UNBELIEVABLE!
In September, I will have been in Uganda for four years. In June, I will have been ordained for thirty
years – can you believe it? You would think that by this point, I would have seen almost
everything. But every day here is an adventure, and brings new discoveries. A sample follows:
Nile Perch. Yes, we actually saw this extraordinary fish on the back of a moped (small motorcycle)
on the way up a very steep hill in Kampala. Phili jumped out to ask the boda boda boy if we could
take his picture with the fish, and he was very happy. These Nile Perch are “serious” fish, as they
say here – good eating, and as you can see, good sized!
God’s Cosmetic Shop. This is in Masindi town market, and I didn’t have the sign made for the
picture! God is actually doing a thriving business here in Masindi selling cosmetics to make African
women look beautiful. His shop assistant was surprised when I wanted to take his picture, thinking
that I had mistaken his shop for the Holy of Holies. But the Banyoro (the local tribe) are very
religious people, and so think nothing of seeing a sign that points the way directly to heaven – via
cosmetics, that is.
Church Vestry at Rwenkobe. This was the “vestry”, or changing room at the church where we went
for Easter services. It is a mud church in the middle of the Kinyara Sugar estate – mainly Lugbara,
which is Phili’s tribe. I did the communion in Lugbara, and Phili translated the sermon (this is our
standard procedure almost every Sunday). There are 250 local churches in our diocese, and we
would like to worship with as many of them as possible, to encourage them and to survey their
needs. It is always a blessed time., as you can see from the pictures. Services are usually packed,
with people standing outside and sitting all around the altar on the floor. The Church is wide in
Africa, but it is not deep. If you feel the Lord calling you to a wonderful teaching ministry
opportunity, this is a place for you!
The “Nigerian”. We were invited to Hanga Church, which is one of seven Lugbara churches out in
an area full of refugees from Sudan, Northern Uganda, even Congo. I was blessed again with the
opportunity to do baptisms and preach. Phili translated into Lugbara, and the church catechist
translated into Alur. Phili is dressed here in typical Nigerian ‘gear’, and the pastor, Rev. Patrick, is
standing on the far end from her. Patrick has only 28 churches now! And he is looking forward to
the day when Hanga becomes a parish and removes seven local churches from his supervision.
The Archdeacon of Kiryandongo, of which this church is a member, has 88 churches that he
oversees – with three priests and a deacon. I pray constantly for the chance to be in a parish
again, but the Lord seems to be steering me in other directions. And so we travel weekly to
different churches and try to help the parish priests with their duties.
DPDO. This means Diocesan Planning and Development Officer. It is the number three position in
a diocese in Uganda. At a meeting of the Executive/ Standing Committee last week, I was
unanimously appointed the DPDO, after pleading that they should get a local boy to do the work.
Never mind. The people have been following Phili and me around, to see what we are doing. We
are always very quiet, because we want to do the Lord’s work quietly. But I guess they are happy
with the results, because the bishop keeps telling me how all the churches want us to come and
help them and visit them. We now have seven church farms going, and the results have been
really positive so far. Phili has just started taking in her second class of 20 students, to run
alongside the first group who meet in the morning. I have dragged my feet on this project for quite
a while, because I didn’t want it to interfere with her setting up the garment business. But this is
going very well, so who can argue with her success? The teachers are happy to teach, the Mothers
Union is happy to see their name glorified, and Phili has built the best tailoring school in Masindi,
and probably the north of Uganda, in less than a year. It is a difficult, challenging ministry, and we
don’t expect to see a penny (shilling) of profit from this school. But the results are seen in the girls
(and their relatives) that come to our home after hours to visit, to have special clothes made in Phili’
s workshop, and to seek help for their personal problems. At least with Phili, they have come to the
right person!
