Dear Friends,
We have come to the final day of our mission trip to Uganda. We have had an amazing time and God has grown and challenged each one of us in unique ways.
The last few unexpected days in Kampala have been a significant time for all of us. We said goodbye to Pastor Francis and Maggie yesterday morning as they returned to Soroti in the midst of a rain storm.
We had the opportunity to visit an orphanage on Monday. This was a significant experience for many as we saw the hope and peace on the faces of each child and young man or woman, because they knew God.
We want to say a massive thankyou for all your support, prayers, love and faith and we ask that you continue to pray for us always - as the team travels today - some in the direction of home; others onto new places and also for our return to Australia. You are all really precious to each one of us. Thankyou.
God bless,
Nai for Team Uganda
xoxox
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Now that the malaria scare is over...
... we thought we'd tell you what we got up to in Soroti.
When we last blogged, we'd finished 4 days of building. On Saturday 20th, we spent some time ministering to members of Pastor Francis's church. We broke into small groups and some of us spent time ministering to the children with songs, games and a bible story, some men led a men's bible study and some women led a women's bible study and others led a youth bible study. In the afternoon we spent time in the village around the church evangelising. We met some christians and were able to encourage them. We also met non-christians and were able to share the gospel with them. It was very different to door to door evangelism in Australia as we were welcomed at every house we came to and people listened to us as we explained the gospel. We prayed for several people and a couple of them came to church the next day! Please keep praying for the people we spoke to and for the church as they continue to evangelise and disciple new christians. We were invited to lunch at Susan's house. She prepared a feast for us and we were made very welcome and treated like VIPs.
On Sunday we went to church and once again participated. A few of us spoke and sang in the service. We returned home and had some free time in the afternoon (including cleaning!) and then were invited out to a good friend of Pastor Francis for dinner.
Monday we returned to building and after 4 more days of building, we left with all the walls that we worked on completed! The builders were left a few small things to complete. In total, we built half the walls of the bible school (Jane posted a photo in her previous blog).
Since our malaria incident and the great news of us now all being well, we've adjusted to the hustle and bustle of Kampala. It is such a big and busy city! We've caught the local transport to get around. We went to All Saints Anglican Cathedral for church on Sunday and then had some free time in the afternoon. Church was very African, with Anglican familiarities! It was packed, with 3 overflow tents outside and a gospel choir. The Bishop passed his greetings to us, we were quite easy to spot!
Today we went to An Open Door - an orphanage for abandoned babies and street children. The boys enjoyed a game of soccer (and won!), the girls played with the younger ones. We then spent the afternoon navigating Kampala on local transport on the back of postie bikes (boda-bodas) and doing a bit of shopping. Most of us prefer to keep our eyes closed as we weave between the traffic on the boda-bodas. It's either that or continual screaming (or nervous laughing in Adam's case!) Ok, slightly exagerated...
We are all well and thank you for all your prayers.
Love,
The Uganda Team
(Sarah and Chris)
When we last blogged, we'd finished 4 days of building. On Saturday 20th, we spent some time ministering to members of Pastor Francis's church. We broke into small groups and some of us spent time ministering to the children with songs, games and a bible story, some men led a men's bible study and some women led a women's bible study and others led a youth bible study. In the afternoon we spent time in the village around the church evangelising. We met some christians and were able to encourage them. We also met non-christians and were able to share the gospel with them. It was very different to door to door evangelism in Australia as we were welcomed at every house we came to and people listened to us as we explained the gospel. We prayed for several people and a couple of them came to church the next day! Please keep praying for the people we spoke to and for the church as they continue to evangelise and disciple new christians. We were invited to lunch at Susan's house. She prepared a feast for us and we were made very welcome and treated like VIPs.
On Sunday we went to church and once again participated. A few of us spoke and sang in the service. We returned home and had some free time in the afternoon (including cleaning!) and then were invited out to a good friend of Pastor Francis for dinner.
Monday we returned to building and after 4 more days of building, we left with all the walls that we worked on completed! The builders were left a few small things to complete. In total, we built half the walls of the bible school (Jane posted a photo in her previous blog).
Since our malaria incident and the great news of us now all being well, we've adjusted to the hustle and bustle of Kampala. It is such a big and busy city! We've caught the local transport to get around. We went to All Saints Anglican Cathedral for church on Sunday and then had some free time in the afternoon. Church was very African, with Anglican familiarities! It was packed, with 3 overflow tents outside and a gospel choir. The Bishop passed his greetings to us, we were quite easy to spot!
