Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 13

Sunday 15th July 2012

Our last day in Uganda!

Today we went to the church service at Deliverance Church in Jinja, where TAIP started during the time when Sam Mugote was Pastor.  Now the church is led by a wonderful, gentle man named Pastor Martin (!)  On our arrival, he was in the midst of a Bible study with the youth of the churc on the theme of anger.  Often with these services, events will begin early in the morning and continue all through the first part of the day, with different programmes flowing into each other in a very relaxed way.

When the service proper had begun in earnest, we had various greetings followed by wonderful, charismatic, soulful worshi led by choir and soloists, plus the talented Timothy Mugote on keyboard (someone else plays keyboard 'drums' on the bottom half of the instrument - crude but effective in lieu of a full band.)  About 30 minutes of dancing, singing, clapping, and shouting led into a more intimate time in the Lord's presence - very moving and uplifting.  We were invited to introduce ourselves and I shared a word which came to me in the worship - that the African church is the Lion - ferocious, strong, bold - but more than that, it is the Lion of Love - with a heart breaking for the community and the desire to go out and serve.  We shared briefly about ourselves, and then sang 'You're Beautiful' by Phil Wickham, with me and Jack on guitars and Clara on trumpet.  It was great - and the congregation were very kind and appreciative. 

A lady doctor preached on the book of Ruth - her message was about being tough people in order to sail through tough times.  The Sunday School kids hilariously auctioned off some maize to raise funds for the new church building (they currently meet in a school) and everyone was full of joy.   I do like the way these African Pentecostal Christians do church!

After the service, it was back to the hotel for lunch and then a chilled afternoon before heading to TAIP's offices for a time of farewell.  It was great to see Sam again, and he shared in depth about TAIP's vision, strategies, successes and challenges, and it was so helpful to see how all the work we had been seeing fitted together.  Sam is a remarkable man - strong and gentle and Christlike in his compassion and determination. 

Next we headed to the gardens where tea, coffee and treats had all been prepared, and many of the pastors we had met had come to see us off - such a delightful surprise!  Pastor Paul (Kakira), Pastor John (Mafubira), Pastor Robert and his wife Joy (Bugembe), Pastor Frederick and his wife Brenda (Walukuba), Pastor Samuel (Faith Community Church, Jinja), and representatives from Grace School were all there, as well as the full TAIP team and the Mugote family.  Fred's wife Florence, a lovely young woman, had also come to greet us.  We shared the most lovely time of talking and sharing, and finished with prayers, group photographs and tearful hugs. 

The St Thomas' Transform Team with all our new Ugandan friends, TAIP gardens, Jinja

Sam spoke, affirming us and saying thato our team had encouraged the churches with our love and care and that the body of Christ was together in a new and powerful way because of our visit.  This really helped us to see what we had contributed, because it seemed to us that our role had been very small, next to the magnitiude of the challenges the Ugandan people are facing.

Florence Mugote shared a word which she felt was for me - that I would be a revolutionary - like Martin Luther!!  What a great and challenging word - I will treasure it, and pray over it.

We have grown so attached to all our new Ugandan friends, and everyone was very moved and full of love for one another.  A beautiful moment with which to finish a life-changing experience.

Joyful hugs and tearful goodbyes

 
Back at the hotel, owner Elizabth and the hotel staff blessed us with gifts of Ugandan tea and coffee - so kind!  We promised to come back whenever we could.

I decided to give my travel guitar to Daniel - he almost fell off his chair with gratitude!  I was worried he would feel patronised, but he was so overjoyed that it was certainly God's will for me to do this.  He brought out from his room a battered old hymn book, and we sang some songs of praise to God under the stars.  We promised to be friends when I got home to the UK - will we meet again?  I don't know, but we are brothers in the Lord, and that bond will remain wherever we are.

An early start tomorrow - 4am departure for Entebbe.

