MAN UP RAGBRAI 2022

MAN UP RAGBRAI 2022

RABGRAI 2022 is another one for the books!  Every year Man Up sends out a team of avid bike riders to represent our mission to fight for the fatherless. Here is what one of our RAGBRAI veterans had to say about this year’s trip:

“One thing that struck me this year is the friendships that we have built on RAGBRAI. We caught up with Anita about her grandkids and Steve about his sons and their PB & J business. We talked a lot with our Air Force buddies and on and on. After riding this event 9 times, I now feel like I am going home every summer to meet up with my old friends for a week. That’s pretty special.”

Here is a quick run down from one of our trip leaders:

Small but strong team.

I ran over kyson at 23 mph, possibly fracturing a rib or two but he rode all 464 miles.

Jimmy literally couldn’t walk through towns because of his back but finished every mile.

Jeff and juicy pulled whoever needed it throughout the week. 

Jimmy, kyson and I all rode our first century ride on Wednesday at 103 miles.

The Air Force team is awesome and they love us.

The RV only sustained minor damage when my dad and I had a disagreement.  It was repaired before we returned it. 

Juicy kept our bikes rolling (even after having to do some roadside repairs after kyson and I crashed). 

We have a lot of friends that we see every year on the ride. 

Food was great.

We witnessed the finest pro wrestling that Olwein, IA has to offer.  One of the wrestlers chased kyson after he called the guy fat.  

PB peddlers owner (Steve) loves your emails and supports us.  Gave us free water all week. 

Weather couldn’t have been any better.  Cool and tailwind every day.

My dad gave his very first devo. 

Iowa is awesome.

-The Man Up Team

Uganda 2022 Impact Trip

It has been a couple years since our Man Up Team has been able to visit our partners overseas. This year, we were adamant about making it out there!

After 25+ hours of traveling to Uganda we were excited to visit all of our friends in the cities of Jinja, Pallisa, Bulangira, Kibuku, and more. We spent time playing with the children at Jaas Junior School, sang worship songs with the children at Ebenezer, and we updated some of the beautiful pictures of the boys and girls in our Kerith Child Sponsorship Program.

The men on our team visited the men in our Authentic Masculinity Program and the men who have graduated the program as well. They popped by some of the businesses to see how God has blessed these men through the ministry of Man Up. As they visited the men they realized some of the men are putting their own personal gains together to help families in their community. This is an encouragement to us to seek how we can help our neighbors for the glory of God.

The women had an opportunity to share at the women’s conference in Jinja, support the women’s fair trade program, and they had a blast with all the children at Jaas Junior School.

If you are interested in joining us on one of our Impact Trips to the DR or Africa please reach out to us at info@manupandgo.org.

Update from Eliazar in Pallisa, Uganda!

Our partner from Pallisa, Eliazar, sent an update to our CEO, Jeff. Below is his update about how the program is going as well as those in the community. Please be in prayer for them as you become more aware of their circumstances. You can also reach out to us via email or phone if you would like to know how you can come along side them during this season.

“Greetings to you Brother Jeff in the name of our Lord Jesus,

It is my prayer that you are doing well and your family. We want to thank God for all the efforts, resources and time you and MANUP AND GO Ministries lay down for the sake of the brothers down here in Africa and the rest of the world to see that they become the man God wants them to be.

It has really been a challenging time with the COVID 19 season for most of the families out here given the circumstances that came along with it. The general economy was affected and leading to decrease in demand for goods and services because of the scarcity of money in circulation and people opted for essentials. This affected most men in the cohort making it hard for them do a timely repayment of what they are due because most of their IGA depend on the market yet people had opportunity cost to make.

However, we thank God that COVID did not claim anyone of them despite the fact that 4 of them were victims. I have been doing home visits and the general standard of living and income had gone down but to God be the glory that they did not completely go down but and some of them with difficulties have managed to hold through the time.

Below are some of the men who are still moving on with business though very low returns for now but trusting God for economic stability.

