Schoolies progress...!

The whole team at the Source of the Nile

The Schoolies team have made some incredible progress at the Village of Hope and they have managed to fit in a whole lot more.

On Sunday we visited the Source of the Nile and witnessed where the Nile River starts it's 4000km long journey. We also enjoyed a little boat ride on the Nile and also into Lake Victoria.

This was also the day that we celebrated Tayla's birthday which also included dinner out at a restaurant - great day!

The team on the marker that marks
the start of the 4000km

The building continued and the team has managed to get the house up to the ring beam and they are quite confident of finishing all the brick work in the next day or so ready for the roof. They have also put in a new culvert drain at the entrance to the Village of Hope which means no more bottoming out of vehicles as they drive in. The driveway is also now looking "very smart" with gravel and drains on either side.

The house ready for the ring beam

 The team has also interacted a lot with the mothers and the children, with our Schoolies being taught African dances, how to make paper beads, how to make chapattis and learning first hand a bit more of African life and culture.

Today the team also visited the Jinja Main Prison - what an eye opener. We were escorted in after having to leave behind all our wallets, cameras and phones. As we entered the prison there were over 500 prisoners sitting on mats and gathered around. There was a mini sound system setup and the team proceeded to minister to these inmates - it was explained to us that the inmates with the white shirts were the condemned men (death row) and the yellow shirts were the others. There were about 1/3 in white shirts!

Winnie and Jane having some quiet
time in the new Rock Hut

The team did an awesome song with songs and Andrew B shared a message and then the team paired off and had the opportunity to pray for inmates as they responded to the Word - this was amazing. We then shared in a volley ball match with the inmates - probably the largest captive audience (sorry!!) we have ever played in front off.

Another highlight was also sharing in the devotion time at our Village of Hope - what a priviledge. To see our kids leading in worship and prayer that was truly from the heart and then our ENTIRE Schoolies team gathered around and prayed for the kids of theVillage of Hope - unforgettable - and it was all in front of the ROCK!

So many memories and we are only half way!

Open air devotion time with the Village of Hope