Life Change

The organization we volunteer with, International Missionaries for Christ (IMFC), seeks to meet physical and spiritual needs of people in the slums of Kampala.  In this video, see how God has used IMFC's Manna Ministry food distribution work to open the heart of one man and transform his life.

For more IMFC stories and info: www.imfc.me

Omusajja Omulungi

"Omusajja omulungi" means "A good man." I don't know if all of you know, but Aggie is a bit of a recording artist! This is about the 10th song she's recorded, and my favorite so far. She wanted to have this ready to sing at our wedding but wasn't able to back in 2007. She had it recorded about 2wks ago. I love it, it's such a special gift to me.

Aggie also wrote this song to enourage other women. Many (most) Ugandan men consider their wives property and most relationships are abusive with husbands/partners who are irresponsible and callous - it's unbelievable. Aggie was in an extremely abusive relationship for 16yrs.

One line in Aggie's song "It made me lie like a fork," refers to lying cold & alone in bed. I think the Mzungu (white person) equivalent to NOT lying like a fork would be spooning - "Spooning: A form of affection between a couple where the man lays front to back with the girl. They fit together like spoons" (www.urbandictionary.com). So Aggie no longer lies like a fork but like a spoon &:-)}

Enjoy this beautiful, touching song. And Happy New Year! Simon & Aggie  &:-)}

Mary Rebuilds

Mary's house collapsed during a thunderstorm...with her inside!  See how she was able to rebuild with the help of money earned through Aggie's Arts.  Aggie's Arts purchases beautiful Ugandan paper bead jewelry from women in Kampala's urban slums to help them meet their physical needs.  For more info go here.

Imagine living here...

Take a look at Nateete ("Nah-tehh-tay"), one of Kampala's many urban slums.  On top of flooding, poverty and disease, this community also has a lot of problems with alcoholism and witchcraft.  Listen to what some of our IMFC co-workers have to say about life in an area like this.

IMFC began working in Nateete last month and will be investing in this community for the next 5 months.


Nateete, One Bad Slum! from Jimmy Barry on Vimeo.

Aggie's Arts Video

Check out this excellent video of our Aggie's Arts ministry made by The Met Church (Houston, TX). This captures how God inspired Aggie's to start Aggie's Arts, what the ladies' lives were like before, and how God has helped them so much through it.

2009 was an amazing year for Aggie's Arts. On top of regular monthly purchases from our 17 ladies, we took several short-term mission teams coming from the U.S. to visit them and they bought even more. On top of THAT, just before Christmas, The Met Church placed a HUGE order of 1750 Christmas tree ornaments (which they'd never made before)! The ladies did a great job and enjoyed their Christmas bonuses. Awesome! Will be cool to see what God has in store for 2010!


Aggies Arts from The MET Church on Vimeo.

Aggie's Dad

Aggie & Mum & Dad (they are separated - Aggie's Mum lives in Kampala)

We had a bit of a shock over the weekend. Aggie's Dad (who lives in the Karamoja region of far NE Uganda) was shot in the chest by a thief. For a while, we were not sure how critical his condition was, & were planning on having him airlifted to Kampala where there are better hospitals, but MIRACULOUSLY it seems that the bullet went through his shoulder & didn't hit his lungs or heart or anything "important". He has already been in & out of surgery in an "ok" hospital up there. He is stable & they are just waiting for things to clear in his shoulder before they can see if the bullet hit any bones.

The thief that shot him was trying to steal his livestock - very common up in the Karamoja region. There are armed cattle raiders/warriors who come in from other areas to raid villages/towns. The problem isn't nearly as bad as it was say 5-10 years ago, but it's still not good. Karamoja is also one of the poorest regions of Uganda. It's extremely dry, and in the past several years has been a focus of relief groups like the World Food Program, World Vision, etc. Aggie's father is very poor too, so Aggie has also gone up there to take him some money for his hospital bills.

UPDATE: the bullet didn't hit any bones either! Still can't fathom this. He has now fully recovered. Wow.

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 11)

We recently had the joy of baptizing 60 people in Lake Victoria. These included Manna Ministry food recipients, students, security guards, and ex-prisoners that the IMFC team has been ministering to over the past few months. Enjoy!

Photo of the Month

Where's Waldo?

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 10)

Meet Mayi - one of our Manna Ministry food recipients living in the urban slum area of Katanga. A video with a lot of background noise, but that's half the point - for you to see how stressful it is to live like this.

2yrs in Uganda! - Photo of the Month

On October the 14th, 2007, Simon returned to Uganda (above photo) - 7 months after his prior visit. So today marks 2 continuous yrs in Uganda! There's some unexplained aura around us in this photo. Could it be the photographer's finger partially over the lens, or it could be luuuuuurve? &:-)}