Learning Dental Hygiene in Arut

Video 1: Dr. Sunday Akintoye teaching on good dental hygiene. 

Video 2: Woman from Arut telling the people what she learned.

Uganda Dental Clinic Video

Dr Sunday Akintoye gives us a brief walkthrough of the dental clinic in Arut in Northern Uganda. Some of these people have suffered with dental pain for a long time. And while this doesn't look like a western dental office these people leave with much needed relief.

Pray for Jeremy and Sunday as they fly back (7-30/8-1)

Successful Medical and Dental Missions in Gulu.

Sunday at Arut treating a dental patient

We had a very successful medical and dental missions outreach in Gulu. Although the final count is yet to be tallied for those that received medical care, we performed dental extractions for about 226 people in both Dino and Arut. These were people who otherwise learned to bear their dental pain on a daily basis. It was a delight to see the joy on their faces; some even came back the next day to thank us for the pain-free sleep they enjoyed after their tooth/teeth were extracted. We thank the Lord for the prayer of the Saints because everything went on smoothly. To God be the glory for the great things He has done.

~Sunday

Large Turn Out in Arut

Sunday giving dental hygiene education to the waiting crowd at Arut.

After two full days of ministry in Dino, we spent another three full days in Arut, Northern Uganda located just 1 hour’s drive from Uganda-Sudan boarder. In Arut, we also provided medical and dental care, medications, and organized programs for the children and youth. The large turn out of the people made it more conducive to teach good oral hygiene practices. Patients lined up each day waiting to be served, but some had to be turned away by dusk.


~Sunday

Working Together in Uganda

Dentists And Dental Students Serving the Acholi People. 

Sunday and some members of the dental team at the end of a day's work

The dental team is comprised of three dentists (one each from USA, Nigeria and Uganda) and three wonderful dental students from Howard University Dental School, Washington DC. To God’s glory our team blended together from the first day. I headed the dental team providing extensive years of clinical practice, teaching and research. Ambrose from Nigeria provided dental mission experience and Andrew from Uganda, a great resource person is also involved in medical/dental missions within Uganda; both of them provided additional dental instruments and sterilization equipments. Alicia, Courtney and Patrick, the three dental students were very committed and their enthusiasm was contagious. I cannot thank our interpreters enough for making it possible to communicate with the people. Please keep us in your prayers because we are scheduled to provide dental care for five consecutive days.

~Sunday

Gulu District: Open for the Lord's Work

Sunday checking blood pressure of a young patient in Dino, Gulu District

Immediately after the Sunday service we boarded the bus for our trip to Gulu, Northern Uganda to begin the fieldwork phase of our trip. It was an exhausting 6-hour trip, but we were all glad to settle in our rooms in ‘Hotel Free Zone’.  The next day we were off to Dino, a remote part of Gulu District. Although the trip was expected to last 2.5 hours, it took us 3.5 hours because of the bad road condition. We set up our activities at a former war camp converted to a ‘supposedly’ local health care center that doesn't seem to be used often. Interestingly, there was a large crowd already waiting there for what has now become an annual ‘health fair’ for this region. We provided medical, dental and wound care, gave out medications and ministered to the children about the love of God. It was gratifying to see the relief on their faces. Glory be to God.

~Sunday

______________

Jeremy demonstrating a science experiment for the kids at
Uganda Jesus Village.

FB post from Jeremy: Spent the last 2 days in Dino, remote Northern Uganda, doing medical clinics for people who essentially have no other source of healthcare. Got bitten and peed on by one little girl with acute Mzunguphobia, but all in a day's work... Doing the same in Arut for the next 3 days. Will be sure to keep my fingers away from small mouths!

NOTE: Mzungu is Swahili for white person.

Here Am I, Send Me

Worship team at Streams of Life

We attended the 10.30am service on Sunday at the Streams of Life Church, Kampala pastored by Pastor Gerald Mwebe. As expected the worship session was very inspiring. Although the singing and dancing went on for about 1hr 10minutes,  some of us were still yearning for more. Richard, President of Adonai Partners Inc. delivered the sermon based on Isaiah Chapter 6. He challenged us that if we seek the Lord just like Prophet Isaiah, our lives will never be the same.  Our eyes will be so opened the magnitude of the work still left to be done on the mission field that we will say like Prophet Isaiah ‘Here am I, send me’

~Sunday

Leaders and Pastors iGNITED

Pastors and leaders at the altar committing to Missions

The two-day Leadership and Missions Conference took place at Makerere University Conference Center. It focused on transformational leadership and empowering leaders and pastors for mission.  Attendees included local pastors and faculty members at Makerere University. I was one of the seven speakers at the conference. My talk, given on the first day focused on ‘Strategic Priorities for Leadership’. Jeremy anchored the first day with a ‘Working it Out’ session on application of all the information presented. There were 144 attendees on day 1 and 175 on day 2.  A total of 70 leaders answered the altar call to commit their ministries to missions. These were further invited to a training workshop on day 3 to prepare them for life on the mission field.

