Altar

By Mike Heaton

Today I looked into the eyes of Christ.

I received a nice camera for Christmas this past year.  Fortunately, some other team members taught me a few pointers and I became the go-to camera guy this week.  I had to be ready to snap a photo whenever a good opportunity presented itself.  It is a unique perspective seeing the work of FoDU through a camera lens.  It captures incredible moments in time as well as a range of activities and emotion.  As of last night, I thought my favorite photo was of the team captain from Laroo Primary School drinking from the championship trophy in the pouring rain after our tournament.  It wasn't my best photo but it definetly reflected the pure joy of the moment.   It was my favorite photo until today.

I have had the honor or traveling with Mike Warneke on many trips over the past 14 years.  At the end of every trip, Mike talks about building an altar.  He references bible passages where people build altars to remember big moments in history and moments where God was present in the lives of the community.  Mike encourages us to build our own "altars" so that we can remember this journey.

Today, one photo became my altar for this trip.  We visited Laroo Primary School this morning.  Laroo is probably our partner school with the most needs.  In addition to the dilapidated buildings, Laroo hosts an annex for hearing impaired children.  Many of them are orphans.

To be clear, these are orphaned children with a serious disability in one of the poorest nations in world in a region recovering from a horrific war.  In other words, today I was blessed to be in the presence of the very least among us.  Today I got to look Christ directly in the eyes.

Now, before I give the impression that this was some magical moment of awe and excitement, let me explain the situation better.  When a girl is a hearing impaired orphan in one of the poorest and war stricken nations in the world, she becomes a target for predators.  One major problem at Laroo is men sneaking onto campus at night and raping the girls.  Without the ability to hear, how can she know someone is coming?  Without electricity for lights at night, how can she call for help in the dark if all she knows is sign language?  Without family, who can she turn to for help after she is assaulted?  Who will demand justice on her behalf?   Without money, how can she get to a hospital for an examination, pay for an investigation and hire a lawyer to defend her?  She can't.  She can't.  She can't.  She is the perfect prey for a sexual predator.  They know it and they sexually assault these precious children because they know there will be absolutely no consequences.

Today I looked into the eyes of Christ.

This is Acayus.  As her hand shows, she is in P-2 (2nd Grade).  This photo is my altar for this trip to Uganda.  I will frame it and hang it over my desk so I can look at it everyday to remind me why I work for Fields of Dreams Uganda.   I will work tirelessly to raise funds to build a fence around her school. We will get electricity to her dorm.  Our Ugandan staff will advocate for her.   They will help her set goals in life and create a plan so she can achieve them.  They will do everything they can to turn her very real nightmares into positive and life affirming dreams about her future.

Today I looked into the eyes of Christ.  Fortunately for me, I had my camera ready.

An Extraordinary Day

By Chris Meier

Today started out no different than any other day really...... good night sleep, shower, eggs and coffee for breakfast, but that was when normal ended and extraordinary started.

Today Gulu PTC Primary School was hosting the first Fields of Dreams Uganda soccer tournament in northern Uganda for our 5 partner schools. We headed out from our hotel to arrive on a street gathered with players lined up in parade formation decked out in their uniforms. There were children in Acholi traditional dance attire at the front. The parade went about half a mile to the field with children singing and dancing the whole way.

Now, a tournament like this one doesn't just happen for children here.  Soccer is the sport here; it is everything to a child who is into sport. But the reality is that these children never play with cleats (usually barefoot), never have uniforms, never have a real goal with a net, never have a lined field with referees, and never compete as a team with their classmates.  The children here had all this today, and it was extraordinary for them.

While watching a whole day of matches, it was obvious that the boys and girls were giving their all.  The school and community support was present and excitement was everywhere.  At the end of the day, as the rain began to fall, the award ceremony started while night began to set in.  It is difficult to describe the joy of the winning teams as they celebrated victories for their schools.  They sang and danced in the pouring rain without a care in the world, it was beautiful to watch.  This was not just another win on a traveling team tournament weekend in Anytown USA, this was extraordinary.  And the only thing better than that is that this doesn’t end here, this is just the beginning of these experiences.

I am so proud to come to know our staff here in Uganda.  Jonathon, Dennis, Peter, Faridah, David, Florence, Walter, and Massey, they are my champions today, they made today happen, they are the ones changing the future of Uganda, they are extraordinary.

