Blessed Indeed

I'm writing this from my family home in the UK on a beautiful summer's day with the radio playing and the windows wide open. This time last week I was somewhere in the sky over northern Africa.
 We had a party on Sunday which lots of people came to and it was a blessing that they came and shared our last evening in Uganda with us. Early on Monday morning we left the Smile house and drove to Entebbe airport. Saying goodbye to everyone was really difficult and plenty of tears were shed. I will be forever grateful to God for the blessing that it is to have met all the people that I'm close to in Uganda, and my prayer is that we will stay close and that one day God will bring me back.
By some miracle all of our bags were under the weight limit and the flight was uneventful (apart from the scones with clotted cream and jam!!) I think that we must have gotten a few strange looks from the people around us when all four of us girls were practically sobbing as the plane took off.
We had a brilliant surprise at the airport as Simone ran over to greet us. She had been with us for our training and had come out to Uganda for our first two weeks and it was lovely to see her again.
We spent a couple of days in Kent being debriefed by Clive and Ruth and Simone before we all went to Hitchin which is just North of London. We stayed for a few days visiting different clubs run by the church and sharing our experience of Uganda with the people. Everyone there was so welcoming and hospitable. It was strange to be back in English culture which is so familiar but also felt oddly alien, and we felt a bit like we don't really fit into our own culture anymore. It was great to all be together for the first week back and to be able to support each other.

So on Sunday, my brother John and his girlfriend Catherine came to pick me up. We stayed around for a while whilst we waited for the other's parents to arrive and we tried to delay the moment that we had to leave each other but eventually it had to come.
John and Catherine grilled me in the car with 101 questions "what was the weirdest thing you ate?" and then they took me to surprise my grandparents which was lovely.

We drove into Chineham just at the moment that Andy Murray hit the winning ball of the Wimbledon final! My parent's had decorated the house with British flags (apparently they'd been looking for the Ugandan flag but I had it with me!). My Dad, predictably, had seized the opportunity to wear his African shirt, and he and Mum both gave me that big hug that they had been waiting so long for.

We went round to John and Catherine's home for a BBQ and it was great to see their new house which they moved into about a week after I moved to Uganda back in October. I also got to meet their cat 'Bertie' who is quite a character!

Bertie enjoying the BBQ!

BBQ hosted by John & Cat

I'm so excited to come back to Christ Church next week and to get to spend all my time talking about Uganda. I've had such a huge amount of support from so many people during my time in Uganda and I'm now really looking forward to being able to meet up with people and share my stories with you all.

To everyone who's reading this from KC, UG I love you all SO much and I seriously really, really miss you. Thank you always for everything. Mukama abwawe omukisa ne nkwagala nyo!

As I think I've already said, my time in Uganda was easily the best 9 months of my life and I will cherish my memories and miss my friends and family there for the rest of my life. I knew from the start that God would bless me, but he truly has in ways that I never expected him to and he has done so much more than I ever thought he would. There's a reason I called this blog 'Blessed Indeed', as cheesy as it is, and the reason still stands because God has, and I know that he will continue to use me and to bless me through the life he calls me to live. I can't wait!

So that's it. I'm back in Chineham (for the next couple of months at least!) On Sunday the 21st July I'm going to be attempting to cook for anyone who wants to come and hear all my stories about Uganda at Christ Church Chineham, so all are welcome to church (10.30 am) and to the meal straight afterwards. Please give us a heads up at the church office so we know how many people to cook for (01256 474280 admin@christchurchchineham.org.uk)

Please continue to pray for me, the other gappers and our families and also for everyone that we love in Uganda.

What a year?!