What a fabulous, heart-breaking, joyful, overwhelming, touching, beautiful trip this has been.  In the words of Daniel's favourite hymn:

"To God be the glory - great things he has done!" 
AMEN.

With thanks to God, to everyone at TAIP, Tearfund, all the team (especially Sarah Neville who took these amazing photos!) See the full set of photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82894987@N08/sets/

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 12

Saturday  14 July 2012

Our day of departure for Jinja, and everyone was eager to get back to relative civilization - with electricity, flushing toilets and hot showers being high on the agenda!  Living without these things has really helped us to appreciate what we have.  The people living in this region do not have the option of leaving this way of life behind as we are.  So much of their time is spent collecting water, washing and cooking, not to mention scraping a living.  But this is the only life they know.  I wonder how much they really understand of their relative poverty compared to the better-off Ugandans, let alone us westerners.  Fred says it is a change of mindset and attitude that is needed more than anything else - and that the church can lead the way in this.

Our last visit in Mayuge us to an orphanage at Magoola Church of Calvary, led by Pastor Waisa Emmanuel.  The kids here are brilliant - we had barely got out of the vehicles before they began singing and dancing for us their songs of welcome and praise to God.  They set out a lovely area for us under the shade of tarpaulins stretched between trees, and with lacey doilies on each of our chairs - we took our seats, once again clearly guests of honour.  At least another seven songs followed with amazing drumming from an excited girl with an infectious smile.  The girls, when they are excited or happy give out a fast, high-pitched "oo-loo-loo-loo-loo" sound at the top of their voices - especially as the music and dancing grows wild.  The joy of these poor orphaned kids is astounding - and can surely only be attributed to the fact they they are loved - by God, and by Pastor and his helpers. 

More songs of welcome!

The lovely area prepared for us by the people of Magoola Church of Calvary

This drummer girl was fabulous!

They have a school here too - staffed by teachers who, we learn, work without salary.  This is yet another inspiring community where the grace and provision of God, along with the support of TAIP, is literally all they have.  The kids performed another play for us - again addressing HIV/AIDS and its impact on the community.  It is amazing to see these kids use creative means such as music and drama to both learn about and communicate the key issues that they are facing as the grow up in their culture.  This kind of education and self-expression is all part of the preventative work which the church is doing to try and ensure that there is not another generation of orphans created by the spread of this terrible disease.

A sweet and tender greeting from one of the school teachers

Rachel with a girl called Catherine, who is wearing a TAIP tshirt

Fun games with the children and an incredible Ugandan lunch in their special visitors' mud hut completed our visit here.  The inside of the hut is covered in posters and flip chart paper which detail the journey this church has come on since TAIP began workin with them back in 2003.  They are still desperately poor, and the children's sleeping arrangements terribly crowded, but they are filled with hope in God as they have seen him answer their prayers over the years.  Pastor Waisa says that even if we did not know it, when we have been praying for Uganda, we have been praying for them, and God has been listening and acting.  This is wonderful to hear.  I can also really see how the money we give to Tearfund benefits the local communities here - by financially supporting local organisations such as TAIP, Tearfund ensures that the local church is to enabled to effect the change they need, rather than a foreign model or agenda being imported unhelpfully and wastefully.  This way, we are supporting Ugandans to support other Ugandans - which seems as it should be.

Thanks to God - now orphans can dance for joy

As we left for the long drive back to Jinja, I was again struck by the extreme poverty of the countless kids we saw along the road - some malnourished,  some carrying heavy jerry cans back from the wells and bore-holes, some in rags, some completely naked, some with beaming smiles, some with only a look of bewilderment.  When I see this poverty I still feel helpless, but I cannot feel hopeless.  I have hope because of the vitality of these people, and because of the transforming love of God.  When these two meet, anything is possible.


