Christmas in Uganda

Posted on 30th December by Lorna

Merry Christmas!!!
Wow, what a week! On Monday the 6 of us gappers made a trip into Kampala to pick up our mail from the post office and to do some Christmas shopping. We decided to do a secret santa in pairs so we spent some time at a craft market which was fun. In the afternoon we had been invited to a meal with the LT Warriors at which someone got saved! What a brilliant Christmas present!?
That evening a few of our incredibly servant-hearted friends stayed at our house overnight to cook all through the night in preparation for Christmas day. Christmas in Uganda is celebrated with friends and a lot of food so after church we hosted lots of friends for a big meal and a Christmas celebration. We enjoyed rice, chapatis, irishes (potatoes), veg and plenty of meat. The food was really really good and some of the guys even ran laps around the house in an attempt to fit more food in! After food people just enjoyed the day , played some games, sang some spontaneous worship and enjoyed good conversation. Unfortunately we didn't have any power which meant that I couldn't speak to anyone on skype but I did have a few phone conversations with my family which was really special.
On Boxing Day we decided to celebrate Christmas in an English style with just the 6 of us from the UK and with our brother Innocent who lives with us. We cooked a really yummy roast dinner with yorkshire puddings and the works, followed by a mango crumble (much better than Christmas pudding!) and a Christmas cake. We opened our secret santa gifts and played Pit for a while and watched some films together. I also got to speak to my family on Skype and to some close friends on the phone.
It was on Boxing Day that I opened the packages and cards I had been sent from the UK (and Canada!). It was so lovely to receive all of these, but what was really special to me was that I received a Christmas card from each child in Lightcatchers Sunday School at Christ Church.
The other thing that we did to celebrate Christmas was to go out for a meal. This was the first time that we had done this in Uganda and it was really strange as it felt so western but we really enjoyed it. The rest of the week was spent relaxing and just generally enjoying ourselves.

I hope that you all had a really good Christmas too! Thank you for your messages and support.
Please pray this week for...
- 2013 to be a really God-filled and blessed year
- The health and safety of the whole Smile Uganda team
- Provision for Smile International