"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!!)
Favorite place you've traveled to? southern France and ItalyHidden Talent? baking & putting colors togetherIf you could have a pen pal, who would it be? Julia Child Guilty pleasure? Trying on beautiful shoes and enjoying a chocolate treat in the laundry room with the door locked--definitely a guilty pleasure!What are you most anticipating/excited about traveling to Gulu? My greatest pleasure in traveling stateside or overseas is when I get to spend time with families in their homes and see how they live day to day. I am really excited about getting to visit with the members of our sister church in Gulu. In their homes, we will share meals together and speak encouragement to one another as well as determine the needs of the community and how Midtown Fellowship may help. I am intrigued by how other people/cultures do life. As an American, I think our lives are so separated from the mundane but exhausting tasks of daily survival--what to eat and where to sleep. We so easily forget who ultimately provides those things and we spend our time perseverating over minor inconveniences and superfluous wants. It will be a stretch to put down my cultural baggage and let the Lord teach me a bigger perspective than my little WonderBread life.
But truly my longing is to visit the Home of Love. I am most excited to love on the these children orphaned by AIDS and war and poverty but not abandoned by the Lord. That will not be a stretch. It is something that I have longed and hoped to do for many years. I cannot wait.
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
in these months leading up to our departure, we meet every other Thursday night to not only discuss details & prepare for the trip itself, but to literally become a team- to study the Word, pray with and for one another, and to grow in the gospel, community and service...together. in lieu of our normal meeting this week, we took a little journey across the river to east Nashville. here's a glimpse of our experience from team member Rebekah:
On Thursday night our team met at First Wesleyan Church in East Nashville to help serve dinner and groceries to people in need. A small church service was held in the parking lot after dinner, and I sat there observing all of the worn faces as the sun set over the city. It hit me that going to Uganda is way easier for me to think about right now than living a life of service here in my community. The Uganda trip can sound glamorous- an exotic place, a great team, and lots of support from family and friends. There was no glamour to Thursday night, just an eye opening look at the way people live just 10 minutes away from me. The service started with a time of thanks, and even the most destitute offered beautiful praises to God. The pastor read from Colossians 3- “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” What does it look like to live out of our identity in Christ? I think the church body at First Wesleyan provided a perfect example, one that greatly impacted all of us.
if you live in Nashville and are interested in helping with this outreach ministry,
it happens every Thursday night at 6pm- contact the church here.
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
Favorite place you've traveled to? US: Boston, MA. or La Jolla, CA // outside US: Manchester, England
Hidden Talent? Packing a vehicle. I played way too much Tetris as a child. Oh, and I can fly.
If you could have a pen pal, who would it be? George Constanza (from Seinfeld)Guilty pleasure? If we're talking food, it's chocolate chip cookies. Otherwise, playing golf. I'd play everyday, multiple times a day, if I could get away with it and/or afford it. What are you most anticipating/excited about traveling to Gulu? ALL of it. But definitely spending time hanging out with the children of Gulu and serving alongside my fellow Midtowners.
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
Our 2010 team is composed of 17 Midtowners:- Rebekah Capps
- Allison Costello
- Regan Costello
- Laura Denning
- Maggie Draughon
- Randy Draughon
- Katie Gallerani
- Molly Gibbons
- Rusty Goodsell
- Sarah Goodsell
- Emily Hickey
- Lou Alice Rogers
- Marisa Van Houten
- Eric Vinson
- Laura Vinson
- Katie Wertz
- Warren Whitten
Each team member is repsonsible for raising personal support to cover flights, supplies, and costs on the ground. If you are interested in sponsoring a team member, you can donate online here. (Type the name of the member in the 1st box, or just "midtown gulu general" if you want it to go towards the most needed member.) *all contributions are tax-deductible!
In 2008, a group of Midtowners traveled to East Africa, to the countries of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. A huge part of our trip was grasping a vision for the future of Midtown missions. The majority of our time was spent in northern Uganda, in a city called Gulu. After the trip, our team was unanimous that Gulu had stolen our hearts and we began praying towards a future partnership there. And now, two years later, we are going back to Gulu.Midtown has now officially partnered with Nashville-based ministry, African Leadership, with a vision to build a long-term relationship with the church in Gulu, through national director and pastor Jeffrey Ocan. This is just the beginning of a partnership with both the community in Jeffrey’s church and the surrounding area, as we hope to build bridges through African Leadership. As we have spent time praying and seeking God’s direction for our community overseas, we are continually brought back to Gulu and the Acholi people, and a church-to-church partnership. The vision would include yearly short-term mission trips from Tennessee to Uganda, and ongoing communication across the ocean between the two communities. Our prayer is a long-term connection between our community at Midtown Fellowship and the community we seek to serve, love, and learn from in Gulu.If you’re not familiar with the history of Gulu, it is a place that is has been devastated by two decades of war. Resolve Uganda does a great job describing in detail the history of conflict there. Though is has now become a place of peace the effects of war are real and the need is great. The time is ripe to enter into the journey of healing and restoration with our brothers and sisters in Gulu. We hope you will join us!
Iri Maber = "GOOD AFTERNOON" in the language of the Acholi (a version of Luo). The Acholi people are an ethnic group in the area of northern Uganda where our Midtown team (more to come on "who we are" soon...) is heading this July. {This area is commonly referred to as Acholiland.}
Speaking of language... Lubanga Mari means "GOD LOVES YOU" in Acholi. And, as you can see, that is the name of this blog!
So over the next 4 months, we will be sharing stories leading up to our trip, as well as updating you on our time spent on the ground in Gulu. Stay tuned...
"Meet the Team" allows you to get to know each trip member a little bit - every member will have their own post, so check back to learn more about the whole 2010 team!