This week has been one of laughter, memories, tears and plenty of food! We've been busy with lots of different goodbye parties, between trying to get everything ready to move back to the UK. On Monday we celebrated Clare's birthday early as the actual date is our last day in Uganda. We had just a couple of people  over and shared a lovely family evening with Clare's favourite African meal and some silly games.
Tuesday took us to Chosen Children's center to say goodbye to the teachers and the children there. It felt strange to be back as we haven't been there in a long time. It was good to see how much has changed and to see the kids again for the last time. In the evening we went to Pastor Davidson's house, he is the pastor of Blessed Word of Life Church where we've spent time this year running a children's club and also helping with the building. It was a really good evening and a great chance to spend some time with him and his family.
On Wednesday we visited the Smile Farm. The crops are doing well despite the lack of rain. We're mainly growing maize and beans and are in the process of digging a well. In the evening we went to our last Youth Fellowship at KBC which was a time of worship this week, but we also had a chance to share a few words.
The KBC choir welcomed us on Thursday for a BBQ. They've been such a family especially to Esther who has really gotten involved in choir and it was great to share the evening with them.
On Friday went to both of the children's clubs for the final time, we sang some songs, played some games and shared some biscuits. We were so blessed by the children at Blessed Word of Life church who presented  us with gifts and letters. In the evening us girls went out with the women from our women's fellowship for a meal which was really good.
Saturday was time for packing, and then in the evening the LT Warriors invited us to church for our chance to say goodbye to them. Just like choir have been a family to Esther, the LT lot have really been such a family to Finch, but to all of us they have become great friends and it was lovely to spend the evening with them.
So it's been a pretty intense week and an emotional one too. This afternoon we've invited pretty much everyone that we know for a party at the house which I'm sure will be good fun, but we're all anticipating a very emotional evening as we attempt to say goodbye to all of our friends and family here. I think I speak for all of us when I say that the past nine months have been the best of our lives and there's no doubt that we're going back to the UK as very different people form those who left back in October.
The people here are incredible, and we've built relationships that we pray will last for a lifetime. I know that I have family here, and they have and always will mean so much to me. Leaving Uganda will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I trust God that he will bring me back here on day soon, and for now I can only thank him for all the blessings.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the UK and especially to coming back to Christ Church. I've got a few ideas for the next few years and I'm so excited to see how God will use me. I know so much more about myself now and I'm so much more confident in the ways that God has gifted me so I know that I can let God use me in those areas and I'm excited to see how he will work.
For now, all I can do is attempt a big enough 'Thank You'. Firstly to all the people who have supported me in various ways from all over the world. The support I've had has been overwhelming and I really am so grateful to all of you. Of course I cant really express in words how grateful I am to everyone here. I hope each person knows how much they mean to me and how much they've changed my life. I'm going to miss you all so much I can't even begin to put it into words.
And above all I thank God. I knew from the start that he would bless me this year, because he does every single day - there's a reason I called this blog 'blessed indeed'! He's grown me in ways I didn't think were possible, healed me in ways I couldn't see that I was broken, taught me so much about myself, given me the blessing of being able to bless others, introduced me to family I didn't know I had and finally made me believe how loved I really am, not only by him but by people all over the world. Above all, he's helped me to learn more about him and about the ways that he can use me. He's shown me the ways that he's gifted me and taught me how to use them. He's done so many incredible things and taught me a lot about himself. He's blessed me - big time!

I know that people will be praying for a safe journey and for me to settle in easily in the UK, but my prayer requests this week aren't for myself...

- Please pray for all of our friends and family here. Pray that God will walk with them and help them to know that he is there with them. I know that a lot of people here might struggle with our departure just as much as we will, so please pray that God will comfort them and that we'll all be able to stay in contact and remain just as close as we are now.
- Please pray for our friends and family in the UK. Pray that God will help them as they welcome home 5 very different young people from those they dropped at the airport last October.
- Please pray that God will continue to use us and that he will give us strength, wisdom and the right ways to share our testimonies of this year to bring him the most glory.

This wont be my last blog... we have a week of debrief in the UK before we go back to our families, so I'll be writing about that and sharing lots of photos with you.
To anyone who's around, I'm planning a meal at Christ Church Chineham on Sunday 21st July and I'll tell you all about my time in Uganda if you can come. Please give us a heads up at the church office so we know how many people to cook for. (01256 474280 admin@christchurchchineham.org.uk)

Kisaakye - Kayunga take two

Kisaakye means "God's Grace" in Luganda and is the name of the organisation that we were working with this week in Kayunga where we stayed two weeks ago. Last time that we stayed in Kayunga we were mainly working at Mount Zion school, but this week we got more of an overview of the work of Kisaakye. We travelled to Kayunga on Monday and spent Tuesday travelling around the area visiting disabled children and their families to provide therapy in their homes and to pray for them.  The Kisaakye volunteers are able to ride boda bodas which is a really handy form of transport especially on a day like this when we needed to visit lots of families which lived too far apart to reach them by walking, but there was no suitable access for cars. It was great to be able to visit them in their homes as this saved the parents the money that it would cost to bring the children to the Kisaakye center.

On Wednesday we went back to Mount Zion school where we helped the teachers and Clare and I had the opportunity to catch up with Mary - the deaf teacher that we met last time.
Thursday was the therapy day at the center so we helped out with the therapy and played with the children. Lots of the kids come to the center very scared because the therapy isn't a pleasant experience for them, especially if their parents don't provide regular therapy at home, so to be able to help them to relax is really important and was such a privilege.
After all of the parents and children had left, the Kisaakye volunteers blessed us with a meal to thank us as a team for working with them. They are a very young organisation and are struggling day by day to get by, but as we told them on Thursday, their faith in God is an inspiration to all of us, and we trust that he will continue to provide for them so that they can continue to bless the families that they work with.
On Friday we travelled back to Kampala, but not before we visited Kalagala Falls in the local area. We walked to the falls from the village centre and enjoyed sitting by the water and just watching and having some time to reflect (and eat fresh bananas!).

So we now have just over one week left in Uganda which is leaving us all with very mixed emotions. It looks like this week is going to be incredibly busy as we try to pack in as much as we can and say all our goodbyes before we leave Uganda.
Please pray
- That God will keep our morale high this week and help us to enjoy our final days in Uganda.
- That God will fill us all with peace at the prospect of leaving our friends and family here and will help us to get excited about what he has planned for us next.
- The same for the people we love here who we will be leaving behind.
- For provision for Smile Uganda and for Kisaakye.

