First Training Session

We had our first training session for our mission trip this week.  About half of our team met over Skype.  It was neat to see some faces and hear a little bit about everyone.
First, Steve, our team leader, told us a lot of e3 Partners Ministry.  Their name pretty much sums up there mission and ministry:

1.  equip (believers & churches)
2.  evangelize (non-believers)
3.  establish (local churches)

Then, we learned specifically about our expedition.  The purpose of our trip will be to partner with some local believers and work with them in schools, homes, and church sites to model healthy evangelism, healthy discipleship, and healthy self-support.  We will have the opportunity to minister to many women and children on this trip too, which I was glad about!  Also, correction: we will be staying in Southern Sudan, not Uganda...a little flub on my part!

Packing for this trip should be interesting since we learned that we are only allowed 33lbs of baggage each.  That's not much!  So, we have decided to pack extremely light and not check any bags.  I've never done this before, so we'll see how it goes.

Things to buy so far:

1. long skirts
2. head lamp (for hands-free visits to the bathrooms at night)
3. earplugs (we will evidently be staying near a loud disco)
4. misquito repellant cream

Bible Verse to Memorize this week:
Romans 3:23 - - check!
Creation story  - - check!  We know it in Hebrew and English =)
Proverbs 20:1 - - working on this one
Proverbs 23: 20-21 - - working on this one

One issue we may encounter on our trip as we minister to the Sudanese people is alcoholism and brewing.  This is why we are memorizing verses about alcohol abuse.  We are going to encourage the people to choose Christ who can free them from this unhealthy lifestyle.  We will also be able to refer them to some programs to help with addiction.  

We are super-excited to be visiting Central UMC in Asheboro this weekend to speak about our mission trip!