Uganda Team 25 - Day 11 & 12

You might have noticed that we didn’t share a blog yesterday… this was because the group split into two – half of us going white water rafting on the Nile.  We were waiting out the front to be picked up by the driver – and two drivers from two different companies turned up.  Andrew had to make a quick phone call to check which driver we were meant to be going with, and it turned out that a new start-up company was poaching clients from the company that Hopebuilders have been using for years!  Only in Uganda!

It was a super fun day – Josh went on a boat that tackled the most difficult part of the rapids, while Leonie, Monique, Liesje and Philippa went on a medium difficulty boat.  Phil was the only one who ended up in the water, and it wasn’t too traumatic.  We loved seeing this stunning country from the water- it is so lush!  We ate out lunch with all the boats tied together and jumped in the water and let the current take us down the river.  It was just cool being on the Nile River!

The others spent their day sleeping, shopping, eating out for lunch sleeping again, and generally relaxing, which I think was much needed.  The power was out for most of the day, which meant that no one was able to use the internet, and Elisha actually started to read a book!

Today we had a late start – Juliet excelled herself again with delicious half cakes for breakfast – we found some cinnamon and they were so good with butter and cinnamon sugar.  Bananas and peanut butter is a bit of a hit too!  Josh led us in devotions – reminding us that we each have an ‘account’ with 8 400 seconds in it each day and that we are accountable for how we spend each of them, but also that there is time for each different activity under the sun.

YSU was our first stop this morning – a few of us had clothes made by the girls there, so we had a fitting and hung out there for a while, finding out more about the program ‘Wise Choices for Life’ and chatting with the people there.  Luke took us for a walk around the fishing village by the side of Lake Victoria which is right near his house.  Next, we went to Jinja Christian school to join the kids in their chapel time, once again enjoying the amazing voices of the kids, who led us in worship.  Far out, they can sing!  A few kids shared testimonies, we all introduced ourselves (again!) and Andrew shared a brief message.  Once chapel was over we came back to Suubi for lunch and an hour rest before going back to Jinja Christian School to join in sport with the kids.  First, we spent time with the P1 – P3 kids.  Liesje and Hillie entertained them with some singing – ‘I Love to Play the Old Banjo’ and ‘Rejoice in the Lord’.  The kids sang the Ugandan anthem and their school song to us.  We tried to play ‘Octopus’ with them but it was general mayhem trying to get them to understand the rules, so we played ‘Duck Duck Goose’ instead, which generated a few laughs, especially when Josh tapped a whole heap of heads in a row with ‘goose’ and had a flock of kids chasing him across the oval. Once the little kids left, we played soccer and netball with the older boys and girls (with the only two balls in the whole school!) until the end of the school day (4.30pm here).

Suubi is such a great place to ‘retreat’ to… it’s so comfortable, we can all fit around the big dining table and eat together, the doors open wide at the front to let a refreshing breeze through and at the moment we’re enjoying watching one of the dvd’s that Andrew purchased in town yesterday.    We are so blessed!  I can’t believe that another day has slipped by, and there are only three days left!

Check out the pics below.....

 

Uganda Team 25 - Day 10

 Tuesday, Day 10

After our delicious breakfast of fresh Ugandan mango juice, rolex (omelette wrapped in chappati) fresh local pineapple sliced into dripping sweet large wedges; ripe bananas with honey and chappati, washed down with Ugandan tea or coffee (mmmmm, good) Leonie delivered a devotion which began with a round of ‘Our God is an awesome God’.  This was followed by Scripture readings from Ps 91, Ps 27:6 and Job 33:4.  In this devotion, we were encouraged to believe the Lord goes in front us preparing our path/way  -  like a mother hen Leonie had noticed with its chicks, pre-scratching the earth before her chicks moved in to scratch the ground with their immature, tiny toes, looking for food to eat.

Most of the group walked up to the Village of Hope to do paintings of window frames and bars (all windows in Uganda have bars made of strong metal).  It was a public holiday here due to the local government elections, so all the kids were around ‘helping’ us paint.  We ended up in a huge game of ‘heads down, thumbs up’, which the kids loved, but need a few tips on how to move quietly.  Hillie and Liesje, though, went to a local salon with Joanne, one of the young women from the village, who is doing an apprenticeship in hairdressing.  It was very relaxing for them to enjoy having a facial followed by a hair wash and blow-wave.  Let me assure you hairdressing salons in Melbourne are considerably different from the saloons here in Uganda!  They loved it!

