Dan and Rosie Button - Uganda |
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Prayer Update April 2008
Dear All,
Thank you for your prayers over the past month. We hope you had a happy if snowy Easter. On Palm Sunday we drove into Kampala to go to church because our good friends (who I used to work with in Zambia years ago, and who now live here (great!)) were having their little boy Sam dedicated at their church. Almost all the way along the main road to Kampala, there were tall frondy palm branches being waved as people made their way to their services. Whenever we drove past a church (there are many along the wayside), peering into the windows you could see a forest of palms being brandished about, and even many of the matatus and boda-bodas (motorbike taxis) had palm branches attached to their handlebars or roofs. It really felt like a celebration making our way to the capital – very appropriate. In the same way as the people of Jerusalem all those years ago, it felt as though the whole of Kampala was singing Hosanna that morning, yet continuing to put Jesus on the cross in all the very many ways… But it was a joyful drive to church!
Abigail and Alex have had a two week school holiday, much enjoyed by all. The highlight was a VERY wet camping trip, where, having eventually managed to go to sleep in spite of raging wind, thunder, rain and lightning flashing around us in circles, we all woke up with soggy mattresses and soaking pajamas… We had had good fun swimming and fishing the day before and the children took it all in their stride… Rosie however needed many cups of tea to recover…
Thanks…
- The retreat for Dan’s department went really well. The tutors had the time of their lives by all accounts, listing as highlights: playing football, great fellowship, riding the donkeys at the Entebbe wildlife park, swinging on the swings, enjoying the beach, visiting another local university, wonderful worship time, bonding together in spite of being from many different tribal backgrounds, and some inspiring talks on “Teaching with and for a Difference.” We thank God that it was such a refreshing and encouraging time. Dan was encouraged to see the “team” bonding together so well.
- Rick Warren (writer of the Purpose Drive Life) came to Uganda for some meetings, and Dan was able to take a small group of the tutors to a dinner to hear him speak, along with the Archbishop, many Ugandan church leaders, two Ugandan generals, the head of Ministry of Finance and the head of the Uganda Revenue Authority and Bank of Uganda. It was an inspiring session for many. We gather that the Church of Uganda is planning to do some form of the Purpose Driven Life course this year, hoping to draw in the leaders of some of these institutions – with the exciting vision of a “Purpose Driven Nation”!!
Prayer points…
- The Ugandan tax authorities (the URA) are threatening to treat the university as a profit-making business and levy a 30 % corporation tax on our “profits” ie capital expenditures. The administration is holding meetings with them to try to sort this out as this would be a huge disruption to the university. Please pray for a quick resolution of this serious matter.
- The students are about to start their exams. Please pray for them to do their best! We especially ask prayer for the Theology students who are writing their final exams at this time. We had a good farewell celebration for the 3rd years, on a spot in the college grounds where during the Idi Amin years a group of Amin’s soldiers were bombed and killed. Alfred the Dean used this as a motif for “burying any differences students and staff have had, repenting and being reconciled”. Please continue to pray for good relationships between members of the theology faculty.
- Our friend Peace who many of you have prayed for has very sadly suffered another bereavement. Her mother died very suddenly, back at home in Bushenyi, of high blood pressure. Peace is bearing up but she is finding it very hard. Please pray for her and for her children Martha and Divine as they come to terms with yet another loss. 14 members of Dan’s department, where Peace works, went to support her at the funeral and burial.
- As I write we still wait for news from Zimbabwe. Please keep praying for that country and our former students and friends there.
With love and prayers,
Rosie Dan Abigail and Alex.