Back at the Victoria Panorama, Daniel greets us like long-lost relatives!  Later I teach him the 'C' chord and promise to leave him some chord diagrams so he can practice.  Last day tomorrow :-(

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 11

Today's programme was a change from visiting the rural churches, with a meeting with local pastors in the morning who are linked with the TAIP-facilitated P.E.P. Programme (Participation Evaluation Programme).  This brings together 40 local churches in the Molongo sub-county of Mayuge region, in order to work together in mission.  They use TAIP training to learn how to empower congregations to holistically transform needy communities (that is, every community in this area).  The pastors were supposed to arrive at 10am, but Fred reported that none were there when he went to check - so we turned up at 11.30am, just as the first of them were arriving (this is yet another example of 'African Standard Time' as David puts it!)

More pastors arrived over the next hour and a half and the meeting took about an hour to get past the welcomes, introductions and preliminaries which are so charming in African culture, but which can also be frustratingly slow!  Many of the pastors seemed unsure of the purpose of the meeting (a workshop to share ideas and stories) and initially spoke only in generalities.  Some seemed overwhelmed by the issues at hand and at the new mindset required to move their churches into 'mission mode' - it all sounded rather familiar...  Fred did a great job of trying to keep things on track, as well as getting out of the way at times to allow the local pastors to run the meeting themselves.  Eventually we got down to brass tacks, and we got a little more detail and information about the specific initiatives being put into practice, but it feels like this is a long-term process on the part of TAIP who are bringing sophisticated and empowering strategies to this isolated rural area.  I shared a little too, and tried to encourage them that TAIP's facilitated programmes really are useful and helpful and cutting edge - rather than trying to do everything for the churches, TAIP is equipping them to use their own God-given local resources to reach people with His love. 

The Y.F. struggled with this meeting, mainly because it was hard to comprehend what was going on, but I found it fascinating.  The need for locally produced resources for training, Bible study, doctrine and children's work reared its head again and I am resolved to do some research into this area, as it has come up in almost every church we have visited.

TAIP: bringing hope to poor communities by empowering the local church

At lunch time we departed for our lodgings once again, and did our final preparations for the child advocacy campaign.  The flat-bed truck whihc TAIP were bringing to set up in the main street had been delayed coming from Jinja, and when it did arrive there was trouble with the generator.  So there was a lot of waiting around for our slot, which we nevertheless filled with lots of chat and hanging out.  Relationships have really grown on this trip - more than I could have hoped.  I sometimes feel a surprisingly intense love for these young people - perhaps partly because they have the freshness and inherent beauty which characterises all those in the flush of youth - but also I think it is my pastor's heart.

We finally joined the team at the truck around 6pm, wearing our TAIP Tshirts and brandishing our placards on which were written various individual pressures which young people face today, and which when flipped over, spelled out Phillippians 4:13: "I can face anything through Christ who strengthens me."

200+ children, adults and youth were clustered around the truck, and they listened intently as we sang and shared with them.  Kathryn and Sarah both gave powerful testimonies of God's hand at work in their lives and both were applauded by the crowd.  They did so well.  The generator conked out halfway through Sarah's talk, but she didn't let it faze her, and soon it came back on just in time for us to finish with "Mighty to Save". 

It was exhilerating to share Jesus in this way.   All felt full of God and full of pleasure at participating in this outreach.  It also gave me ideas for back home...

Child Advocacy campaign gets underway shortly before our slot - we did our bit just as the sun was setting

A wonderful meal, great conversation and worship and prayer under the stars in the Ugandan sky wound up an amazing evening.  Florence Magote shared a word with the young people that something had been born in them during this time - a vision from God that they might not even be able to recognise or articulate, but which was nonetheless going to shape their lives for years to come.  It was the perfect, God-given encouragement for the team who have worked so hard and been so open to God's movement in their lives.  Praise Him!

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 10

Thursday 12 July 2012

Today we are at Kitoogo - a very rural village about 10km from Nango where we are staying.  A lady Pastor, whose name alas, I couldn't pick up, runs Joy Deliverance Church and school, as well as joining local council groups and running her own shop - she is a remarkable woman!