Stretched

By Shane Evans

It's been 30 days since we started our journey to Uganda. This trip has been full of so many thoughts and emotions, as we've visited over 3,000 orphans, and a few dozen widows. I personally have never been so stretched as a person in my professional, relational, and spiritual life, for such an extended period of time. At home, we can be stretched to our limit one day, but then we can go home, rest, reflect, and re-gather our thoughts for the next. As I prepare to return home in a few days, I can't help but think about how difficult it might be to re-adjust to normal life. When I say stretched, what I really mean is “outside of my comfort zone.” I personally struggle with a tendency towards selfishness in the form of introversion. I don't typically realize how introverted I am at home because I'm just living my daily life. I desperately need time for myself to think, reflect, strategize, etc. so that I can have enough energy to face the day. The LORD has shown me that though times of rest and reflection are perfectly normal and healthy for one's development, if we are one of his children, the world needs us. We are needed by the people in our communities local, and global. It's not right for me to habitually and consistently live a life in which so much of my time is burned up, just trying to “clear my head.” Simply put, we need each other. We are called to community in the Bible many times over. I have found on this trip that though I have been outside of my comfort zone most of the time, I have grown in a big way by needing to be encouraged by others, by being vulnerable.

Enough about me though, I must comment on the incredible Ugandan staff that Fields Of Dreams has so wisely invested in. I really had an opportunity to grasp the heart of Fields Of Dreams on this journey. The aspect of the organization that I most appreciate isn't that they are helping kids realize their dreams through education initiatives, or that they are giving tons of soccer gear to orphans; though these are highly important aspects. The heart of this organization (at least the Ugandan side) seems to be one of empowerment to people in each generation. I have seen so much passion in the children for the game of football, and for what Fields Of Dreams is doing for them; however what has impacted me more this time around is the passion and determination of our Ugandan staff. The 7 people that operate the program here are extremely impressive individuals. Jonathan, Dennis, Peter, Faridah, David, Florence, Walter and Massey are truly the foundation and backbone of the mission of Fields Of Dreams. Each one of them has so much wisdom on how to impact an entire generation of Ugandans. We have learned so much about who they are through their words, and by watching them work. I have learned some important lessons about work, family, and responsibility from these people. I can't help but leave Uganda with so much anticipation for the future because of the ownership and responsibility our staff here have taken. This is THEIR mission, and THEIR organization.

I think a trip like this can teach someone so much about themselves and the world around them. I didn't just learn about how to better exist in community, I learned so much about how the LORD chooses to use people to accomplish his will on earth. Overall, I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, and I'm sure that I will have much more to process and think about upon returning home. I would encourage anyone who desires personal growth to take a trip like this to Uganda. It's very stunning to realize how much more you can hear and see the LORD working in a place like this, with so many distractions that we're normally bombarded with simply removed.  

Hope IS a Basic Need

By Eric Lindh

The last two days in Gulu have been a roller coaster of emotions. We got to visit four of Fields of Dreams Uganda's partner schools and hang out with some incredible children. Most of the schools averaged around 1,000 children who were cared for by approximately 20 courageous and loving teachers. While there is definitely need in Kampala, there was an obvious difference in the schools in northern Uganda. Not every child had a school uniform to wear and those that did wore ones that were tattered and torn or barely held together by a single button. The majority of the kids were barefoot. School supplies were in short supply. One school did not have water due to a broken well, so the students had to walk a couple hundred yards or more down the road to fetch water. With a lack of government assistance, many of the children in these schools simply went without food during the day. The list of challenges goes on and on. With every time I walked away from a school visit, my admiration and respect grew for the teachers in this part of the country.

At each school, we had the privilege of presenting their brand new soccer uniforms in preparation for FoDU's first championship soccer tournament in Gulu this coming Friday. The kids were beaming with excitement to receive these uniforms and to be able to represent their school with pride.

