About The Trip

Here you will find entries from my journal during the trip to Gulu, Uganda, taken by a team from Antioch Community Church in College Station, Texas. I'll fill in all the details and such that I left out of my journal, so you aren't lost as I tell about taking a boda to Main Market before getting a rolex and taking a soda.

Our mission in life is to advance the Kingdom of God, and our specific mission in this trip was to bring the Kingdom closer to the city of Gulu, Uganda, by finding "people of peace" with the potential to become leaders. Our goal was to find two or three of these people and pour into them over the two weeks we spent there, teaching and modeling Christ to them, so that they would then go out and gather people, sharing the Gospel with them and teaching them what they learned from us, thus multiplying disciples of Jesus and affecting the whole city, long after our departure.

The team members were:

Mitchell and Beth Welch - a young couple who went to Gulu in 2011 with Antioch. Both were primary leaders for the trip, though Beth stayed in America as our main contact point, since she was 7 1/2 months pregnant when we left.

Rachel Aston - The other primary team leader.

Matthew Stewart

Oliver Debayle

Emmery Glynn

Pablo Lopez

Hailey Marsh

Blake Schulze
Christie Smith
and myself.

Thank you for supporting me and my team, for your prayers before, during, and even after the trip, and for taking the time to read about the trip from my perspective. I hope you enjoy!

In Christ,

Brandon Bronaugh

Day 17 - Tuesday, June 26. The journey home.

 Please forgive me for failing to write anymore after Wednesday. Though I did have a better view on it, I still struggled with the “go-go-go” mentality, and I usually did journaling in the evening (The one time I tried to do it at lunch, I never got to it because I was going over lessons), but then it was always late, so I put it off. I did a lot Thursday through Sunday, but it wasn’t very much new stuff.

 So, another epic fail in the journaling department. We’re on the last leg of our trip, the plane back to Houston (I slept through the first one). I’ve been busy and/or sidetracked since Thursday, so I haven’t recorded anything else, obviously. The rest of the trip since the safari really hasn’t been too eventful, though. I mostly just tagged along with other people to their meetings or just around town. I think our group found a total of five, or maybe six, people of peace who could become leaders. This was even more than our original hope. None of those were people I originally found, but I played a part in our team meeting them, and then in teaching some of them lessons later on. For example Oliver met Richard, the shop owner in Main Market, when we went there together and I talked to the owner of the next store (when I went looking for a hat). I know I’ve been an important part of the team, even though that hasn’t been too obvious all of the time. That was one lie I had been trapped with, and also the lie that I could somehow “mess up” God’s perfect plan for the trip. But the reality is, the truth is, that, no matter how hard it may be to accept it sometimes, God’s ways are so much higher than ours, and we don’t see nearly everything that takes place. I interacted with so many people, and I shared the Gospel with so many of them, and I have no way to know what God is going to do with all of those meetings and call and words and prayers and smiles. That’s what this is all about. The Gospel, the Good News, so good people will go to a strange place and eat food they don’t like and do things they don’t know how to do, just for the chance to tell it to people who have never heard it before. Some people even go and live in places most people wouldn’t even want to see, except maybe in a picture that causes you to, perhaps, shed a tear and think quiet thoughts for a while before giving a few cents just to ease your conscience, I think you could say there are two kinds of people in this world, those who spread the Gospel, to the ends of the earth, with the hope and promise of every person someday knowing it, and those who don’t. There aren’t missionaries and non-missionaries. A missionary is just someone who goes to a foreign country to spread the Gospel. An architect is an architect whether he designs the house next door or the high-rise on another hemisphere. And giving money to help someone else share the Gospel is indeed advancing its progress, but it shouldn’t ease your conscience. Rather, it should cause it to burn even more, and those quiet thought to turn to the question, “This person is travelling to another country just because this news is so important that it must be shared, and what have I done to share it?” No extra reward is given to those who travel.

 So then, what I hope is the biggest change in me from this trip is how I view the Gospel. Until now, if I had asked myself that question, the answer would be pretty near to nothing. I did a lot of seed-sowing on this trip, and I hope to continue after getting back home.

