Update: South Sudan

I am back home in Kampala after an amazing trip to Jonglei and Upper Nile State, South Sudan. Thank you all for your prayers during my travel with Food for the Hungry (FH). The assessment trip was successful and I am excited to continue the process to recruit a small team that I will lead in November. We will to return to South Sudan for the disaster risk reduction project trip to work with FH as they support farmers who were devastated by flooding last year. In addition to a civil engineer to design strategies for protecting the crops and villages, we hope to bring an agricultural engineer to explore the option of using the floods as a blessing to produce water loving crops like rice.

I met some dedicated, generous, and loving people on the trip who are committed to the development of the world's newest country, a war torn nation with enormous potential and a long road ahead. Please continue to pray for my new friends at FH in Juba and Malakal, working under difficult conditions to bring the love of Jesus Christ to South Sudan. Alloys Amolo, a Kenyan who previously worked with FH in Mozambique will be leading the project to train farmers and educate the communities on disaster reduction techniques.

Part of our multi-cultural team: (From left) Abebe, FH staff from Ethiopia, myself, and Alloys, FH staff from Kenya. There are also FH staff from Uganda, Rwanda, and of course South Sudan. The communities are inaccessible by road during the rainy season, so we spent many hours on the river.

Stay tuned, I plan to write a more detailed post about the project after the November trip. If you have any questions about the work we are doing at EMI, please email me. I would love to hear from you! 

In the meantime, please continue to pray for our work here.  I will be co-leading a project trip here in Uganda September 8-19. Our 10 person team of volunteers, staff, and interns will design a master site plan and buildings for an orphaned children’s village on a 25 acre hilltop property near Bulo, less than 2 hours drive from Kampala. The Ayinza Project is a ministry birthed out of Bridge a Life (www.bridgealife.com), a Christian support organization for adoptive and foster families.

Thank you all for your continued prayers as I serve with EMI in East Africa. Please join my support team! You can make a donation on line at www.emiworld.org. Just click DONATE and follow the prompts. (Detailed instructions can be found at the "Become a Partner" link to the right.)

With Joy,

Anna Rose

A farmer prepares a berm to protect his crops from impending flooding from the Nile River. I hope to explore the option of using the floods to plant crops like rice when we return with the team in November.

I made a new friend in the village of Toch. The South Sudanese depend on their cattle for livlihood. Many cows were lost last year in the floods.

Prayer for Projects

I am excited to announce upcoming EMI team project trips I will be leading this term! Please pray with me as volunteers are selected and preparations are made. I am blessed to be part of the work The LORD is doing with these ministries.

Please take a few minutes to read through the project descriptions on our website.

http://emiea.org/projects/projectprofile_9148.shtm

I will be traveling to South Sudan in August with Food for the Hungry for a preliminary assessment trip for the disaster risk reduction project which will take place in November. 

http://emiea.org/projects/projectprofile_9145.shtm

And the children's village project with Bridge a Life is set for September. 

Could you or someone you know join one of these teams?

Are you interested in sponsoring an EMI project?

Would you consider joining my support team? 

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Me and intern Meggie sporting the new EMI East Africa t-shirts.

Fish and Chips

One of the things I enjoy about living in Kampala is that I am always seeing and learning new places in the city. Last Sunday after church I went with friends down to the landing on Lake Victoria. Just a few blocks from where I worship every Sunday, I found a whole new (to me) world. There by the lake is a bustling fish market where hundreds of people were trading. They buy fresh fish right off the boats from a guy in white gum boots, standing on a table, auctioning in Luganda (the local language).

Ugandans wearing world famous Varnamtown Reeboks.

 We sat down in plastic chairs at a little table just across from this scene and asked the lady who came to us, “What do you have?” This is how you order food at a restaurant in Uganda. They may have a menu, but that doesn't mean they have the food that is listed. You always ask this question first.

She proudly replied, “Fish.” 

“What size?” was our next question.  

“Medium, big, and extra,” she answered. 

Since I had no idea what “Big” really meant, I looked at the man at the next table with a 12” long fish (head and tail included, of course) on the plastic platter in front of him. “What size is that one?” I motioned to him.

Lunch!

“For 12,000 (Ugandan shillings),” which is about $4.65. “Ok, I’ll have that one, with chips and salads.” For all you Americans, that’s French fries. In Uganda, salads usually means cut up vegetables, in this case, tomatoes, onions, and shredded cabbage piled up on top of the fish. We all ordered up and just a few short minutes later, had huge platters of hot fried fish in front of us. Delicious. I may not be in Calabash, but was GOOD!

I had never been to this place before because we have a guy who brings fish around to us every week. I heard it was a bit overwhelming to go down there so I avoided it. In the rush of living, working, and doing, I missed this experience all together until an adventurous friend invited me to come eat with her (thanks Angela!).

So I encourage you all to get out there and go see where your fish comes from! It may be overwhelming, but I imagine it will be well worth the experience.

Testimony: Kilimanjaro

One definition of “testimony” says “proof; something that supports a fact or a claim.” Another says “public avowal; a public profession of Christian faith or religious experience.”   It’s a word that Ugandan Christians use frequently and are very comfortable with.  Often during local church services, the Pastor will invite anyone with a testimony to come up and share it with the congregation.  People share all sorts of personal ways that God is working in their lives, from His provision in matters of finance to physical healing to spiritual peace through adverse, often life threatening, circumstances.

