Stories from Greenville Alabama, courtesy of Robin Settle from First UMC!

Mwangaza Visits a Small Town-- Greenville, Alabama

"…with God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) It all began with a letter from a former youth group member requesting support for a trip to Uganda. God lead me to reconnect with this young man, and through this he was able to share with me about his trip and the blessings that he had experienced. I felt God nudging me to ask him to share about his experience in Uganda with the church (his former church as a youth). He did come and share, and the blessings began to pour out in the form of several sponsored children (one of which is ours!), members being touched by this young man’s example, and eventually a saved life. I began talking to this former youth member about my lifelong passion for the children in Africa (having also been influenced by a former pastor from my youth who was a missionary to Africa). Being unable to take a trip to Uganda myself, he suggested that maybe the church host the children’s choir for the next tour. Through many, many prayers and Michelle will tell you, lots of ups and downs, it was such a blessing to see them drive up to the church last Wednesday. I told Kathryn that it was like family that you know you have, but you just haven’t met them yet! They brought Africa to me, and I will forever be grateful! It is also a testimony in itself, for these seven adults to so unselfishly give of themselves and their time to help these twenty precious children sow Jesus’ seeds! Thank you all! So, if this little small town can come together and host Mwangaza, anyone can do it! It is amazing to look back and see God’s hand in it all, and that with Him, all things are possible! What a true blessing it has been!
Keep shining His light, Mwangaza!! With Him, all things are possible!

We love you!!
Written by Robin Settle
First United Methodist Church
Greenville, Alabama

We also went to the Montgomery Zoo with this Church and Robin also wrote a small section on this!

Mwangaza Visits the Zoo
Montgomery, AL ~ March 24, 2011
Lions, and tigers, and……Mwangaza! Oh, my! We had such a blast at the zoo! God blessed us with such perfect weather, and the animals must have known Mwangaza was there! The animals were especially active and some even performed quite a show for us. Each of the children had a favorite, but among them were the lions, snakes, monkeys, and giraffes. My favorite part was the little “serenades” you got as you were walking along to the next exhibit. It is so refreshing to see these children so unashamed and bold in proclaiming the love of Jesus Christ! Keep shining your light for Him! Blessings to all!!!

Robin Settle
FUMC-Greenville

Creation Museum Visit and Cincinnati- A blog from Faith Fellowship Church in Cincinnati

Mwangaza comes to Cincinnati!

This is our second time to host Mwangaza in 2 years and we are very excited! In preparation to their visit we decided to host a Zumbathon to raise money for the ARM organization. Currently Faith Fellowship Church has Zumba classes 2x weekly, averaging 100 in attendance each week for the class. Mary Beth Nishime is the instructor of our Zumba classes. Mary Beth is a very giving person, and when she instructs Zumbathon Fundraisers, she donates every dollar that comes in.

WE HAD 127 in attendance for our Mwangaza Zumbathon on March 3!!! A $5 donation for the class is all that is asked for. WE RAISED $665.00 IN ONE HOUR OF ZUMBA EXERCISE! WOW…God is amazing. The choir could not be with us for this event because they were traveling from another concert, but we did show a couple of their videos from the website to wet the interest of all those in attendance! IT WORKED!

Cincinnati had 3 concerts while they were here. The first one was with BLOC Ministry. BLOC = Believing Living One Christ

Their vision is to serve at-risk students and families -- teens trying to raise themselves because dad was in jail and mom was an alcoholic or drug addict, single moms struggling to figure out how to get the kids to do their homework and stay out of trouble until she got home from work – with limitless personal potential but whose socio-economic, educational or physical needs were unmet or served as obstacles to development. Dr. Dwight and Stephanie Young had worked with youth for 17 years when they began pursuing a neighborhood-based solution to the gap in after school services. BLOC hosted a Saturday afternoon concert, bringing in approx 100 in attendance.

