Thoughts from David

Hi everyone, this is David! I know you all hear a lot from Katie, considering that she loves to write and this is her blog and all... but an update from me is well overdue.

There is a song that plays over and over again on the radio every Christmas. Maybe you find yourself singing to it like I do, but we don't think through what we are singing, (although we could say this about most of what's on the radio these days). I hummed along with this song for years, without ever realizing what the words were saying. This Christmas, the words to this song left me particularly puzzled. Here's what they say -

But say a prayer to pray for the other ones 

At Christmastime 

It's hard, but when you're having fun 

There's a world outside your window 

And it's a world of dread and fear 

Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears 

And the Christmas bells that ring there 

Are the clanging chimes of doom 

Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you 

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime 

The greatest gift they'll get this year is life 

Oh, where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow 

Do they know it's Christmastime at all? 

Here's to you, raise a glass for everyone 

Here's to them, underneath that burning sun 

Do they know it's Christmastime at all? 

-Band-Aid (Bob Geldof)

Now, to be fair, this song was written in the 1980s to raise money in response to a terrible drought and famine that was going on in the Eastern part of the continent. However, I feel like the words to this song represent a lot of the perceptions that people in the US (including myself in the past), have had about this gigantic part of the world. After all Africa (a continent, not a country) is quite large.

The past few years in life have turned a lot of the stereotypes I grew up believing about Africa completely around. The song that I mentioned talks about nothing ever growing here. It talks about no rivers flowing here. And it assumes that they don't know it's Christmastime at all. (And based on that assumption, it also indicates that there are no Christians here).

Over the past week, my experiences have been 100% opposite of the stereotypes indicated by the lyrics to this popular Christmas song. I have driven hours and hours through the greenest landscapes that I've ever seen! Up and down hills that are surrounded by trees. They are growing everywhere. You can't look outside and not see plants growing bananas, jack fruit, pineapple, sweet potato, mango, avocado, sugar cane, maize, plantain, coffee bean, rice.. And those are just the ones I have heard of.  Also there are rivers that flow here. We actually saw the Nile River. It's debatably the longest river in the world and it is beautiful. They do celebrate Christmas here. We arrived just as couple weeks after Christmas and there are still decorations up everywhere. Within the first 10 days of being here I have been to 4 different churches. Each congregation was alive with enthusiasm, engaged in the message, and excited to welcome us into the worship service with them.

Now I know it seems like I'm just bashing this catchy holiday classic, but I really just wanted to share with you that my experience has been different here. And I think you deserve to hear it.

So you may be wondering why I wanted to come here, and what my role is.

Katie spent time in Africa as we were teenagers, and she started sharing stories with me. But these stories about people and their lives there sounded different from the stereotypes that I had heard and believed as a kid. It was actually very encouraging to hear these people and their stories. They actually weren't as "different" as I had heard. And eventually it clicked inside me that They are not only just people but that they also are equally loved by God.   Now the question that I held onto wasn't "Why are they so different from us?" but it was slowly turning into a new question: "How are we the same?"

As Katie and I got older, we knew that we were both being moved towards ministry-related work. It was what we did. It was what we always found ourselves doing with others. And whether they were mission trips to other countries or serving in and around our city in St. Louis, I know that as God leads with opportunities I would need to follow.

Over the past couple of years we have had the opportunity to help start a ministry that partners with locally led community based organizations here in East Africa. We are spending time here to work with our partners. Within Under The Same Tree, Katie's role is director of programs and operations. This means that she works in collaboration with our East African partners in administration, organization, strategic planning, fundraising, and overall direction for the organization. My role in UTST is public and donor relations. While here in East Africa, I will be working to make sure that those who support Katie and I and the work being done here are as engaged and informed as possible. I will be working as hard as I can to make them feel as if they are along on this journey with us, and connected with the people that we are working with. I will also be working to try and bring in new donors and supporters. So if you and your family, friends, churches, or churches are interested in partnering with us, I'm your guy.

I came here for the first time to help with this ministry, but also because We want to tell a new story about Africa- not about depravity, darkness and helplessness, but about dignity, local innovation, a church that's alive, endless natural beauty, incredible human spirit- and in the end, I want this story to be about my friends - the friendships here that are helping me to experience what it means to be a human being - formed by the hands of God and dependent on his green earth & the loving arms of those around me. There is life here that is unknown in the US. To me the new story of Africa is how much they have here that cannot be found in the US. It is a story that I would like to see children growing up hearing.

