Welcome/Uganda

So I am going to start a blog/vlog for all those who care...  Ever since I can remember I feel like my life has been a series of exciting adventures.  I would now like to share those adventures with the world, or just those of you that choose to read this.  I have also recently acquired a Sony VX1000 (video camera) and plan to post videos of some sort to accompany these writings.  What you can expect in the posts to come: Serious thoughts about life, humorous thoughts about life, stories of life in the mission field, stories of life in America, excitement, adventure, and much more!  Hopefully I will be able to capture your attention just long enough to get your mind thinking about something...

Uganda

This past summer I had the pleasure of traveling to the beautiful city of Kampala Uganda with Engineering Ministries International (EMI www.emiworld.org) as an architectural engineer to assist a team of architects and engineers in the design of the Agape Education Centre, which will be a boarding school for an orphan ministry as well as a ministry training center.  Let me tell you about my experience there.

My journey began by getting a ride to the airport in San Francisco (where I temporarily reside) and boarding my flight for Amsterdam.  10 hours later, and 5 movies later, in Amsterdam, I was to navigate this foreign terminal by myself in search of the rest of my team, all of whom I have never met.  Luckily this wasn't as difficult as I expected.  I was one of the last team members to arrive so the group was already assembled when I arrived at my next gate.  I was introduced to an amazing group of people from all across America, and even two Canadians (yes they did say "ay" after their sentences).  It was great fun.  I didn't get to spend much time in Amsterdam before it was time for our next 10 hour flight to Rwanda where we would change planes again for our final short flight to Kampala, Uganda.  I was not able to sleep much, but I was able to watch 3 more movies.  I must give a shout out to KLM airlines as they had every new release movie available for my personal viewing pleasure.    

Agnes and I after our final presentation

We arrived around midnight at the airport and were greeted by one of the most amazing women I have ever met; Agnes, a petite Ugandan woman who had a huge heart for the orphans of Uganda.  She had began an orphan sponsorship program and had been running it for years.  Now she wanted to see her vision of a school for these orphans come to fruition.  That was where we came in.  Our job was to create a masterplan for the entire project and building designs for the first phase of buildings.  Finally I was able to put my knowledge and training from college to use in a productive way that will hopefully change the lives of many.  That is what I seek to do with my life.  Positively influence and affect the lives of as many people as possible.  God has given us all limited time here on Earth and I simply want to be a part of spreading God's love and joy all over the world.

Anyway, my time in Africa was much different than any of my other international travels.  We spent a lot of time working...and I mean a lot.  The first 2 days we spent all day surveying the site and spending time with Agnes and her team to hear her vision for the project.  For the next week we worked.  Each day we would wake up around 7 and read God's Word to begin the day.  We would then eat a delicious Ugandan breakfast with the best pineapple on the planet.  Soon after breakfast we had a briefing on what was to be done for the day, then we would get to designing for the next 10 hours or so.  Some nights we would stay up past midnight struggling with where to place buildings due to the high water table, or the extreme elevation change of the site.  The site was extremely difficult to work with.  There were times of strong discouragement when sometimes the project did not even seem possible due to the lack of buildable space on the site, but in the end God came through and we were able to complete our designs in time for our presentation to Agape Ministries and their friends and family.  

Although we worked all day, everyday, we did still get to spend time with many Ugandans.  Ugandans as a whole are some of the kindest people I have ever met.  Whether they be engineers, graduates of the orphan sponsorship program, or random people on the streets, no matter what, I was greeted with a smile.  Everyone wanted to have a conversation and we were ignored by nobody.  It may have been because we were some of the only white skinned people in the entire city, but overall, the Ugandan people were genuinely interested in our lives and also sharing their lives with us.  

The most heartbreaking part of the trip was the amount of orphans everywhere we went.  I have heard about this my whole life, but at that moment I was seeing it with my own eyes.  The amount of children who had lost their parents to AIDS, genocide, or terrorism are unfathomable.  What was more amazing was the amount of joy we found in Uganda.

We attended a church service while we were there.  Sitting on log benches with no A/C or free coffee in the back of the building, the attitude of the congregation was that of Joy rather than sadness and desperation.  They desired to experience God no matter what the conditions.  It was beautiful to see people praise God even when it wasn't comfortable.  That is something I have been thinking a lot about lately.  Comfort.  Does God call us to an easy comfortable life?  Any time that I have felt great achievement or success in my life, it is never from doing something comfortable.  I feel accomplished after hiking all day long and finally reach the amazing California coast, or finally landing that skateboard trick that I literally fell on my face for.  Even more importantly, I feel fulfilled when I leave my comfort zone to go share a meal with someone on the street who has nothing, or when I am sleeping on the floor because I gave away all of my furniture to my neighbors in my apartment complex that needed them more than I did.  God has called us to Love our neighbor as ourselves, and I do not believe that this Love is displayed out of comfort.  It is through our uncomfortable sacrifices that we must make that shows the Love of God to the world around us.

-Kevin

A Winner's Journey
www.awinnersjourney.com