I realized last night when I was talking to my previous employer that I did not update you on what happened with Otim.  The answer to that is...nothing.  I did not find him.  I have no idea where he is.  Like I said in my previous blog about him, he was living in an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp when I met him and when I went back to Gulu, Uganda this summer, his entire camp was torn down.  Now where there once were huts, kids running everywhere, woman building fires and families enjoying time together, there is now a field of grass. 

IDP camp-Gulu, January 2009

Where the IDP camp used to be-Gulu, June 2010

It was surreal to be there again.  It is surreal to know that I was so close to Otim and couldn't find him.  There is this anger in me that says that it's not okay.  It's not okay that there is a boy living in Uganda who I love and will never see.  It is not okay that his parents were murdered by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).  It is not okay that the northern part of Uganda went through 20 years of war.  None of this is okay and there's nothing I can say that will make it okay. 

The only thing I can say is that I was blessed to meet him in the first place!  I was blessed to go back to the same exact spot to try to find him again.  I am blessed to be apart of a ministry that continues to send groups to the same contacts.  No matter how I look at it, I am blessed.  What about Otim?  What about the other Otim's in the world?  

Wanted to send a quick note to let you know that I am still in need of $240 by Friday!  I am responsible for raising $10,000 by December 9, 2010!  Currently I have $2,760 in my support account. 

You can donate online at http://www.adventures.org/give/.  Choose "AIM Staff" and follow the prompts from there!

 Or you can make checks out to Adventures in Missions and send them to:  Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA  30353-4470

I want to write a blog that will tell you all what I am doing.  I want you to understand the work of AIM: their goal, vision and mission.  Because honestly, I believe that if people understood what was going on here; if people knew the hearts of those who work here; if people knew the hearts of a lot of missionaries and missions organizations around the world; missionaries would not have to support raise because people would be THROWING money at them!

This blog is not to shame anyone into giving me money! In fact, I have some amazing and loyal people who believe in me, what AIM is doing and have been so incredibly supportive of me.  But there are many people who do not have that.  I'm supposed to raise $10,000 by January 2011 and that's just for these 6 months.  Most likely, I will continue on in my relationship with AIM as a staff member which means that I will have to raise another $10,000 for the year of 2011 and then another $10,000 the year after and on and on! 

I completely understand that so many people are probably sick and tired of giving me money.  They probably feel like I should "get a real job".  THIS is a real job.  THIS is a job that can change GENERATIONS!!  My job is to go out and find people who are willing to give up everything in their life and surrender a year or a couple months to whole-heartedly following Jesus.  

Giving up their family and friends

Their phones and reliable communication

Their beds and showers

Their cars

Their jobs

Their privacy and space...

DON'T YOU WANT A GENERATION LIKE THAT? 

Don't you want to be living in a generation where the kids care more about the poor than they do about their own wants...

Who care more about the injustices of the world than about their own comfort...

Who care about others more than themselves... 

Who are defined by love...

Who are willing to work through the issues of their past to become the men and woman God has created them to be?

I want to live in that generation!  I want to be apart of raising that generation up! I AM apart of raising that generation up!!  THAT is what my job is!  HOW BLESSED AM I?!?!  YOU could be part of this generation!

"There is a generation of radicals whose heartbeat is to see a changed world. It's a generation that's dissatisfied with the status quo and is actively rising to the challenge of seeing the world transformed through tangible expressions of God's love. World Racers are seeing lives changed in nations all over the world."  www.theworldrace.org

Hello Everyone!! I am back in AMERICA!!!!  I gotta say it is super nice to be home!! Uganda was amazing! I learned some incredible things and the participants on our team were amazing...but it's always good to come home!  

I know I have mentioned this before, but I am starting a new adventure on Monday, August 9th!  I am beginning a six month apprenticeship with AIM in the Recruitment department!!  We will be traveling to schools, churches and young adult gatherings to talk to people about The World Race and Real Life.  I am super excited about this next step, but I still have some work to do as I begin.  

If you would like to partner with me in this new experience I would greatly appreciate it! I currently have $1,055 in my support account and need to have $3,000 by Monday!  

You can donate online at http://www.adventures.org/give/.  Choose "AIM Staff" and follow the prompts from there!

 Or you can make checks out to Adventures in Missions and send them to:  Adventures In Missions, PO Box 534470, Atlanta, GA  30353-4470

Thank you so much for everything you have done for me and for all your prayers while I was in Uganda!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

I am in Lira, Uganda with our team of 12 here!  I will be spending the next week here doing ministry with this group of participants and I'm super excited about it!  They really have a passion for discipleship so they are planning on going into schools that they went into this past week to talk with students about what it means to be a Christian.  We only have 3 weeks of ministry left here which seems unreal to me!! Time really does fly by!