Thanks so much and God bless.

Lorna

Farewell to Kuffu

Well as far as a final week goes this was a pretty good one in Kuffu. Today we packed up and left Kuffu for the final time. It was a bitter sweet moment at we drove away - excited to come back to Kampala for the rest of the weekend, but really upset to be leaving our family there and knowing that we might never return.
The opportunity to return to Kuffu this week was a blessing though as we thought that we had already said our goodbyes a few weeks ago. It was a bizarre week as a new team from the UK were visiting for a short term mission that they do annually from their church. It was exciting to be on the 'African' side of the welcoming festivities. We've been around for the past few months as the children have been practicing their dances and songs that they were to perform for these visitors, and we arrived in Kuffu on Monday amid all the preparations of decorating the school, making last minute touches to the dances and making grass skirts.

Preparing flowers

On Tuesday we stood in line with the children singing 'Welcome, we are happy to receive you' as the new visitors walked between the two lines of singing children. What a brilliant experience for everyone involved!
All morning the kids performed their songs and dances and then we had games before the children went to class. Having these visitors around all week was such a great reminder to us of how much a part of life we have become at Kuffu, for example that we are now viewed as teachers and not visitors, and that the children call us all by name instead of 'mzungu'.

Lining up to wait for the visitors

Dancing

Every morning we each took a class for a reading lesson, and for the rest of the day we helped in various classes as usual. Having the visitors around meant that the timetable was a bit different from usual and so we had games every day. On one of the days we got to get involved with a teachers race which was great fun.
On Saturday we took part in a huge medical mission. We were able to provide medical checkups and treatment for people in the surrounding area. I think around 450 people were seen. It was a brilliant day and was so good to see so many people at Goshem. I spent most of the day working in the pharmacy section, dispensing prescriptions. It took me back to the two years I spent working behind the pharmacy counter in the UK.

Our weekends at the moment are very short but we still manage to fill them to overflowing. Last Sunday Clare and I enjoyed an afternoon out in Kampala with Brian and Terry. It was a brilliant day and we created some memories that I will cherish for a very long time. We're home again for just over one day before we leave for Kayunga again on Monday to work with the same school that we were at last week, so we'll see what we end up getting up to tomorrow!

Thank you as always for all of your support and prayers. I appreciate it all so much.

Please continue to pray for us...
- That God will prepare us to leave Uganda and return to the UK and help us to feel at peace about it.
- That God will use us in Kayunga and that we'll be able to see him at work.
- For health and safety.

God bless,

Lorna

Kayunga

This week the 5 of us gappers went to Kayunga where we taught at Mount Zion school which has links with one of Smile's volunteers. Mount Zion aims to cater for all children including those who are deaf or disabled in another way. The school is linked with a charity called Kisaakye (meaning "God's Grace") which provides therapy for disabled children, particularly those with cerebral palsy.
We stayed in the Kisaakye centre which meant that for the week we had our own house. We had great fun cooking on charcoal stoves which takes much longer than cooking on gas, as we used the time to sing together in the kitchen. We also enjoyed a packet of marshmallows toasted over the hot coals that we had been saving for such an opportunity! 

Outside the Kisaakye centre where we stayed

Toasting marshmallows

At Mount Zion school we helped the teachers with marking work, and we taught some classes as well when there wasn't a teacher present. We mainly taught phonics or reading lessons, but we also had fun teaching the children some songs.

Teaching was difficult in limited space - this is 5 classes!

Teaching a reading lesson to Primary 5 with Primary 4 in the background

As Mount Zion caters for deaf children they also have a deaf teacher. Clare and I spent every afternoon with Mary and 2 of her students and we learnt a lot of East African sign language.

Clare with our new friends

On Thursday Kisaakye had a therapy day at their centre, so Finch, Joe and I stayed at the centre to help out. Lots of parents brought their children for therapy. Most of the children who came had cerebral palsy, so their therapy involved helping them to stretch different parts of their bodies and to move their joints. This was quite painful for the children as their bodies aren't used to such movement, but is important for them to have maximum movement. The work that Kisaakye do means that they can educate the parents about how best to care for their children in order to enable them to live a better quality life.

Next week we're off to another village! We're going back to Kuffu for our final week of teaching there and to take part in a medical mission day.

Thank you, as always, for your prayers and support.
This week I would love prayer in the following areas...

- Health and safety for the whole team.
- Pray that we will be able to continue to spend good time together as a team and remain close to each other and to God.
- Pray that God will use us to do his work.

Thank you so much and God bless.

Lorna

...and relax!

The reading weeks that we ran in Kuffu were a huge success, and this week we had all the gappers together for a whole week for the first time in what feels like a very long time! We have had a fairly relaxed week to give us all some time to rest from such an intense period of moving between Kampala and the village so much. We spent the time doing all kinds of things, from painting, to washing, to working on scrap books, to making a trip into Kampala to post some letters and I even let Clare cut my hair! I also made some reports about Smile work and visited friends. This week our new chickens, Clare and Lorna, laid their first eggs for us which we enjoyed in an egg mayo sandwich!