Kitoogo's amazing (and rather stylish!) Lady Pastor talks to Esther - Fred interprets

The kids here are just as poor as in Bukizibu, and perhaps have even less in terms of resources and facilities.  The church building is the made of thick sticks, overlaid with cow dung to make a strong plaster.  The roof is a simple but effective thatch, which is probably more about keeping the sun off than the elements out.

The children sang and danced for us.  Some of the songs spoke of the amazing African welcome, but still others addressed HIV/AIDS, asking the question: 'who will look after us when our parents have died?'  It's moving stuff, but again with hope and joy, both in the singing and especially in the two wee boy drummers who keep everything grooving along.  The kids also performed a play they had written concerning two girls who don't go to school, one of whom ends up pregnant while out looking for work.  Two 'doctors' then took to the stage to explain about HIV prevention.  Amazing and sad that such young kids are faced with such issues.

The children perform for us

As they brush the dust with their hands, they sing: 'who will take care of us?'

This image breaks our hearts

We played more games with the kids, and they again loved them - their teachers did too, whooping and clapping along.  'Duck, duck, goose' became 'Chicken, chicken, turkey' and the kids really enjoyed this one.  In fact, so keen are they to pick us, that I think the game could be called "Make the white person run!"  Everyone shouts 'muzungu' ('white person') at us as we drive through the villages on the way home - they genuinely seem amazed to see us.

Our games are a hit

Relay races - Ugandan kids are just competitive as British kids!

Chase the muzungu!

Music and dancing bring us all together

Tomorrow we will do a presentation as part of a programme of child advocacy campaigning out in the street in Nango.  In the evening we spent a couple of hours preparing.  I wrote a song, the young people prepared a simple teaching method with placards, and Kathryn and Sarah volunteers to give testimonies.  Sarah is just being transformed - yesterday she came and laid on hands and prayed for a sick lady - something she never would have done back home.  And now she is giving testimony!  Praise the Lord!

Tonight finished with a wonderful, wonderful time of worship and prayer with our Ugandan brothers and sisters - God's presence was very near; everyone sang and prayed spontaneous, heartfelt prayers.  Some knelt and cried.  Esther read the Pentecost story.  This 30 minutes was everything I've ever wanted Y.F. to be. GLORY!

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 9

Wednesday 11th July 2012

Our visit today was to Bukuzibu - a place name which means 'problems'.  This gives you some idea of the sort of community we are in.  Poverty, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS are big problems here, but the church is mobilized and God is on the move.

The church in this area which we are visiting is rather wonderfully called "God is Able Church", and the school they have started is called "Bright Futures" - wonderful names of hope in the place of 'problems'!
The church, under Pastor Moses - a hands-on, practical man - has been partnering with TAIP for a few years now, and he is now one of their local co-ordinators.  Through TAIP, his church have developed programmes of home-based care for the sick, youth life skills, and also caring for 20 orphans who are part of their 200-strong primary school.

Their resources are scant - the church-cum-classroom is a mud brick and timber construction with old exercise books stuffed in the cracks (I'm not sure if they are just stored here or whether they are actually part of the design of the building!) We were treated as honoured guests and seated on wonderful home made chairs, crafted from the local trees.

Honoured guests with the church/classroom in the background

Timber walls double as blackboards, and little faces peep through the cracks

We shared worship and prayer and joined in as Pastor and pupils constructed a new plate stand for the children's mealtimes - again using timber from the local trees.  You can imagine them constructing the church in just the same way.  P7 boys did the hard word of sawing, with some fairly token help from us!

