Although I have no recent
news or reports from Kajjansi, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Here are a few snippets of information,
hopefully to encourage you to pray.
Nyazi
Visit
No, we weren’t visited by
the men in brown shirts, it was Bentry, Edward and myself doing the visiting,
to a church Edward is involved with.
Edward is ABU’s electrician (a noble trade if there ever was one!), and
Bentry is of course, one of our faculty members. Edward had asked me on more than one occasion
to come and preach to the church, and Bentry who had visited before, was glad
to come along too. The church was about
100km from ABU, so the journey took the best part of 2 ½ hours, but the
fellowship and company were good, and the time soon flew!
The
Three Amigos, outside the church
Bentry is the better
preacher and should have led the main service, but he was happy to take the
Sunday School and allow me the honours of the day! Both of us spoke on the subject of church
leadership, order and obedience, which seemed a perfect fit for the church, as
they were in the midst of choosing elders and deacons.
I
think Bentry let me preach, so he didn’t have to wear a suit!
After the service, we were
fed Ugandan style: matoke (savoury banana), rice, g-nut sauce (ground nut, very
similar to our peanuts), Irish (potatoes) and pork! All of us ate sufficient for the journey
home.
Tucking in Uganda style (though this wasn’t all for us – we shared it between five of
us!)
Wakisa
Ministry
So why haven’t I been to
Kajjansi, recently? Well, first we had
Evangelism Explosion for the First Years, so outreach was put on hold for that
week. Then we had our Spiritual Emphasis
Week (which Natasha told you all about), so that meant there was no outreach
for a second week. Then, last week, I
joined up with the Wakisa Pregnancy Crisis outreach team, as part of my job
assisting Kurt Schimke in overseeing this area of ABU’s ministry.
Some
of the Wakisa team (Francis Ocen, Moses Ken, Kabeije Glorias, Peter Aloro,
Kyarisiima Merab, Njagi Esther, Faith Wainaina), standing in front of our
recently acquired 8-seater, 1994 Toyota Prado – perfect for such trips!
This outreach involves
visiting the Wakisa Ministries Uganda centre and sharing the gospel and
friendship with the girls (I say girls, as many of them were very young),
singing and sharing a short Bible study.
The week I was there, Faith Wainaina led the study, speaking on Jesus
raising Lazarus from the dead, and how this should be a great encouragement to
us all.
Faith
leads the way!
She was very nervous, but
spoke clearly, commending Christ the Saviour to us all. Please pray for Faith and the rest of the
team, and for the young ladies who so desperately need saving, in more ways
than one.
Coaching
Swimming
Yes, I’m coaching
swimming…but no, it’s not at ABU! It’s
up the road at ISU (International School of Uganda, founded in 1969!)
Look
at the colour of that water…and that sky!
Did I dive in? You bet I did!
Some of the missionary
children are taking lessons here, and as we’re in the middle of a long hot heat
wave, I thought I’d go see what the facilities were like! And, very nice, was my verdict. So, how can I help them, and help me? By offering my services as a Level 1
qualified swimming coach…and that is what I’ve been doing, these last few
weeks! Of course, I do this voluntarily,
without pay… but the kind people at ISU did say I could swim whenever the pool
is free – which is most afternoons, when I’m free…what a bonus!
Culture
Night
Every year, ABU holds a
Culture Night, where students and faculty dress up and dance what best portrays
their culture. Of course, this is not a
very English thing to do, as no one really wants to learn and demonstrate
Morris Dancing! But, we English do have
our culture, and to prove it, Andrew Carter and I decided to treat the nations
of ABU to some traditional English culture…
Of course, there was no dancing
involved, but there was tea and cake, and some discussion about the cricket…oh,
and lots of silence and shuffling of newspapers. I’m not sure everyone understood what
typifies English culture, but it doesn’t hurt to keep them guessing!
So, as you can see, there
are cultural differences that we all need to try and understand and live with,
especially as we will be spending eternity with each other. Please pray for all faculty and staff as we
get to grips with each other’s differences.
Please pray for our
ministry, here at ABU and out and about, in Kampala and beyond.
Please pray for us, and
remember that being away from home can be tough, with different hurdles to
overcome and trials to traverse…pray God will bless our marriage and ministry
together.
Please pray for our trip
to Busia, later this month, with Joan and Amy.
And pray for the church there (where the water pump is still working and
supplying many families!).
Many blessings and much
love,
Sean (and Natasha)
