Ervins in Africa

Sunday Morning Worship and Being Received

2010-01-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

Today was our offical welcome into the community here. We started the day off by sleeping in til about 8:15 and then had eggs and beans for breakfast. It was very British and delicious. After that we prepared for the church service which began at 1030. You need to understand something about church services here in Uganda. There is only one church service in a week which is held on Sunday morning, which means no Sunday School or Wednesday night Bible Study. Although there is a Junior Church which is on break until February. I am sure I will write more on how the church operates as I learn more about it.
As we were walking toward he church building we could hear the choir already singing and their instruments blaring for all to hear the call to worship. Once we arrived we were warmly greeted by many people. I (Michael) was greeted several familiar people that I met while visiting four and five years ago. One of them was Roger, pronounced Row - jay, sounds French because he is originally from Rwanda which used to be a French colony. He has an amazing testimony of God's obvious providence in saving him from certain death during Rwanda's genocide.
I (Mike) was particularly excited for Rachel to experience the Ugandan worship service for the first time. You see, she is not used to people dancing, clapping and singing their hearts out not worrying about what their neighbor thinks. It seemed very pure, true and in spirit. I felt so much more free to worship the Lord with my whole self as it commanded and taught in Scripture. At home I feel more restricted in most churches but sometimes I remember the Word of the Lord about worshiping truly, in spirit with the whole self and stand before the Lord freely and openly.
Just before Pastor Jones began preaching he had us come before the congregation to be introduced and received in the Love of Jesus. So there we were standing in front of many Ugandans and only a handful of Mazoongoos (White People), a minority, and Jones implores the community to reach out their arms, literally. So the congregation was standing their with arms stretched out toward us to receive us with the loving touch of Jesus. Then Jones prayed for us to be received into the community as brother and sister, that we are now a part of the community there at New Hope and Kasana (the outlying village), that God would use us in their midst and that they would be used by God in our lives as well. We were and are truly blessed!
4 the Gospel,
Michael and Rachel

New Years in Uganda

2010-01-01T03:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Uganda! :o)

We arrived in Uganda on Dec 29 at 10:00 pm. We are staying with our family here (The McFarlands) for a few days until we are able to move into our own little house. We have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. They have shown us around New Hope and the surrounding villages as well as city of Kampala.

The first few days have been rough on us because of jet lag. We are 8 hours ahead of the United States which has made it a little difficult to adjust. Keith and Laura made us stay awake on our first day so that we were able to get a full night of sleep...which was difficult at the time but having a full night's rest was wonderful!

We were able to get a Ugandan cell phone so that we are able to communicate with people here and our family and friends back home.

The weather is very nice. It rained a little bit this afternoon which cooled everything off. It is very warm here, but we are enjoying it right now! It is a very nice and welcomed change from the snow that we left in West Virginia!

We thank you for your prayers for us! God has given so much peace and rest in Himself. Rachel has especially experienced a peace from God about being so far away from home. We know that He has called us to this and we are resting in Him. He is already changing our hearts in just the short time that we have been here.

We visited the village near New Hope this morning which was so eye opening. There were so many children! Mike mentioned that most of the population here is very young and we have found that to be true! The houses that the families live in are constructed of brick and cement with a metal roof. These types of houses are very new to the area (they just began being built about 10 years ago). Before these types the homes were basically mud homes. Some people still have those, but most of them have brick houses. It was very interesting to see things that we had only seen on TV in person. There are many times that we have seen homes like these and children running around with no shoes and dirty clothing on television, but actually seeing them in person and recognizing that it is REAL was incredible. We wish you all could see what we have seen in just the few short days that we have been here!

Some of you have been asking for pictures and we will post some soon! :o) You can check our blog here or our group on facebook in the next few days to see if we have posted any! We are trying to adjust to being here before we dive right into picture taking and blog posting everyday! Once again, thank you for your prayers! We love you all!!

Love,
Mike & Rachel

And We're Off!

2009-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

We began our journey at 6:15 am on December 28. Both of our mothers drove us to Washington Dulles airport. From Dulles we flew to London, which is where we are writing from now. Our cell phone does not currently work over here and there is not any wireless internet that we can find, so we are using a computer in the airport. We paid £3 for 30 minutes of internet access. It is around 7am here while it is more like 2 or 3 am back in the States! We will be boarding our next (and final) fllight in roughly 2 hours.