Well at Kasangoire Church and School. This well has been out of service for over five years. It is
on church land, but provides service to the primary school and the little village nearby,
approximately 2000 people. The children were walking 2km one way to fetch water, and I thought it
made sense to spend $250 and get the well going again, so that the children could spend time on
their studies, and not on fetching water. This is a really small project that happened quickly, but is
the sort of thing we look for - small intervention, good sustainability, big impact in many lives. The
schoolboys were especially pleased because they got out of class to assist the well repairman with
his work all day. And I know they learned a lot from him!
In the next newsletter, I will give you an update on the following projects:
the Buliisa Project (a district hospital renovation project scheduled for Jan. 2008, being headed by
Bill and Heidi Sullivan of Monterey. We need volunteers, and you may contact Bill at
wildbillsullivan@yahoo.com. He has an inspiring DVD of the project, which is available upon
request.
The Break the Barriers/Uganda Society for Disabled Children project. Break the Barriers, Fresno,
Ca., has confirmed that they want to come to Uganda next May, at the invitation of USDC, and
share their ministry with the children here. Again, if you would like information about this
opportunity, please contact me. Our good friend, Jackson Atria, is the Director of USDC, and we
shall be working closely with him and Deby Hergenrader of BTB to put the pieces in place.
The “Container” project with the Stockton Rotarians. The container is scheduled to arrive in
Masindi in a week, but I will wait until the fact to share that exciting news. Suffice it to say, there are
a LOT of happy people waiting for it – schoolteachers, medical people, my Christians on the farms,
and so forth. It has been a real struggle, but now we are almost at the finish line.
The Moyo boat project and the commercial building projects. It is my prayer that the dust settles a
bit and I can see a strong conclusion to these old projects. Things in Africa move very slowly, but
eventually I try to finish the job.
Phili and I send you our greetings and thanks for the prayers and the ongoing support. We have
settled in well to Masindi, and you are always welcome to visit us here and to see the wildlife. If you
would ever want further information about any of the ministries we engage in, please let us know.
We feel blessed to be able to serve here, and hope that our ministries are a continuing blessing to
you also.
In September, I will have been in Uganda for four years. In June, I will have been ordained for thirty
years – can you believe it? You would think that by this point, I would have seen almost
everything. But every day here is an adventure, and brings new discoveries. A sample follows:
Nile Perch. Yes, we actually saw this extraordinary fish on the back of a moped (small motorcycle)
on the way up a very steep hill in Kampala. Phili jumped out to ask the boda boda boy if we could
take his picture with the fish, and he was very happy. These Nile Perch are “serious” fish, as they
say here – good eating, and as you can see, good sized!
God’s Cosmetic Shop. This is in Masindi town market, and I didn’t have the sign made for the
picture! God is actually doing a thriving business here in Masindi selling cosmetics to make African
women look beautiful. His shop assistant was surprised when I wanted to take his picture, thinking
that I had mistaken his shop for the Holy of Holies. But the Banyoro (the local tribe) are very
religious people, and so think nothing of seeing a sign that points the way directly to heaven – via
cosmetics, that is.
Church Vestry at Rwenkobe. This was the “vestry”, or changing room at the church where we went
for Easter services. It is a mud church in the middle of the Kinyara Sugar estate – mainly Lugbara,
which is Phili’s tribe. I did the communion in Lugbara, and Phili translated the sermon (this is our
standard procedure almost every Sunday). There are 250 local churches in our diocese, and we
would like to worship with as many of them as possible, to encourage them and to survey their
needs. It is always a blessed time., as you can see from the pictures. Services are usually packed,
with people standing outside and sitting all around the altar on the floor. The Church is wide in
Africa, but it is not deep. If you feel the Lord calling you to a wonderful teaching ministry
opportunity, this is a place for you!