Eggs from 'Clare' and 'Lorna' chickens

On Thursday we went into town for our weekly slum ministry time in which we tried to encourage people to join us in the work that we were due to do on Friday, cleaning up a part of the community.
Friday went really well. We went into town early and spent the morning cleaning the water trenches of rubbish, sweeping, slashing and weeding. It was brilliant to see so many of the local people getting involved and the area is now much cleaner with no more rubbish in the trenches that we worked in.

Cleaning the trench

Carrying the rubbish away

After lunch we returned to run our children's club. This also went really well. We shared some praise and worship with the children, taught them about the 10 commandments which was the next part in our Moses series and enjoyed some biscuits together.
Friday was also Berinda's 2nd birthday so in the evening we had a little party for her. We all had a lovely time and it was great to see her so excited! We shared a meal, cake and lots and lots of fun with balloons! 

Birthday girl cutting her cake with Mummy and Daddy

Running for a hug from Auntie Lorna

As we enter our final month in Uganda we're all starting to reflect on the past 8 months. We're looking forward to seeing our friends and family again and I'm so excited to come back to Christ Church. However, we're all aware that this final month will be a very emotional one as we come to terms with leaving our friends and family here. The past 8 months have been a very significant chapter in all of our lives and we've formed relationships that we hope will last a lifetime. Please pray for us in this area over the next few weeks.

On Monday we're due to be going to a different village where we'll be working with another school and also a rehabilitation center for disabled children.

Please pray...

- For this coming week, that God will use us and bless our week with good health, safety and fun.
- Thanksgiving for the countless ways that God has blessed us.
- For the community that we helped to clean, pray that it will be maintained.
- For everyone as we approach the end of this season. Pray that God will prepare us to leave and help us to feel at peace.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Lorna

Reading Week Three

I'm home again from Kuffu village where we just taught the final reading week. What a fantastic week!

On Sunday we were still in Kampala... well, we were actually in Entebbe. We went with our church - KBC, to the 'Love Feast'. As a church we all traveled down to Lake Victoria where we held the service outside and shared lunch and fellowship together. We sang, prayed, read the bible, ate, chatted and some people swam (and others got pushed in!) which was fun to watch. It was such a brilliant day and had a really lovely family feel to it and we all had so much fun.

Watching people swimming at the Love Feast

Early on Monday morning, Clare, Esther, and I went to join Joe in Kuffu. We arrived just in time for the first lesson so we literally arrived and got straight into teaching. Having taught the first week and then been away for a week it was wonderful to see how much the children had improved in just one week. Whereas in the first week we had just been teaching letter sounds, this week we were able to focus on key words and sentence construction and also to give the children some time each day when they could read story books. I was very proud of some of the kids in my class who were even able to read the word 'antidisestablishmentarianism'! Wow!

Reading a book

Learning to read

We decided to make use of our free time in the afternoons by twisting Esther's hair which we think took three of us about 10 hours in total!

Esther's hair after twisting for 10 hours

Friday was the final day which concluded all three of the reading weeks, so we made it a really special day. We spent all of Thursday afternoon and evening preparing for it, and on Friday morning we split the children into 4 teams and held a big competition. We had lots of games, including a 'slap the board' tournament, a treasure hunt and an anagram challenge among other things - all related to reading and writing. 

Getting into the anagram challenge

We also realized that this week was likely to be our last time to stay in Kuffu and we had lots of food left over, so we decided to bless the children with lunch on the final day. It was so great to see them coming out of the kitchen with HUGE portions, and grins on their faces to match. We asked them to bring their own plates, and one of the children brought a bucket!

Lining up to get lunch

This was likely to be our last time to stay in Kuffu which is really sad. Although we know that we'll be back to visit for a day, this feels like the first of our 'goodbyes'as we approach the final month of our gap year. Kuffu had been such a blessing to all of us and I know that for me personally it has been a place which has really allowed me to grow in so many ways. The first time that we stayed in Kuffu I really struggled, but 3 months on and its like another home from home for us. The family that we've become a part of there has been so welcoming and we've shared some beautiful memories with the people that we have gotten to know so well. It also gave us a much more typical experience of Africa which is something that I really cherish. Being away from technology especially is something that I've found particularly relaxing (If you're ever feeling a bit stressed, try turning the power off). But more than anything, this is a place that God has used to teach me so many things and to grow me in so many ways. I'm so thankful to all the people there and I count myself very blessed to have had the opportunity to become a part of the family at Kuffu.

Everyone at who lives with us at Kuffu after church.

And so another week is over and we're about to start a new one. As I write this I have no idea what we'll be doing this week, but I do know that God has it planned and therefore it will be great!
I really want to thank everyone at Christ Church (My home church), for their support of the building project at Blessed Word of Life Church. The money you've raised will be such an enormous blessing! Particularly thank you to the Pathfinders, I'm so proud of you lot!

Thanks also to everyone who has been supporting me in so many ways over the past 8 months. Your support, emails, letters, prayers and everything else is always such a blessing to me and I really do appreciate you all so much.

