Its been a little over a month since I got back from Uganda. This trip was nothing short of amazing. When I was asked if I would like to go over there, I think my exact words were “Sure!”. I mean who wouldn’t went to go to Uganda. I had always wanted to visit Africa and it seemed like a good time to go. I went with my church – The Pearl Church. Our sister church, New Life Kampala, was putting on their annual youth conference. Since Uganda is the youngest country in the world, youth conferences are super important. The work that New Life Kampala does helps foster a sense of purpose in the young people. They encourage them to dream and that God has something special intended for their lives. Many of these young people are born into extreme poverty and have unstable family lives. The church gives them a place where they belong, where they can connect and where they can have a stable and consistent family of people supporting and encouraging them. They are really changing lives – one generation at a time. I believe that we will see many of their young people leading Uganda in the future.
While I was there, I helped the Youth Pastor with graphic design for the conference. I also redesigned a logo for the youth and young adult group, GenAlive. When the conference was going on, I took photos and video of the speakers and events. I also helped a few of the interns make funny videos to play in between worship and speaking. It was a lot of hard work. But the end result was beautiful! I was able to leave them with so much footage, so many pictures and some professional quality videos for them to use to promote the conference and the other organizations within the church. It was an honor to be able to go and use the gifts that God has given me to help these people and the amazing work they do.
After the conference was over, we were able to go on two days of safari. This was a great way to cap off our trip and to really experience Africa. We saw so many animals and had some pretty close encounters. One specifically was caught on video and has turned into a minor youtube sensation. We were able to save three baby lions and two lionesses from attacking cape buffaloes (you can watch the video here). Experiencing the beauty of this country and landscape took my breath away. I still think of watching the orange and red sunrise over the savannah. It was so peaceful.
I feel honored to have experienced a once in a lifetime trip and I hope that I can go back and see the continued work being done there and the beautiful lives that touched me so deeply. If you have questions about my trip, feel free to leave a comment.
GenAlive Conference 2015
GenAlive 2015 Highlight video from Rinse Studios on Vimeo.
