2 weeks in the village

Picture this...
You're sitting on the floor in a 10ft square room. There is one small window, about the size of two shoe-boxes next to each other, and a big metal door. Behind you, three foam mattresses are on the floor with mosquito nets suspended above them, and in front of you is a candle which has been melted onto a brick - you're using it's light to see the bible on the floor in front of you. Its open to Psalm 22 and you are amazed and humbled by the story of what you know Jesus did for you. And the fact that God, out of his amazing love for you, had planned it out from the beginning of time.

Well this was me last Thursday - sharing evening devotions with the three other Gappers that I was in Kuffu with. For the last two weeks I've been out in a rural village about two hours from Kampala. Esther and I made the journey 3 Sundays ago to join Andrew and Olivia. Then one week in, the two of them swapped with Finch and Joe.
We've been staying in Kuffu at Goshem school and church and have been teaching in the school there. It is such a lovely school despite its challenges. Every morning some of the teachers who are on duty stand at the gate from 7am to welcome the children to school with high-5s. If the children can't afford to pay for their breakfast and lunch then they can bring fire wood to school to contribute towards its preparation.
Our main focus has been to help with English. Children in Uganda are taught all of their lessons in English but many still struggle, particularly with reading and writing. It was really exciting to be able to introduce phonics and to see the benefit that this is already having.

Being in the village meant that we had a much more 'typical' experience of Africa. We fetched all of our water from the bore hole (Yes, I carried a 10litre jerry can!), cooked on charcoal, learnt to cook local food properly and re-discovered the absolute joy (sense the sarcasm) of pit latrines in the mid-day heat!

As usual, God used these past two weeks to do so much in my life and in the lives of so many other people which was brilliant to see. Please hold the school and our work there in your prayers as this is still a very new project.
I really missed Kampala and all the people here whilst I was away so I'm so happy to be back!

Sorry for the lack of photos - I've lost the memory card adapter...

Please pray this week for:

- Finch, Joe and Clare who are still at Goshem this week.
- Andrew, Esther and I who are now teaching at Chosen again

- All the children and teachers at Goshem and Chosen schools.

- Health and safety for the whole team.

Thank you so much. x

Another crazy week

This week we were able to have a meeting with the Pastor who directs Chosen Children's School where we have been teaching. It was a really good opportunity to speak to him and we came to the decision that we will return to teaching this following Monday. We're really looking forward to seeing the children again and to getting back into the routine of teaching. This time around we're hoping that we'll be a bit more prepared and aware of what is expected of us.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we were visiting widows around the local area so that we could update the information that we have about them for Smile's sponsored widows programme. It was really lovely to walk around the area and have the opportunity to spend some time with these women and pray with them.



Friday was the day of our sister Marina's graduation party as it was a public holiday, so on Thursday Terry took Finch, Esther and I out shopping for dresses. We didn't have much time as we were due to be back on the other side of town for our weekly slum outreach by early afternoon, but after some prayer we all managed to find a suitable dress! Our slum outreach was really good this week. I had the opportunity to meet some new people, a few of whom actually called us over to ask us about God.
Marina's graduation on Friday was great. It was really lovely to get dressed up as that's something that we haven't done in a while! Marina was absolutely beautiful (as was the food!) and it was great to get to see her home village too.





This Sunday I'm off to Goshem again, this time for two weeks. We've begun a new ongoing project there and we're all taking it in turns to go a teach for a couple of weeks at a time. For the first week I'll go with Esther and we'll meet Andrew and Olivia who have already been there for a week, then next weekend, they will return to Kampala and two new people will come and join us. Unfortunately I wont have access to the internet whilst I'm there which means that next weekend I wont be able to write a blog.

As always, thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Its been really great this week to hear from some people that I hadn't heard from in a while.
This week I'd really appreciate your prayers for...

- Go to really use us in Goshem.
- Health and safety.
- The team back in Kamapala.
- Financial provision for Smile and Smile Uganda

Thank you so much.

Lorna x

BIRTHDAY!!!

Last Sunday was my 19th Birthday. It was such a truly beautiful day. I woke up to signs all around the house saying lovely things about me. Joe had to leave early in the morning for the early service at church where he helps out with the sound, but the girls and Andrew had laid out my cards and a few gifts in a '19' shape just like my parents always do on birthdays and we sat together while I read the cards and opened the gifts.Baby Berinda was at the house so she had lots of fun with all the wrapping paper.
After catching Boda Bodas to church, around 20 of our friends came home for the afternoon. 

Olivia and Terry cooked a really yummy meal for everyone and then we sang some worship together which was absolutely brilliant! Have a look at the video...



It seems to be tradition in the Smile Uganda house to embarrass people on their birthday, and so I was made to act out random scenarios. This was definitely worth it though because afterwards I was allowed to tell people something to do and they had to do it, so Brian had ice put down his top, Marina had water thrown over her and Innocent even had to kneel to me! (with a little bit of 'help' or force from some of the other guys). They got me back well though by completely drenching me with water!
...So I blew out my candles in a new outfit but with wet hair! A few people had prepared songs to perform for me which was lovely and then after Alex said a few words he prayed and then one by one everyone came and laid hands on me to pray for me and bless me. It was such a beautiful thing for them to do and I was really touched.
On Tuesday evening 7 of us went out in the evening into central Kampala for dinner (pizza!). It was a really lovely evening and was exciting to be in central Kampala at night. We walked quite a long way and it was really nice to walk around Kampala and chat to each other.
I'm so thankful for all of the people that God has surrounded me with here. They made my birthday so wonderful and it was one that I will never forget.




The rest of the week brought a whole variety of things to do, from building at Blessed Word again to writing reports and even babysitting! On Thursday and Friday we had our usual weekly outreach times and children's club.The outreach on Thursday went really well and on Friday at the children's club we sang some songs, learnt about Jericho being conquered and had some biscuits.

This Sunday our team is going to be split up as we're starting a new project back in Goshem village where we had our mission week in January. Clare, Andrew, Joe and Olivia are travelling to Goshem, some for one week and some for two. This will be an ongoing project and people will swap over every one or two weeks. We'll be helping out wherever we're needed, probably mainly in the school. Being a long way out from Kampala this will be a very different living experience, with a much more typical African lifestyle. Food will be cooked over a fire, water collected from the bore hole and showers taken with a bucket

Please pray...
- For those going to Goshem this week. That they'll all remain safe and healthy. That the project will be set up smoothly, that the local people will really benefit, and that they'll really enjoy their time.
- For the rest of us back in Kampala - for health and safety.
- That people will continue to learn more about God'd love through the work that we do.
- For funding for Smile Uganda. We've now run out of money to continue the building at Blessed Word of Life church for the time being, and there are many other projects that we still can't start until we have enough money.

Thank you so much. God bless xx