team three arrives

thanks for all your prayers! team three arrived today safely with all their luggage! we headed straight for ywam and since it was lunch by then, the team were treated to posho(corn meal) and fried eggplants. what an interesting welcome!
they later headed for the site to see whats taking place there.
they are looking forward to being a great blessing to uganda!
watch this space for some nice pics.

Team 3 are there and safe with all luggage!!

Praise God! Team 3 have arrived in Uganda and are on the bus on their way to Jinja safe and sound and with ALL their luggage. We hope its not prophetic but the shovels were the first piece of luggage to come out!! Here are some comments and photos from their stopover in Hong Kong....

Stage 1 of the flight has gone well. There was lots of room on the plane so we could all stretch out and get some rest. Everyone is excited that it is really happening now, only a few hours (well 18 or so) and we will be in Uganda ready to meet up with team 2 and get started....

more...prayer points too

Intriguing Noah poses with Kim.


"so far my time here in uganda has been amazing. i feel so previlaged to be apart of this hope builders' team. i have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the locals and feel so blessed to have met them and even become frds with them". Kim


master builder paul.


for all the hope and joy you guys have brought into this community and for everything you have made to make it possible we say thank you very much.
-mwebale nyo!!


tommorrow team 3 will set foot in uganda! so far we need to thank God for his divine protection along the way,God has give a special covering over the teams, lets pray that this continues.

we need to thank God for the great joy he has given these teams as they work and lets pray that even as team three arrives, the morale will tripple...

lets also pray for God to open wonderfull doors where by this blog will reach and touch millions of pple who will be touched by the great work taking place here.

lets also pray for the team here - ivan and robert - that God will give us wisdom, that we wont rush too fast or be too slow in carying the vision, that everything shall run on God's timetable.

various

team members get an afternoon shower!!!

"ive just been overwhelmed by the way pple have been treating us like family and how everyone is just so inviting into their houses for dinner. A nd how every one is wanting to help n the job site is just great.! God also has a bigger presence here,everyone we meet here is really on fire for God and really spiritual!" Ben

Mr chris howe has left for the congo,he has done a tremendious job training the women how to make bricks using bitumn emulsion,the amazing thing is that his wife susan howe through ywam will be teaching the ladies from the sorrounding community english.the widows happen to be beneficiaries. so soon i wont need to do lots of interpreting for them!!:)

so far my time here in uganda has been amazing! i feel so privileged!

sandra saying hiiii to frds and family..shes a mighty woman of God!!

"this project found me when i was not sure how my children would go to school. i believe that through the mud brick project i would be able to pay fees on time. thank you very much for loving us" Zilia

more action photos!

kim and sandra giving the window frames a nice red coat!









ben getting dirty for jesus





thanks nathan and pastor andrew caught in the act!







thats mathew with ben building for the future






the mixer (Wes) doing his job - and what an awesome job - go majenga man!








look forward to your comments and remarks!

in their own words

" I would like to thank Hopebuilders for bringing this project to us, through the mud brick project,my life has really improved,i can now have some money to take care of my home needs. thank you very much" Florence B


"Hopebuilders has really helped me alot, before, i used to struggle looking for school fees for my large family, i would take long to clear school fees for my big family, i would find it a great problem. the mud brick project has really helped us, i would like to thank rob, johann and the whole team for loving us, they were so frdly, they loved my family and were warm towards us. thank you also for loving my family, especially my daughter Grace who has been helping to wash your clothes, cook for you breakfast at the site, at least i dont have to worry about pocket money for her new term" Florence Kasanka


"i really thank God for this mud brick project,because it has really improved my life. i had a descent christmas. im so greatfull and thankfull to God for bringing this project to us which has improved our lives. my life will never be same again". Merida N.


Though the focus has been on getting the houses finished and having highly risky children in there..the project is also buildng lives,from what you've read,lives have been impacted in one way or another. the bondage of poverty is slowly loosening its grip!!

site work

a member seems impressed by what he beholds.







the women look attentively as chris does the mixing.

welding of window frames is done on the site, the teams have very experienced team members who possess wonderful skills in building.




house B as it stands.