Please continue to remember me and the rest of the Smile Uganda team in your prayers...

- Pray for the children that we taught in Kuffu and that they will remember what they learnt and that it will benefit them in their education and their future.

- Pray for us gappers as we approach the end of our gap year. That God will prepare us well to move on, and also that he will prepare the people that we'll be leaving and those that we'll be going back to.
- Pray that God will use us this week in whatever work we do.

Thanks so much.
God bless

What a week!

This week I've been back in Kampala with Clare whilst Esther, Finch and Joe were teaching the second reading week in Kuffu. The children here are still off school for the school holidays so we weren't teaching this week. This has given us a bit more free time than usual and we've had a brilliant time!

On Monday we were sitting on the front porch of the house writing up the report from the reading week, and Brian and Shavan came back - they has just driven the others to Kuffu. Brian walked around to the boot of the car, opened it up, and inside was a chicken! We decided to name her Beatrice.

We thought that Beatrice might get a bit lonely, so on Tuesday, Clare and I went with our friend Jacob to a local market where we bought two more local hens which we named Clare and Lorna. We chose them to match the colour of our hair, and the idea is that when we leave Uganda to go back to the UK our family here will still have Clare and Lorna in Uganda. Genius!

Clare and I with the new additions to the Smile family

Now, Clare, Lorna and Beatrice had nowhere to stay, so on Wednesday we spent the morning building a house for them. We named it 'The Kitchen Hut' because Jacob gets the words 'chicken' and 'kitchen' confused. We had great fun building it and the 'kitchens' love it!

In the afternoon we wanted to bless Alex, our project manager, because he does so much for us and for Smile, so we confiscated his phone and went for a walk to the top of the hill behind our house. From there we sat and chatted until the sun went down and we watched the beautiful sunset.

On Thursday we had our weekly slum ministry when we go around the community talking to people about God and praying with them. This was a lovely time as usual and I had the opportunity to meet some people that I hadn't met before.

On Friday we had our weekly children's club. Clare taught the bible lesson to the older group this week about Moses and she did really well. She had made a story board and the kids loved having something to look at.

Of course, we definitely didn't miss the opportunity to bake and cook some exciting food this week with more time on our hands, so in the past 7 days we've enjoyed home made chicken pie, banana loaf and even mango crumble!

I finally got a memory card adaptor this week (thanks mum!), so now I can take the photos off of my camera... I've included some here that you've missed over the past few weeks.

Collecting water in Kuffu

Primary One class at Goshem - Kuffu

This is where we cook at Kuffu

Everyone gathered to say goodbye to Andrew

Esther and some local children helping to clean the community

The men that came for the KBC men's walk

Clare teaching at Reading week

We've had such a lovely week this week. This Monday I'm going back to Kuffu for the third of three reading weeks. I'm going to be the team leader this week so please pray for me as I lead the team.

As always, I really appreciate your support and prayers.

My prayer requests this week are...

- Thanksgiving for such a great week.

- Pray for me and the rest of the team as we run the last reading week. Also for the children.

- Pray for provision for Smile.

Thank you so much.

God bless

Lorna

Reading Week - One

Last Sunday, Finch, Clare, Marina and I traveled to Kuffu for the first of three reading weeks that we're running there. We left Kampala on Sunday afternoon to give ourselves enough time to get organised. It was really great to be back in Kuffu; it's so peaceful and beautiful there, and we've gotten to know the people who live there really well too so its always lovely to see them when we stay.
This week we focused on teaching the children the sounds of each letter, how to write them well, and how to put them together to form simple three letter words. We came up with an action for each letter sound, like hitting a drum for 'd' and shaving your head for 'v'. We quickly realized that we would have to do a lot of work on handwriting, and it was brilliant to see how much the children's handwriting improved by the end of the week. They really enjoyed the idea that letters can 'sleep', and by the end of the week they had moved on from writing individual letters across two lines, to writing "My teacher like to rub out my sleeping letters" neatly on one line.
We only had a few children, and the small classes were fantastic. On Monday and Tuesday we split the children into three separate ability groups, but by Wednesday we decided to merge the top two groups. This meant that the lowest ability still had a small class, and a fantastic teacher (Clare), whilst the top group was still relatively small with around 11 to 14 children, but with 4 teachers. Finch and I had some great characters in our class and we really enjoyed making the lessons fun and having a bit of banter with the kids.
We did lots of treasure hunts, either for letter flash cards that we'd hidden around the compound, or for letter challenges, for which the kids had to find something around the compound that started with the letter we gave them - we had everything from live ants for 'i' (insect) to a clay head for 'h' and one of the boys even brought us a jack fruit fresh from the tree for 'j'. (It did make us laugh when one of the boys brought a jerry can for letter 'y'. I asked him what he had brought and he said, with a sheepish grin "Yerry can!").

