So, you guys are going to Uganda?!

As some of you may already have noticed, there have been a lot of things going on in our family this year. Last winter, I started to be more involved in our AWANA group and  Marion started going back to school full time to pursue a degree in International Studies and Education. This spring however our family felt led to make the decision to homeschool Lenah and Luke this year, and to focus our family on living in a more radical way, to get out of our comfort zones and to learn how to use our individual gifts in a better way.

Shortly after this we had the opportunity to learn how to do just that, as we met Alex Mutagubya, pastor at City Church of Luzira, Kampala and founder of Transform African Ministries (TAM). We got to hear about their ministries in Uganda and are excited about the work God is doing in Kampala. You can learn more about TAM and what they do by visiting http://transformafricanministries.org

We feel extremely blessed and honored to have been invited by TAM, and to be sent by Lake City Community Church, to go to the City Church in Luzira, Uganda and to help a little with one of their current projects and learn about all that God is doing through TAM in Uganda. We will be traveling to Kampala, tentatively around January 7th and will be staying with Alex and his family for about 3 weeks.

So who is going, you wonder? Well, all of us! That's right, Marion, Lenah, Luke and I.
We had not anticipated that, but after we put thought and prayer to it, we got a very clear call for all of us to go, as part of this trip is also to see what God has in mind with our family from here on out.

What exactly will we be doing over there? Well, one of TAMs ministries is to open a Kindergarten in January, for which the building is under way now. We and the kids will be helping with getting the offices and classrooms ready for the children and teachers to start. We hope to bring lots of the needed supplies with us, along with a library of books, tools and possibly some funds for furniture, as well as hoping to bring music and arts along for the little ones.

And in the midst of all this, we will also be visiting an orphanage and two “babies’ homes” in Kampala. Yes, God is working mightily in our hearts and we are very excited to explore this further as well.

Many of you might already know, that Marion is very passionate about tough topics. Therefore we will also be visiting the Kampala child detention center, and/or “Remand homes,” to learn how we might be used to help and to bring hope.

After all this excitement, we are planning to finish our vision trip with a visit to Murchison Falls Park to get a glimpse of some nature, meet the staff and rangers to learn firsthand about the current poaching issues, elephant protection  and if and how we can be globally involved in the efforts to bring change to this challenging situation.

Awesome things are under way and we will share all the details on the things to take, fundraisers, ways you can be involved and status updates with you as we get to each step. So follow us along here and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/raykovitzuganda, for the latest news on all of this.

Things are happening so quickly and sometimes not in the prepared, pre-planned way we would have it. We are eager to follow the call and to be allowed to take part in his story and to see it unfold.

And so, this is where you come in. There is much anxiety surrounding all that it means to fly into Africa for the first time and with two children, and having only barely 4 months to prepare, so we would love your prayer support in seeing this come to life.

We have arrived at a trip total of $13,790 plus whatever we can raise to help send books, tools and help with school furniture (more detailed cost breakdown will be on the FB page). Our passports are under way, the vaccines started and flights are picked and ready to be booked as soon as we reach funding.

Please pray for our family for:

      ·         peace and faith that surpasses all understanding, as we follow God’s call.

·         help with the all the preparations and fundraisers.

·         Marion's health as we prepare and for all of us on the trip.

·         our hearts to be prepared and that we may be a blessing and bring glory to his name in all we do.

We are overwhelmed, joyful and excited to share this journey with you all. We are fully expecting and longing for our hearts to be completely broken and made anew in this.

 Lake City will be our sending church and we feel extremely blessed and grateful for this.

We would very much love for you to partner with us on this journey and covet your prayers. If you are inclined and able to help financially, you can do so by sending a check directly to our Church using the enclosed donation slip, or by checking our blog for a PayPal option (note that with a mailed check you will receive a letter for tax deduction, with PayPal that is not possible as the funds will go directly to us).

We feel privileged and blessed to be sent to Uganda and would love to have you on our team.

 

With much love and gratefulness,

Chris, Marion,

Lenah and Luke