Hello from Uganda! It is hard to believe that the Mixson clan has been on the ground here for a week now! My apologies for not doing a blog post yet, but time and internet just haven’t been available to get it done. I am in Arua, Uganda staying with our friends, Karl and Rachel Anderson. I originally met them in Yei, South Sudan on our first trip to South Sudan in 2015. Kristin and Ben are back in Entebbe and will fly out for home tonight.
We started our journey from Entebbe last Friday. Jim was able to meet with several suppliers about future needs. The John Deere dealership is owned by a South African company and it is in the industrial district in Kampala. It was good to meet some folks face to face who I’ve been emailing with.
After lunch, we hit the road north to Kigumba. We stayed at the Max Hotel while we were visiting in the Kiryandongo district. The hotel has a very neat compound.
On Saturday, we met with Pastor David Kaya with Empower One. We spent some time on the farm that Empower One has at Kiryandongo. It is about 200 acres and is called Ebenezer Agricultural Farm. They are using the farm to make money for their ministry.
It will also have some demonstration areas for the bucket drip irrigation systems to train pastor groups that Empower One is working with. EDEN is supplying them with a half-acre drip irrigation system that they will use to produce vegetables. Empower One is in the process of putting in two wells at the farm and they will be used for irrigation.
Their second maize crop is just being harvested now. It was a very good-looking crop.
They are building a grainary to store their maize in. EDEN is also going to help them with some PICS grain storage bags. These reduce insect and mold damage in stored grain and beans. David Nekyon is the farm manager for the project. He has a good head for business and for farming and he will be a great asset to the farm.
On Sunday, we went to the Kiryandongo Refugee camp where Pastor Sosthen Lahti lives. Each time I return here, I am blown away by how much he has improved things at the church compound. This trip was no different. God is blessing his ministry and his efforts.
At the camp, we met up with a group from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. They brought some sound equipment for the church as well as Bibles. EDEN had also supplied a half-acre drip irrigation system. We were able to pray over all the equipment and Bibles and dedicate it all for use in the camp.
Three pastors from the Sherwood group preached in three different churches in the camp on Sunday. In our church, we really didn’t get started until about 11 and finished up about 2pm. We then shared a wonderful meal that the ladies had prepared.
We ate in a newly constructed rest area that they put up to use with the school. It gave a nice respite from the hot sun! It is the dry season now and it is incredibly dusty. Some areas are also doing a lot of burning and it is really hazy. After swallowing so much dust, my voice has left me.
Later in the afternoon, all the kids played a little soccer with their African counterparts.
After the Sherwood group left for the evening, Ben did a little instruction on Ultimate Frisbee
We brought a video of the Singing Christmas Tree that Shandon Baptist performed in December. We were able to use a big outdoor screen to show the video. The folks in camp really enjoyed seeing the video and hearing the music.
Three dusty, tired mzungus headed back to the Max hotel to clean up and welcome in the new year.
EDEN in Africa 