Each morning before we started class, we would gather all of the children and teachers together for morning devotions. This was always a really lovely time when we would sing, pray and share a bible story to begin the day.
School finished between 1 and 2 every day, which meant that we had the afternoon free to chat, read, sleep, wash clothes, cook, and Clare and I even helped to style one of the teachers' hair! I also made hair braids for Finch and Marina and taught some of the kids that live close to us to make bracelets. It was really great to have this time to just rest every day, and by the end of the week we all felt much more relaxed.
We came back to Kampala on Friday afternoon after school finished. I must admit that I was actually a bit reluctant to leave this time! Despite this, it feels really good to be home and catch up with everyone here. Friday was also my big brother's birthday so I called John to wish him a happy birthday. It was great to speak to him and hear about his recent camping trip with a slightly over the top campfire from the sound of things! Happy Birthday John! 

Very early on Monday morning, Esther, Joe, Finch and Olivia will be going to Kuffu to run the second reading week. They're going to be focusing on consonant blends and forming 4 letter words.

Thank you so much to everyone who prays for us. Your prayers really do make a difference. This week I'd really appreciate prayer in these areas...

- For the second reading week at Kuffu - pray that the team will work well together, the kids will learn a lot and that everyone will really enjoy it.
- Pray for the rest of the team in Kampala, that God will use us this week for his will.
- Pray for protection for everyone.

Thank you and God bless!

Lorna

P.S. Sorry about the 'hungry African men' comment last week - didn't realize that this was offensive. My mistake. We loved cooking for you lot and it was great to have you all around at the house last week.

School Holiday

Last Saturday everyone came home from the village because school is now over for the holidays, so it was really lovely to all be together for the weekend before Esther, Clare and Joe traveled to Mount Zion school to work with disabled children for the week.
Wednesday was May Day public holiday and we hosted the KBC men's prayer walk. For Finch, Olivia and I this meant getting up at 5.15 to cook breakfast for over 40 of the men from KBC. I'm not sure how many hours I spent cooking pancakes! We also provided sausages, potatoes, tea, bread and lots of pineapple. It was great to have so many people at the house and they all seemed to enjoy the morning. The clean - up job was immense, especially as it had rained in the night so they'd been walking through mud all morning and then brought what seemed like half of the hill back to the house on their shoes! Many of these guys are close friends of ours and we all had a great time enjoying the fellowship with them and appreciating the opportunity to serve in this small way.
On Thursday morning we began this season's letter writing with the sponsored children. It was strange to be sat in an office with a cup of tea again, but it was great to help the kids with their letters. Education is in English here, so there's no need for their letters to be translated. We helped them with spelling and grammar, and also suggested some things to include. Unfortunately not very many children turned up before it was time for us to leave, but the letter writing will continue over the coming days until all of the children have written their letters.
In the evening I got the opportunity to go with a friend to visit her Mum and her daughter who is currently living with her mum for a while. It was brilliant to see her daughter again as I've missed her so much since she's been away, and I'm looking forward to next week when she's due to come home just in time for her 2nd birthday at the end of the month.
Friday morning brought a meeting about an upcoming project - This Monday we're beginning three reading weeks in Kuffu during the holiday season. We'll be teaching the oldest three classes phonics and helping them to read and write properly. We know that we're really going to be relying on God in this project, but we trust that he will lead us well.
Today, Clare, Finch, Marina and I will be travelling to Kuffu to begin the first week. As of yet I still don't know how long I'll be staying for - one or two weeks - so don't panic if there's no blog next weekend!

It might seem like there were a few days this week when I didn't do much, but throughout the week a lot has been going on with different people that I'm close to in the team here in their personal lives. For this reason, I've spent a lot of time this week supporting people in their situations. I believe that a huge part of my ministry here is to do with supporting people that I'm close to and being there to listen and pray with them. I'm sure you can understand how this is really difficult to blog about because I clearly can't write about people's personal issues. As a team (gappers and local volunteers) we all would appreciate prayer. I know that God has been using us to do some great things, and we're determined not to let anything stand in the way of his work. Please pray for us all...
- For protection physically, emotionally and most of all spiritually
- For health and safety
- For strength
- For people to be able to keep a good morale and for us to remain close as a team
- For us to be able to continue in the work that God has called us to

Please also pray this week for
- The reading weeks at Kuffu
- Those remaining in Kampala - pray that God will use them in whatever they do
- Provision

I'm sorry for the long list of prayer requests! Please just pick one or two and remember us in your prayers when you can.

God bless,

Lorna

Chicken Pie and Midnight Water Fights

This week Esther and I were the only gappers home in Kampala, because Joe, Finch and Clare spent the week in Kuffu. From Monday to Wednesday we went to school at Chosen. School was very relaxed this week because the children did their end of term exams last week, so we were able to help out with preparing the reports and we also had the privilege of spending lots of time playing with the children which was great fun.
On Thursday, instead of our usual community outreach and evangelism, we spent a few hours cleaning up part of the community where we do our outreach. We burnt lots of rubbish, swept the area and the men slashed (cut) the grass and trimmed the edges around the grass to make it look much neater. What was really lovely was that the local children were so eager to get involved. They were very helpful in collecting piles of rubbish that we swept up and taking it to the heap where we were burning it. 