Day 11 - Wednesday, June 20

Safari Day

 “Today” (it’s actually Thursday, but I’m going to write as if it were last night) we went on a safari! It was really fun, and relaxing, and kind of once-in-a-lifetimelike. The bus ride, though most Americans would probably call it a van, was terrifying. We rattled down the road, barely avoiding potholes, people, and passing cars, for over an hour to get to the national park. Then we rattled down dirt roads, stopping to take pictures of warthogs, antelope, giraffes, water buffalo (they were actually cape buffalo), and even elephants, and some famous Ugandan Cranes (Great Crested Cranes, the national bird of Uganda). We stopped at a pond full of hippos, and we went to the bank of the Nile River. While there, we took lunch and fended off hungry baboons while waiting for the boat that would take us to Murchison Falls, known to the natives as “The Devil’s Eye.” On the boat ride, we saw many of the same animals we saw in the van, plus a glimpse or two of a crocodile. When we reached our destination, we climbed out onto a big rock and took pictures with the fall in the background. Then we found out that we couldn’t do the hike up to the falls that we had planned on, so we rode back in the boat. On the way, we stopped right next to a crocodile that was sitting on the bank. I was at the front of the boat, so the croc was probably about ten feet from me, staring at me with its mouth hanging open. I was, uh, only a little nervous.

 The rest of the day was pretty uneventful compared to all that, except that Emmery scolded a baboon that was about to try to take some trash from her, and then it hit her on the leg, and took the trash anyway after she threw it away. A beautiful sunset and another crazy bus ride later (Seriously, it was ridiculously scary. We were bouncing down the road, weaving back and forth around potholes, coming literally within inches of hitting pedestrians. I never thought I would be so grateful for a yellow line…), and we were back at the hotel for the night. More tomorrow… er, today…

Day 10 - Tuesday, June 19

 Wow! Freedom! Oh, I don’t even know where to begin! Today was terrible. This morning I was still feeling very sick. I was prayed over a little bit in the morning meeting, but didn’t get any better. I went to the Main Market to meet with Robert at 11:15, had a very disappointing meeting with him and the few others he brought, then rescheduled my other meeting with Okello Mario and went back to the hotel to rest. I didn’t leave the room all afternoon. I felt terrible, and lying down for so long actually just made it worse. I got up to meet with Sunday, but ended up rescheduling that, too, after calling and finding out he would be at least an hour late.

 So, I was doing bad. I was sick, but didn’t take any medicine because I wanted God to heal me. I felt lost and disconnected, like I couldn’t hear God. Matt ran into my room at one point and said happily that I was going to get better, because he was praying for me. That was encouraging. Then Pablo came in and talked to me. He told me some truth, and he told me that the things I had been believing were lies, thinking that I couldn’t hear God, or that I wasn’t doing the right thing. He reminded me that God is always near, and he loves me. He prayed with me for a long time, too. We talked for like 45 minutes total, and I felt a lot better, but still not 100%. (To put it into a picture, I felt like I was trapped, and now I knew a little bit about what it was that was holding me down, but I was still trapped by it.)

 We went to dinner, and I ate a lot, quickly. I hadn’t eaten since a small breakfast. I was feeling much better, laughing and joking with everyone, and then Matt came over and asked if he could talk to me. He and Rachel took me to a (somewhat) secluded spot to talk.

 Matt and Rachel asked me how I was doing, how I had been feeling. I told them about my feelings of disconnect, and of feeling like I wasn’t hearing God, and feeling like I was running the wrong way, even though I was trying to run to God, and feeling like my fire was burning low because I was shoveling coal onto it, instead of God (I used the picture from A Pilgrim’s Progress where Christian sees the man throwing water on a fire, but it just grows bigger because Jesus is secretly throwing coal onto it). I told them about the questions I had been wrestling with, and how I still felt sick. I was upset with myself just for being sick, and I hadn’t taken any medicine since the night before because I wanted God to heal me, and I didn’t think He would if I had so little faith that I needed to turn to medicine. I also told them about many other lies that I had believed, though I didn’t even realize it. I had been worried and upset about messing up the trip by becoming sick; I had been trying to please the leaders and other team members on the trip, and had been afraid of letting them down; and I felt like I couldn’t hear or feel God, even though I was trying so hard. I had also believed, for a long time, that I had a certain standard that I needed to live up to, a perfect image of myself that I should be, though I didn’t realize it. I was constantly falling short of it, failing in despair to live up to an impossible standard. The team leaders talked and shared personal stories with me, bringing the lies to light and showing me the truth in their place. They taught me how to keep from believing lies and to walk in truth instead. And through it all, I found freedom. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of me, like Someone had walked into the cell and unlocked my chains. I also didn’t feel sick after we finished talking! It was definitely a talk that I really needed.