Sunday giving his talk at the Leadership and Missions Conference.
Jeremy summarizing the day's events

Save The Street Kids

Youth and young adults praying for Monica (red blouse); 

who received Christ that day.

Some of us attended the iGNITE Leadership and Missions Conference for two days while the rest of the team ministered on the streets of Kampala. The Namuwonga Community is one of the ‘slums’ in Kampala. Team members ministered from house to house praying and sharing the love of Jesus. The next day, some team members ministered to ‘Street Kids’ in Kamwokya community. These kids often roam the streets because they have no homes to go. Poverty was displayed in the worst graphic form in these regions as young mothers could be seen sleeping on the street with their children. Our team was hosted by ‘Save the street kids’ Ministry that caters to children taken off the streets. Several people in these communities opened their hearts to Jesus. Unfortunately, many can’t read English language, so a major challenge will be getting them Bible written in their local language.

~Sunday

The Year of the Youth.

The team this year has a high percentage of youth and young adults ranging from high school students to college students, dental students and graduate students. It is gratifying to see their excitement for God’s work. In Kampala, we are all staying at Tal Cottages Kampala, a decent Hotel/Conference center with a swimming pool (even though we will have no time to swim) and free WIFI when it is accessible.  Our first full day was devoted to ‘on site-training and cluster-specific team trainings. An important message from the training sessions is to remember that we are in Uganda to demonstrate the love of God. We sorted the medications and dental supplies so items that are of limited supply can be purchased here in Kampala.

~Sunday

Miss Yah!

The first day of training in Kampala meeting new friends.

About 22 hours after leaving home, I waited at Addis Ababa International Airport for my connecting flight to Entebbe Airport, Uganda. I suddenly felt lonely, missing my family. Jeremy my fellow missionary from Victory travelled two days ahead of me, so I also missed the company of Victory colleagues that I took for granted last year during the 2011 Uganda mission trip. It just does not feel the same without my Victory fellows. The two-hour layover in Addis Ababa seemed like an eternity. I think I felt a little more tired than anticipated………..because I miss my family and Victory brothers and sisters. However, I am comforted that you are all praying for us and I am making new friends this year too. After about 30 hours of travel time, we arrived safely in Kampala. Glory be to God!

~Sunday

Return to Uganda

July 16th - 31st Jeremy Nuttall and Dr. Sunday Atkintoye will once again be joining Adonai Partners in Uganda. They will be working in Kampala for a few days and then heading up to Gulu in Northern Uganda to conduct medical outreach to the villages of Dino and Arut. This year Sunday will be doing simple dental procedures such as extractions. In the US Jeremy works on the research and development side of HIV/AIDS prevention but it is in Uganda that he is able to truly see the need for his work. Pray for both of these Victory members as they encounter people desperate for a touch from God, both physical and spiritual. 

Day Seven

On our last day in Belize we got to do something really special. We went to the house of Laticia and handed her the keys to her brand new house. Pastor Ron dedicated it and we all got to pray with her. The look of joy on her face was indescribable. I'm pretty sure everyone cried. That is one family we will not soon forget.

We then said our goodbyes to the Braaten family. We SO enjoyed the company of Andrew, Sondra, Amy, Melvin, Akeem, Benjamin, Junie, Judith, Elbia, Irma, and Delmi. The guys gave the teen boys a new basketball and the team wrote letters for all 17 staff members at Oasis. It was a big, mushy love fest :) this family was such a blessing to all 22 team members.

We left for Belize City to catch our flight out to Miami. The flight got cancelled, which answered some team members' prayers because they didn't want to leave! The airline put us up in a hotel and we took the first flight we could the next day. We are now all home safely, and it will be a nice evening to reflect on a week that was beyond life-changing.

Day Six

Day six completes our projects and work. We finished both houses today, and it was such a treat to see the looks on the homeowners' faces. They were so appreciative and humbled. Each one of us felt the same way- appreciative and humbled.

We are all so in awe of Oasis Ministries. They work hard, play hard, and they do everything for God. After our projects this morning we got to explore a huge cave and then swim in God-created pools. There were natural waterfalls, slides and pools there in the fresh water. It was breathtaking!

The guys went to a men's bible study tonight while the ladies are making thank you notes for the staff here. It was a blessed day.