When I get back to the states, I have the opportunity to work for Adventure in Missions (AIM) when I get back from this Real Life trip.  I am incredibly excited because I will be working as a member of the new Recruitment Team that is being started!  Our job is going to be to go around to different colleges, churches, young adult groups and recruit for Real Life and The World Race.  I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with both of these trips that AIM send out.  Going on the World Race and co-leading this Real Life trip, have been two of the most growing, challenging and greatest experiences of my life!  I am so ready to go out and tell people about these opportunities and a little about my experiences! 

With this new season comes another request...I need to have $3,000 in my support account by August 9^th.  At this moment, I have about $650.  This means I need to raise $2350 in about a month!  I know that God can provide, so if you feel led to support me I would really appreciate it!  You can donate by going to my blog: Audreypowell@theworldrace.org and donating through the "Support Me" button on the left of the screen. 

You can also send in a check to:

Adventures in Missions

6000 Wellspring Trail

Gainesville, Ga 30506

Make sure you indicate Audrey Powell in the memo line!

Thanks you so much!! I am so excited for this new adventure that God is going to take me on when I get back to America!!!  I love you all very much!

I was in Uganda in January 2009.  I spent that month ministering in the town of Gulu.  You might know the name because it was virtually destroyed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during a war that lasted for 20 years.  The non-profit Invisible Children also spent time there working on their documentary.  The team I was with that month worked for the first 2 weeks in a village called Keyo.  We stayed in the primary school building because the kids were on break while we were there. 

Last week the Real Life team I am co-leading with Braedon went to Gulu.  We were scheduled to go to 2-3 schools per day in and around Gulu to minister to kids.  Thursday afternoon was to be our last day of ministry and we were scheduled to go to Keyo.  When I found out I was coming back to Uganda, the idea crossed my mind to try to go back to the place I ministered.  NEVER did it cross my mind that the first week we were in the country we would be going back to the city I stayed in AND visit the village I lived in!! 

Our team was going to be ministering at the Secondary school that is connected by a path to the primary school.  I knew I had to go over to the school to see if Otim was still there.  Two of the girls on the team, Katie and Rachel, walked over with me.  I carried with me a picture that Otim had drawn that had his name at the bottom. When we got to the school I decided best bet was heading to the head masters office. You can imagine the head masters surprise when 3 white people walked in unannounced.  He was very helpful though and took Otim’s name down and said he would try to figure it out.

As we were standing in the office, I noticed that a man had walked to the door and was looking in.  It was the Reverend we had worked with while at Keyo!  He remembered me and said he was willing to help me find Otim.  He said Otim had moved to another village because the IDP camps had been torn down, but that Otim still went to the church the Reverend was a pastor of.  I cannot tell you how excited I was!  I wrote Otim a short note to let him know that I have not forgotten about him and that I love him and I pray for him daily.  I then gave the note to the Reverend who said he would deliver the note for me.  In my heart I knew that even if I couldn’t see him, if I could just get him that note, it would be worth it!  He would know that he is not forgotten and that he is so special and that I will never stop thinking of him or praying for him! 

The next day, Friday, the team headed back to Kampala for the weekend before another trip to minister to schools in Kabale, Uganda.  As I was getting ready for the day on Saturday I got a phone call.  The caller said “Audrey, this is Otim.  The one you are looking for.”  Something did not sound right to me.  I asked the Otim calling me how old he was “35”.  My Otim would be 13 or 14….not the correct Otim.  I told him that he was not the correct Otim, but he proceeded to ask when he could come to Kampala to visit me, which makes sense since he got a letter from me telling him that I love him and haven’t forgotten him!  Wrong Otim, Reverend!  So, I called the Reverend who said that he would get the note and take it to the correct Otim.  Later that day I got a phone call from Ronald Reagan, a Ugandan we worked with while in Keyo.  He told me that the Reverend had gotten a hold of him and that he was going to help me find Otim. 

I haven’t heard anything else since then.  It was hard thinking I had found him and then realizing I had not.  I do not know where Otim is.  I do not know if he is still in Uganda.  I do not know if he still remembers me.  I do not know if he is okay.  I DO know that even if I don’t find him; even if I never find him that does not change how he has affected my life.  That does not change that I will always pray for him and believe that God has a mighty plan for his life.  That does not change the fact that some day I believe I will see him, it might be heaven, but that’s okay with me…as long as he is there with me I will be fine. 

