Omega Week 3 Update
Week 3 began with a huge celebration of Rena’s baptism and Team Omega’s commissioning. Also, on Sunday, most of Team Omega taught our College & Career Life Group while Luis preached the sermon to our Spanish fellowship.
Monday was our last full day of formal training at CHBC. Kristen was really impressed with how well the Omega interns embraced the training simulations; they exceeded her expectations in coming together as a team and being ALL IN as they immersed themselves in “Omegastan” with humble, teachable spirits. After learning about healthy personal relationships and beginning with the end in mind from Jerry, we debriefed our 2-week training with a few exercises. While listening to Steven Curtis Chapman’s songs “For the Sake of the Call” and “Burn the Ships,” each Omega intern declared what they needed to surrender on their white flag and created a power poster that answered the question: What’s in your backpack?
On Tuesday, Jerry loaded us and all our luggage into one van before leading in a time of prayer over us before we embarked for New Orleans.
We visited New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the French Quarter. For one (Luis), it was his first gumbo; for others, their first beignets.
Then, finally, on Wednesday, June 12, after more than 6 months of preparing, Team Omega departed for Uganda! And after 32 hours of travel, we actually made it – with all our bags!!! We even managed to finish our study of Nehemiah along the way.
The Edgars welcomed us at the airport and transported us to a guest house in Entebbe. Next, on Friday, we drove to Abaana’s Hope, near Gulu; it only took us ALL day – about 9 hours with stops. Fighting jet lag in the moving van was probably the hardest challenge we have had as a team so far – ask Lauren and Rena. We experienced our first squatty potty, and a baboon (a very large monkey) jumped on top of our van as we crossed over the Nile River.
On Saturday, we had a 2.5-hour tour of the entire ministry campus, followed by a 2-hour orientation. In the afternoon, Anthony and Luis played football (soccer) while the rest of us worked on various projects, including laundry and this team update. Abi worked on pictures; Lauren prepared our House Duty schedule. After our dinner, we had “O Time,” our Omega team time. After Corrin led our devotion in Ecclesiastes, Gibson announced, “I’m tired of sitting; I’m ready to get my hands dirty!” This was Gibson-speak (or GWV, the Gibson Welch Version) for “I’m excited about next week,” which was what everyone else said. And if we are being honest, a few of us are a little nervous too.
Thank you for praying for us. Please pray that our bodies adjust to our new time zone 8 hours ahead of Mississippi. Pray that we will drink enough water to keep our bodies healthy in this heat near the equator and at an elevation of 3,300 ft above sea level. Also, pray as we enter this first week of ministry on the field. We will all try every department of Abaana’s Hope and ask the Spirit to guide us to the specific department that we will invest in for the next month.
Onward and Upward,
Kristen White on behalf of Team Omega
