Natasha's News

Dear All,

It has been far too long since I last wrote, so please forgive me. Below is a summary of the last few months, let us pray together giving thanks to God and asking Him to bless our weak attempts to serve Him.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty. Ps 104:1

December 2014 marked the end of semester one, where I taught Library Orientation and Home Economics. Both courses went well, and although I still wouldn't say I am a teacher, it is a wonderful way to get to know the students. We have continued to open our home to the first year students for film nights (linked to their World History course), and we thank God for each one that God has brought here.

Dressed up for the Christmas Banquet, with Esther and Hope, two of our Colorado girls!

Towards the end of December we move into the dry season and so the temperature increases. As I write we are still in the dry season and I'm struggling through 30^oC days and 20^oC nights. Please pray that my body would adjust, it seems a small thing but constant heat can be very wearying over long periods of time. We had the pleasure of celebrating the New Year with friends from Canada, UK, and Uganda. We played games and watched the Kampala fireworks from our hill on Lubowa, it was beautiful under an African sky.

January 2015 is a time of recuperation, before semester two starts. Owen, Sean's friend was with us, which was a blessing. Our friends and family back home are very precious to us and although contact from Uganda is limited, you are often in our thoughts and prayers. We warmly welcome anyone who would like to spend time with us in Uganda. We give thanks for the Carter family, who arrived safely. They have been a blessing to us, and we look forward to serving God together. We are also thankful for the return of our Malawian neighbours, the Mhangos. Their African hospitality and advice has been a great encouragement to us.

Owen and an elephant 


The Mhangos: Bentry, Bongani & Hlupe

The Carter Family: Isaac, Andrew, Lydia, Edward, Julie & Carys

February 2015 is the beginning of semester two, and everything is in full swing. I am teaching Business Statistics. The course is going well and the students are interacting with the material and raising excellent questions, pray that God will equip me to share my knowledge well, and be able to answer all their questions. I am teaching Maths and Chemistry to Amy, a faculty member's daughter, as well as supporting administration needs. This takes a significant amount of my time and keeps me busy. Please give thanks to God for increasing my work load, it may sound odd, but I am much happier when I am very busy.

As we spend more time here we are meeting more people, and increasing our opportunities to serve God's people outside of ABU. Grace (right) is a young lady we have got to know, and she now comes to church with us. Please pray that she would grow in faith and that we would model  godly living to her. New City Church (where we regularly worship) had a "Youth Retreat" (youth means adult singles), and I was asked to speak to the ladies on singleness. It was a lovely day down by Lake Victoria, and I was blessed by the ministry from our Pastor, Rogers. I understand my talk was well received, and was an encouragement to several ladies struggling with singleness.  Please pray for me, I'm not comfortable speaking in front of large groups, but I always try to serve whenever God gives me an opportunity. Also pray that God would give me wisdom as I try to give Godly advice to others.

Malaki and Solomon unpack the books

It was also during this month that eleven boxes of books arrived from the UK. A member of Norwich Evangelical Church graciously arranged the resources, books, packing and posting. Our students have been very excited by the contents and several, with Children's ministries, have been blessed with fantastic children's literature. Praise God with us, books are an expensive resource here and not many have access to good literature. Please also pray for our students who are trying to set up village libraries and community centres, so that those with so few resources can learn to read and develop learning skills.

I received the sad news that my Father needed to have an operation on his eye. I praise God that the operation went well, but he has still not recovered his vision. Please pray that his vision would be less blurry and he would be able to return to work.

March 2015 provided an opportunity to worship God through ABU's Spiritual Emphasis week. Each day starts with a prayer meeting in our home, where ten students joined us for singing and prayer for Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh and Lebanon. We have three addresses a day, with some afternoon sessions as well. Dr. Bill Barcley from Charlotte NC and retired Archbishop Orombi were used mightily by God to edify us. My heart was truly warmed with new dedication to the Gospel and a love for my Saviour.

Last Sunday  was International Women's Day, and so Grace invited a group of friends to fellowship in our home. I prepared some brownies and a short talk on Proverbs 31, the woman of noble character. The meeting was due to start at 3pm, by 4pm Christine had arrived and by 7pm Sophie joined us. I gave my little talk, and trust God to use my words to encourage the ladies to seek characteristics based on God's Word and not the world.

We look forward to Joan and Amy's arrival at the end of the month, please pray that God would direct our steps as we seek to share ABU and a little of Uganda with them . We are thankful to God for you all, please continue to hold us up in prayer .

The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He also hears their cry and saves them. Ps 145:18-19