Today we went to An Open Door - an orphanage for abandoned babies and street children. The boys enjoyed a game of soccer (and won!), the girls played with the younger ones. We then spent the afternoon navigating Kampala on local transport on the back of postie bikes (boda-bodas) and doing a bit of shopping. Most of us prefer to keep our eyes closed as we weave between the traffic on the boda-bodas. It's either that or continual screaming (or nervous laughing in Adam's case!) Ok, slightly exagerated...
We are all well and thank you for all your prayers.
Love,
The Uganda Team
(Sarah and Chris)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
at Kampala... safe & sound
Hello to all...
this is my first blog, so please be patient with me, i hope it works...
We left Soroti at 6:30am yesterday morning in a van and a ute heading for Kampala. Was weird to leave our house knowing we weren't going back. After a long day of bumpy travels and sore bumped heads, we got to Kampala at about 3:30pm, dumped our stuff in our guest house and headed to 'the Surgery' to find out our Malaria verdicts... and i am pleased and excited to tell you that we got the results this morning and it appears that NONE of us have malaria, or show any evidence of EVER having malaria... God is good, and there is no way we can not give him credit for this, whether the tests in Soroti were wrong or we were miraculously healed, God has most obviously had his hand on the steering wheel and led us here to Kampala... and i know i'm looking forward to seeing what he has in store for us here... so big note to parents: WE ARE ALL OK!!!!
To the IT staff: you have a good one with Adam, he has handled it so well and led us through it all amazingly, and i know he has appreciated your help and we have too, so thankyou for your encouragement and prayers!
Thanks to everyone everywhere praying for us... we have felt them, and appreciated them greatly...
Keep praying...
I'm going to try attach some pix for you, hopefully they work...
Love Jane xo
Kids program at the churchFather Abraham has many sons...
A night out in Soroti...
This is Alex... however you might know him better as the "Wobbly Boy" (refer to previous blogs)
Saying goodbye to the work site... Good work team!!!
That's it from me... Catchya later xoxo
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Just a quick note...
Hello all our australian families!
Well I have to first of all say that everyone is continuing to have great time on the trip, but are all feeling a little worn out from the building. But today after some tests we have found out that 8 people on the team have malaria.Don't panic, all of those with malaria have medication and are resting now. Shelly,Matt,Phil,Naomi t,Naomi W,Chris,Sarah and katie are all just trying to rest and recover. Please pray for all the team, both for recovery and also for those of us who are still well to maintain good health.
Thankyou for all your prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon
God bless (iserereng edeke)
Steve G
Well I have to first of all say that everyone is continuing to have great time on the trip, but are all feeling a little worn out from the building. But today after some tests we have found out that 8 people on the team have malaria.Don't panic, all of those with malaria have medication and are resting now. Shelly,Matt,Phil,Naomi t,Naomi W,Chris,Sarah and katie are all just trying to rest and recover. Please pray for all the team, both for recovery and also for those of us who are still well to maintain good health.
Thankyou for all your prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon
God bless (iserereng edeke)
Steve G
Just a quick note...
Hello all our australian families!
Well I have to first of all say that everyone is continuing to have great time on the trip, but are all feeling a little worn out from the building. But today after some tests we have found out that 8 people on the team have malaria.Don't panic, all of those with malaria have medication and are resting now. Shelly,Matt,Phil,Naomi t,Naomi W,Chris,Sarah and katie are all just trying to rest and recover. Please pray for all the team, both for recovery and also for those of us who are still well to maintain good health.
Thankyou for all your prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon
God bless (iserereng edeke)
Steve G
Well I have to first of all say that everyone is continuing to have great time on the trip, but are all feeling a little worn out from the building. But today after some tests we have found out that 8 people on the team have malaria.Don't panic, all of those with malaria have medication and are resting now. Shelly,Matt,Phil,Naomi t,Naomi W,Chris,Sarah and katie are all just trying to rest and recover. Please pray for all the team, both for recovery and also for those of us who are still well to maintain good health.
