Right Now: Uganda

Brad Evans said his first mission trip to the east African nation of Uganda six years ago led to “divine inspiration.”
Basic needs in the country ravished by poverty, sickness and hunger weren’t being met. Many of the people clung to ancient superstitions and tribal religions.
In a dream, “Right Now: Uganda” came to him as the name for a project he and other volunteers from Kentucky have undertaken in the country. Evans, 44, survived lymphatic cancer 14 years ago and said he was touched at how the community pulled together to help his family in their time of need. The experience made him want to do more with his life.
“I told my wife there’s something bigger to this than just fundraisers for me,” Evans said. “It showed me how people can come together.”
The first trip, comprised of 22 missionaries, was a chance to get a grip on the situation in Uganda.
“When we went on that first trip, we didn’t really know what to expect,” Evans said. “We did a lot of open air evangelism and just got to know the people. We seen such a need that on future trips, we started organizing medical teams to go over and other things. It’s been amazing what’s happened there.”
Evans and 10 other volunteers will leave today for Uganda. After an 18-hour series of flights ending at the country’s main airport, they will travel to Seeta – a village in the south central portion of the country – to help improve an orphanage that cares for 500 children. The group will return Sept. 2.
The trip is the second part of a five-year plan to improve the area. The orphanage serves as a school as well as living quarters for the children. The group will install solar panels for light, shower stalls and dig a well that will provide filtered water to the building.
Sherry Daniels, a member of 17th Street Christian Church in Corbin, is making her third trip to Uganda this year. She also went in 2003 and 2004. She said there are 1.2 million orphaned children in Uganda. Many are left parentless by a rampant AIDS epidemic in the country.
“It’s just where God has called me to be. I think that’s the feeling of all the volunteers,” Daniels said. “The general population there is just so in need. They live in a very humble atmosphere … they live on so little amount of food everyday and they don’t get medical care. We are trying to make an impact because their needs are so great.”
Daniels said many people in the country are uneducated. Basic human rights are often ignored and the legal system is dysfunctional. People often follow the advice of “witch doctors” that rely more on tribal myth than modern wisdom. Much of the country is also Muslim, something Daniels said volunteers are attempting to offer an alternative to.
“It’s bad there, but the people are so caring … so willing to do anything it takes to live,” she said. “They are willing to walk three miles to attend a church service. We beg people in America to go to church.”
Daniels said all missionaries receive appropriate inoculations before leaving to prevent contracting disease. And precautions are taken during their stay to reduce chance of infection. She said while the country can be dangerous, and lawless at times, she’s never been threatened or hurt. Once, authorities came to the orphanage and demanded to see passports, but quickly left.
Missionaries eat with the locals – mostly beans, small potatoes and rice cooked over fire. Accommodations are sparse, but adequate, consisting of a small hotel room with a shower, commode, but no air conditioning. It is winter in Uganda now, but the temperature still often soars into the 90s.
The orphanage, run by a Ugandan Church of God minister, is too small for the number of children it holds. Daniels said in future trips, the group hopes to build a girls dormitory to ease overcrowding pressures.
“They don’t have a social services system. If we saw a three-year-old sleeping in the street here, we’d be appalled and we’d pick that child up and take it to the nearest foster care center or call a social worker,” Daniels said. “In Uganda, there is no home. There’s nothing unless people like us go over there and do something about it.”
Evans said Daniels is just one example of many that make up a diverse group crossing denominations. Volunteers from Main Street Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Hopewell Church of God and 17th Street Christian Church are all going on this trip along with members of Parkway Church of God, where Evans has been a member since 1989.
Since the first trip in 2000, three different missions have broken off from the original group and now go at different times during the year. Evans said he thinks Right Now: Uganda is likely to undergo a big boost as two members of Men and Women of Action, a Tennessee based group that organizes mission trips worldwide, are going on this year’s trip to Uganda.
“I think once they share what’s going on, the groups are going to be bigger.”
Evans said he believes Christian efforts in Uganda are starting to pay dividends with diseases, particularly AIDS, on the decline, improved services and facilities.
“For revival to break forth in the United States, it’s going to come from an African country,” he said. “Uganda, Kenya and the Sudan, all of that area has broken out in revival. It’s just amazing what changes are going on over there.”
Cost per volunteer for the trip is about $3,200. Anyone that would like offer financial support to Right Now: Uganda can do so by calling 523-1271 or by sending a check to Parkway Church of God in Corbin with a memo stating the money is to be earmarked for the mission.