Making the plate stand - these boys knew one end of a saw from another

Pastor Moses supervises

Kathryn lends a hand

The finished article

More wonderful children enjoyed our games.  There are so many children here, and Fred tells me that when he sees them he just feels like crying.  The needs are huge - many of the local kids who hang around but are not part of the school are dressed literally in rags.  Fred explained on the way home for lunch that there is nothing that these poor farmers can do to improve their standard of living except to earn money through enterprise.  They can grow food and keep some animals for themselves, but they have to make money by selling goods in order to pay for school fees and medicines.  It makes it all the harder for the people to survive.  Again I am conflicted - ancient ways of life are surely worth preserving and cherishing - but who can deny these children the right to clean water, education and proper health provision?  These kids have a "Bright Future" only if "God is Able" to change the hearts of those who have the power to help.

Rachel and Sarah blow bubbles which the children love

Everyone wants to have a go!

In the evening, Esther and I talked until late with Fred, Timothy and my namesake Martin (TAIP's overall co-ordinator in this region) about many things to do with church, youth, sexuality and culture.  Fred is such a gentle soul, but it was great to see him getting really passionate as we talked about these things.

"No-one cares about the people here", he told me, meaning the poor in this rural area.  Thank God that he does.

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 8

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Today was a rest day and we enjoyed a lie-in and a more leisurely morning before being taken by Fred, Joseph and David to the source of the Nile at Jinja.  It is beautiful and fascinating that this mighty river flows so far - it takes three months for the water to reach Egypt.  We were very grateful to be doing this with Ugandans - David talked the boat pilot down from 165,000 Ugandan Shillings to 45,000!

The team with our wonderful hosts (l-r Sarah, Joseph, Jack, Esther, David, Kathryn, me, Clara, Emily, Fred, Rachel)

After this we went shopping at a little Jinja craft shop run by Molly - a friend of our hosts.  The young people all bought presents for friends and family.  Then it was back to the hotel for lunch and to prepare to depart for Mayuge region.

Due to the truck needing repairs, we were delayed in setting off but it was a breathtaking drive through wetland, rice paddies, rocky landscapes and green forest.  Uganda is a beautiful country - even with the dryness and dust.  As we travelled, towns got smaller, villages poorer and mud huts the more common type of housing.  These are made of bricks fired from the very soil of Uganda - the orange earth which forms the roads and cakes our clothes in its dust also becomes the home and shelter of the poorer people here.  They truly are people of the earth.  Roofs are mostly sticks or some kind of reeds making a teepee shape.  These look pretty, but I don't think I would want to have to live in one. 

David explained to me that we were now very remote - far from any major towns.  This was a chance to see the real, ancient Uganda which is still unspoiled, relatively speaking, and where traditional ways of life still prevail (although it seems that all of Ugandan culture is to a large extent shaped by tradition).  Boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis), bikes and cars become less numerous, and we were increasingly the only private cars on the roads.  As we rolled into our destination, the village of Nango in Malongo Sub-county, I began to wonder what our accommodation would be like - I hadn't seen a power line for some time!  Indeed, on arrival, we found our hotel had no electricity and no running water!  A generator from a nearby shop provides occasional power, but as night fell, we were reliant on candles and torches.

The rooms were basic - about 7 feet by 7 feet with bare walls, a corrugated iron roof and a single bed.  The beds thankfully are comfortable and include clean bedding, but this is as far from home comforts as we've been.  Toilets are standard Ugandan issue (read: a hole in the ground) and there are no showers - just a basic concrete cubicle, 2 jerrycans of well water and a chunk of soap.

Hotel number 2 - much more basic

Yep, this was our toilet for 4 days

After about 45 minutes organising rooms, putting up mosquito nets and unloading our stuff, it was 9pm before we had our dinner - mercifully a delicious beef stew with rice and potatoes cooked by Florence, the mother of Timothy and Paul, and wife of TAIP director Sam.  She came up especially with her friend Linda to cook for the team - a wonderful blessing!

It feels much edgier here, and this, the basic conditions, plus the darkness and a bout of homesickness brought a couple of the girls out in tears, but we all felt more human after dinner.  A crazy post-Market Day party near our compound kept us awake quite late, but apart from this and other random Ugandan night noises, we all slept pretty well.  We are almost always tired these days, but glad to be here, on the second leg of our Uganda adventure.