We came home to Juliet’s deep fried vegetable pies (Andrew’s favourites).  We had no trouble devouring more fresh pineapple.

After a brief rest we all wandered up along the red-dirt road to the village, this time for a different reason.  We were all assigned a house where we were to join the mothers in making chappati and Irish potatoes from scratch.            

Ugandan’s dice their onions and tomatoes in quite an unusual manner – or is it the westerners who are unusual.  The onions are cut in half horizontally and then make cuts on top lengthways and sideways (very quickly!  With a big knife!).  Then slice horizontally across the top so the onion is now finely diced.  Clear?  This is just one example of the great variety of differences between our cultures.  

The meal ended up being amazing (we all ate far too much), and the children gleefully gobbled up everything that we couldn’t eat.  After the meal, we joined the families in their devotion time – beautiful singing, sharing the Word and praying together.  

We give thanks to the Lord for safety and another eventful day in this amazing place where he is Lord, just as he is in Australia. 

As usual, the pics below tell the story too!!

Uganda Team 25 - Day 8 & 9

Big read!!!  2 days in one.. No internet stopped us last night!!

Sunday 08/07/18

We started off this morning a little differently. No pre-made breakfast for these Mzungu’s. It was a ‘make your own’ before we headed to church, which of course for us means the options of either the infamous peanut butter and banana or avocado on toast. 

After breakfast, everyone put their best and most respectable attire on and we soon headed to Abundant Life church. (Looking pretty snazzy, I must say.)

We left in time for the second service, but as Andrew had already warned us, they were still finishing up the first service. 10 minutes later the second service started with some beautiful songs sung by the worship team and then some introductions followed by a message from Eric who was from YWAM. 

Soon after church we headed back to Suubi house where we treated ourselves to some lovely rolls (made by Juliette the night before) topped with some fresh salads and avocado and then relaxed before a big day at YSU.

Upon arrival at YSU, we were greeted by Luke and Agnes who had a fun filled day planned for us. We re-introduced ourselves to everyone as today we weren’t with the same group that we were with the previous time we visited YSU. This time we met with a larger group of kids who were amazing dancers and enthusiastic competitors of netball.

We played a game of musical chairs (won by us Mzungus thanks to Josh), a blind folded ball game (won by YSU NO thanks to Josh), a game which involved in Josh stuffing his face in flour and winning another one for the team and then our final and most intense game – mixed netball – which according to Shae, they cheated in, but we won anyway with the help of our supportive cheer squad consisting of Hillie, Liesje, Leonnie and Phillipa. All in all, us Mzungu’s did a did a pretty solid job for today.

We ended the day at All Friends Restaurant where we had excellent food, great chats and all went home satisfied after a day full of fun and fellowship. 

Monday, 09/07/18

We started the day with another fabulous breakfast of omelettes and toast, prepared by the ever-wonderful Juliet. Breakfast was followed by a great devotional from Shae, reminding us of the parable of the lost sheep. Shae elaborated on the parable to point out that when Jesus places the sheep on His shoulder to return it to the flock, this is actually a picture of the weight of our sins that Jesus took to the cross on our behalf. 

After cleaning up we headed out to Home of Hope and started to cover the white of the undercoat with a mass, or rather and explosion (!!) of colour. From such a blank canvass, it was so exciting to have colour liven the walls and bring the space to life. The colours are very vibrant and very Uganda and given we finished the two coats we planned, it was a solid day’s work, yet a pretty rewarding afternoon. And an update on Baby Billy, we were blessed to see this little bubba back at Home of Hope today. He is hanging on and although he has been quite unsettled, Edith and Mercy describe that he seems to be steadily improving. Your prayers for his continued improvement are making a difference. 

Liesje spent some quality time reading books to the children which was hugely appreciated by the kids!

We’ll head out to Home of Hope toward the end of the week to complete a scripture on the back wall, a scripture that has been with us in song for most of this trip, so with that and some other design work, we are nearing completion of this space and the journey that has seen this come to life. 

Till next time, we value your prayers and know how good our God has been to each of us and the team. We Praise Him for what He is doing in the tiny pocket of Uganda and in each of us…and no doubt, he will continue this work long after we come home! J

A bunch of good pics for the visual effect below!!