Hi, Agents!

We know you have a lot more at-home time than usual, and you might even secretly be starting to get tired of your Wii or Nintendo Switch. (Who knew that was even possible, right?!?!)


Well, if you’re feeling a little bored, I’ve got a mini-mission for you to complete.


I’ll give you a hint. It’s connected to three things:

1) Africa, 2) Your yard, 3) Caring for the extreme poor

Got any guesses?


No? Okay, here’s the answer: BIRDS!


Uganda is not a very big country; it’s about the same size as the state of Kansas. But even though it’s not very large, it has SO MANY birds. It has about 1,000 different kinds! People come from all over the world to spot some of these beauties.


I know you can’t go to Uganda right now to see them for yourself, so I thought I’d show you a couple right here:

NEW MISSION

SPRING | 2020

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Red-chested Sunbird

Isn’t this guy incredible!? Look at all those colors.

There are over 145 different kinds of sunbirds, but this one in particular is very small—less than 4 inches tall. And looked at that curved beak: that tells you that this sunbird drinks nectar, like a hummingbird.

Saddle-billed Stork

This stork is one big bird! It’s almost 5 feet tall, and when it spreads its wings, from tip to tip it can measure almost 9 feet (that’s about as tall as Goliath the giant in the Bible was)!


Hey, speaking of storks, that reminds me of a joke:


Q: Why does a stork stand on one leg?

A: Because it would fall over if it lifted the other one.

Blue kingfisher

This amazing bird is a fast flyer and can live up to 15 years! But, what I think is most amazing about this kingfisher is that has to eat about 60% of its body weight in food every single day! (So, for example, if you weigh 70 pounds, you would have to eat 42 POUNDS OF FOOD every day!)

Grey Crowned Crane

Speaking of cranes, have you heard this joke?


Q: What kind of bird works at a construction site?

A: The crane!

Great Blue Turaco

These pretty birds are usually around 2 ½ feet tall. They like to hang out in the African tropical rainforest. They’re very social with each other —you’ll rarely see one alone. But they’re actually shy and not so good at flying, so they usually only fly down to the ground to get a drink or take a bath!

Marabou Stork

Now that is, uh, one unique bird. I’m sure that everything God created is beautiful in the sight of somebody or something, but boy, oh boy, I don’t think that’s my favorite one. Is it yours?

Now, you might be thinking: “That was cool (and maybe a little ugly), but what does that have to do with the mini-mission?”


Well these are birds in Uganda, which is in East Africa. You’ve probably never seen these birds in your neighborhood, but I bet you have some interesting ones too. You probably even have some similar ones that kids in Africa have in their neighborhoods too! Have you ever seen a woodpecker? How about a dove? Those are two birds that are common in both North America and Uganda.

You can make this fun and easy bird feeder to see what kind of birds visit your yard!

I bet you can find all of the needed supplies around your house and neighborhood.


Okay, we’ve got the connection with Africa and your backyard, and now the last piece: helping the extreme poor. I've got that all explained in the download, right here.



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