populated this town. Only thirty or forty people were at Church and no one in Uganda plays baseball. However, one of the kids was wearing a shirt which read, “Baseball is life. The rest is just details.” If that is not a sign from Jesus, then I don’t know what is!
This morning, I got up early to watch the sun rise. Isaac’s radio tower for Voice of Life is up on a big hill overlooking Arua. So I went up the hill early in the morning and took some pictures of the beautiful African sunrise. While I was taking the pictures, the Aruan soccer team, which just recently was added to the Ugandan professional soccer league, was using the rock face to do exercises such as carrying each other up and down.
Today, Andy and Ted met with CAFECC, a struggling micro-finance business in Arua supported by the American company, Peer Servants. The meeting lasted all day, but much progress was made. Ted spent the day making an incredible spreadsheet of the business model, which should really help the company. I was able to sit in on the final part of the meeting, and it seems that although the business is doing so poorly right now, with some hard work and smart business moves, the future looks much brighter.
I, on the other hand, was able to have a pretty relaxing day. I was able to go into town to buy stamps at the post office and to visit the Coppedges. The only responsibilities I had were my remaining secretary duties from Business Vision Arua 2009.
Tonight, we were able to go to White Castle. No, not the White Castle with the mini-burgers, but the Ugandan restaurant White Castle. After a wonderful two and one half hours of fellowship, we got our food. Then, we got back to the hotel, ready for an early morning at the game park on Tuesday!
Please continue praying for rain. Please also pray that God will bless the Coppedges as much as they bless other people. Please pray for CAFECC, that it would make the right moves to turn their business around. Please also pray for the meetings Andy will have with specific Aruan business people tomorrow. Finally, please pray that we will see a lion tomorrow at the game park!
Sp3nt
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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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
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
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