2018 - Spring Newsletter
Sarah Fulgham is a past CTP (Community Transformation Project) member who was excited and willing to share about her experience in Uganda! She has been on several mission trips, including ones to China, Mexico, Italy, and inner city Houston. Uganda was different than the previous mission trips Sarah had been a part of. We asked her to share some stories about the CTP and what made this trip different.
One thing that Sarah misses most from Uganda is the relationships she had with the people there. She reminisced about how genuine and relational they were.
The CTP team visited Wings of Hope Christian Academy during the first half of the mission trip. They played games with the students, showed the teachers some different teaching techniques they could use in their classrooms, and got to just spend time with everyone. One of the activities the team was involved in was going to the school to read a book with the students and teachers. They purchased a book written by a Ugandan author from a local book distributor. They brought enough copies for there to be one book per two students -- rather than only the teacher having a copy of the book. Typically, the teacher has to take the time to write out a few paragraphs on the board and discuss each section, just to have to erase it and start over for the next few paragraphs. Having more books to go around, they were able to go through it much quicker. The students and teachers were so thankful that at the end of the week they put on a performance and showed the CTP members how happy and appreciative they were for them just being present.
Just “being present” is how Sarah describes SWOH. She expressed how it is different than other mission trips she has been on. “Most people ask what we’ll be doing. They expect to hear that it’s a medical mission trip or that we’re going to teach English. But SWOH is about being present. It’s about loving on the students, teachers, patients, and people at the guest houses. It’s about being Christians wherever we’re at and loving people. To see where they’re hurting and where they need love. Now, we do have a focus, but the main focus is to engage the culture and enrich the community.” Simply put, ministry of presence is what differentiates this Ugandan CTP from other mission trips. Rather than going to Uganda to “do,” we go there to “be with.”