Welcome to our family blog!

The founders of Restoration Gateway (RG), the organization we are going to be serving with in Northern Uganda, are coming to Indianapolis! We invite you to join us on Sunday, December 11 from 1 pm until 3 pm in the Community Room at Common Ground Christian Church (4550 N. Illinois Street) as RG founders Tim and Janice McCall share about RG’s vision and what God is up to in Uganda. Lunch will be provided and children are welcome to attend. RSVPs are appreciated and you can access the registration form here.

RG’s vision is to develop a Christ-centered, model community that will foster God’s heart for physical and spiritual restoration among the people of war-torn Uganda. To learn more about Restoration Gateways many plans and projects, visit their website.

Look forward to seeing you there!

*Originally posted in 2009. Re-posting because Bridget just made up another batch and it’s so tasty! There’s something about eating a meal that was cooked inside a pumpkin. The kids were fascinated by it.

	-1 med. size pumpkin -1 onion -2 stalks of celery -1 small can of mushrooms -1 can cream of celery soup -1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef -1 cup frozen baby peas -1 cup brown rice -2 tablespoons brown sugar -2 tablespoons soy sauce -salt and pepper to taste
Cut top off pumpkin and clean out. In large pot saute cut up onion and celery in small amount of oil. Add ground beef and let brown. Add cooked rice and add remaining ingredients into pot. Put all cooked ingredients into pumpkin, put lid on and bake in 400 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until pumpkin is done. Serves 5 people. (Download printer-friendly PDF of recipe)

It was my beautiful wife’s birthday this week and as our family tradition goes, we celebrate “birthday week”. With birthday week coming to a close, we wanted to share the highlight of the week which was a surprise birthday party we threw for Bridget at our place which included many dear friends and family, GT South’s BBQ, a 20 foot bright orange sky dancer and much more. Check out photos from the evening below (and don’t miss the balloon drop video below, which was the pinnacle of the night!) Happy Birthday honey!

A “surprise” balloon drop for Bridget at her birthday party this week. We tried to set it up so she would come in the back door and walk through the kitchen to be met by a waterfall of balloons, but she came around the front and saw the set up. She sensed we were up to something and sniffed us out,

Photos from September: Evelyn riding tricycle, Ethan and Evey’s first day of school, Ethan and Evey at the park, citizenship party for Jamie Egan, Ethan and Evey falling on the couch, making cookies with Mommy.

The Training School that we are attending through our church, Common Ground, is now underway! We just finished up our first week of class. This is the next step in our preparation for Uganda, and we’re very excited to journey with all the people in our class this year.

We just returned from a six-day trip to Toronto last week and had an amazing time getting to know everyone. While in Toronto we got to spend time with a church there called Sanctuary, and we had some opportunities to participate in their various ministries and attend their Sunday gathering. Outside of our time with Sanctuary, we spent a lot of time walking through the city and had some eye-opening experiences: hanging out in Kensington,  going to St. Lawrence Market and experiencing the annual Buskerfest, walking through and spending time at Dundas Square, attending the church service at Holy Trinity and seeing the Homeless Memorial,… to name a few. We’re looking forward to experiencing all that God is going to do in and amongst us all this year. Be sure to check out photos from our trip below:

Following a Uganda information meeting this past April, several people from Common Ground Christian Church (CGCC) have responded and are pursuing the opportunity of joining a CGCC team that will be moving to Northern Uganda in 2013 and serving alongside a ministry called Restoration Gateway (RG).

I (Steve) recently returned from leading a trip to Uganda to provide an opportunity for this potential team to put their feet on the ground at RG and to use this trip as the next step in confirming whether God is calling them to continue pursuing this opportunity. We invite your prayers for all the people that are praying about serving at RG and that God would provide wisdom and clear next steps.

Four people from the trip have written some great blog posts and we encourage you to read them below (The four posts following this one.) Also, be sure to check out the pictures from the trip from by clicking “View Photos” below. There are over 300 pics from: our travels to Uganda, time on the ground at RG and our day at Murchison Park which included a boat ride down the Nile, waterfall hike and safari. (If you missed pictures from last year trip, you can check those out here.)

Liz and I had always felt a call on our lives to work with orphans. We were only a little surprised when we felt God calling us to Restoration Gateway (RG). We knew the Holy Spirit was moving us to invest in the orphans. I was very surprised, though, when God also put it on my heart to invest in the lives of the teachers. It became evident to me from the first time I walked into one of the classrooms.

As soon as the kids started their independent work, one of the teachers came up to me and began sharing his story with me. I had an opportunity to hear the stories of three of the four teachers. They were so eager to be known! Their stories moved me to tears. So much of what they shared was wrapped in sorrow and uncertainty. All of their stories involved living at RG and not being able to spend very much time with their families or loved ones because all the money they earned went to helping those families survive. Two of the three had to support their family because their father had died and there was no one else to take care of the family. They all three had such a burden for providing for their families! I was able to talk to them and share some scripture about the hope that God brings and the beauty of Christian community. Even though they had all been born again, they were eager to hear more! Although they thought I was teaching them, they were teaching me just as much!

Even though their stories were sad and moved me to tears, they all continued to share the joy they have found in Jesus. Their love for the kids at RG is evident in the way they interact with them, hug them, speak to them with patience. God was using the teachers and their stories to remind me that the redemption and salvation that is found in Jesus brings life and joy even in the midst of the worst circumstances. Having gone to RG to work with the orphans, I was grateful to God for calling us to go even deeper while we were there.

(Written by Aaron Munson – Common Ground Vision Trip to Restoration Gateway in Karuma, Uganda: July 2011)

*Re-posted from CG Vision Trips Blog