But probably the most memorable part of these last two days was sitting in the classrooms while the Fields of Dreams Uganda staff introduced the concept of the DREAMS plans to the older elementary students. These documents serve as tools for students to discover their own dream for their lives and map out a way to achieve it. While this may not seem like much on the surface, it means everything to these kids. That was put into perspective for me today after hearing some of FoDU's Ugandan staff share very personal accounts of how the war in this region has affected the children. Over 20 years of conflict and mindless killing has left a generation of children with little to no hope for their future. Hope IS a basic need. At times there were more than 100 children crammed in the classroom listening to the DREAMS plans presentations, while dozens of younger children were practically climbing on top of one another near the doorway and open windows. This caused quite a distraction; at least for me it did. But the students in the classroom didn't flinch one bit. Their eyes were fixed on the FoDU staff in these classrooms, and they hung on every word that was spoken. To hear that someone believed in their dreams and wanted to help them turn those dreams into a reality provided new hope for their future. You could see their eyes light up and their excitement grow to learn that they were going to be able to create their own personal DREAMS plan in the coming weeks.

Please pray for the children in these partner schools and in all of Uganda; that they would discover new hope for their lives through the soccer and DREAMS plan programs so that they can fully live into their God-given potential.

Not What, But How

By Mike Heaton

One conversation I have always found incredibly odd is when I am talking about vocations with other Christians in the United States. Put simply, a vocation is the concept of figuring out what God is calling us to do.  People often compliment me for following God's call with my work in Uganda.  I find this odd because they imply that it is my personal calling and that God likely has a different calling for them.  After spending the last three days in Uganda with some of the most poor and vulnerable in this world, I now know for certain that this is the wrong perspective.  It is not the "what," it is the "how" that need to be discerned.  We already know the what.   For Christians, Jesus already took care of this for us.  He told us, in no uncertain terms, that our vocation should be to care for the poor and vulnerable.  His only teaching on judgment was about whether or not we clothed the naked, fed the hungry and simply took care of the the most poor and vulnerable in this world.  That is it.  That is the "what."  The part that we must discern is the "how."  How will each of us serve the most poor and vulnerable in our world?  

After our job title on all of our business cards it should read "...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world"  For instance:  

Mike Heaton

Director of Advancment

...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world.  

It might also read:

John Doe

Corporate President

...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world.

The "how" may be different, but as a Christian we should all be doing the same "what."

Poverty should simply no longer exist in our current global society.  It is a complex issue, but we have the intellect and resources to end poverty in Uganda and throughout the world.  We can make this happen by simply doing "what" we were called to do.    

To The North Once More

By Jennie Wellsand

Only having a short time in Gulu last week opened my eyes to a new challenge; building trust.  Fields of Dreams has only been partnering with these schools in the North for a month & a half & children aren’t running up to our team laughing & wanting to hold our hands.  The trust that we now have with our Kampala schools has not been built in the North yet.  There aren’t over 1,000 students singing my song & there aren’t 1,000 begging to hold their hands.

As our March team drove up to Gulu from Kampala on Monday afternoon, it was exciting experience the drive through a team member’s eyes who had never taken that route before.  The road to Gulu is bumpy, dusty & emotionally draining as you see young children (as little as age 5) walking on a busy road with vehicles flying by at 60 mph.  These children are typically on their way to lunch, walking home from school or pushing a bicycle with gallons upon gallons of water to a destination unknown.  At the beginning of the drive I decided to spend time listening to music to pass time.  I made the choice of listening to a band called All Sons & Daughters, I had a new album from them & hadn’t had the chance before leaving The States to give it a good listen.  This particular drive was NOT the best time to listen in.  ..Or was it?  As I listened to songs talking about the least of these & how hope is coming & is here, I began to think about the changes & impacts Fields of Dreams is making as an organization.   FoDU’s slogan is, Hope is a Basic Need.  ..And they’re providing hope in every area they are blessed to do so.

Today we visited two primary school, Koro & Gulu P.T.C.  We had the opportunity to observe classrooms & go over what a Dream Plan is with the older students.  When we split up to observe classrooms I quickly reserved the right to be with the little ones on campus & began my visit in the P2 classroom.  They welcomed me & I sat in the back with my friend Denis (FoDU’s Program Manager for the North) & the students counted from 200 to 230 in their native tongue.  These students were eager to learn!  The teacher asked students to write on the board numbers she’d call out, & almost every hand went up.  It was encouraging to see enthusiasm within these classroom walls.   The students were extremely focused & respected their teacher as well.  Me, being a 27 year old American, kept getting distracted by the wind slamming the door shut, the windows doing the same, the flies & the heat increasing throughout the hour & seeing Shane walk in the classroom with a video camera.  None of these distractions however phased the students.  They continued to keep a listening ear & seemed motivated to participate.

