10 Days until I leave

It has been two weeks since I wrote my first blog post. I have been meaning to write more but I have been running non-stop trying to finish up my semester. I just finished my last final on Tuesday then I had to work a couple of hours, attend a celebration for a class and pack up all of my belongings and move them into storage. Somehow God allowed me to get everything done, many times with just minutes to spare.

I just wanted to let everyone know how grateful I am for each of you. I have been so blessed already with so many prayers, words of encouragement and financial support. Right now I have $2210 of the financial support that I need. I have been amazed at the generosity of many of you. After opening several responses I nearly cried because I was so touched! I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

Plans for the trip seem to be coming a long quite smoothly. I now have the schedule for the first month and a pretty solid plan for the rest of my time. I am so excited to go! Here is my schedule for the first month of the trip. I am leaving Minneapolis on June 6^th then I will be traveling with Becca for almost two days until we finally reach Uganda.

Date	Activity
8th-June	Arrival
	Orientation and Tour of ARM projects & GCC Campus
	Check-in @ LHBH Guest wing
9th-JUNE--16th JUNE	Serving at Loving Hearts Babies Home (LHBH)
17th JUNE	Travel to Bethany Village
	Tour Bethany Village
18th JUNE- 25th JUNE	Serve in Bethany Village (Homes, primary School, Child development Centre)
26th June	Sightseeing in Jinja (Source of the Nile and Bujagali) with a team from Higher vision Church USA)
	Sleep at LHBH
27th June	Attend Sunday Church Service
28th June- 29th June	Visit an ARM CDP Project, interact with projects works, have lunch with them, visit children's home and pray with them
30th June	Shopping in African Crafts
1st July	Becca leaves and Kim goes to stay with Pennie.

For the next 10 days until I leave I will be at home with my family. I haven’t been home since I left for school at the end of January. I am really looking forward to seeing all of my family, spending some time on the lake, catching up on sleep and relaxing from this semester.

That is about all I have for now. If you are interested in e-mailing me now or when I am in Uganda please use kimberlyinuganda@yahoo.com.

T-minus 24 days

Since this is my first post I thought that I would get everyone up to speed on everything that has been happening since I sent out my support letter at the end of April.

First of all I have set my travel dates. I will be in Uganda for a total of 9 weeks. I leave Minneapolis on June 6th and I will return on August 7th. This gives me a couple of weeks to spend with my family before and after my trip instead of just rushing to and from school.

Secondly I have been in more contact with my new friends in Uganda working for Africa Renewal Ministries and I have learned more about what I will be doing this summer.

I will be spending my first two weeks at Loving Hearts Baby home near Ggaba. This is a home for abandoned babies. I believe that most of our tasks will involve holding babies, changing diapers, feeding and probable any extra things that the regular staff does not have time to do. This ministry is home to over 20 abandoned babies. You can learn more about the program here - www.lovingheartsbabies.com

We will then travel to Bethany village. This village is located along the shores of Lake Victoria. The main focus of Bethany Village is child development. They rescue children from the streets of Kampala and bring them to the village where the put them into a home, feed them, clothe them, give them an education and teach them spiritually. This village seeks to meet all the needs of the children for now and when they grow up. These children are taught sustainable agriculture and some animal husbandry skills. Currently there are 509 children and 72 youth involved at bethany village. The school has 408 enrolled students. I am not sure exactly what my tasks at Bethany Village will be but I know that I will be investing in the lives of many of the young women who are loving at Bethany Village. To learn a little more about this ministry go to http://www.africarenewal.org/ARM/main.htm and click on Bethany.

After some time at Bethany Village I will be traveling to Mityana Uganda to spend two weeks with Peninah (pronounced Pennie). I met Pennie on my trip to Uganda in 2006. She was 4 years old and the most precious little girl in the whole world. I instantly fell in love. Since that trip I have been supporting Pennie by paying her school fees. We also send letters and gifts back and fourth. I have come to love this little girl and her family as if they were my own. During my time with their family I will mostly just be enjoying Ugandan culture. I am so excited to be immersed in their culture and learn more about their way of life. I have come to realize that Ugandans have a very different faith than most Americans. I want to learn to see God the way that they do and to love Him more because of this experience. I also just want to have a great time with a very special family.

For the last three weeks of my trip I am planning to go back to work with Africa Renewal Ministries. I will be working with a woman who ministers to Muslims near Kampala. I don't know much about this part of the trip yet but I am very excited. This semester at Biola I took an introduction to Islam class and it has made a huge impact in my life. I am so excited to be able to spend some time just being with these Muslim women and getting to know them.

God has been blessing me in incredible ways so far in the planning and preperation part of this trip. I have received almost 25% of the financial portion of this trip and I have dozens of people committed to praying for me. There are so many people that have come along side of me to encourage me through this whole process. I can not even begin to describe how blessed I am!

That is about all I have so far. It is hard to believe that I will be leaving in 24 days!!! I have a lot of school work still to do to finish this semester well. I will try my best to keep you all updated at least once a week. Thank you again for all of your support!

Striving to serve diligently,

Kimberly