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Through the eyes of a team member:  Pam Elliott

Joel Schmidgall

Wow!!  What an incredible day and amazing experience – overwhelming really!  We had the amazing opportunity today to travel to Northern Uganda to the city of Gulu to visit KPC – Gulu that has just been launched.  We met with Pastor Joe and his wife Jackie who showed us the incredible rehabilitation that has been done on the church there.  I was so moved when we prayed in the church and just blessed what God is doing with Watoto and KPC in Northern Uganda.  I personally did not know exactly what has been going on in Northern Uganda for the last 20 years - I’ve heard about it, but never really stopped to think or reflect on what exactly was going on.  The LRA and the government of Uganda have been at war for the last 20 years, the local government thought it would be safer for the citizens to be moved temporarily into camps where they would be protected from the rebels.  Twenty years on, those citizens are still in the camps.  Over 12,000 of the children of Northern Uganda have been captured and used as citizen soldiers – some have escaped but many have never been found.  Many young girls have children by the rebels, 12% of the population has AIDS.  We had an opportunity to visit the second largest camp that houses 20,421 people.  We met the Camp Chief and walked through the huts and so many children came to see us.  It was so overwhelming to actually experience seeing these children and knowing that there is such a need here for them to be healed and that KPC and Watoto will be a part of making that happen.  I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when we left Gulu.  I was extremely sad after visiting the camp, yet very encouraged to meet the amazing people of KPC and know that they have such a passion for God and a passion for the people of Gulu.  All of us wanted to do anything to help them with the church and the ministry they are growing, but all they asked for now is our prayers.  So I will pray! 

We also had a dedication ceremony for the orphanage we built in Kampala. All the workers were there and we worshiped together and placed our hands on the structure that we had built together, so that the 8 children and 1 den mother soon to live there would be blessed.  We built the house in 2 a quarter days, but it will be there for many years to come.  An awesome day!!!

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