First off, no two trips look the same so this outline is "typical" but who, when, where, for what purpose, what time of the year, what gifts and training a team member has, etc., all influence the specific details. I have done Spring Break trips (both for high school and college groups) and those are typically ten day trips. Two weeks is most common with three and four week trips also available.

Typical departure:

• Spring Break: Leave on a Thursday morning, arrive Friday night, Saturday to Organize and travel, begin ministry on Sunday - Thursday, Friday sightseeing and souvenirs, Saturday depart, arrive USA Sunday night and back in school on Monday morning.
• Standard Two Weeks: Leave on a Tuesday or Wednesday, arrive Uganda Wednesday or Thursday night,. Next day organize, travel, with several days of ministry in the first venue, then travel to second venue, several more days of ministry (allows for two Sundays) then on the second Monday or Tuesday, the team has a day of sightseeing and souvenirs before departure and arrive in USA the next night. We have done three venues in a two week trip, but that will depend on the team makeup and how close together the venues are. Plus, the folks living in villages typically do not have 8 to 5 jobs, so being able to attend a teaching conference or other ministry event is not an issue.
• Three or More Weeks Same scheme as the two weeks, but with more venues and one or two more Sundays. This is primarily for those with experience from several other shorter trips and requires a good deal of advanced planning and organization to keep a team busy for such a period of time.
• Air Travel In all cases, we depart from our home areas to a gateway airport such as Atlanta and fly to Amsterdam and then on to Entebbe, Uganda. This is the Delta, KLM route. It consists of two back to back 8 hour flights. Your gateway airport will depend on where you live, but can be any major U.S. international airport. Plus we sometimes use other airlines than Delta/KLM and that affects which intermediate city in Europe is used en route to Entebbe.

Typical Team:

• Teaching Team Main purpose is to organize conferences in village churches to help the folks learn more about the Christian faith and how we should then live, in other words, discipleship teaching (men, women, youth, children, church leaders, etc.
• Evangelistic Team Main purpose is to organize open air crusades, hut to hut evangelism, and other forms of personal evangelism. You will find that Ugandan's will drop whatever they are doing and happily welcome you to their home for a visit.
• Medical Team This depends on who makes up the team but we have done many general village clinics, dentistry, eye clinics, wound care, etc.
• Whatever Team This means whatever you skills are, we can find a way to use them and if you feel you do not have any particular skills, we can help you find how God will use you.

• The first night or two and the last night or two will be spent at our Lookout Ridge guest house. Accommodations at other guest houses depends on where we are ministering. We always put our teams in safe and secure locations that provide mosquito nets, and typically have a restaurant on the site.

• We use competent drivers and well maintained vehicles (vans) and arriving safely is more important to us that arriving quickly. We do our best to do all traveling outside the Kampala area during daylight hours, again, for safety and security.

• A typical ministry day generally starts with a time of prayer together, then breakfast. Then it is off to the venue for the activity of the day. Sometimes our accommodations and the ministry venue are in the same location. Other days we have a short drive from a guest house to the ministry venue. We generally take lunch at the venue with those who are attending. At the end of the day we return to the guest house and have dinner there. In most venues, team members take turns teaching. But in some cases, we have divided the folks into two groups and part of the team works with one group and other, the second group. These division can be clergy and laity, or men and women, or adults and youth or whatever the team is prepared for and how it has been promoted in Uganda. In either case, you will typically find the Ugandan's are eager to participate.
• A typical night can be dinner then relax, team discuss the day's activities, read, study, pray, and prepare for next day. Uganda is an equatorial country so sunrise and sunset is between 6:45 and 7:15 a.m. & p.m. the year round. Some nights we might also have an "open air campaign" where we will go to a specific location with a Ugandan team. They provide music, testimonies, etc., and attract a crowd. Then our team members will share briefly with the groups (short testimony, favorite Bible verse, simple greetings from USA, etc.) then one in the team will preach a gospel message and encourage those listening to "call upon the name of the Lord." All of this is done with an interpreter into the language of the area. (There are 61 diffident tribal languages in Uganda)

• Most American cell phone plans allow you, at some extra charge for voice and data, to use you phone in Uganda. I have a Ugandan cell phone and number and I use it not only to call the USA, but for texts, emails, etc. Plus we can communicate with folks in Uganda easily. You are welcome to use my phone to talk with your family. However, there are two other options open to you.
• You can purchase an inexpensive (for us) Ugandan cellular phone and number, use it while there, then give the phone to some Uganda when it is time to leave. However, if you think you might return, you can just keep it.
• If you have an American "Smart Phone" (iPhone or Android), that works on the GSM standard and it has an open Sim Card Port*, you can simply purchase (nominal fee) a Ugandan Sim Card upon arrival, take out your USA Sim Card and put the Ugandan one in, and you now have a Ugandan phone number and your phone works with all your contacts and email addresses. When you get back home, just put your USA Sim Card back in the phone and your phone never knows it left the USA. I have done this myself for over a decade now and never had even one issue doing so. The value is a one minute call from Uganda to the USA is around $ .05 per minute while using your USA Plan on roaming cost $1.95 per minutes. Plus data bundles (text, emails, Internet) are very cheap. I always start by buying a Gigabit of data (Internet and texting) plus some airtime (talk) and it works just fine. The morning after we arrive, we will go to the cellular phone office for those who wish to either get a phone or a sim card pack.
  • *AT&T and some other companies lock their Sim Card ports so only their Sim Cards can be used in those phones. Verizon does not. I am not sure about others, you should check with your carrier and find out. AT&T will unlock your port for a period of time if you call and arrange for the time during the trip.

• To help those going, over the years I have prepared a series of instructions in different areas to guide preparation for the trip and ministry. You will find them at Kits and I encourage you to look over them. I am always ready to answer any questions.