One thing I struggled with as I observed the next classroom was the lack of resources on site.  The P1 teacher, after warmly welcoming me, did a few reading exercises on the board, (once again, in their native tongue – I didn’t realize they started teaching in English at P3) the same enthusiasm filled these students minds as the P2 students.  The teacher asked the children to get their notebooks out & so many of them were lacking pencils.  A majority of the students were mumbling about something & the teacher looked at me & said, “They are complaining about their pencils!”  I looked over at the student next to me & the pencil was just a little nub.  The P1 class was much bigger than the P2 class.  I think there were about 90 students in P1 compared to maybe 55 in P2.  The rooms were about the size of my living & dining room in my apartment, which are not that large.  

So these evening, as I sit in a dark room because the power is out in Gulu, I am left wrestling with the question of how can I continue to provide hope in Uganda.  How can I & my occupation of being a full time musician help provide hope to the hopeless, to the hungry, to the hurting, & to the one who cannot yet trust because of this country’s past.  I’m ecstatic to be in the North once again, to be challenged, blessed & see hope remain.

Divine Appointments

By Mike Warneke

With this being only my eighth trip to Uganda I know that I still have so much to learn about the culture, the people, and the partner schools that we are serving. On each trip I try to make sure that we have a game plan for our teams, but I also like to make sure that I am leaving some room to be ready for the unexpected, and the miraculous to take place. Today was one of those days where our team had the opportunity to be present for a new beginning for some of our new friends from Masaka.

A few months ago, an acquaintance in the U.S. encouraged me to reach out to a young man by the name of Paius in Masaka, Uganda. It wasn’t much effort to connect to him via Facebook, and we have discussed our respective work for the past few months. It was great to see the good work that they are doing this past week, using the sport of soccer as a tool to encourage and inspire the young children of Masaka that have fallen on hard times. What is even more amazing is what has transpired since our meeting one week ago to the day.

We are so blessed to be working with amazing partner schools in the Central and Northern regions whom truly have a heart for the orphaned and vulnerable child. One of the schools is Wakiso Children’s School of Hope, also known as Africa Greater Life. This school has blessed our organization with three boarding scholarships for children in deep need of an education; and today, we were able to fill those waiting scholarships with three very talented and special boys from Masaka, Paul, Paul and Fahad. It was such a joy to see this new beginning taking place. This is a fresh start for these boys that have lived very difficult lives, some of whom have never had the blessing of a formal education. I am excited to visit these new friends at Wakiso during our upcoming trips to see how they are doing, and to better learn about their dreams for their future.

Our time with Paul, Paul and Fahad was not on our agenda for this trip, but I am so grateful that we left a little room open for this fresh start to take place. Life is full of opportunities that we so often walk past, daydream through, or simply ignore. I am beyond grateful for the divine circumstances that have allowed these three young men a new chance at a promising future. Slow down today and leave a little room for the miraculous, you never know just what you may have the opportunity to experience.

If you are an individual who prays, please lift up these three young men as they create a new home in Wakiso and adjust to their new surroundings. And perhaps one day you will have the honor and privilege to sit with these young men and dream together about their promising new future.

Mike Warneke, Executive Director

Observation to Obedience

By Eric Lindh

A few months ago, Uganda wasn't even on my radar. After only two days here, it's all I can really think about. My first two days here have mostly been about being observant, taking in the smells, sights, sounds, and the incredible people of Uganda. We toured and briefly visited three of FoDU's partner schools in Kampala yesterday, and today, we made the long 7-hour drive from Kampala to Gulu in northern Uganda.

On our first day, I thought that there was a lot to take in, both in seeing some of the challenges facing the children, but also in experiencing their unbounding joy and gratitude. My very first introduction to the children was Sunday morning's church service at New Kabaale Busega Primary School. On our way into church, I had the opportunity to speak with a few of them, and most spoke very quietly and at times were hard to understand. However, when it was time for them to sing, look out! It was like being hit by a wall of sound. They filled the entire chapel with some of the most beautiful and joyful singing I have ever heard. I simply could not help but smile through every minute of it. I later was talking with Rose, the head teacher, about how incredible they were, and she explained to me that the choir I just heard was self-selected. They chose to sing because they wanted to praise God through music and dance for all that they have been blessed with. In day one, I observed a grateful and joyful people.

