Hillsong

Last week I had the privilege of flying and accompaning a group of lead pastors from several Hillsong UK churches, while they visited some of their Compassion International projects here in Uganda.  Here's a shot of the group.  Dallas, another MAF pilot who flew the other plane, and I, are second and third from right.

We initially flew them to Kasese in far Western Uganda, just along the border with Congo.  Hidden behind those clouds are the Rwenzori Mountains, with the highest peaks reaching above 17,000' and snow-covered year around.

This is a very fertile area, and since we're now in rainy season it's nice and green.  

The first day, after landing, we drove about an hour and half to a small village (below) in the mountains, where we spent the rest of the day seeing the Compassion project there, meeting with the kids and leaders, and doing some home visits with a few of the kids.

The next morning we awoke to this view at the foothills of the Rwenzoris.

Then we got back in the vehicles and headed the opposite direction to another location up in the foothills.  The roads are tiny dirt paths carved into the sides of the steep terrain.  

As before, the older children were all there dancing and singing to greet the Hillsong team.  These are kids that have been sponsored through Compassion, so they've been getting schooling and basic food, medical, and sanitary needs met.  They also get training in taking care of animals, gardening, sewing, and other things that can lead to an income when they're older.

These kids were watching from nearby, sitting on a pile of home-made bricks.

Here's a few more of the kids.

At the end of the second day we flew the team to the far Eastern side of Uganda near the border of Kenya, where they spent the next two days at some additional Compassion projects.  The weather was typical for this time of year--beautiful, but with heavy, isolated thunderstorms along the way.

Here's the airstrip where we dropped them, and then picked them up again two days later.  We were blessed and encouraged to see and hear about the lives and communities being impacted and changed through the investments of Hillsong UK and their partnership with Compassion International and local church and community leaders.