Love,

David

First update!

We've completed our first week in East Africa! Although we flew into Nairobi, we immediately hopped on a bus and took a 14 hour ride to the neighboring country of Uganda, where we are spending our first few weeks. We've had a really great opportunity over the past several months to build a relationship with a Ugandan community-based organization called Care for Orphans and Community Development Uganda, because up until now, their director Sam Mugaya was living in Saint Louis, studying medicine at UMSL. I was also a student at UMSL, so I was really excited to get to know Sam last year and talk about what has been going on in Uganda. Under the Same Tree works to partner with locally led community organizations in East Africa, and so we were naturally very interested in coming to see what Sam's organization is doing. Timing worked out really well, and we were able to set things up so that we were able to come here during the same week that Sam was moving back to Uganda from Saint Louis. So this week has felt like a big homecoming for everyone, and it's been really cool to get to be a part of it.

Sam's ministry, Care for Orphans and Community Development, or CAFOCOD (as they call it), is working to support 30 orphaned children in the rural village of Kiboga, Uganda, through the help of a local church. They also run free health clinics, and are working to build a medical facility in the village of Luwero, where the people have no access to health care. We were able to help out at one of the free clinics yesterday. We set up under tents in the middle of forest of banana trees, and people walked from miles around to get to visit a doctor. Some were mothers with tiny babies on their backs, and some were elderly people over the age of 80. They sat down and waited for hours to be seen, while chatting or dancing to the music of a drum circle. The ability to take care of the health of themselves and their families was so evident, and although I am not a medical specialist by any means, it was really incredible to see what could be done with a couple of doctors, a handful of medical supplies, and two tents.

The rest of the time that we spend in Uganda, we will be getting to know the orphaned children  that this ministry cares for, gathering information and compiling media to send back to the Saint Louis based team,  and helping with strategic planning. The team of people working to make this ministry possible here truly considers one another family, and they have been quick to welcome us into the circle. We have shared so much laughter already. We are excited to see how our relationship with this ministry and the rural communities of Kiboga and Luwero grows and develops in the upcoming year!

We will be heading back to Nairobi after another week or so!

Heading Out

After a wonderfully relaxing Holiday Season, David and I are leaving on Monday to spend three months in East Africa, working with the ministries that Under the Same Tree partners with. We will spend the first couple of weeks in a town outside of Kampala, Uganda, where we will help local doctors run a free community health fair, and we will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a clinic and orphanage/school.

When we get back to Nairobi, Kenya, we will be working on our sponsorship program for microloan recipients and their children, as well as working with them to build local food sources. We are working in partnership with a local church, and will be helping them with all of their activities in the community.

This is David's first time traveling to Africa with me, and I'm really excited to finally get to do this together. David's main role in Under the Same Tree is public relations and donor relations, and he is really looking forward to working to capturing the moments and stories that will connect people in the US with the communities we serve.

A lot of people have been asking where they can look to find updates from us over the next several weeks/months. There will be three main ways I am planning to send info out - email newsletters, this blog, and through Facebook. If you don't already receive our email newsletters but would like to, please just send your email address to underthesametree@live.com.

Thanks for all of the love, support and prayers!

December Newsletter

Due to technical difficulties with the server I usually use to send out our newsletters, this month's update is being hosted on the blog.

Welcome to Katie and David's December/2014 Wrap-Up Newsletter!

It's been a really good year. Challenging, stretching, occasionally chaotic, sure. But we have been shown so much goodness and love throughout this year. I have learned so much - about being flexible, being patient, handling anxiety, choosing to live with peace in my heart, and being thankful for the small things. I specifically remember a week in which we had been living on granola bars for a few too many days, and some friends invited us over for a home-cooked meal. I melted with gratitude. We have been wrapped up with the love of others this year, and I'm really thankful.

This year we have moved out of our apartment and spend most of the year living in a popup camper and with friends in order to cut down on living expenses. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I visited our partners in Kenya. We left our paid jobs to focus on working for Under the Same Tree, and were able to work with friends to put on some really incredible fundraisers and events. The support base of UTST has grown, and in our first year of active fundraising, we have been able to raise nearly $10,000 for communities in East Africa. I'm really amazed!

