A Message from Caleb Brown

Salaam from Africa.

I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for all of you and the different roles you have played in my life. In a place where relationships are everything I understand how important it is to have quality people around you; I feel very blessed.

We are currently at Amazing Grace orphanage in Adjumani, Uganda which is ran by Ben Lodiong. We came here after 24+ hours on three separate planes and after an 8 hour bus adventure.

We arrived in Entebbe, Uganda on Monday and were greeted by a large group of eager people. As we made introductions we found that most of the people were with Lahash (the organization were are connected through, www.Lahash.net). We met Lasu, the rockstar and overall comedian. He and I hit off the first time we met.

We also met Edwin, the regional director who is stationed in Nairobi, Kenya. I will be staying with him for the second half of the year and am very excited to do so because he is an amazing guy. We met many other people and finally mama Susan who is responsible for starting all the orphanages that Lahash helps sponsor.

We traveled from Entebbe to Kampala that night and stayed in mama Susan's house, which is a home to 15 orphans left by parents dying or who have died of AIDS. Some of the kids are HIV+ and have to go in for regular treatments, a very expensive cost. We stayed there two nights and took care of all our money exchange and visa needs.

Wednesday morning, we boarded the minivan/bus full of our backpacks and trunks along with a group of about 10 other people accompanying us on the journey. It was the bumpiest ride of my life, but i greatly enjoyed the experience. You actually start to appreciate the bumps and after a while can easily fall asleep.

After stopping numerous times to get bananas, pineapples, cassava, bush rat on a stick (not too bad by the way), meet Lasu's family and pick up various goods, we arrived at Amazing Grace orphanage and were greeted by a chorus of children singing for us, "We welcome you to Amazing Grace home." It is a great song. We spend the next couple of days learning about the children, their stories, also about the area, all the refugees from Sudan and mainly the orphanage and how it came to be.

The night we sat down with Susan and the rest of the workers, it was very emotional to hear about their struggles. How the children constantly didn't have enough food because the rains came late and the crops had done poorly so costs were way up. We are all very burdened for the people here and are currently working on ways to make a change. We leave tomorrow, Sunday, for Kajo keji, Sudan where we will begin the building of the dormitories for the children.

Thus far, Christ has already been breaking, humbling and rebuilding me in ways I never thought possible. I know after a year who I was and who I will become, shall be very far apart. I will be adding photos to my webshots at a later date and also updating my traveblog. I cannot do it now for times sake but keep a lookout for it. I would appreciate all your prayers.
--

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and will be repaid in full. - Proverbs 19:17

Caleb