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Current mood:  stoked Category: Travel and Places
I’m
so excited to report that finally, Finally, FINALLY (!!), I’m heading
to Gulu, Uganda (Africa) this September 23 – October 3 to Mocha Club’s
Child Mother’s Village of Hope. As many of you know, I’ve been longing
to visit Gulu for the last four years, and am convinced that God has
saved me for this trip specifically, as I’ll not be going just to go,
but will be joining the people I and many of you have been supporting
and gathering support for in the Village of Hope over the last two
years through my artist partnership with Mocha Club. (To learn more
about the long road leading up to this trip, take a look at this blog!)
ABOUT GULU.
Gulu, Uganda is replete with people who have lived in fear for over 20
years. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel paramilitary group in
Northern Uganda, has terrorized villages, raiding homes, stealing
children either to add to their army (boys as young as 5 years old) or
use as sex slaves (women and young girls), killing villagers, and
destroying the village. While LRA leader Joseph Kony denies it all, the
women of Gulu, aptly named “Child Mothers,” tell a different story of
abduction, soldier training, and sexual slavery to rebel soldiers in
the LRA. Now that they’ve escaped or been excused as expendable, the
community at large rejects them and their children. But through The
“Village of Hope” in Gulu, over 500 of these child mothers live in a
safe community with shelter, job training, a medical facility, and a
school for their children. And they have “The Butterfly Center” a
refugee center where receive love, acceptance, support, Christian
counseling, and a safe haven.
OUR TEAM.
Thanks to our artist leadership team at Mocha Club, a group of seven
passionate artists (including yours truly) from across the U.S. will be
traveling together. Once we reach the Village of Hope, we’ll be
spending our days painting murals in the Village’s various facilities,
worshiping and leading Bible studies with the men, women and children,
and doing whatever else may be helpful to the ever-growing ministry in
Gulu. We pray this trip will be a foundational one on which we’ll build
a lasting partnership with Ugandans and the leadership at The Village
of Hope!
I NEED HELP!
In the next few short weeks leading up to September 23, I need to raise
$3500 to cover travel expenses, room & board, and to purchase
supplies we’ll need while we’re in The Village of Hope.
There are a number of ways to offer financial support:
>> Send in some cash (well, more accurately, a check or money order) to the address below, or send a quick donation online
via Mocha Club's parent organization, African Leadership. Simply scroll
to the bottom, choose the "Other" option, choose your amount and
specify in the note that it's for "Amy Courts - Mocha Club Uganda
Trip." It's quick and easy, and helps a LOT!
>> Sponsor me in the USAF Half Marathon
I'll be running on September 19 in Dayton, OH! You can sponsor a mile
for an amount of your choosing (which will inspire me to RUN the full
race!), pledge a specific amount per mile run under 9:00, 9:30, or
10:00, and invite your friends to do the same. It's an easy way to
support me and keep me healthy! If this is your method of choice, shoot
me an email (amy@amycourts.com) and I'll send you the forms!
>> BUY MERCHANDISE! We're past the 6-month
marker for 2009, so buy some stuff - CDs, tshirts, stickers, posters,
etc. - from my online merch store to give away as Christmas, Birthday,
or "I Like You" gifts.
>> Go to your local downtown area and sing some songs with a hat out for donations. Then send them all to me.
>> Tell everyone you know about this trip,
why you believe I ought to be going, and send in whatever pennies they
give you. Print out this message, hang it up in your office, bathroom,
favorite restuarant, etc.
Of equal importance, I’ll need ground support – your prayers on a daily basis while I’m abroad. I hope you’ll prayerfully consider how you might be part of my team.
It is overwhelmingly exciting to be finally making this journey, and I
am humbled by how dependent I must be on God and His people to provide.
But I’ve never been more confident of His wondrous will, and am resting
peacefully in His ability to provide in abundance! And I so look
forward to sharing the stories of hope, redemption, reconciliation, and
resurrection I’ll undoubtedly bring back from my ten days in Africa!
All contributions are tax-deductible.
Please make checks payable to Mocha Club, with “Amy Courts – Uganda” in the memo.
They may be mailed to:
MOCHA CLUB | 233 WILSON PIKE CIRCLE, STE 2A | BRENTWOOD, TN 37027
10:18 PM
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