Here's a brief summary on where we have been and where we are going - 

About a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to collaborate with some wonderful friends in East Africa to start an organization that is focused on partnering with locally-led initiatives, and works to connect them with the resources that they need to thrive. (I know I've said this a thousand times, but for the sake of new newsletter subscribers, bear with me ;). ) Several years ago I was able to spend some time volunteering in East Africa. I found it to be a place absolutely bursting with passionate people and vibrant churches who wanted to make a difference in the lives of their communities who struggled with poverty, disease, and illiteracy. And what has lingered in my heart for so long is this - local people and local organizations in East Africa are brimming with potential to bring about transformation in their communities. They understand the problems, and they know what the solutions are.  All that they are lacking is a few resources. So we worked together to found Under the Same Tree, and began to partner with African led community-based organizations that work in association with local churches.

Our first partnership is based in the vast urban slums of Nairobi, Kenya. We are working alongside a church and community-based organization there to implement a microfinance program to help families step out of the cycle of extreme poverty. Parents are trained in small business skills, and provided with start-up capital to start or expand a small business. This often looks like small food stands, running stalls in local marketplaces, or small barbershops. While the parents are working towards self-sufficiency, we try to find people to sponsor their children's health and nutrition expenses. In the end, we transfer responsibility for the family's needs back to the parents, bringing the program full circle. We are also working in Nairobi to implement new food sources through community-led urban gardening. I was able to spend some time with our partners in Nairobi this past May, and help begin to get this process started. Now we get to see it grow!

We also have a relatively new opportunity to get to know a rural Ugandan community in collaboration with a local community based organization that focuses on the provision of health services and care for orphans. The organization currently cares for 30 orphans who are being hosted in the homes of families, and they are seeking to build a boarding school where the children can reside permanently.

In 2015, David and I will be spending the months of January, February, and March with our partners in Kenya, and will be making a couple of field-visits to Uganda. We will be helping with the administration of programs there, but equally as important, we will be getting to know the local communities on a personal level. We will be gathering with groups and listening to their vision for their community and how they see that playing out, and working with them to identify and build on local resources. We will be working with our church partnerships in their weekly activities. We will be gathering as much information and stories as possible to help connect people in the US with people there - so that we can learn from each other and grow together.

Then, when we return to the US this Spring, we get to work hard to engage individuals, student groups, churches, local businesses and more with the stories and ongoing work in East Africa. We are planning on spending some time later in 2015 visiting friends and family in various parts of the US, and working to expand UTST's support base to several more states.

We depart on January 5th for East Africa, which is soon. We are depending on support from individuals and churches who love us to make this work financially possible for us. If you have considered supporting us before, now is a really great time to start :)  - http://www.underthesametree.com/#!staff-support/ch7s

We are looking forward to another good year in 2015. Thank you for walking alongside us.

We are not cool.

This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately.

http://aswwu.com/collegian/voluntourism-more-harm-than-good/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/6day-visit-to-rural-african-village-completely-cha,35083/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:NA:InFocus

This is the concept of serving others just to draw attention to ourselves, or make ourselves look good. Of using service or missions as an excuse to travel the world... and worse, the notion that Westerners are the only ones who can solve the world's problems. The assumption that we are the only ones who can make a difference, or that our way of living is best for everyone else. The labeling of all who do not look like white America as "needy," or "the least of these." When we do that, we assume that we are not least.. that somehow we must be more?

It makes me really sad, and reluctant to share stories and photos the work that I have the opportunity to be a part of in East Africa because I am afraid of it being perceived this way.

I have had the opportunity to work with people from both sides of the world to start an organization (Under the Same Tree) whose mission is to partner with locally led initiatives and community based organizations in East Africa, and help to insure they have the resources that they need to thrive. This plays out on the ground level to provide poverty alleviation to families, wellness for children, and care for orphans. We are about highlighting strengths, sharing life together as a global community, breaking down false perceptions, and improving the quality of life for all that we work with. For Christians, this means truly becoming a global body, because there are actually more Christians in Africa than there are in the US!

And as for me, I'm trying not to let articles like these discourage me from sharing my photos and stories. But know this - I am not amazing. I do not believe that Westerners are the ones bearing the solutions to the world's problems. I do not believe that the people we work  with in East Africa are incapable and needy. No, they blow me away with their resourcefulness and ingenuity. We get to partner with this. I am continually blessed beyond measure by the love I receive from my friends in East Africa. They adopt me every time I'm around. I get to share that with you.