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 7

Monday 9 July 2012

Another day, another church!  And another church combating the effects of AIDS through the love of God and through social enterprise.

Today we were in the town centre of Jinja with a small church called Faith Communty Church, headed up by Pastor Samuel and Assistant Pastor Simon.  They have set up an orphanage adjacent to the church - a purpose-built home for 20 children whose parents in the outlying villages have died of AIDS, leaving them with no-one to look after them.  They are brought to Jinja and the church cares for them here.

This is a wonderfully big-hearted church who have followed God's leading for these kids and are training them in the Christian life while also sending them to school and teaching them home skills and farming. 

The church has a field on the edge of town currently planted with maize.  We all piled into vehicles - children, older ladies, men  - even a mother and baby -  and roared off to work in the field.  We were to clear weeds from the maize rows and pull lower leaves from the crops to aid growth.  This was a great hands-on experience, and fun bit of team work with the Africans.  Pastor Samuel traded his shiny shoes for a pair of wellies to join in.  (This is the story of many of the pastors here - they muck in and get their hands dirty.)

 

 

Esther gets a lesson in tending maize, from an amazing lady who was out working despite being on crutches!

Some of the orphans - they are just as at home in the fields as in church or at school

Rachel makes a new friend

I struck up a great conversation with Assistant Pastor Simon after we returned from the field, and he explained about the social enterprise elements which were helping the church to be self-sufficient rather then rely on handouts.  He comes from Kenya and still has a family back there who he sees on holidays.  As well as working for the church, he has a job with a timber company and also runs a second-hand mobile phone business - these Africans are an enterprising lot!  During the course of our conversations, we were served some barbecued corn on the cob from the church's own crop - delicious!

The fruit of our labour!

In the afternoon we played with the kids.  They were wonderful  - singing and dancing their theme song "Children of Destiny".  This was a moving expression of how they now view themselves - once they were lost, but now they are found, given a future by the love of Jesus.  Our games, songs and gifts went down well - especially the little friendship bracelets which our own kids from St Thomas' had made for us to bring.  We prayed and praised together, even treating the church to some of our own more grown-up worship songs.

The "Children of Destiny" performing for their visitors

Showing off friendship bracelets - brought from Scottish children to Ugandan children, with love

New friends including Assistant Pastor Simon (second from right)

Another wonderful day, where it feels like we have made lots more friends.  It is amazing what this church is doing for these kids in Jesus' name, and we feel such love between us.  Tomorrow is a rest/travel day as we prepare to spend a few days in a more rural part of the country.

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 6

Sunday 8th July 2012

Church!

Today we rose early to get to Walukuba Elim Pentecostal Church where we were to participate in the service.  I was to preach and felt more nervous about this than anything so far - ironic, since it is the closest thing to what I spend my time doing back home.

In the event, we were a little late arriving for the first 8.30am service, but no matter - as the wonderfully smiley Pastor Frederick explained: "we are on African time now, hahaha!"  He proceeded to show me a carefully timed programme for the the morning which, as far as I could see, was to be completely disregarded as the services went on!

Worship was in true Pentecostal style - something new for some of our team - with African Pentecostalism constituting something of a double whammy of novel church experience!  The presence of the LORD was in our midst, although things were a little loud and shouty at times for me... we could have done with a bit more space possible.  Warmth and passion were present in spades though, neither of which I would want to dispel.

The preach (a message based on one I have used before using Hosea 10:12 - 'break up your unploughed ground') went well in the first service, better in the second.  The Pastor made encouraging smiles and noises and quite a few people said they were encouraged by the word.  A great experience, although I have much to learn.

Between the two services, four of us went to lead the Sunday School, 3 of us to the youth group and Esther went to talk to the women of the church.  I elected to give a hand with the children, and our worship song and teaching on the sheep and goats when down well.  The kids loved singing and dancing and making sheep/goat noises!  All of our team *shone* today - very proud of them all.