On Friday we had our usual children's clubs and this week's lesson was about Joseph and his brothers. I went to the club at Blessed Word of Life where we also have been helping with the building work and had a brilliant time. Friday evening was brilliant fun as after washing the dishes from dinner, at about 1.30 in the morning, Alex and I ended up having a water fight - only in Africa eh?!
Monday evening was equally as exciting because I made a chicken pie. Making it from scratch meant that I spent over 3 hours in the kitchen, but I really enjoyed cooking, and I enjoyed eating it even more! I've really learnt to appreciate food over the past few months, and when I get enough time to make something more exciting than rice with veggie sauce I love to grab the opportunity. So on Wednesday we had jam tarts with the leftover pastry. What a treat!
On Wednesday Esther was involved in leading the worship at Youth Fellowship. I really enjoyed it. After having spent my last few Sunday mornings at Kuffu, having the chance to worship with some songs that I was more familiar with (and that were in Englsih!) was really good for me and Esther did really well.

So it's been a really lovely week. Clare, Finch and Joe arrived home from Kuffu today, and on Monday Esther, Clare and Joe will be leaving to begin a new project at Mount Zion School which is a school for disabled children. That means that Finch and I will be spending the week together in Kampala.

I really appreciate your prayers and I so often see them answered. I've been writing down lots of the things that God has been doing and prayers that he has been answering and its amazing to see how much he does when you actually make an effort to notice.

Please continue to pray for us...

- For Esther, Clare and Joe as they go to Mount Zion - pray that they will be led by God and that he will protect them and provide.
- For Finch and I and the rest of the team in Kampala - for God's protection and provision and pray that he will use us this week.
- Pray for health and safety for the whole team.
- Please pray for us gappers as we start to approach the last couple of months of our time here - pray that we will be able to feel at peace about leaving and that we will be able to make the most out of the rest of our time here in Uganda.

Thank you so much.

Lorna

Village Life

Last week I was living in Kuffu village with Esther and Joe. In Kuffu we work in a school called Goshem, and having spent time there before it was really nice to return and see everyone again. We were there for exam week so we were able to help with the end of term exams, and then once they were over we helped the teachers with marking and organizing grades and we also got some opportunities to spend time with the children outside of lessons. Some of the kids relished the opportunity to reverse our roles and decided to become the teachers as they tried to teach me far too many luganda words to remember in one go! But I did learn a few like "ekigere" - foot, "enyindo"- nose and "emeeza" - table among a few others. So I guess I'm getting there slowly with the language!
Because we had Joe with us, Esther and I didn't have to make any trips to the bore hole this time around, so instead we took the opportunity on Thursday to go for a walk. It was absolutely beautiful to walk through the countryside, and the further we went the more and more it felt like we really were in the 'middle of nowhere'. What was really special was that as we walked along, each time we passed a house we would hear children calling "Hello Teacher Esther, hello Teacher Lorna!" It feels really good to be so known throughout the community.
Wednesday was a bit different in that after break we took the whole school down to "The Garden" (which is a huge plot of land that is probably best described as a farm), where we planted trees. The children had a talk about the importance of looking after the environment, and then they planted 1003 saplings. It was hard work in the sun and took longer than had been expected (we got back to school for lunch at 3!) but it was so good to see this kind of project happening.
Every afternoon the children divided into their house groups to put together performances for some visitors that are soon coming for a mission week. So every day after lunch we watched the children sing and dance. They've been learning their cultural dance called "kiganda dancing", and on Tuesday Teacher Mary gave them a demonstration. For us this was such a privilege to see and she was brilliant! I've never seen anyone perform kiganda dance as well as she did. For the next few days in the afternoons she stayed to train the children. We were quite surprised that the children weren't already able to dance like this, but it's really good that they're being given this opportunity to learn this part of their culture.
We all really enjoyed this week. As well as having a lovely time at school we also really enjoyed just spending time with the people who live locally. Esther and I took the opportunity one morning to read and explain some of Psalm 139 to one of the older children when she came to chat to us before school, we also impressed the people that we live close to by cooking the local food, and on Saturday we were even given a pot of cooked ants (which, yes, I did try!)

This week Esther and I are the only gappers at home, whilst Clare, Finch and Joe are in Kuffu until Sunday. 

Please pray...
- For Esther and I to have a good week in Kampala - pray for health and safety and that God will use us.
- For Clare, Finch and Joe in Kuffu - pray that God will use them and will keep them well and safe too.
- For provision for Smile Uganda.

As always, thank you so much for your support and prayers.

And congratulations to Rob and Amy Borrell!

The week that 6 became 5

Well you’ll be pleased to hear that I’m now feeling much better – thank you for your prayers.

On Monday this week we got up at 5am to take Andrew to Entebbe Airport. The whole day was very overwhelming; from being back at the airport where we first arrived in Uganda, to having to think about what it will be like to leave here in 3 months time. And of course we were all really sad to see Andrew leave. On Sunday afternoon and evening we held a party for him at our house to say goodbye. It was a really lovely time, and the number of people that turned up is a testimony alone to the impact that he has had here. We will all miss him a lot but we know that God will be using him in the UK over the next three months until we get to see him again.

