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Dear Friends in Christ,

We are posting this blog to announce a wonderful opportunity God has asked Stephanie and I to embark on. In May of 2009, we will be traveling to Uganda to visit the community of Katosi and begin developing long-range plans on how our two churches can serve God together. Taking the Gospel to another culture to people less fortunate than us is exciting to think about. To work with them, to worship with them, to play with them, and to share the Bible with them is part of our goal.

Katosi is a small village about 2 hours southeast of the capital city Kampala. You can move the map image above around until you see "Kampala". The "C" marks the location of Katosi. The map image starts out on the center of Uganda - moving the map up will show you where Kampala and Katosi are.

Our plans are to serve in this mission from May 26th until June 8th. Stephanie & I will be immersing ourselves in the culture of these people, living and working and worshipping with them for almost two weeks. While our immediate objective is to teach Bible school lessons and share worship services with the local church, our ultimate goal is to strengthen the community through the development of a sustainable agricultural program which will train local farmers and transform communities with poor nutritional standards into thriving centers of crop production, market goods, and family income.

Our involvement with Katosi first came about last year when the Bowling Green UMC District of churches agreed to "partner" with East African churches in Uganda. Sugar Grove was partnered with Katosi. To be very blunt, my initial reaction was probably less than Christian! My thoughts were, "Oh, here we go again! Being asked to give money to someone else". But as I began to pray, and God once again invaded my heart, I realized that He Himself had been orchestrating this connection.

Our "committment" to be a partner church was to be purely financial. The agreement was to simply give $1,500 a year. But my heart was telling me that our committment to be Katosi's partner had to be much more. So I began emailing the church, through their DS John Kiviiri, and began learning about these people. I learned that their pastor, Jimmy Tendo, is a giant of a man with God's heart, but weak legs. His only means of transportation is a bicycle which he must peddle using his hands. I began feeling God telling me that we had to do much more than send over a few hundred dollars a year.

When we travel there this spring, it will be a "scouting" trip to determine what their needs are and the best, and most sustainable, way that we can help them. Initial conversations have revealed that their means of commerce has dramatically suffered over the years. They used to survive on fishing (they are on the shores of Lake Victoria), but years of pollution have caused the government to ban eating fish caught there, so they are trying to switch to farming. My dream is that we will be able to explore purchasing land from the government and set up commercial farms, bringing experienced farmers from home and around the world who will come and teach the people of Katosi how to develop an economic commerce from large-scale farming.

It's simply not enough to be satisfied with the usual mission trip stuff - building a church, teaching Bible lessons, etc. While these are all good and may need to be pursued, our objective is to help our brothers and sisters in Christ develop sustainable lifestyles, which will benefit them economically so that they can improve their education, health and social systems. Yes, we would like to build them a new church, but when we do so, we want to incorporate things like a school, a library, computer labs, health clinics, etc. And our hearts are telling us this will all begin with our first trip in May!

Yes, we have big dreams. But they are God-sized dreams, and God-sized dreams do become real through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We will just be the messengers - God will bring the change!

Would you be kind enough to help with our financial need for this trip? Your gift of $25, $50, or even $100 would make it possible for us to encourage other Christians in Uganda. If more money comes in than is needed for our travel costs, it will be donated to the church in Katosi. You can make out a check to Sugar Grove UMC and send it back to us. Be sure to designate “Uganda Mission Trip” on the memo part of the check. Sugar Grove UMC is recognized by the IRS as an official religious organization so your donation is fully tax-deductible and you will receive a receipt for your generosity.

God has been so faithful to us in our plans for this trip. It’s very apparent to us that He will use us in His Kingdom in this way. Please join us in praying not only for our financial need, but for the mission trip itself. Continue to check out our blog at www.sugargrovemethodist.blogspot.com where we will post updates and specific things you can pray for. Pray for us to have an eternal impact! Thanks in advance!

Grace & Peace,

Kevin & Stephanie Mays
816 Mooreland Drive
Bowling Green, KY 42103