Teaching open air Sunday School

Worshipping with the kids

Sunday school kids goofing for the camera with their amazing painted classrooms behind

All ages join in

After Sunday School all the kids at once carry their chairs on their heads back inside the church - it was mayhem!

The second service began with choirs and a performance from Joseph, our driver from TAIP who has a hidden talent for soulful singing!  One man came to the church specifically to give his life to Christ this morning, and he was prayed for at the front as the worship went on.  My sermon was shorter in this service, and as I said, better for it.  Then came more worship, offerings, announcements and a visit from a gentleman called 'Apostle' Paul - a friend of the church who had some back story we couldn't quite work out but who wanted to repent and be accepted once again into the church.  This was all very intense, but clearly God was on the move, even if it seemed bewildering for us (especially with only minimal interpretation!).

After the service, everyone was so kind - bringing us bananas and cold bottles of Coke and Fanta.  We were able to chat to Pastor Frederick for 10 minutes or so and he explained how TAIP have helped the church to provide help for those living with HIV through a course addressing stigmatisation.  He also gave us some info about Uganda, saying that 50% of Ugandans are under 15 years old - a staggering statistic, making it one of the most youthful populations in the world.  He explained the utmost importance of reaching, discipling and equipping young people to live godly lives - so that another generation does not succumb to AIDS, and instead grows in the way of Jesus.  How could one disagree?

After a total of five hours (!) of non-stop church, we headed back to the hotel for lunch about 2.30pm.  By now we were ready to drop, so we had a chilled afternoon and evening.  What a day!

Uganda 2012 Journal - Part 5

Saturday 7th July 2012

We spent today with another church community - this time Bugembe Miracle Centre.  They run an extensive farm whcih is managed by Joy, the lovely wife of Pastor Robert who leads the church. 

The church exists to bring glory to God by living those affected by AIDS.  61 orphans live with them in Begembe Children's Home, and the church also runs a Primary School.  The orphans have all lost their parents to AIDS.  This is so tragic, and yet the church has redeemed them through God's love. 

After enthusiastic singing and dancing performances from the young people, Pastor Robert explained that they had arrived sick, stigmatised and hopeless, but that through the love of God and His church, we were now able to see the confident, happy, well-adjusted young people we met today.  Truly this is a miracle of God's loving grace and transformation through his church.

The farm exists solely to fund these activitles and also to send the older children to secondary school, for which they need school fees.  Pigs, cows milk, and lots of eggs are sold and pay for these children to be given a second chance in life.  Joy walks three miles every day there and back to manage the farm - it is very tiring she says, but necessary to keep the whole enterprise alive.  She, Robert and their Administator (aptly named Hope) are such wonderful people.  

Kathryn with one of the the farm's cows - they have 4 day old twins

The farm helps to fund the orphanage and school which gives these children a loving home

Robert explained that they are outgrowing the children's home and showed us the hillside site where they plan to build ten new homes, each of which will house 8 orphans and one couple from the church who will be their foster carers.  This is a huge enterprise costing $26,000 per home (over £16.5k) per home.  I expressed my amazement at the size of Pastor Robert's vision and he gave me this memorable quote:

"The size of the vision is always bigger than the visionary."

He believes that God will provide for the forgotten victims of AIDS, and for him it is not important whether it happens in his lifetime or not - the vision will come true.

Pastor Robert explains to Jack about the dream for new orphan's houses

The view from the hilltop site. "The vision is always bigger than the visionary"- Pastor Robert

We really had a wonderful and joyful day with this community - so gracious and so filled with hope despite such challenges.  Our games with the children were simple enough, yet gratefully received and the kids loved performing for us.  I wish there were more we could do for them, but again I think our presence was a blessing at any rate. 

Tomorrow we lead a church service and so we spent the evening preparing.  Bring it on!

What it is all about: praising Jesus with these rescued children