On Sunday, we went to church in a village outside Soroti called Kakise. We worshipped in a packed church for 4 hours. It's was awesome -I think it's the way church is meant to be! We sang, danced, heard the Bible preached, prayed, and danced some more. At one point, we were all dancing with our chairs above our heads. It was wild and fun. So much joy!

During the service, 4 women responded to the gospel and our team prayed with them to accept Jesus. Then we invited people to receive prayer for healing in their bodies. Dozens of people came forward, and every member of our team began laying hands on people and praying for them. Lots of people were touched by the prayers, but my highlight was when Nathan Eagan prayed for a man with hearing problems and God completely healed his ears! Praise God!

In the evening in Kakise, we played another outreach soccer match and had a crusade. Thousands of spectators surrounded the field, there were even people in the trees watching the game. Myself and Danny Rowe shared testimonies during halftime, proclaiming the good news of Jesus over loudspeakers to a silent audience of Ugandans. In the second half, we played really well and won the game 2-1. 

I scored a goal, but my real highlight came after the game. When the final whistle blew, I was immediately surrounded by a crowd of Ugandans. I shared the gospel with them again and asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus. One boy pushed his way through the crowd and knelt down on the ground in front of me. I got to pray with him to receive Jesus right there on the soccer field. Praise God!

Monday was a travel day; we said tearful goodbyes to our Sports Outreach friends from Soroti, and got on the bus to Gulu. This is a city recovering to years of terror and war from Joseph Kony and his army of child soldiers -the LRA. When we arrived on the 40 acre farm that serves as home-base for Sports Outreach Northern Uganda, we were greeted by about 30 teenage girls singing and dancing for us. These girls had all been physically and sexually abused, and lived on the farm as part of a recovering program. They were all so beautiful!

We are excited for a day of ministry tomorrow in Gulu!

Danny Thompson 

Saturday:
Today we had a service day in a new town to Sports Outreach. We traveled on a long, bumpy, dirt road for about an hour. When we finally arrived, we saw the  town was filled with life. We started off by worshiping and fellowshipping with locals in a church. Singing and dancing with them was awesome, and we could clearly see their hearts for God! Once devotional time had finished, we walked to the local hospital. We picked up trash on the grounds, and many of us walked through the hospital ward to pray for healing for the sick. Now, to give you a better picture of this hospital, completely disregard your mental image of the American hospital. Here, they had just a few smaller buildings in the same vicinity. The buildings had two rooms, connected by a small hall in the middle. The two larger rooms had two rows of beds on either side, filled with patients. Many of the patients had family members sleeping on the floor next to them.  The family members were the only ones whoprovided food and were responsible for some of the care for the patient. It was eye-opening for all of us who walked through. During the prayer walk, we prayed and encouraged the patients; we told them how much God loves them, and shared the gospel, for some, for the very first time. It was a powerful opportunity which helped us step outside of our American comfort zones and into the faith that God has planted us in!
That afternoon there were two soccer games: one girls and one boys. Lisa, Moriah, Karin and Courtney played in the girls game. Danny, Tyler, Nathan, Danny and Matt played in the guys. The scores don't matter because we are only playing to win hearts for Jesus. The soccer matches provided another opportunity for us to share and demonstrate Jesus' love on the field. At halftime in each game, a member of each of the four participating soccer teams shared a testimony. It was amazing to hear how God is working in both American and Ugandan lives! After soccer, Sports Outreachled a crusade, sharing the gospel through worship and preaching, and again we were blessed to see Ugandans meet and commit to Christ for the first time!! It's exciting to see how we can help others see their need for Jesus!
Tomorrow we take on our first Sunday in Uganda!

Uganda team

Friday was a busy day, but it was full of excitement. The day began with a short drive over to pastor George's church and home. This was our first experience right inside a Ugandan church, and it was quite different than American churches. The floors were dusty, the seats were uncomfortable, the humidity was killer, and there was only a layer of bricks separation us from outside. And yet, it was one of the best and most enjoyable services I have ever been to. One thing Ugandans will always beat Americans at is making the best of any situation. They are constantly joyful and thankful for what they have. Pastor G gave a great sermon and we sang some very catchy Ugandan tunes. Afterwords, we were invited into pastor George's house for tea, ground nuts, and cookies. We all crammed into his tiny yet cozy living room and enjoyed some snacks and reflection time. We played outside with the kids for a little bit before departing to visit a school. We were supposed to meet the mayor at the school, but schedules conflicted and we missed him. We have learned that the Ugandans are not quite as time sensitive as Americans. We still visited the school, which had probably around 800 small kids, all going crazy to play with us. We were swarmed with them as soon as we arrived. They wanted nothing more than to look at us and our recognition left them with the greatest smile. We played games and did group chants with them until the water filter demonstration. We gave a sawyer water filter to the school to use, and they seemed very impressed with it! After praying for the school faculty, we began our departure for our next location. The kids chased our bus, smiling and laughing, as we left. After lunch we set sail for another school with our divine stars soccer players to do some more sports clinics. After a few soccer drills, two scrimmages, and other activities including frisbee and hair braiding, we concluded the clinic. We prayed for the players, most of which were Christian, and left for another partner church. This new church was similar in atmosphere to the last, but again the spirit of God was so alive. Right from the start there was singing and dancing, and it went on and on. Most Americans would not last two consecutive Sundays in a Ugandan church. They have so much energy and are so on fire for the Lord. Some of the team met up with some local soccer players and after proving themselves worthy with some cool tricks, got to play in a game. We all made our way into the church for the sermon, then of course more singing and dancing. As the night grew closer and the service came to a close, we said goodbye to some old and some new friends. Another long day but it was beyond worth the energy spent. 