This trip, so far, has been very stretching. It is very difficult to leave family and friends behind for such a long time. I (Rachel) was frustrated when we got to London and the phone and internet did not work! We were able to get online though and communicate with our family which was a blessing! There is also a Starbucks just across the way which makes Michael a very happy traveler! :o)

Please continue to pray for us as this will be a tough transition and we will miss all of our family and friends (and our puppy Zoe). It is a very strange feeling because we are extremely excited and sad at the same time. We know that God has promised to go with us and He who has promised is faithful. We are praying for you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Love from London,
Mike and Rachel

departure approaching

2009-12-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

It seems like time is FLYING by as we prepare to leave in less than 2 weeks! It seems almost surreal! There is so much to do between now and December 28! Preparing to leave is so much more than simply getting all of our belongings packed! We really need to have time to emotionally prepare as well! Being away from our home, family, friends, culture, conveniences, etc for so long is going to be an emotional thing for us, but we are prepared to face and embrace each emotion, whether it be painful or cheerful. We know that through every aspect of this grand adventure God is going to teach us and change us, and for that we are extremely thankful and excited! Not sure how many more updates we will be able to post before we get there! Things are crazy with finals (for Rachel), Christmas approaching, family coming in, and preparing to leave! Seems like even though we have been planning this trip for almost a year, we still do not have enough time! We probably would never have adequate time to prepare for something this big in our lives!

For the next few weeks, we ask that you would pray for the following things:
*That God would prepare us emotionally for this trip
*That God would allow us adequate time to get everything packed and ready to go!
*That we would be refreshed this Christmas season by the fellowship with our family and friends before we leave!

A BIG Thanks!

2009-10-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

We would like to say "Thank You" to our friends, Matt & Sarah Friend, and the Bible Center Church Youth group for allowing us to be a part of their growth group on Sunday morning! They were such a blessing! Through them, God has supplied many of our needs. We definitely do not need any more razors, deodorant, shampoo, sunscreen, soap, bug spray, or toothpaste to take with us! They have given us more than enough!!

So we just want to say, Thank you all for your gift to us and for your continued prayers!

"For the sake of the Gospel" - 1 Corinthians 9:23

Getting Closer!

2009-09-16T05:22:00.001-07:00

As each day passes it is apparent just how close we are getting to our departure date! I (Rachel) even had a dream about packing and leaving just last night! There is still so much that we need to do to be ready to leave, but things are coming together!

A few weeks ago we received our airline tickets! Talk about exciting! Also, everything has been taken care of as far as my passport goes! We had some difficulty at first because some of my documents got separated in the mail, but by God's grace the post office mail them back to me and the very nice woman at the National Passport Center called me and helped me out so much! The process is now underway for my passport to say "Rachel E. Ervin" instead of "Rachel E. Call" (which is pretty important!!).

We have also started our many rounds of vaccinations! Actually, Mike only needs few, but so far I have gotten 4 and still have5 or 6 left to get!!! I have to admit that its not really a fun thing, but it must be done.

Our finances are continuing to come in. We have about $1000 toward our tuition at New Hope Institute of Childcare and Family, which is about 1/5 of what we need for that.

We have another meeting scheduled for the first Sunday in October. This meeting will be a bit different. We have a friend who is a youth pastor, and he has asked us to speak to his youth group. We will probably be giving our testimonies of how Christ redeemed us, and then telling them a bit about our lives and our trip. I am sure there will also be plenty of questions to answer! After that, they will be taking up a love offering for us! We are very excited about the opportunity to present to these young people and for the possibility of impacting them with the Gospel.

Seems like this was a very long update, but it was also very long overdue! Sorry we haven't been updating as frequently as we would like, but we will try to do better as we draw closer to our departure date of Dec. 28!

You've Asked....

2009-09-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Many people have been asking us about the different needs we will have while we are in Africa. We've mentioned that there are things that we will have to take with us because they are either unavailable or very expensive over there.

For those of you who have asked, I am providing you with a list! (A short list, but still a list) :o)

*Shampoo & Conditioner
*Deodorant
*Toothpaste
*Razors
*Soap
*Bug Spray
*Sunscreen

Those are the basics! However, I know that there are many other things that I could put on that list, such as the hair products Michael and I use for styling on a daily basis.

If are are interested in a more detailed list, please give us an email and we can get that to you! If you wish to purchase something for us, please email us before hand to make certain that the item you are looking to purchase is still something we are in need of, and so that I can give you the details of what type/brand we need before you purchase it!

Thank you for your continued interest in our ministry!

For the sake of the GOSPEL! 1 Cor. 9:23

Praises!

2009-07-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

We would like to give thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father! Sunday night our home church took up an offering for us- and God greatly blessed! From that offering alone we will be able to fully pay for both of our plane tickets (round trip) and have some money left over to put toward the cost of the institute ($2500 per person).

We are sure that God will continue to provide for our needs. At this point we need roughly $5000 in order for everything to be fully funded.

Another update...that doesn't really seem like a praise to me at the moment...but it is God's plan. Originally we were going to have several hours in London where we would be able to go out and explore, however, with our latest itinerary we will only have about 1.5 hours. We will not have an opportunity to sight see London, but we are convinced that at some point in our lives God will give us that opportunity-now is apparently not the right time! :o)

Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we prepare to leave. Only about 5 more months until we leave!

Please pray that...
God will continue to provide funds for the trip
We will be able to get everything in order
God will give us strength as we will be leaving our families and living outside of our comfort zones for 6 months!

God is providing!

2009-07-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

We would like to thank all of you who have been praying for us as we prepare to head to Uganda in December. It has been a while since we have posted an update, so let's get you all caught up on how God is providing for our trip!