Know that our service in East Africa is not just a meet and greet and leave type of thing. We are, God willing, in this for the long term. We will get to see babies grow up and lives lived out. Side by side.

I know I can't change stereotypes. But I want to value very highly the lives that come alongside mine, no matter where or who they are. I want that to be what you see in pictures and stories as we head out to East Africa next month.

A few weeks ago, David asked me if we were cool, Are we the cool kids? I laughed a lot and said no. Maybe we are a little unconventional. We like running around outside. We like to laugh and have fun. We like to sing. We enjoy each other. We love Jesus and his creation. We enjoy our friends. We are happy. We are really loved. We are willing to live outside of the norm.

Here is what we are not - 

We are not cool, we are not hip or trendy... sorry about that, friends. We are not amazing. We are not idealistic, I used to be, but not anymore. Contrary to popular jokes, we are not hippies. We don't have it all together. We are not rich. We are not perfect. We do not live in the absence of fear, stress, or worry. We are learning to depend on others for our needs.

Those are my thoughts. Merry Christmas. :)

A piece of my love for Sub Saharan Africa.

I fell in love with Sub Saharan Africa when I read a book called 28.



It was 2007, at the height of the HIV epidemic, and I read a book that fed me stories of real people - personal, individual stories. Each came with the portrait of the individual whose story I was entering. The stories reflected their strengths, joys, hopes and fears. The stories connected modern lives with their historical context. That book changed my life and left me hungry for more, for actual hands to hold. I wanted to connect myself with those stories and walk into the future with them.

A year later, four little hands entered my life, entered my family. My family adopted two children who were likely orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Africa became my family, and I was able to visit the place for the first time.



I wasn't captured by the hints of modernization I saw in the capital city of Addis Ababa, but by rural Southern Ethiopia. I was captivated by freedom from technology. I saw what I felt was the very essence of what it meant to be a human - connected with God, the Earth, and other people. I listened to the song "Redemption" by Jars of Clay and didn't feel heartbreak or pity but wonder and longing, for I craved what I found there for myself. I was 18, and I wondered if I was being selfish. But I looked around and saw redemption for all I was disillusioned with in Western society - convenience, obsession with technology, luxury, media, individualism, constant entertainment, disconnection and even destruction of nature, the ever- promised up&up. I saw poverty in these things. Not poverty that was defined by lack of material things, but a brokenness of relationships, self identity, and culture. It bothered me. I know there's a lot of valuable pieces of Western society, but this had been bothering me, as a teenager.

I began to wonder if, indeed, Africa could bring healing to the non-material poverty faced in America.

If their beautiful strength of dependence on community and group identity could touch the deep isolation, loneliness, and self-reliance I saw back at home. If the wide open land and skies and the vital, tangible connection with the produce of the earth could shine light on our addictions to artificial food and entertainment, and neglect of creation. And if the vibrant, growing, African Church could share their wisdom and experiences with the Christians in America, as their brothers and sisters.



When I went to Africa for the first time, I expected to find desolation and heartbreak. And I saw material poverty, sure, but I found a people who didn't find a need for the excess that Westerners often consider to be "not enough." I found innovation and simplicity, deep human connections, natural wonder, simplicity, wisdom and rich history. I wanted to make my life more like that. I started making so many friends from East Africa, and I have learned so much from them. They have spoken into my life. They have prayed with me and for me, and for you (since if you're reading, you're probably my friend). Africa has brought so much healing to my life.

I talk a lot about how as Under the Same Tree we partner with and support communities in East Africa. But the truth is that I want the same for the communities I am connected with here in the US. We work to tell stories of how communities in Africa are building on their strengths and maximizing their potential, because I really want you to know them, because I love them. But also because I believe it can transform you, because I care about you too, and I want the same for you :)

Water

I can't remember a time when I didn't know how to swim.

Still to this day, when others might go to the beach or the pool to lay in the sun or walk around on the sand, I'm running wild into the water. It submerges me and I am weightless, like flying.

I love water.

Many times in poetry and metaphor and even scripture, water is associated with danger, threat, and the unknown. Water can sweep you away, can suck you under and keep the air from your lungs. It is clear that water is not safe.

But the thing about water is that you can learn how to move with it. It can come so naturally, just like walking. Even with the water is raging, you can learn to dance in it. And not be afraid.