Team Uganda 

Today we were able to have our first real outreach experience in Uganda. We walked to the Soroti Stadium, which is more like a patchy grass and dirt field, where there were already people waiting for us. We all greeted one another and introduced ourselves. One of the Ugandan men shared a devotional, and we all were led in worship by a few Ugandans. During the devotional, the man speaking referred to our team as twelve disciples (there are indeed twelve of us). This stuck out for a lot of us, and encouraged us greatly! After devos and worship, we set up a sports clinic with five stations-field hockey, volleyball, frisbee, and of course, two with soccer. Those participating rotated through the stations and enjoyed every sport they played. Their smiles and laughs were seen and heard by all! Once the last station was finished, we took the groups we had off the field to shade to talk. Testimonies, the gospel and bible verses were shared, and two kids came to know Christ through this time of sharing. In the afternoon our group traveled to a nearby high school where we performed a skit in order to share the gospel. Afterwards, we did a Sawyer water filter demonstration, and were able to donate a filter to the school, so they would be able to have clean water to drink.
And so came the soccer match. Although the day was long and we were tired, we were still focused and excited for it. We were lucky enough to play a Ugandan club soccer team on one of the better fields in Soroti. Before beginning, we set our team goals straight. We were not there only focused on winning, but rather to use our abilities and play this game as a way to glorify God. Of course we still wanted to win, but we were glorifying Him no matter the outcome. The field was lined with fans for both teams, most of them being children. The cheering was loud, as was the laughter when we made bad plays.   The pace was fast and the weather was hot, but the sun was setting and it made for noteworthy conditions. Playing with the club team was an amazing opportunity and although we lost 1-0 (off of a penalty kick), it was great to play in the setting we did. After praying the with other team, we joined the community for a time of worship. We danced with so many children who were just overjoyed to be with us. Their music is different but so fun and active. They crowded around each of us and would look for an open spot to hold on. Kids, teenagers, and adults were all so welcoming and happy to have us. We worked our way up to the stage and each introduced ourselves. A few of us gave our testimonies and then shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor George came to the stage and began sharing more of it, which was an inspirational moment. God was speaking through him in a way that really spoke to everyone. He invited all of the kids who wished to be saved to come up in front of the stage. No less than 60 kids proceeded forward and raised their hands when he asked them to. We all went and prayed with kids, teenagers, and adults. When it was time to leave, the kids hardly let us get back on the bus. Our leaders were extremely proud of us for stepping out of our comfort zone so early on in the trip. This is a special group who is capable of special things and we are beyond excited to see what God has in store for us for the rest of the trip. 
Keep looking for more blogs! We are doing great things! 

Tyler and Moriah 

Greetings! 

It is currently Thursday morning and we are in Soroti, Uganda, at last! On our last post, we had just landed in Amsterdam and were getting ready to fly to Nairobi, Kenya. We safely made it to Nairobi after another long flight, but unfortunately there were a few mix ups and confusion with flights while in Nairobi and trying to get to Entebbe, Uganda. Long story short, we were somehow booked for a flight that left at the about the same time that we had just arrived at the airport, making it impossible to get off one plane and onto the other. However, our flight itinerary told us our actual flight wasn't leaving for about two hours after our arrival in Kenya. Luckily we were aware of this situation early because once we attempted to book the plane (the one we thought we were on and had time to get to) they told us we were not supposed to be on this one. We went to a costumer service-like desk and were informed of all of this, and began to get a little anxious. They said they might be able to squeeze some of us on the plane that we originally thought we were on, but no guarantees. So we waited for a response and began thinking we might end up sleeping in an airport in Kenya. While waiting, we met a few cool Kenyan shop workers who helped take our mind off the situation. As time drew closer to the departure time of the plane we wanted to be on, we decided we couldn't leave our fate in the hands of the airport, but rather we had to pass it on to God. We circled up in the middle of the airport and prayed for safety in whatever the outcome there is, and that we could get on our plane to Entebbe, Uganda. Not too much longer later, we were told there were spots for all of us and the airport began printing out boarding passes. We got our passes and literally ran to get to our plane. Even though the boarding time was long overdue, they helped us on the plane and we were off to Entebbe! It was only about an hour long flight and we arrived a little bit before 12:30. We were met there by Don and Sam, a missionary from Oregon and one from Uganda who have a passion for missionary work and Jesus. We walked to the parking lot and met our van, Rosa, and bus driver, Steven. Before heading to our hotel, we prayed. Too often prayer only comes in a time of need and not often enough do we thank God for the prayers he answered. We arrived to our hotel, got unpacked, and to our surprise had air conditioning and a shower! Although we only had 4 or 5 hours to sleep, we were beyond thankful to have the accommodations we did and to finally sleep in a horizontal position.  

