We are writing this on our second night in Kisoro. Outside we can hear the thunder and lightning of our first tropical thunderstorm. The annual rains only started the day we arrived here so maybe we brought them with us from England!!! If so the villagers are delighted as they have been desperate for rain so they can begin sowing crops for next years harvest. We are also writing this by the light of a candle as we experience the third power cut in 24 hours to – a regular feature we will have to get used to.
We are very happy that following a lot of hard work by the Diocese staff the house has been ready to move in to. The accommodation is basic and adequate – and there is plumbing ‘In’ and plumbing ’out’ to the shower room. Further work will be needed to convert a room to a kitchen and to provide hot water. At present we have the loan of a Baby Belling type hob and furniture.
Unfortunately, because our flight was late, we missed our connection in Nairobi, and arrived in Rwanda, the nearest airport to Kisoro, over 5 hours late. This was long enough for the staff here to get extremely concerned that something terrible may have happened to us en route, for the Bishop to be interrupted part way though conducting 2 weddings and a funeral, and for urgent phone calls to be made to England. We felt guilty that we hadn’t found a way during our journey of letting our hosts know that we would be late.
We have arrived at a busy time for the Diocese as 2nd September is the start of a 4 day ‘Convention’. These large Missions are held every 10 years or so, and attract several thousand visitors (10,000?) from across Uganda and other countries, including the Archbishop and many Bishops. We imagine this will be like a ‘Spring Harvest’ or ‘New Wine’ but with most of the meetings in the open air. Although there is rejoicing that the rains have come, there is also prayer that they won’t be too heavy during the convention.
The local CMS Mission partner is Jenny Green who has lived here for about 15 years, and is responsible for the Diocese’s Children’s work. Her main project is the Potters Village Children’s Home which looks after abandoned or orphaned children, and young single mothers. She has three children, Issie, Hannah and Joseph and is currently looking after a baby, Joanne, until she is strong enough to be cared for at the Potters Village.
Prayer:
We thank God for:
- The hospitality and generosity of churches, family and friends in England during our last weeks in saying farewell to us and providing somewhere to sleep
- our safe arrival, and that all our luggage arrived with us
- for the way we have been made to feel welcome here by the Bishop, Jenny’s family and Diocese staff
- that the rains have arrived
We pray for the coming month, that:
- we are able to make our basic house into a home
- we find our way about the Town, and begin to adjust to the new culture
- we can a learn few words of the local language
- we can find out the work that God wants us to do here so we can help the mission of the local church, and so that we grow spiritually
In addition to this occasional ‘serious’ item we also plan to keep a weekly blog to describe some of our experiences here. You can find it by searching on the Internet for ‘Malcolm and Irene Crawford’
No comments:
Post a Comment