Okello Joseph is one of the outstanding members of the 2019AMP cohort who have withstood the challenges of the time. He is still into his piggery project and successfully managing. The outbreak of the covid 19 for the last two years that came with a lock down affected almost everything thing in terms of the economy. There was a limit on the circulation of money and therefore limited market for several products. Okello says he faced the challenge as it came; he was able to sustain his family and his project. His pig stay still has 30 pigs, one expecting soon and the other breast feeding. His project has helped him keep the children in school and give proper medical care. He is expecting to replace his turkey poultry project at the sale of some of the piglets. He will sale a piglet $18

.Omuba Ivan is the chairperson of the 2019 AMP cohort Pallisa. He does metal fabrication for his IGA, he is one of those that faced a very hard time during the Covid time. The demand for fabrication went low and he had to shift some of his capital into starting mobile money business alongside his metal fabrication business. He is glad that the economy was fully reopened and the expectations for market revamp are high.

We had Andrew have his wife admitted in hospital for over 7 months over for a swollen stomach with water over a cause we can’t explain, Jacob Kirya also had his wife suffer Covid which affected her greatly, and then cerebral malaria that she nearly lost her mind, Mande equally was a covid victim but We bless God they are now out and picking up

 All these men need prayers as most of them have been through a hard time and it has been hard for them to raise resources for sustenance and loan repayment yet they are trying to be the man God wants them to be.”

Mid Year Update 2021!

Every summer we like to take a step back and look at what God has done through your support of the ministry of Man Up and Go.

It’s our distinct privilege to fight for the fatherless alongside you, and we’re happy to report how God is using you in James 1:27 ways, both here at home and abroad: 

Obviously we are limited in how much we can report. Even we won’t know the actual impact in individual lives until we’re hanging out with one another one day in heaven. 
None of this impact takes place without you. Our prayer is that as you continue to grow in the Lord and with us, that you would take the next step in your fight for the fatherless. For some of you, it means volunteering with us (yes, we have places for women to serve too!).  For others, it means giving 5 hours per month to mentor an aged-out foster youth and see him break the chains of generational fatherlessness. For others, it means funding one man for one year in international AMP at a cost of $1000.For others, it means helping to fund one aged-out foster youth in AMP’d.For others, it means committing to pray each week when we send out our prayer requests. And for others, it means continuing to triage the effects of fatherlessness by sponsoring a child, going on a trip, or making the lives of foster and adoptive families a bit more manageable through our Man Up 100 program.Whatever it is, there is a way to fight for the fatherless with Man Up and Go. Let us know how we can help you take the next step! 
Regards, 
  
 CEO, Man Up and Go
​Isaiah 1:17

As an extension of the Church, we love partnering with local churches! It provides an opportunity to reach more foster families because there are more volunteers to help serve. Check out the “Serve Day” video recap below when Grow Life Church partnered with us to serve a foster family of 7.

Our flagship program internationally is our Authentic Masculinity Program (AMP, for short). Despite the challenges of COVID during this last batch of Cohorts, we still saw tremendous growth in the men who participated. We are convinced the way to defeat fatherlessness is to get upstream and disciple the men to love their families. 

At Man Up we believe children benefit in every measurable way by the presence of a loving, committed father in the home. Check out this quick video of one of our long-time Board members explaining the tangible importance of engaged men and fathers. 

Why would a foster family request a pool? How would that help? If you have to ask those questions, you probably, A) Haven’t been a parent, or B) Haven’t lived through a Missouri summer. 🙂 Check out the work our Man Up Springfield Cohort is doing to help one foster family beat the heat! 

We recently took a small team to the Dominican Republic to encourage our partners, Pastor Kendar and his wife Hozanna, as they are doing great work in a difficult context. The work they do is on the “basurero,” which is a community partially built (literally) on trash. Man Up Champions sponsor 15 children here, but we need many more (they anticipate over 100 enrolled this Fall). Reply to this email to see how you can sponsor a child with a Christian education and food security for just $45/mo. 

Recently Man Up was able to bring on long time Board Member Vicki Tims to serve as our Executive Administrator, a position that was vacated due to the promotion of Jennifer Sanabria to our newly created Programs Manager position.

Congratulations ladies – you’re the “women behind Man Up!”

