A story from Uganda...

Alec and I arrived to the orphanage yesterday evening. It's such an amazing place that God clearly works. In irish culture, they believe there's some places on this planet you can go and be closer to heaven. You can feel closer to the Lord. They call these places, "the thin places"
This orphanage is certainly one of the Thin Places, where the vail between heaven and earth just feels thinner.

We woke up this morning to the roosters crow and the pitter patter of little feet. Such a great way to wake up. We got up and saw the sun rise over the africa  country side, and once we pulled the cameras out, it didn't take long before we had 50+ kids surrounding us all wanting their pictures taken.

Alec and I are starting filming today, so pray for us. We also got huge news when we arrived... the king of Uganda is coming to the orphanage this Friday, so Alec and I get to meet the King. How cool is that!!!


- Ryan (Team leader)

EastLake Uganda Team is on the Ground!

We are a group of 7 traveling from Seattle, Washington to Bulunga, Uganda to do God's work and show God's love to the orphans at Hope Child Care Program. This is our Blog! Please follow and pray for us before, during and after our adventure.

The Team

Leaders: Ryan Van Drunen and Marianne Sidwell

Members: Ashley Picone, Alicia Coleman, Julie Kink, Drew Bixby, Alec Cattarin

Our Project

Water Catchment Tanks are used to collect rain water. They rain will drain off the roofs through a gutter system and into the tank. The water will be used for agricultural needs as well as a backup water source in the event of a well failure. 

Dear God, We thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for bringing each of us to this group to do your will in Bulunga and thank you for providing for us financially to make this happen. Please prepare our hearts for what we are about to experience and allow His love to shine through us in these weeks to come. In Jesus name, Amen.

Mother Theresa said, "At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by, "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."" 

EastLake Team Headed to Nicaragua!

We're counting down the hours!

Last December Mike and I had dinner with Halle and Kathy August who, a little over a decade ago - quit their jobs, sold their Bothell home, took their three school-aged boys out of school and moved to Nicaragua as a family. They had gone on a mission trip over the summer, and had felt God calling them back to the community they had been serving. The started Alongside Ministries, and built a recreation center basically from the ground up. They now have a full size soccer and baseball field, basketball courts, a computer lab, one of only TWO libraries in Managua, a pre-school and a feeding program. The community knows they are Christian, but they don't have an on-site church. Their philosophy has been just to love on the community, and through that love - they have shown the true power and spirit of Christ.

When we met at Red Robin right before they were about to fly back down south -  after our conversations and hearing their story, we pretty much knew right away we'd put together a mission group to go down and help in whatever way we could.  Less than a year later we're now leading a group of 11 (including us) to serve their center and their community. God has BIG plans for us, and everyone is so excited! 

We've been blessed with amazing, un-anticipated gifts of donated clothing and shoes, and we raised enough money to purchase 36 brand new books for their library. We are bringing 3 donated sewing machines and bolts of fabric to teach women how to make book bags, have games and prizes and activities for the kids, and even plan to give the gift of manicures for at least 20 women while we're there.  

The majority of our group have never traveled this far away from home, and all but 3 have never been on a mission trip before. While Mike and I know a little bit of Espanol, the rest of the group does not.  It's going to be so amazing to see how God works in and through all of us during this journey, and watch how all of the planning over the past 5 months comes together!  If you're reading this, please pray for Jessica, Jenny, Claire, Evan, Chad, Jared, Jen, Michelle, Debbie, Mike, (and Julie.) We leave Thursday morning from Sea-tac - arriving at 6: (oh-dark) 30 AM, and will spend over 7.5 hours on two different flights along with a 3 hour layover in Houston. We'll be tired on arrival, but so excited to see what's next! 

Cheers! Mike and Julie Metteer