As of Thursday (two days ago) we have a pretty much finalized itinerary. We will be departing on December 28, 2009. We will fly from Washington to London. Originally we were going to have about 12 hours to spend in London between flights which we were very excited about! I (Rachel) have never been to London before so we were excited to have a few hours in which we could do a little sight seeing. God has changed that though and given us 25 hours in London! Our plan now it to arrive in London at 9:00 AM their time. We will get a hotel room and freshen up a bit before heading out to explore the city! After a what we are sure will be a very tiring day, we will be able to get a fairly good night's sleep before getting on the plane for Uganda the next morning around 10:00 AM.

God is also beginning to provide the funds that we need. Tomorrow evening our home church (Twin City Bible Church) will be collecting a love offering for us! We have also had some people who we have met through Mike's job who have given us some money toward the trip. Several opportunities for support through local churches in our area are also "in the works".

We praise God for his provision!
Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Tickets Cost Less than Anticipated

2009-07-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago our travel agent told us that the airfare will be about $2,000 cheaper than expected! What an enormous praise to our Lord for providing in that way.

2009-04-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Our first meeting (at Twin City Bible Church) went very well!

Thanks to you all who attended and who asked us questions! We loved sharing our calling with you and answering your questions!!

We will keep you updated as we continue our journey to Africa!

First Meeting

2009-04-19T11:46:00.001-07:00

Our first meeting will be at our home church Twin City Bible Church on April 26 6 PM. We are eagerly looking forward to this launch of us sharing our ministry and vision with our local church.

Sharing our Ministry

2009-03-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

We have been working on getting meetings scheduled with local churches so that we can share our ministry in Uganda with them! We are very excited to share what we are going to be doing!

On April 19 we will have our first opportunity to present our trip to our home church, Twin City Bible Church!

Please pray that we will present the trip clearly and that Michael will be filled with the Spirit as he delivers a message to the congregation.

E-Mailing List

2009-03-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

If you wish to be added to our e-mailing list to receive updates periodically, you can simly send us an email with your email address included in it to rachel614@gmail.com.

We hope to hear from all of you! :o)

Step 1

2009-03-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well...we have completed step 1...which is

Fill out your application!

Last week we took an evening and sat for a long time while we each filled out our separate applications for the Institute at New Hope.

I completely finished mine, but I think Mike is still working on his...but needless to say we are on our way! The ball is definitely rolling and we are excited! :o)

In case you are wondering...the application is pretty lengthy. I believe it was 21 questions along with all the other typical info (i.e. name, address, etc). The questions are not just "yes" or "no" questions, they are very in depth, probing questions.

An example might be- "What is the main motivating factor in your life?" or "What is success in your opinion?...list and explain 3 of your greatest success."

These questions took a whole lot of thought and ton of heart searching for us.

Thanks for your prayers are we continue our process!

Step 2...Print and mail prayer cards!

Pastor Link

2009-03-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

If you are a pastor and would like to know more about how your church can financially support our family, please email us at rachel614@gmail.com and we can set up a time to meet with you or answer any questions you may have through phone or email!

Support

2009-03-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the post entitled "OUR PLAN", we will be seeking for groups and individuals to help support us financially while we are in Uganda. The cost for airfare and tuition at the institute will be roughly $9,000. While we are there we will not be working in a job situation where we will be able to make money. We will be attending classes, studying, and doing work around the compound.

We have been saving since we got married and we have some funds set aside to purchase plane tickets, but that money will dwindle quickly, especially with the economy the way it is. We are still developing a plan for receiving our support while we are there, but if you feel as though the Lord is asking you to help us in a financial way, you may email us at Ervin4tg@gmail.com or rachel614@gmail.com. Please make the subject of your email "Funds for Africa". That will help us to know what you are emailing about, especially if we don't recognize your email address!

We will also be needed more than just financial support! We NEED YOUR PRAYERS MORE THAN ANYTHING! We will be facing a completely different culture (no running water, no real toilet!!) and it will be difficult to adjust in the beginning. We will also be learning things, and our thinking will be challenged daily! We will continue to update you on prayer requests but definitely pray for us, please!

Our Plan

2009-03-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

As many of you know (and some of you may not know) Michael and I are planning to spend sometime in Uganda, Africa about 9 months from now. We are starting this blog in order to keep our friends and family updated on what we are doing both before we go and when we are there!

We are planning to attend the New Hope Institute of Childcare and Family. Mike's cousin Keith and his family are there at New Hope as missionaries. We will be going to classes daily, participating in daily chores and jobs, and spending time immersed in the African culture. Our term at the institute will be about 6 months. We will be leaving America in late December or early January and most likely returning in June.

Planning for this trip is definitely a huge task! So far, we have filled out our applications for the institute, which was a very long process. Now we are working on making prayer cards and contacting churches and individuals to help support us for the time we are there.

If you would like to know more about "Our Plan", or if you have any questions for us, please feel free to use the comment section to ask us! We will be happy to share with you!