🇩🇴 July Trip To The Dominican Republic! 🇩🇴

We recently took a trip to visit our partners in the Dominican Republic. We partner with CECCAI ministries who provides schooling, feeding, and more to the children in their community. We were able to take a weekend and visit some of the children in person as well as sit down with the ministry leaders to better understand what were needs they had now and in the future. Or as they would say ahora (now) or ahorita (indefinitely later)… you had to be there lol.

We enjoy sharing this with you because although Man Up is very active domestically, we are also very aware that our international partners are just as much our neighbors as well. We would love for you to pray about how you could come along side CECCAI with us to help them thrive for the Kingdom.


International Update

With COVID-19 dominating the news and restricting travel the past year, the focus of Man Up and Go has, in some respects, turned domestic. However, our programs internationally are still in operation, even if hampered somewhat by Coronavirus restrictions. 

Man Up recently sent a team to East Africa as part of their Climbing Kili for the Kids trip, giving them a chance to reconnect with our partners there in person for the first time since March of 2020.  Here’s a quick summary: 

Ethiopia Authentic Masculinity Program (AMP) Update

Our CEO travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was able to meet the 7 men enrolled in AMP for the first time. In this inaugural Cohort batch, what impressed him the most was the camaraderie which had formed among the men. 

“We went to lunch with these men and had them share their experiences with AMP. Each of the seven men talked about the brotherhood that had developed among the group, saying it was something they’d never had before,” said Jeff Ford, Man Up CEO. 

During a global pandemic in which so many restrictions and mandates of isolation have been handed down, we count this as a huge victory for these men and for the reduction of fatherlessness in the future. The enemy wants us isolated, but strength is found in the community of God’s people. These men are more equipped than ever to handle life’s challenges and the temptation to abdicate personal responsibility when the going gets tough. 

Jeff also had a chance to meet with Man Up AMP Coordinators Sami and Tamirat. Tamirat is in charge of teaching the men and Sami oversees the administration of the program. Despite a number of challenges, we are proud of these men and give God thanks for all they’re doing to pour into and equip men to lead during these tumultuous times. 

Side note, if you’re ever in Addis Ababa, make sure you head to Kaldi’s Coffee Shop…after all, the Ethiopians founded the coffee bean. 

Uganda AMP Update

The team met up in Entebbe and from there drove about 6 hours east (and a little north) to the village town of Pallisa. Here they met up with Man Up’s AMP Coordinator Eliazar and visited several of the men’s businesses that had been started with the microloan from Man Up. The challenges were greater here, as police strictly enforced social distancing laws and curfews (sometimes with canings and jailings). Despite this, several of the men were thriving in various businesses: 

Welding 

Poultry

Brick-making  

Casava (common food) Production

The following day the men spent time with Geofery, Man Up AMP Coordinator in Kibuku and Bulangira. They had a chance to visit with 35 men enrolled in Man Up’s AMP there, saying a few words of encouragement as well.

After that they were able to visit some of the projects from these men: 

Moses has produced over 30,000 bricks, 3 times the area average  

Roman used his loan to invest in materials to make motorcycle seat covers

Other men invested in what was already life-sustaining in their communities – animals

Poultry

Cattle 

Pigs

Rabbits

Even Mushrooms (not an animal, but still pretty cool) 

We believe God has put an innate desire in man to provide for his family. Sometimes the woman is the breadwinner, but in Africa, it’s nearly always the man. Equipping these men with microloans and the mental and spiritual fortitude to pay them back is preventing more children from growing up fatherless, and for this we give God praise. 

Child Sponsorship Update

Finally, the men were able to check in with the children and Kerith Children’s Home. Although their time was short – and although the gifts from sponsors were on a baggage delay from Amsterdam – the men report the children were doing great! 

Since they didn’t have the sponsor gifts (don’t worry, they eventually got there), they popped into town and brought sandals and matoke (banana) as substitutes.  

The men got their African dance on with the kiddos too (don’t judge the skill level): 

For those who sponsor kids at Kerith, seeing them is always a treat: 

Because of the travel restrictions in the world due to COVID-19, the trip was a difficult one logistically. We’re thankful God allowed our men to make the visit and to see how He continues to move around the world, even in a pandemic.