We were able to sleep in a bed for the first time since Sunday night, and it was fantastic, even though it was only for a couple of hours. Wednesday morning we awoke, and we're served breakfast in the hotel. Eggs, French toast, fresh pineapple, and banana were just a few things on the menu. We then set out on an eleven hour bus trek to Soroti. The trip was characterized by traffic, speed bumps, lots of interesting conversation, and taking in the surrounding Ugandan culture. We stopped a few hours into our journey to see the starting point of the Nile River. Fun fact: it takes three months for the water that starts at this point to reach the Mediterranean Sea! After this we got back on the bus and continued traveling. For lunch, we stopped at a hotel where we were able to eat some Ugandan food and experience different tastes! Once again, we got back on the bus, and a few hours later, we arrived in Soroti. We were assigned rooms in the hotel, ate supper, and were able to shower and get to sleep by 10! It was a much-needed good night's sleep!

Today, we finally have the opportunity to hangout with the kids and play some sports! Look for our next post soon! 

Tyler and Moriah 

Greetings from Amsterdam!
The Aroma (a revolution on missional athletes, in case you forgot) Uganda team has safely conquered our first flight into the Netherlands! We are now preparing to get on our next flight into Nairobi, Kenya (and we are STOKED).
But let's back up a little bit and talk about the preparations we went through during our training. For most of us, Sunday could not come soon enough. The excitement everyone had to get the ball rolling was so intense and the spirit of God has been so real. We began with a classic DTR (define the relationship) with God and some personal reflection time. Over the course of training we were constantly reminded and challenged to find out what we want out of this trip. A lot of our training was discussion about what we can expect, challenges we will face, and goals we want to achieve throughout the trip. Everyone's answers were a little different, but it was very clear that we are all excited to spread the amazing word of God. After drenching our clothing with bug repellant stuff (provided by Sawyer, one of our sponsors who figuratively rocks), we headed to coach McCarty's house (Men's soccer coach, super nice family) for some dinner, games, and a chance to share our testimonies. It was amazing how we were all able to open up to each other, even though most of us weren't that close. This really set the tone for what this group is capable of. Early Monday morning we were challenged with daunting task of running a huge cross all around campus. It required team work and perseverance and it represented our team unity and our ability to rely on God to help overcome challenges. It also represented his forgiveness, when our leaders told us we didn't have to run it up the biggest hill on campus even though we thought we had to. After some breakfast, more preparatory discussion, and a great lunch, we were ready to go.
Now, back to Amsterdam! Most of us lost sleep over the course of traveling and had to dig to find motivation just to find a bite to eat. However, God does not waste time and he is already showing his presence. As our group was sitting waiting for our flight to board, a long haired blonde man walked up and asked what organization we were with. He saw Sawyer across the back of one of our shirts and pulled out a Sawyer water filter that he uses also. I recognized the man, but last time I saw him his hair was shorter, and I had no idea if he would know who I was, but I took a chance. I got up, walked over to him and he introduced himself as Justin. I simply asked back, "Justin Wren. I'm Moriah Pfautz, and we were at a Christian DTS together in Colorado!" He immediately knew who I was, and shared what God was doing in his life. Justin is on his way to Congo with his own missions organization that works within the Pygmy people group. Long story short, the two of us were able to share our plans for our times in Uganda and Congo. Before he had to find his gate for his flight, our team prayed for him, and that God would continue to work through him and the work he does in Congo.
God is already at work, and it is amazing that He was able to orchestrate Justin and our team meeting to encourage each other before we embark on the journey the Lord has for all of us! It is incredible how God works in this way. As Albert Einstein said, coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. This is just the start to what God has planned for our group and we are all beyond excited to continue this already amazing trip.
Just so you know....we will blog as much as we can, but wifi will not be available everyday. Keep looking for updates!

Tyler and Moriah