The EMI climb Kili Team on Day 1 at the trail head. (photo credit David Hoskinson)

I have an amazing testimony that covers both of these definitions. The climb to the highest point in Africa on Mount Kilimanjaro was successful.  Our entire team of 14 reached the summit at Uhuru Peak, 19,341 feet above sea level!   I have heard that the success rate on the route we took (called Lemosho) is about 92%.  So statistically, at least one of us should not have seen the stunning glaciers at the peak.  But by God’s sweet grace and amazing mercy, we all made it!  

The mountain is a beautiful place and it was a joy to be enveloped in God's incredible creation, camping on terrain that I had never before witnessed.  There are a few plants that only grow on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and our guides pointed them out as we passed them.  We went through 5 ecological zones (rainforest, heath, moorland, alpine dessert, and arctic) on the 8 day, 40 mile hike. 

Jumping across swampy place on Day 2.

Senecio trees.

Taking a break.

(photo credit David Hoskinson)

(photo credit David Hoskinson)

Day 3, we still have a long way to go. (photo credit David Hoskinson)

The team, along with our 4 guides, hiked the first 5 days, gradually rising each day up about 13,000 feet.

(photo credit David Hoskinson)

On the 6th day we made a short 3 hour hike in the morning up to camp at 15,000 feet.  Then we rested and went to bed early after supper, around 5 pm.  We woke a few hours later to eat "breakfast", and around 11 pm started the slow ascent up the final 4,000 feet of elevation change to the summit.

It was very cold and difficult to breathe, especially for the last few hours, because of the very low oxygen levels at that elevation.  We arrived at Uhuru just before sunrise, around 5:50 am.  It was freezing cold and very windy at the top but we were all thrilled to be there!

Here's the testimony.  Do you see me?

Glacier at the summit. (photo credit David Hoskinson)

View of the rim of a crater at the summit. (photo credit David Hoskinson)

 After a very short photo session at the summit (less than 10 minutes!), we returned back down the mountain to camp, which only took about 2 hours.  Then we had a short rest and lunch and another 3 hour hike down to the next camp.  In all, we hiked about 13 miles with 9,000 feet of elevation change in less than 24 hours.

Veiw of Mount Muru from at sunrise from the summit.

It was the most difficult time I have ever experienced physically.  But it was well worth it!  I learned an even deeper dependence on the Lord during my time on the mountain.  He carried me through a physical challenge that I would not have even attempted on my own.  Jesus was with me every step.

God used that time to show me to seek Him above ALL else.  The verse He continually brought me back to was Jeremiah 29:13.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.

As you know from my previous post, the climb was a fundraiser for the EMI East Africa building fund campaign, Build Africa Together.  Praise God, over $49,000 was donated!  Thank you all for your generosity as you partner with EMI.  Please pray for this effort as we continue to raise funds and plan for this exciting new building project!

Kilimanjaro!

Monday I will begin an 8 day trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.  The opportunity to make this once in a lifetime journey comes as a fundraiser for our office, Engineering Ministries International – East Africa.  

The common meaning for KILIMANJARO is “shining mountain” in Swahili.  Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain on the African continent and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. 

Following the Lemosho route, we will hike through 6 ecological zones found on the mountain: cultivated land, rain forest, heath, moorland, alpine desert and an arctic summit.  We ascend for 6 days, hiking through the night under a full moon to summit at dawn on the 7^th day.  The last 2 days are spent descending.  The length of the journey is intended to assist in gradual acclimatization.  Our experience will be much different than the fastest round trip which was accomplished in 2004, when local guide Simon Mtuy went up and down the mountain in 8 hours and 27 minutes!

Approximately 25,000 people attempt to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro annually. About two-thirds of those are successful. Altitude-related sickness is the most common reason climbers turn back.  Please pray for the health and safety of our team, 14 climbers including staff, interns, volunteers, and friends of EMI East Africa, January 21 – 28 as we make this climb.  

The mountain’s snow caps are diminishing, having lost more than 80 percent of their mass since 1912. Scientists estimate that they may be completely ice free within the next 20 years.  No matter what the reason for the change, the mountain will never look quite like it does today.  I am grateful for the occasion to experience the beauty of God’s creation from the rooftop of Africa.

Please join us in prayer for our fundraising efforts as well.  All donations for the climb are to benefit Build Africa Together, a campaign to raise funds to construct a new EMI facility here in Uganda.  The planned office building and workshop will allow us to better serve our ministry partners, proclaiming the love of Jesus Christ to the poor throughout East Africa.  

The strategic location of the facility will allow for new and expanded initiatives:  

• Development of African design professionals  
• Research and development of sustainable building design and water and sanitation technologies
•  Disaster relief
• A growing construction management program

Would you consider partnering with us in this fundraising effort?  My personal fundraising goal is $5,000.  If you would like to make a donation, make checks payable to “EMI” with “Kilimanjaro-1528, McPherson” in the memo.  Mail to:
 EMI
130 East Kiowa Street, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO  80903.

You can also donate on line at http://www.emiworld.org.

Click on the “Donate” button.  Select “Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb – 1528” from the first drop down menu and my name from the subcategory menu that appears.

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support!

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you and all the trees will clap their hands.  Isaiah 55:12.