Today team 2 visited an ISA orphanage called care4kids, the team had a wonderfull time there, we were blessed, the whole atmosphere was full of tranquility... will post some wonderfull fotos that i took soon!!

more

getting dirty for jesus!













members from a distance





roofing of house A is starting








going above the ring beam with local workers

progress

house B is going up fast!!













team members getting busy at it,










master builder andrew ensuring that things are accurate...



team spirit - kim and sandra enjoying team work!!






chris howe teaching the ladies how to have the right mix using bitumen.






Every day the site gets busier and busier. Hey! the best is yet to come. This friday we will have team 3 arrive and join team 2, i can only imagine what it will be like to have both teams around. I think there will be an explosion of energy!!!

House A

By the time team one left,they had house A up, requiring roofing and rendering with bitumen on the walls.

thanks for getting dirty for jesus!

hey thats me. ivan

hey thats me on my graduation day on 20th jan. i help enhance hope builders' vision here in uganda! we work as a team.completed a bachelor of arts with educ. lit and english,but above all i have a higher calling that trascends a career.

more!!

busy at work!!












members watching miss florence do it!



chris howe demonstrates with the ladies how to make mud bricks with bitumen









i took these pics of house B while the team had gone for luch,work has began on house B

House B

Chris Howe the mud brick expert who has a wealth of experience in mud bricks took time off from his busy schedule in the Congo to come and train the widows how to use bitumen emulsion. For the few weeks he will be here he will demostrate how to make mud bricks with bitumen emulsion, this is divine timing and even I am learning a great lesson from this.

This is yet another sign that prayer works, so keep praying that things will continue unfolding just like we have prayed. What ever we are seing happening can be atributed to prayer, so keep commiting the whole project in God's hands. We need to thank God for his divine help and continued help he has shown us. We also need to thank God for the great team out there who make this happen. The house sponsors! Special thanks to God for Johann, Glenn, Damian, Rob, Andrew and Kellie plus their families and the whole AU board.

Team two at work!!! and more!!

A team member busy

























team two members working on house B











during the "last supper" with team one



Yesterday we had team 1 leave for melbourne, uganda has become a second home! we've been blessed!! we pray that they will come again to be a blessing to us when the lord richly provides!

Team two is busy at it! there motivation is good and just like team one nothing can easily divert them from their focus.

Farewell to team one in style!!

today was filled with fun packed fun,we had miss florence's family bid farewell to team one!!

she shared alot,how the project even in its infancy has put a smile on her face,they intertained us to a nice skit which was so beautifull. the team was so excited.

team one will always remain our hearts!!!

Team 2!!! and the arrival of bitumen emulsion

bitumen being off loaded from the truck!

Jan 20th was indeed a busy day,first its the day i graduated with a BA EDUC (HONS) from Makerere university, for a year i had been tracing for missing marks which were finaly traced and i had to graduate. its also a day obama was doing his oath,the atmospahere here was filled with obamania!

It also marked the arrival of team two with all their luggages,this seldom happens,God is great, things are moving from glory to glory!! they arrived safely and were on site orientation today.... we look forward to working with them. lets believe God that all things will run as planned!!! so we should pray for divine protection,good health,favour and above all wisdom,and to allow God to us for his will!!

Today we had the much anticipated bitumen emulsion arrive on site!! this comes at a time when chris howe the mud bricks expert is here too,so we regard this as being in God's divine timing!!

we hope to use his experience and expertise.

the community connection.

one of the things the lord has done for hope builders is finding favor in the eyes of the community,this is evidenced in the way they would like to contribute to the development of their community so that the cycle of poverty is brocken,weeks ago johann and rob took off some time and had a talk with the widow who were sharing ways in which they could benefit from the project. For any project this aspect is very important,and by the end of the meeting a community connection had been formed,it ceased to be hope builders' stuff to a community project. Some of the widows 's views were taken in consideration and would be worked on in the near future..the widows would be interested in making crafts,diong small businesses like selling foodstuff goat farming,poutry and so on..
johann also informed them that the priority now was setting up the two houses and having highly vlnerable children in there but promised that financially sustable enterprises woulld be set up in addition to the brick enterprise in existance. The meeting was very fruitfull indeed. hey help breakl the cycle of poverty!!