So the next day we were back to work; teaching at Chosen again. Every Wednesday we teach a reading lesson with Primary 2 for two hours. This week it started to rain just before the start of the lesson. The noise of the rain on the iron sheets made it impossible to teach a lesson (let alone the effect that a storm has on the attention levels of children!) So we decided to give the children some reading books. We only had four so they had to share, but watching the kids with these books and how excited they were to read was absolutely magical.

The next day the rain returned – just as we arrived at our base for slum ministry, and so we spent the majority of the time sat under the iron roof of the temporary structure for the church at Blessed Word of Life. We took some time to talk about the visions and prayer concerns of the church with Pastor Davidson and we shared some time together reading the bible and praying, before the storm eventually passed and we were able to visit one home to pray with a woman who lived there.
It was brilliant to hear all of Pastor Davidson’s visions for such a humble church. At present, we still need the money for another 15000 bricks to complete the building, plus extra materials like cement, but we trust God that he will provide at the right time.
On Friday fortunately the rain held off and we were able to run our Friday children’s clubs which went really well.

This Sunday, Esther, Joe and I will be travelling back to Goshem, Kuffu to continue teaching in the school there. Esther and I are due to come home again after a week, and Joe will stay for two weeks with Clare and Finch who will join him next Sunday. We’re looking forward to seeing the friends again that we have there, and to the challenge of village life. But it’s also such a beautiful and peaceful place, and the whole atmosphere is really friendly.

Please pray for...

-         - Our time in Goshem - for God to use us for his will and for us to really enjoy our time.

-          -Good health and safety for the whole team in Goshem and in Kampala.

-          -Andrew to settle back in well in the UK.

-          -Alex – Smile Uganda’s project manager. Pray for God to bless him in all the work that he does.

-          -Provision for Smile Uganda and for Pastor Davidson and his church – Blessed Word of Life.

Thank you so much.                                                                                               

God bless,
Lorna 

Ice cream, DVDs and Fish and Chips

Unfortunately I've had tonsillitis this week, so unless you're interested in reading a detailed description of our DVD collection, I don't really have much to blog about.

I've managed to make it out of the house twice - once to the doctors, and once last night to go out for a meal because Andrew will be returning to the UK on Monday. It was a really lovely evening and I was glad to be feeling a bit better and to have my appetite back. Of all the things to eat in Uganda, most of us ordered fish and chips! It was really yummy and very filling and we all enjoyed a really lovely evening together.
But for the rest of the week I've watched far too many films, eaten lots of ice cream and slept a lot!

As I mentioned, Andrew (one of the other gappers) will be returning to the UK on Monday. We will all be really sad to see him go and will miss him so much, but we know that this is a decision that he's prayed about a lot and we're all confident in God's plan for him. Its a strange thought that 6 months ago I was planning to leave on this date too. Now that's hard to imagine.
So in honor of Andrew, and because I haven't been able to upload any photos from the past couple of weeks, I'd treat you to a bit of an overview of the past six months.

October

At Heathrow, ready to fly to Uganda. We were all really excited and could never have imagined quite how incredible our experiences would be.

Our first experience of Boda Bodas - I remember being really scared but now we love them!

November

We dressed up in the traditional Ugandan clothing

We began teaching

Receiving mail for the first time was really exciting

We had already built strong relationships and become a big family

December

We visited the Equator and decided to mimic The Beatles

Bungee jumped over (or into!) the source of the Nile

Distributing the Christmas shoe boxes was so special.

And we celebrated Christmas together as a team

January

We enjoyed safari in Murchison Falls National Park

We ran our Goshem mission week

February

We went to the beach at Entebbe

We visited the Smile Farm

We continued helping to build at Blessed Word of Life Church

We carried out sponsorship updates

We dried out the aid

And we celebrated my 19th Birthday

March

We did some more sponsorship updates - this time for the sponsored widows.

We went to Marina's Graduation party and enjoyed the opportunity to get dressed up a bit!

This is the point at which we lost the memory card adapter, so the rest of the photos are stuck on my camera... but in March we also taught at Chosen again, and we started our new project in Goshem, Kuffu, where we've been teaching.
This week all six of us have been back in Kampala so that we could be together for Andrew's last week.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, mail, emails and support over the past six months. Thank you also to everyone who has supported my family and kept them busy. Please keep it up for another three months. I'm sure that its going to be amazing and will go by so fast! God has done so much more that I ever thought he would in the time that I've been here, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else he has planned.

I really really appreciate your prayers. This week I'd love some prayer for...

- Andrew as he returns to the UK. Pray that he would settle back in well, have clarity over God's plans for him and not miss Uganda too much!

- Everyone here as we say goodbye to Andrew - pray that the team would cope well and that we wont miss him too much.

- Health. Please pray that I'll get completely better and that the rest of the team will all be really healthy too.

- Please pray for our work here. Pray that we'll focus on God's work and that we'll all be able to do it really well and to really enjoy it. Pray that as we look into a period where we might be split up for a while that we'll cope well with that and not miss people too much.

Thank you all so much. God bless. 

Lorna