Today, my observations came mostly from my view looking out the window of our van as we journeyed up north on a "well-traveled" road to Gulu. (Many thanks to Frank, our driver, for getting us through the minefields of potholes safely. New York City cab drivers ain't got nothin on Ugandans who travel this route.) The lush countryside and Nile River Valley were simply breathtaking, but as we got further north into the war-stricken area of Gulu, it became much more difficult to process everything I was seeing. I learned that during the 20 years when Joseph Kony and the LRA were carrying out atrocities in northern Uganda, the east-west direction of the massive Nile River in parts of Uganda served as a natural border that protected the southern half of Uganda from Kony. This meant that as soon as we crossed over the Nile, many of the villages that we were driving past may have been targeted at some point by the LRA. As we drove up the highway, schools were letting out, and we saw hundreds upon hundreds of children walking and playing without any adults alongside the edge of the highway, often times coming dangerously close to the traffic. I could only imagine what many of these children have been through.

I think that these observations in my first two days have set the stage for the rest of my time in Uganda. I have seen and heard stories of what many children have endured, but I have also caught a glimpse of the depth of their joy - a joy that goes beyond happiness. I am thankful that my experience doesn't end with observance, but now moves towards obedience and providing support. It is impossible to come here and just let your experience end at observation. The children here have a way of tugging at your heart and you cannot help but want to learn more and do more. But I'm thankful that FoDU's approach is not to swoop in and fix, but to support and empower. I still have a lot to process and much to learn from the children and people of Uganda, but I am thankful to God for this journey so far and am excited to witness and help support the amazing work that is going on in their partner schools in Gulu this week.

Dichotomy

By Mike Heaton

Uganda is a living dichotomy.  It is filled with pure joy and humbling shame;  immense love and horrific violence.  Uganda is filled with lies and deceit.  Yet it holds precious truth as well.  It truly pulls back the curtain that I, as a middle class American, have worked hard to keep hanging over the past 35 years of my life.

I want to extend a personal invitation to you to come experience this as well.  The experience changes you.  It betters your faith, enhances your wisdom and unlocks part of your heart that can often be restrained in our own culture in the U.S.  But more importantly, you are needed here. Yes, you.   We need you to share your privilege with the children and staff in our program.   You do have the needed skills, experience and resources to make a difference in the lives of our communities and we need you.

Learn more about how you can get involved in our work at www.fieldsofdreamsuganda.org

Experience It

By Chris Meier

I’m in Uganda!  Let me get that out of the way first.  I have lived in many places and this is like none of them.  You can tell that the population of Kampala is out growing the city infrastructure, but not far outside the city, it is beautiful.  Most of the housing structures are made with hand-made bricks. Everything is very manual here still, like carrying water from a well.  I could go on and on.

I have been involved with Fields of Dreams Uganda for years now, but this is my first trip to Uganda.  Our first day here, our team visited New Kabaale Busega and Blessed Hope Champions Academy.  At New Kabaale, we attended worship service.  Watching the children sing and dance was awesome and different, but what stood apart to me was their thankfulness and joy.  True thankfulness and joy to God, to each other, and to us.  Have you ever asked a child why they go to school and they answer with:  to encourage and inspire others, to have a purpose, to be successful, to be a champion.  You need to experience it to understand it.  I finished my time at New Kabaale playing soccer with the kids.  Most of the kids play with no shoes on a dirt rocky sloping field.  We are working to change these things.

Next we went to Blessed Hope Champions Academy.  I spent most of the time there with a handful of boys that where excited to share with me what they wanted to be when they grew up.  They had obviously been through our Dreams Plans process.  Frank said he wants to be an Engineer, so we connected and talked about that for some time.  He wanted to learn about me and my family and I wanted to learn about him.  These are the connections that Mike Warneke talks about; you need to experience it to understand it.  We played soccer with the kids and had to say goodbye too early, but I will remember Frank for the rest of my life.

In summary, if you have considered a trip to Uganda with Fields of Dreams Uganda, after only one day I can say do it.  You need to experience it.