The “Nigerian”. We were invited to Hanga Church, which is one of seven Lugbara churches out in
an area full of refugees from Sudan, Northern Uganda, even Congo. I was blessed again with the
opportunity to do baptisms and preach. Phili translated into Lugbara, and the church catechist
translated into Alur. Phili is dressed here in typical Nigerian ‘gear’, and the pastor, Rev. Patrick, is
standing on the far end from her. Patrick has only 28 churches now! And he is looking forward to
the day when Hanga becomes a parish and removes seven local churches from his supervision.
The Archdeacon of Kiryandongo, of which this church is a member, has 88 churches that he
oversees – with three priests and a deacon. I pray constantly for the chance to be in a parish
again, but the Lord seems to be steering me in other directions. And so we travel weekly to
different churches and try to help the parish priests with their duties.
DPDO. This means Diocesan Planning and Development Officer. It is the number three position in
a diocese in Uganda. At a meeting of the Executive/ Standing Committee last week, I was
unanimously appointed the DPDO, after pleading that they should get a local boy to do the work.
Never mind. The people have been following Phili and me around, to see what we are doing. We
are always very quiet, because we want to do the Lord’s work quietly. But I guess they are happy
with the results, because the bishop keeps telling me how all the churches want us to come and
help them and visit them. We now have seven church farms going, and the results have been
really positive so far. Phili has just started taking in her second class of 20 students, to run
alongside the first group who meet in the morning. I have dragged my feet on this project for quite
a while, because I didn’t want it to interfere with her setting up the garment business. But this is
going very well, so who can argue with her success? The teachers are happy to teach, the Mothers
Union is happy to see their name glorified, and Phili has built the best tailoring school in Masindi,
and probably the north of Uganda, in less than a year. It is a difficult, challenging ministry, and we
don’t expect to see a penny (shilling) of profit from this school. But the results are seen in the girls
(and their relatives) that come to our home after hours to visit, to have special clothes made in Phili’
s workshop, and to seek help for their personal problems. At least with Phili, they have come to the
right person!
Well at Kasangoire Church and School. This well has been out of service for over five years. It is
on church land, but provides service to the primary school and the little village nearby,
approximately 2000 people. The children were walking 2km one way to fetch water, and I thought it
made sense to spend $250 and get the well going again, so that the children could spend time on
their studies, and not on fetching water. This is a really small project that happened quickly, but is
the sort of thing we look for - small intervention, good sustainability, big impact in many lives. The
schoolboys were especially pleased because they got out of class to assist the well repairman with
his work all day. And I know they learned a lot from him!
In the next newsletter, I will give you an update on the following projects:
the Buliisa Project (a district hospital renovation project scheduled for Jan. 2008, being headed by
Bill and Heidi Sullivan of Monterey. We need volunteers, and you may contact Bill at
wildbillsullivan@yahoo.com. He has an inspiring DVD of the project, which is available upon
request.
The Break the Barriers/Uganda Society for Disabled Children project. Break the Barriers, Fresno,
Ca., has confirmed that they want to come to Uganda next May, at the invitation of USDC, and
share their ministry with the children here. Again, if you would like information about this
opportunity, please contact me. Our good friend, Jackson Atria, is the Director of USDC, and we
shall be working closely with him and Deby Hergenrader of BTB to put the pieces in place.
The “Container” project with the Stockton Rotarians. The container is scheduled to arrive in
Masindi in a week, but I will wait until the fact to share that exciting news. Suffice it to say, there are
a LOT of happy people waiting for it – schoolteachers, medical people, my Christians on the farms,
and so forth. It has been a real struggle, but now we are almost at the finish line.
The Moyo boat project and the commercial building projects. It is my prayer that the dust settles a
bit and I can see a strong conclusion to these old projects. Things in Africa move very slowly, but
eventually I try to finish the job.
Phili and I send you our greetings and thanks for the prayers and the ongoing support. We have
settled in well to Masindi, and you are always welcome to visit us here and to see the wildlife. If you
would ever want further information about any of the ministries we engage in, please let us know.
We feel blessed to be able to serve here, and hope that our ministries are a continuing blessing to
you also.
June 2007
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