Day Five

Today was like a marathon, but it was such a rewarding day. We started by having our last day of VBS. Our team really bonded with these kids and had a hard time saying goodbye. We had 120 beautiful Belizean children come worship with us, and it is definitely a memory we will not forget.

After lunch we hopped into trucks and went to two different locations--one group went to finish painting Desiree's home and the other group finished putting up the siding, walls, and door to Cindy's home. That group will return tomorrow to put the windows up and put last finishing touches on the home. The family we are blessing is truly grateful.

Tonight we had a jam-packed church service where Haley and Andrew lead worship, Jimmy  preached, Bob sang, Angie and Joa shared their testimonies, and we performed four dramas. It was a great time!

Day Four

We had another great day today. We had our second day of VBS, and there were over 110 children in attendance. They were so joyful and genuinely excited to be here learning about God. Our team did a fantastic job working together and maintaining a positive attitude.

We spent the afternoon getting to know Pastor Ron's kids more and had a great time of worship and reflection as a team to end our day. We also had a rehearsal for tomorrow since our day will be jam-packed with three big events- VBS, working on homes, and church service at night. We are excited to be able to partner with this AMAZING ministry down here. All 22 of us agree that we've never quite met anyone as self-sacrificing and humble as Pastor Ron and his family. They are really making a difference down here, and we are beyond honored to be a part of it.

Day 3

Today was quite an adventure! We started out by doing a 3-hour VBS program with skits, songs,crafts, Bible stories, and games. The kids had a blast, and our team did such a great job.

Then Bob grilled about 50 hamburgers for us, and we got right into the pick-up trucks for an afternoon of hard, but rewarding work.  Half of our team got to go paint and prime the outside of a lovely woman named Desiree's house.  The house is up on stilts, so this required our team to be up on ladders for most of the painting. They had such a great time doing this, and glorified God through it all. They will go back on Wednesday to paint a few coats of Desiree's favorite color, purple :)

The other half of the team went to a girl Cindy's house. Her mom has seven children living in a shack that is literally falling apart.  They are a beautiful Mexican family who praised Jesus for the work we were doing. We put up the siding on all four walls for this family.  Our team worked hard and worked well together.

We will finish the evening watching a powerful documentary that Pastor Ron wants us to see.  It is called "Transformation" and focuses on the power of prayer. It should be a great time! 

Tomorrow we will have Day 2 of VBS and hope to have even more children here.  Keep us in your prayers and for the children who come tomorrow that they may experience the love of God through us.

Day Two

Our second day here has been so awesome. We started the day in devotions with our team. Then we had a meeting and training time for our VBS that starts tomorrow.

We then got to go to the amazing Mayan ruins! It was so awesome to see God's creation from such a beautiful view!

After dinner we got ready for the church service. Haley, Andrew, Patience and Naomi led the packed church in some great worship. Bob, Missy's dad, shared his testimony and sang an inspiring song about how we are never lost when we have God.

Jason closed out the night with a powerful message about God's grace and love. He challenged us to do three things in response to Gods love- walk in His light, confess our sins and struggles, and to love others.

The people of this church are beautiful. You can really sense God's love and presence here. Pastor Ron is still just as amazing at getting a church involved in worship as he was years ago as Missy's youth pastor.

We finally ended the evening with a team meeting with worship, prayer and reflection. Tomorrow we have our first day of VBS and we will be painting a woman's house named Desiree. We are so excited to be on this mission!!

Day One

We have had a great first day starting on some projects around the campus here at Oasis Ministries. We poured concrete, washed windows, and put up some siding to the preschool here. Pastor Ron gave us a great tour of the town and even took us for some ice cream before we had a youth service.

Pastor Jimmy preached a powerful message about loving others and Naomi made it even more impactful with her human video. We ended with an altar call where at least 20 students responded.

Tomorrow we have church services and we get ready for our 3-day VBS. Thanks for your prayers and stay tuned for more!

Arrived Safely

The team has safely arrived in Belize. Stay tuned in the coming days for reports as the days unfold. Feel free to leave messages in the comments area.

Heading Out Really Early

At 2:30am everyone gathered at the church for prayer, final bag weighing and to say goodbye to family members....and off they went to the airport for a week of ministry in BELIZE. Keep this group in your prayers this week. We will let you know when they arrive.

Belize, Here We Come!

Our team of 22 people are so excited to leave for Belize next Saturday, July 7-14.  We will be partnering with Oasis Ministries headed up by Pastor Ron Braaten.  While there, we will be working with children in the village of Unitedville and conducting a Vacation Bible School with them.  We will also be repairing homes while down there.  Our team has teenagers, young adults and a few veterans, so we are excited for what God will do through us!  Please keep us in prayer and keep checking each day for updates!