Day 9 - Monday, June 18

Today was a strange day; it was hard to focus. I was asked to share a “nugget” with everyone at the meeting this morning, just anything that I felt God had been saying that the whole group could be encouraged by. I had been feeling recently, especially since hearing a certain song during worship last night, like God was telling me that His grace is enough. He guves us many other things, but even if there was nothing else, His Grace is enough for us. Even if he never blessed us, never healed us, even never spoke to us or comforted us, His grace is enough. Through His grace, we have been saved, forgiven of a debt we could never pay, and adopted into God’s family. I shared the verse in 2 Cor. 12 where Paul says that, and in Hebrews 11where it says that those people never, in this live, received the promise, but pressed on to the end anyway. I’ve read those passages many times before, but God really spoke to me in a new way through them. That “nugget” was, I feel, more for me than everyone else.

 Sunday’s phone wasn’t working this morning, but Christie and I found him and his family at their home. We talked for a short while rescheduled our meeting to the afternoon at the Acholi Inn, and prayed for his mother’s hurt ankle. I think it was healed at least a little. We left soon after that, and Sunday escorted us into town. Along the way, we met a guy named Peter, who is Sunday’s best friend, I think (that’s what it sounded like he said). He was hard to understand. He said he was born again, and he wanted to join Sunday in the meeting in the afternoon. Christie and I prayed for some ringworm on Peter’s neck, and he said it didn’t itch as much. Then another guy walked up and said he wanted to be born again, and delivered from alcohol, so we prayed for him, too. I think he may have actually been drunk at the time.

 The rest of my scheduled meetings fell through. I saw Dennis, though, and met some of his friends and shared the Gospel with them. I planned a meeting for tomorrow with one of them, a guy named Okello Mario, and some of his friends. Also, Christie and I went around Main Market looking for a dress for me to get for Kira, and shared the Gospel with the owner of a fabric and clothing store, a man named Robert. He said he was born again, and that he would bring people tomorrow for us to share the Gospel with.

 Christie and I met up with the rest of the team at Coffee Hut. I took lunch from the bakery next door. We saw a man across the street who was limping, so Rachel, Emmery, and I went over to him and prayed for him. Nothing happened, but he thanked us and limped away. We went back and continued lunch.

 Rachel, Emmery, and I went to Doreen’s shop next. She mostly sells stuff hand-woven from bamboo strips, and also other little trinkets from other people. Pablo had gotten a hat from there earlier in the trip. She and her husband showed us their home, and she told us about some sicknesses and trouble from evil spirits that had been afflicting her. We each prayed for her in turn. When I prayed, last, I just declared freedom for her in the name of Jesus. It was the only point in the day, except for a little bit during my “nugget” that morning, that I felt clarity and focus. Doreen thanked us, and then Rachel and Emmery left. I looked at some of the things they were selling, bought a picture frame, and then went to the Acholi Inn, where Rachel and Emmery were waiting for a meeting. I felt disconnected and scatterbrained again.

 At the Acholi Inn, the people who Rachel and Emmery were supposed to meet with didn’t show up, so we talked for a while. I told them how I felt, so they prayed for me, and God told Rachel to tell me that things didn’t always need to be “go-go-go,” but it was ok to stop for a while. It was exactly what I needed to hear, and I felt a lot better. I had enough time before my meeting with Sunday to go exchange some money and come back to the Acholi Inn.

 Sunday showed up, thirty minutes late (which is actually pretty good for the Ugandans. People who showed up on time, or even early, were rare), and only brought Peter with him. Christie, Emmery, and Hailey were there, too, and we had been talking until Sunday showed up. I shared the Gospel with Peter, showing him how to teach it to others, since he had told me he was born again. He kept talking about other things while I tried to teach him, and it frustrated me because it seemed like he just wasn’t receiving anything. We did talk to the waiter before leaving, though, and we’re meeting with him on Thursday.

 The only other eventful thing was that we got together and prayed as a team for the trip, then for our team, then for Mitchell and Beth and their baby. I just wasn’t feeling it, though, and it troubled me (by that, I meant that I felt disconnected and unfocused again, only this time, it felt like I wasn’t connecting specifically with God, like I couldn’t get through to pray for those things, only just sit there wondering what was going on). Matt sensed something wrong, so he asked me about it later, and I told him how the day had been and how I felt during prayer. He prayed for me and encouraged me. Then I went to sleep.

-That night, I got sick. I went to sleep feeling cold, but then I woke up after about an hour, feverish and shivering. Oliver gave me some Tylenol and prayed for me. I laid back down, but couldn’t go back to sleep for about another hour.