Faith Fellowship Church hosted a concert on Sunday evening March 6. We had approximately 400 in attendance and our love offering was roughly $3200.00. “PRAISE GOD CHURCH”. We loved the concert but like Pastor John says…”the concert is the flower and the hosting is the fruit” when it comes to these amazing children. The flower being like the show and the fruit being the meat and amazing part of the experience.” Hosting is where is really is. The experiences and stories from all of our host families are just awesome. Their love for our God is so pure and honest. These children have impacted us with their joy and love. We will never forget them and can’t wait for a repeat visit! The Green family had the pleasure of hosting 3 girls and the tour leader. “These young ladies were a complete joy to have in our home. Their devotion time touched us deeply. We felt the Holy Spirit consuming us during their time of prayer and worship.” We agree whole heartedly with Pastor Johns comment of hosting. PURE JOY! Another word from one of our host experiences is “indescribable”.

The Creation Museum located near Cincinnati donated enough tickets for the whole group to go. This state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Majestic murals, great masterpieces brimming with pulsating colors and details, provide a backdrop for many of the settings. http://creationmuseum.org

To end their stay in Cincinnati, Church on Fire in Harrison, Ohio hosted them for a concert. Another awesome day with hundreds in attendance. They raised around $8300 and were also equally blessed by these children and their leaders.

We learned they LOVE American pizza and french fries, but also enjoy rice and beans on occasion!

We love you MWANGAZA! Blessings to you as you continue your ministry. Faith Fellowship Church is in our beginning stages of preparing for a missions trip in summer of 2012 to UGANDA!!!! Pray for us as we move forward!

Blessings!

Faith Fellowship Church

Mwangaza Learns How To Swim

When we first fell into the water, none of us(the Mwangaza Choir Ugandan team) knew how to swim. Thank God for Kathryn, Caroline, Seth and Bobbi,our expert swimmers and trainers.

To our advantage the Crowne Plaza hotel pool is also very shallow. Even then, people like me were very scared of the water. And unlike the kids most of whom were wearing swimming costumes for the first time, personally, I was very afraid of taking off my shirt. (Up to now I am still asking Kathryn to get me a Speedo top for men. But she says they are only made for
women.)

At the end of our first visit to the swimming pool all of us got out of the water very excited. We went on boasting to the people we met how we had gone swimming. Truth be told, at our best, we had only splashed the water.

The following day, our expert swimmers spent some good time teaching us in less than 60 minutes all the best swimming styles. That is when we realized the difference between splashing water and swimming.

Anyway, right now, kids like Unity, Belinda and Kasoma can do some good short distances. Namata, Ruth, Dan, Vatican and others are still “expert pretenders” who are so convinced they are “expert swimmers”. (Truthfully, only when they are wearing life jackets, can they do their legs so well like frogs in water.)

Well, personally, just after a few minutes’ visits to the pool, I really think I can now swim as good as uncle Seth. I can float like Auntie Caroline. I can do back strokes like Auntie Bobbi. I can scuba dive like Auntie Kathryn. I don’ care who says I can’t, I know in my dreams I can do
it. (Wamma those who don’t want to hurt my feelings, please cheer me on. Sing to me: “Yes, you can.”

Henry Muguluma

On the Road Again...

Well Choir fans, the last few days have been busy and exciting. Our last days in North Carolina were filled with preparations, packing, and performing. The kids did a great job at Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church for our final concert in NC, but before we got there, we had to ensure our vehicles were ready for the trek to Ohio. I'm sure this is something Jiffy Lube does not get to see everyday!

Meanwhile, we are continuing our trend of giving fast food restaurants something to talk about. This time, we rolled into a Hardees in West Virginia and promptly order in a quantity of twenty. The staff was very pleasant and helpful, and did well in getting our rather large order out efficiently; however I'm sure they will be retelling the story of their visit from Mwangaza for quite some time.

We are definitely thankful for a pleasant trip and safe arrival, even through some high winds that made travel by van a little more arduous at times than we would have liked. But even with that, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery the blue ridge mountains provide, learned at least one car game, and even held our breath through tunnels. Oh yeah, and lots of music...usually played Ugandan style...loud!

Thanks for your continued prayers as we are on the road!

-Seth