I still have so many hopes and dreams for Otim, but in the end I have to realize that so does God!  If I love him, how much more does God love him?! If I have dreams for him, can you imagine how big God’s dreams are?!  If I have never forgotten about him, I can’t imagine how God’s thoughts are consumed with Otim! 

What does break my heart is that he might never know.  He may never know that I tried to find him.  He may go through life thinking that no one remembers him.  He might feel as though he is unloved.  He might never know!  I just want him to know!

I just need to remember that it’s all going to be okay.  Even if I don’t find him.  It’s going to be okay. 

Hello Friends and Family,

            Since being home from the World Race I have moved to Gainesville, Ga.  I have an awesome apartment and I am living with 

my amazing roommate, Cindy who also happened to be one of my teammates on the Race.  I have been working as a part time receptionist at The Children's Center for Hope and Healing.  It is a Center that provides free counseling for kids and woman who have been victims of sexual abuse.  I have loved working at the Center and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the therapists who work here. 

            Two different opportunities have arisen in the last couple of weeks that I can't seem to turn down.  I have been given the chance to return to Uganda for two months this summer; June 8^th-July 31^st as a leader for Real Life.  Real Life is a program within Adventures in Missions (AIM) that allows people from 18-21 years of age to go out and experience 1-3 months on the mission field. Uganda was one of my stops on the Race and is where I met one of my favorite boys from the entire trip, Otim.  While I am in Uganda this time I will be staying in a city called Lira.  As a leader this trip will cost $1500.

            The second opportunity that has presented itself is to work at AIM in a new program that is starting in August.  They are starting a "recruitment team"; people who can go out to churches, schools, music festivals, young adult groups and promote the World Race as well as Real Life programs.  I would be in AIM's apprenticeship program.  This means that I dedicate 6 months to working as an apprentice in a chosen field; for me it would be on the recruitment team; to see how I like working for AIM and the program.  Unfortunately, since I would not technically be on staff, this position requires me to 100% support raise.  The cost of the apprenticeship program is $10,000.  I need to raise that money along with the $1500 to finance my trip to Uganda as well as my 6 months of training.  In total I need to raise $11,500 by January 2011.  That is a lot of money and not a lot of time to raise it in. 

            I am writing you to see if you would like to partner with me in this new adventure.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.  All of this; leadership, support raising, recruitment team, it's all scary and new to me.  It's a world that I am afraid to enter.  Asking people to support me is one of the hardest tasks, but I would not be going to Uganda or joining the apprenticeship program if I did not feel like God was calling me to this.  (Believe me!  I said I would never support raise again after the Race!)  But, God has called me here, to this place, to ask you again if you would be willing to support me.  Not only do I need your financial support in this new season, but I am going to need an abundance of prayer! 

If you feel led to support me financially/and or prayerfully you can donate through my World Race blog site: http://audreypowell.theworldrace.org.   I will be making updates to this blog while in Uganda and throughout my apprenticeship with AIM!  You can add your email to the section called "Update Alerts" and receive updates automatically through your e-mail if you want.

I love you all very much!

So...it has been an extremely long time since I have written anything on this blog.  I just wanted to let those of you who still get updates know what has been going on in my life since being home from the Race. 

 

 

Katie, Cindy and I under my Christmas tree in Ohio!

I have told many of you that The World Race was the best decision I have ever made.  Not only did I get to meet so many amazing people, learn how incredibly ALIVE God still is and how He still wants to use us today; I also found this incredible community of people. 

I feel like I spent most of my life as the person who was everybody's friend.  I had one or two really close friends in life, but I could never really show anyone else who I was.  I just wasn't comfortable enough and quite frankly, I didn't really fit in with them.  I have prayed so many times in my life that God would give me a group of friends who I could feel so comfortable with; as comfortable as I feel with my biological family.  I thought that prayer was never going to be answered...I had prayed it so many times that I thought I was going to have to go through life as a loner.  Then I went on the Race.

Carrying Cindy over the threshold of our apartment after 3 full days of driving from California to Georgia!

So, making a short story VERY long...I am now living in Gainesville, Georgia!! My teammate, Cindy and I are now roommates!!!  There are so many incredible people down here working for AIM, including some of my squad and teammates!!  I just recently got a job at as a receptionist for a local Center that has therapy sessions for woman and children who have been sexually abused.  It is incredibly hard hearing the stories that come in but I am enjoying the job and the people who work there.