Five of us have just returned from Uganda, where we spent 2 weeks developing and cultivating a relationship with African Renewal Ministries, an organization Antioch wants to begin a partnership with.  ARMS was established in 1990 by Pastor Peter Kasirivu.  His vision was to develop “Next Generation” Christian leaders in Africa who could transform society and ultimately change their world.  African Renewal Ministries is able to do this through a number of programs within their organization such as child sponsorship, which provides education, food and clean water.  Another program is village adoption; it involves a church, usually from the U.S., adopting a village in a particular area and establishing schools, medical facilities, clean water and some form of agriculture.  As Antioch prepared to get involved in missions these programs within ARMS were one of the major draws for us.

The goal of this trip was to find an area of Arms which Antioch could become involved in, based primarily on need.  Prior to traveling to Uganda, some of Antioch’s leaders had met with Pastor Fred from ARMS and had selected two villages to visit and possibly consider for sponsoring.  These villages, in ARM’S mind, were located in some of the most desperate areas and were in considerable need—that’s exactly what we were looking for.

 
One of the villages, Kachungwa is located in Uganda’s Bush area.  It is withdrawn from most society and relies heavily on the agriculture that sustains it.  The other village, Rakai, is the location of the first documented AIDS case in Uganda found in 1982.  About 60 percent of the population is under the age of 20 with 15% infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.  It is close to the Tanzania border and is less rural than Kachungwa.  This enables them to be less dependant upon the agricultural immediately around them, with opportunities arising in various trade areas.  This does not make them, however, less in need.



We left on June 5 and arrived in Entebbe, Uganda on the evening of June 6 after over 20 hours of flying.  The following morning, June 7, we left for an overnight trip to Kachungwa.  On Saturday, June 9, we traveled to Bethany Village which is located on a rural peninsula area located across Lake Victoria.  On Sunday, June 10, we were fortunate enough to attend Gaba Community Church which consists of approximately 1,500 people.  Monday, June 11, we again traveled overnight to the village Rakai.  The next two days were spent debriefing with the leadership of ARMS and traveling to the source of the Nile.  On Friday, June 15, we began the grueling trip back to the U.S.

There are so many ways a church like Antioch can get involved.  There are projects as big as building Educational and Medical facilities down to leading and participating in leadership conferences.  There is also no limit to the creativity.   Just because other churches haven’t implemented an idea doesn’t mean that we can’t.  ARMS fully supports any vision we as a church might have.

The first step in our partnership with ARMS is to get involved with Bethany Village.  Bethany Village is about 45 minutes away from Gaba by boat.  It is a rural area inhabited by farmers and fishermen. The director of Bethany Village is Francis, a man bound to a wheelchair due to polio.  He oversees the entire organization including a primary school along with fifteen children's homes, with each home housing 15 children and a house parent.  Bethany Village is also in the process of building a medical clinic.  Their vision for the next phase of Bethany Village consists of building staff quarters and getting another nurse on fulltime.  This is an area that Antioch feels we can assist in, possibly as soon as our next trip.    

The next step is to nail down dates for a trip in February.  We are in constant contact with the leaders of ARMS.  Once those dates are finalized we will begin interviewing and selecting people for the next trip.  Depending on the projects we choose, we will need people who embody those particular skills.  Those going will also need a lot of prayer and financial support.  Look for ways you can get involved including fundraisers like the golf tournament set up on October 13, 2007 at Aspen Lakes.  We are excited about our future with ARMS and look forward to seeing how God is going to use us in the future!