My very favorite place to be in water is the ocean. It is my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. When I am in Missouri, I ache for it every day. My favorite beaches are on the Pacific West Coast.. I'm from California, and I love it. I also like beaches on the Gulf where the water is calm and warm, it's nice.. But on the Pacific Coast, the water is cold and the waves can be huge. There can be dangerous rip tides daily. There are often submerged reefs and rocks that can rip holes in your skin, leaving scars on your ankles and knees. I love shores that aren't tame.

When you come to shores like these, you can sit in the sand and watch their beauty, and that's really nice. I like that. But what I love is swimming out into the big waves. If you don't accept the rhythm and dance of the waves, it's easy to get pushed back to shore and exhausted.. or swept under, spun around, injured, even drowned. But when you stop looking at the waves like an opponent bent on pushing you back to shore, and learn to move with their rhythm and dance, you can go further and deeper. You can learn to ride the waves.

This is what I know about the ocean. The vast, dangerous ocean that is my best friend.

For a long time, I've ridden the waves in ways that came easily and naturally to me, by body surfing and body boarding. I had never attempted standing up on the waves, because I thought it would be really hard, and beyond what I was comfortable with. But for the past 2 summers I've been trying to change that.

I think I started learning to surf at a really poignant time in my life. You can't just run out there and do it (unless you have a 10 ft longboard), it takes time. Surfing is all about trusting the water, and your ability to move in the water. Surfing is all about gathering the courage to stand. I used to say that surfing is easier than riding skateboards (which I do with my brothers and David a lot) because when you fall, you hit water rather than pavement. But the truth is that gathering the courage to stand up when you're riding a wave is hard. It's a lot easier to just give up and let it sweep you under. I have more scars from surfing than from skating, now.

I say that it was a really poignant time in life because the past few years I've been learning what it means to "walk on water" in a spiritual sense, and it's been a lot like learning to surf. Let me explain.

Over the past 2 years, David and I have been pursuing a call to ministry in East Africa. That means willingly stepping into situations that are absolutely overwhelming. Choosing to have the faith to step off of the comfortable shore into the cold and choppy water. Remembering how much I love the water, even though it's not always comfortable.

We often don't know how our own basic needs are going to be met.. basic needs like food and shelter. We get tired. It can feel like drowning. Sometimes we want God to lift us up out of the water and set us back on the sunny shore. But instead He just keeps teaching us how to swim, and challenging us to come deeper.

We come to the place on the shore where the big waves are breaking. They're crashing down, dangerously. But I know if I fight them, they'll push me under and keep me down. I know if I move with them... even dance with them, I will remember how much I love them and be filled with joy. We face setbacks sometimes. We face really hard challenges. I used to let them make me panic, but during the past month or so, I started finding myself laughing in the face of unexpected challenges. That's not me. I started remembering how discontented I always was with a comfortable life. Why God's given me a love of running up against challenging things, then learning that I can never overcome them by fighting them on my own. Like the wave, they will just push me under and keep me down. Only when I surrender and dance in the face of challenges does He pull me to the surface of a crashing wave.

I love to swim, and I feel like God has always been teaching me to be a good swimmer in the metaphorical water we've chosen to follow Him into. But I'm just now learning to ride the waves. To stand up on the raging water. Just like surfing, standing up takes courage and faith.

 I know I will fall off of that surfboard. It's inevitable . I know I might cut my leg on that submerged reef, and a shark might smell my blood and come eat me. For real, that might happen. The board might bash me in the head and knock me unconscious. My faith has to be stronger than that. It doesn't happen right away, I think that it's a learning process.

There's a song that's become popular in contemporary worship music recently, and honestly, I love it. I find myself singing it when I am nervous or feeling panicked. It reminds me God has called me out upon the water, even though it is dangerous. It reminds me that I'm not really afraid of water - that I actually really love it. Here are the words:

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I recently read an article called "Stop Singing Oceans." (http://www.anniefdowns.com/2014/09/16/stop-singing-oceans/#.VCwiCfldWSo) I've always had a bit of a struggle about Christians singing songs that proclaim things such as "I will give everything to follow You" but not living the words, especially when I found myself being one of them. I love that this author identifies that this is a song about huge sacrifice. About laying down all of your reservations and securities, possibly giving up everything, and possibly stepping out into what scares you the most. I love this song because of the huge challenge that it presents, even though the words terrify me. I love that it's about water. I hope I can sing it honestly.