Dan and RosieButton - Uganda |
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Prayer Update December 2007
Dear Everyone,
The Queen
First of all, sadly, no I did not see the Queen! Uganda hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting last week: Gordon and Sarah Brown, the Queen and Prince Philip, and Prince Charles and Camilla all graced the scene, as well as hundreds of other Heads of State. As only a chosen few (us not among them) were invited to attend any of the events, we rather avoided Kampala as we were warned the streets would be closed to allow the delegates to sweep around the city in their cavalcades in comfort and peace! Kampala did get quite a make-over before they arrived, and some major road improvements were made and many hotels built. But off the main city roads, things look just the same as ever – the potholes and mud remain… However it all caused a huge stir and Ugandans seemed excited to be holding the event.
A Blast from the Past
One very unexpected visitor who showed up, at least on the sidelines, was the former (?) Bishop of Harare, Norbert Kunonga. As you may know, the situation in Harare Diocese is at present very unclear and unresolved: please pray for the church there, that they would be given good and godly leadership and that the right outcome would emerge as soon as possible. It affects many of our former students who are clergy in the diocese and they now have to nail their colours to the mast – so do pray for them. A few of those we especially remember and you could pray for by name are: John, William, Farai, Shepherd, Julius, Thomas, Kumbu, Justin, and of course Shearsby, who has one more term to go here in Uganda before returning to Zimbabwe.
A Set-back
Thank you for continuing to pray for us over the last few weeks. We have had mostly a good few weeks but with one setback. There has been a series of petty thefts from houses on campus over the last month or so, including my bag being stolen from our car, though it was returned the next day with money (fortunately not much was in it) and my umbrella missing. However two nights ago a man got into our office and stole Dan’s laptop and camera from his desk. Of course there is a lot of Dan’s work on it, some backed up but not all, as well as emails and so on. We are praying and hoping that it may be recovered. We have been touched by the help and sympathy of friends here, and we are thankful that nothing more was taken. It seems likely that all the thefts have been done by the same people, who were spotted hiding in the bushes near another house, a man and a young boy, but they ran off and have not yet been caught. Please pray that we will get the laptop back especially, and that the thefts would be stopped. .
Encouragements.
But on the up-side, teaching has gone well and we have now finished our courses, and the students have their exams next week. We took advantage of the public holiday for CHOGM (see above!) to visit Sipi Falls for a couple of days and have some family time away which was lovely. Also on the up-side, we are looking forward to Rosie’s parents coming for Christmas! Abigail and Alex are especially excited to have Granny and Grandpa coming, and we will introduce them to the joys of eating turkey in the middle of a hot Christmas Day, and maybe going swimming afterwards…! Please pray for them as they travel and that it will be a wonderful time for all of us.
Whilst they are here we will be attending the Ordination and thanksgiving party for one of our recent graduating students, Paul Kakooza, with a service in Luweero Cathedral followed by a party in his family’s rural home. Pray for Paul and many of our students who are getting ordained this month (– for some reason December is the month for ordinations in Uganda.)
Also in the middle of December we are hosting the all East Africa University Games – on the new sports fields I mentioned in the last bulletin (not quite such a mud bath now…) This should be a great event with hundreds of other university students around. Pray for Jason Mehl, an American missionary here who is the overall organiser of the whole thing, and the rest of the organising committee, as it is a big undertaking.
Happy Christmas!
Although it seems rather early, we would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and pray that you would have a wonderful time celebrating the coming of Jesus. And thank you again so much for your interest, prayers, letters and support and even a few very speedy Christmas cards! We are very thankful.
With our love and prayers,
Rosie Dan Abigail and Alex.