Day 8 - Sunday, June 17

Our team declared a day of rest for the second "half" of Saturday, after about 3 PM, and first "half" of Sunday. We went back to the hotel and could either rest, read, journal, or anything else relaxing. On Saturday, I took a 4 hour nap...
 Today (we're back on Sunday) was a continuation of our day of rest. First, though, I need to finish writing about yesterday. My meeting with Sunday was great, like I said in yesterday's entry. After that, though, my other two scheduled meeting fell through because those people's phones weren't working. I'll try again this week. Instead, I met up with Oliver at the Main Market, and we went to a restaurant to take lunch. Blake, Matt, and Oliver all showed up, too, unplanned, so we all took lunch together. The food was good, but it took about an hour to get there.
 The only other thing I did in town was meet with Dennis, the shop owner in main Market. He said he understood, and that he wanted to know Jesus, but I'm not really sure if he actually understood everything. I told him how to pray and receive salvation, and invited him to church. He didn't show, but I'll still visit him, and if I can, bring another Ugandan with me to help him understand.
 Last night, Kevin and Ryan came over, and we all played fishbowl. (Fishbowl is a combination of several games. Each player writes three words or phrases on pieces of paper and puts them in the "fishbowl." You play catch phrase with all of the words, then charades, then you can only say one word, then only sounds. It's a really fun game, and our team loved to play it.) It was so much fun, and we have several new quotes from it.
 So today, non of the people I invited to church showed up. A few of the others, who were invited by other team members, were there, though. It was a good service, I enjoyed it. At the end, we prayed for each other, and Pablo told me a really encouraging picture the Lord gave him, of me running and on fire, and everyone I touched caught on fire as well.
 We had pizza for lunch, and it was great. It wasn't exactly like American pizza, but it was close. Then we rested until evening worship.
 Evening worship was great. We just stood - or sat, jumped, walked, whatever you felt - worshipping God for over an hour at the church.
 That night, after a brief meeting and dinner with Kevin, and the two other interns who just arrived today, we Skyped with Beth and Mitchell . It was great to see them and talk to them again. They are doing well. We laughed and shared jokes and stories with them, and they prayed for all of us.
 Now our Sabbath is over, and it's back to meetings and sowing seeds tomorrow.

Day 7 - Saturday, June 16

 Sorry I missed yesterday, it was because we went out late. Yesterday was good. We had a meeting scheduled for 9:30 with Komakech, but we showed up late. He wasn't there when we arrived, but we don't think he was there before then, either. After that, Oliver and I went to meet with Richard, but he wasn't there, so we went to a rolex stand, where we ran into the other guys on our team. we got rolexes and headed to Pece Stadium (pronounced "petch-ay"). Rolexes are delicious! It's eggs, usually three, and "chops," which are chopped tomatoes, onions, and lettuce, and a little salt, fried and rolled up in two tortilla-like things, their name sounds like "chi-potty." (It wasn't until the end of the trip on our way to Entebbe airport that I finally saw it written somewhere. It's spelled chipatti, and it's basically like tortillas, except the ingredients are slightly different, causing them to be ridiculously delicious. I think they have onion in them.) At Pece Stadium, they were having an athletics day. It's a nationwide even that happens twice per school term (Actually, it's twice per year. Whoever told me that probably meant school year.) all over the country, and this region's events are held at Pece Stadium. We saw some amazing athletes there.
 Oliver and I left Pece a little early to meet with some people. we met with Sam Anthony, James from the day before, and a friend James brought named Justin. Any of them could be a person of peace, but it  seems likely that Sam is. Soon after that, we met with Lawrence, the man from the bank the other day. He had followed Jesus in the past, but had strayed away because of things that happened to him, like losing his parents. He said he would need to think about it before deciding to accept Jesus. He lives far away, though, so Kent Forester (the long-term missionary who lives there with his family. He is normally there to help guide the short-term teams, but he and his family were in America at the time for a break, so Kevin was taking his place) will need to keep in touch with him. Later, after dinner, the guys went to what was basically a club/whorehouse to minister to guys outside. It was a fruitful endeavor. I met with three guys, and I think all three will go to church tomorrow. I met with one of them, named Sunday, today, and he accepted Jesus! We will meet again Monday, and he's bringing people with him. I think he could be another person of peace. We will see. The only other meeting today that actually happened was with Dennis, the shop owner in Main Market. I'm not sure if he understood what I told him, but he did say he wants to know Jesus, so I told him how to pray to God and receive salvation. I'll see him at church tomorrow or another day at his shop. I'll write about the rest of today after church tomorrow. Blake and Oliver are waiting for the light.