Thankyou for all your prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon
God bless (iserereng edeke)
Steve G
Friday, January 19, 2007
Uganda Post- 19th Janauary 2007
As you all know we've been hard at work building. The girls have done such a great job carrying mortar on their heads African style as well as being a part of a team building exercise in trust. We form a line then throw and catch bricks in order to relocate them. It's been great fun but also hard work. However, many of us have been using the opportunity to learn the language. We've learned many words and terms needed when we build, such as 'more', 'enough', 'go quickly', 'I don't want to go quickly' and 'I made a mistake'. I think we need to learn the latter term better… well for me (Gill) anyway.
When we finish building we come home to a cold but nice shower. The dirt just seems to run off you, turning the bath water into what looks like mud. Dinner is often cooked by our wonderful hostess Maggie who serves us with an authentic African meal which we all enjoy. There are always fresh fruit readily available. We have bananas and pineapple every day. I can't remember the last time I had a banana in Australia but the ones in Uganda are great (just to rub it in!).
As we arrive home from building there are always children on the side of the road waiting to greet us. One boy, in particular likes dance for us. We call him the 'Wobbly boy'. Yesterday, even though we worked hard at the building site we still had enough energy to take 'Wobbly boy' and about 100 of his friends (truly, I think it was 100) to a near by soccer field. The Aussie girls were taught African games by the girls including one were we had to wiggle our hips African style, while the boys played soccer until the ball popped. The kids were so disappointed when we finally had to go home that Pastor Francis had to scare them away.
For those Mums out there, we are all safe and well and if that's still not a comfort, we'll be home soon. However, for many of us we are enjoying ourselves so much that the time to leave will be too soon. Hugs and kisses too you all! XXOO
life is brautiful
As you all know we’ve been hard at work building. The girls have done such a great job carrying mortar on their heads African style as well as being a part of a team building exercise in trust. We form a line then throw and catch bricks in order to relocate them. It’s been great fun but also hard work. However, many of us have been using the opportunity to learn the language. We’ve learned many words and terms needed when we build, such as ‘more’, ‘enough’, ‘go quickly’, ‘I don’t want to go quickly’ and ‘I made a mistake’. I think we need to learn the latter term better… well for me (Gill) anyway.
When we finish building we come home to a cold but nice shower. The dirt just seems to run off you, turning the bath water into what looks like mud. Dinner is often cooked by our wonderful hostess Maggie who serves us with an authentic African meal which we all enjoy. There are always fresh fruit readily available. We have bananas and pineapple every day. I can’t remember the last time I had a banana in Australia but the ones in Uganda are great (just to rub it in!).
As we arrive home from building there are always children on the side of the road waiting to greet us. One boy, in particular likes dance for us. We call him the ‘Wobbly boy’. Yesterday, even though we worked hard at the building site we still had enough energy to take ‘Wobbly boy’ and about 100 of his friends (truly, I think it was 100) to a near by soccer field. The Aussie girls were taught African games by the girls including one were we had to wiggle our hips African style, while the boys played soccer until the ball popped. The kids were so disappointed when we finally had to go home that Pastor Francis had to scare them away.
For those Mums out there, we are all safe and well and if that’s still not a comfort, we’ll be home soon. However, for many of us we are enjoying ourselves so much that the time to leave will be too soon. Hugs and kisses too you all! XXOO
When we finish building we come home to a cold but nice shower. The dirt just seems to run off you, turning the bath water into what looks like mud. Dinner is often cooked by our wonderful hostess Maggie who serves us with an authentic African meal which we all enjoy. There are always fresh fruit readily available. We have bananas and pineapple every day. I can’t remember the last time I had a banana in Australia but the ones in Uganda are great (just to rub it in!).
As we arrive home from building there are always children on the side of the road waiting to greet us. One boy, in particular likes dance for us. We call him the ‘Wobbly boy’. Yesterday, even though we worked hard at the building site we still had enough energy to take ‘Wobbly boy’ and about 100 of his friends (truly, I think it was 100) to a near by soccer field. The Aussie girls were taught African games by the girls including one were we had to wiggle our hips African style, while the boys played soccer until the ball popped. The kids were so disappointed when we finally had to go home that Pastor Francis had to scare them away.
For those Mums out there, we are all safe and well and if that’s still not a comfort, we’ll be home soon. However, for many of us we are enjoying ourselves so much that the time to leave will be too soon. Hugs and kisses too you all! XXOO
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