I’m telling you now, I’m gonna be a wreck.

Has it really been four and a half years since my first mission trip to Africa? That trip broke me in ways I never could have imagined. It changed the course of my life forever. It lit a fire in me not only for global missions, but also for local outreach and ministry.

I’ve always had a heart to serve, ever since that first day I stepped forward to surrender my life to Christ. But something inside me clicked while I was in Kenya and Uganda back in May 2009.

So when I step foot on the ground in Kampala on January 16th, it’ll be a sort of homecoming. I’ll be returning to the place where God started a deep work in my spirit. And I’m expecting this next journey to spark just as much (if not more) inside me as the first one did.

This time I’ll be traveling with an incredible team of writers with World Help. We’re going to experience the amazing work being done in Uganda and Rwanda, and to tell the stories of the lives being changed by that work. I’m in awe of the talent and passion I see in the team that I’ll be traveling with…

• Emily Wierenga, Author of Chasing Silhouettes and Mom in the Mirror
• Matt Appling, Author of Life After Art
• Michele-Lyn Ault, Writer at A Life Surrendered
• Noel Yeatts, VP of World Help and Author of Awake

You’ll definitely be hearing a LOT more from me about the projects we’ll be visiting, but here’s a little glimpse at what we’ll be doing…

Project: Rescue Homes at the Baby Rescue Center in Uganda

This video pretty much sums up anything I would have to say about the importance of this project.

We’ll be asking everyone to help us spread the word, and to support the completion of some rescue homes in Uganda that will bring hope to more kids like Jerry. While we’re there, we’ll be hanging out with the kids and working on some really cool projects that we think you’ll enjoy seeing.

Northern Uganda’s Forgotten Children

Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army has affected tens of thousands of lives of children in Northern Uganda, forcing them to be soldiers, spies, sex slaves, and human shields. The work of World Help in these areas is providing hope to many who have been directly impacted by Kony’s tyranny.

Recent news indicates that some are beginning to defect from Kony. And I pray that his grip on the people of Northern Uganda continues to weaken. More than anything, I pray for healing and restoration for those affected by his reign of terror.

Vocational Training in a Rwanda Widow’s Village

The 20th anniversary of Rwandan Genocide is in 2014. World Help continues to bring restoration and hope to many women and their children in a widow’s village in Rwanda. We’ll be spending some time with these people and the programs that are bringing the vocational training that’s rebuilding lives and changing futures.

We also plan to visit the genocide museum in Kigali. When I wrote the chapter on War, Terrorism, and Genocide for Activist Faith, I never imagined having the opportunity to visit a place like this. I’m humbled by the chance to come so close to a big piece of Rwanda’s (and the world’s) history.

I told you that I’m got to be a wreck. I already am.

What’s next? We need you!

We’re only a month away from this trip. And I’d be honored if you would join us. Follow our stories, watch the Twitter and Instagram feeds (we’re using #AfricaWH), and help us spread the word. All the details and resources for how you can get involved are on the World Help website. Subscribe for all the updates from our team, get the banner images for your blog and Facebook profile. Heck, you can even join the World Help Blogger Team to get access to more information and resources, and help tell the stories yourself! Get it all here…

And if you don’t already do so, then subscribe to my feed here at BibleDude.net. I’ll be talking a great deal about this trip, and even have some special, subscriber-only stuff that’ll be coming your way really soon. I’m expecting 2014 to be a year of diving in really deep, and you won’t want to miss everything we’ve got coming…

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More than anything else, I covet your prayers. Please join me in praying daily for this team, the work we’ll be doing, and that the right stories will be told to further this amazing work being done in the name of our King. We can’t do this without Him, or without you.

#fistbump