In May 2012 ten people from St James, including the entire Love Africa Steering Group, visited the Love Africa Partners. The purpose of the visit was to get in depth perspectives and insights into their work and especially the programmes Love Africa is funding. Also to build yet deeper and strongr relationships with the pastors and leaders as well as the communities they serve.
During the middle of the week the team split up to spend 2-3 intensive days with inndividual partners. This is the first hand account of the week.
More pictures to come!
Monday May 1st
All the partners together in Mbale...for the first time.
This
has been a remarkable day in the life of Love Africa - that I don't think any
of the Steering Group, Martin, Jill and Annabelle or the 7 partner projects
will forget.
We
were a little concerned about making the planned 1pm start for the meeting but
didn't need to be as when we started at 3pm two projects had not yet arrived
but by the middle of the afternoon they were all there with Archbishop Simon
Peter from PAG.
The
Love Africa Celebration was a wonderful time of listening to God's word on,
prayers, worship. Martin spoke wonderfully and passionately on how Love Africa
has impacted the life of the two St James through our partnership.
In
the 2nd part of the meeting we broke up into small groups with the project
champions and the people from their projects . With the 5 established projects
they looked at the question, "what impact has Love Africa had on the work
they do?, and what 1 thing had made the most difference?"
Each
project leader spoke to their poster for 10 minutes (English and not Ugandan
time) and then we collected the key themes some of which were:
Many
projects told of a multiplier effect where 1 group where a project started then
supported the development of work in other communities, churches, schools
The
connections that have been developed between projects, e.g. UWCM and PAG as
well as the learning we at St James have brought back from Uganda
It
was very interesting to note that financial support was hardly mentioned and
that all the projects concentrated on relationships.
This
time was an excellent introduction to the in depth project visits that start on
Tuesday morning and for the LASG meeting on Saturday as we gather again in
Kampala and review what we have heard and learned for the future.
Martin
concluded our time together with an open time of prayer and words from
Ephesians 3 . The event was captured by our photographers with a series of
pictures that tell the story of the day which was a unique event in the journey
of Love Africa with all of LASG and all 7 projects gathered together.
The
evening was spent with an informal and noisy dinner where existing friendships
were extended and new friendships made (we all had a goal to speak to every
other person during the day) and we all went to bed exhausted and exhilarated
at the outpouring of God's love, as we had prayed for and expected.
On
Tuesday morning the group splits up early to continue the in depth project
visits
Martin
and Andrew for Soroti and then Apac
Geoff
and Rachael to Soroti
Annabelle
and Nigel to Iganga
Jill,
Jacky, Frank and Sue in Mbale for UWCM and ACET Mbale
Tuesday May 1st
“Tuesday
morning had an emotional start as there were a series of partings after
breakfast, between the partners and with the members of LASG.
Martin
and Andrew joined up with Rachael and Geoff to drive to Soroti with the PAG
team organised by Jane from PAG Central and Deborah from PAG Soroti. Annabelle
and Nigel were taken away by Pastor Paul to visit CFE in Iganga.
After
reflection overnight the feedback from the partners and the LASG team members
on Monday’s celebration event was hugely positive. It was clear that the
representatives from the projects and from St James had been deeply moved by
yesterday’s experiences. The faith we share and the warmth of the personal
relationships led to some emotional and tearful partings
Frank
and Sue spent today in UWCM’s offices. Firstly to review informally the process
of reviewing UWCM's strategic plan under Annette's leadership which we have
supported from Love Africa. Annette has led an insightful and very professional
process to look at the future of UWCM taking into account the environment in
Uganda and how UWCM can develop to meet the challenges. We then spent a broader
time with Edith and members of the UWCM staff covering a lot of discussion
areas from processes to life stories to how UWCM can get a new vehicle
(many thanks to Peter Mawditt for including UWCM in his new venture to assist
funding of vehicles for NGOs).
Edith
had prepared bananas and mangos from her garden as a "snack" before
lunch. Our visit concluded with a time of sharing and prayer together.
Certainly
Jacky, Frank, Sue and Jill needed some down time after the celebration event
and the UWCM visit today. Tomorrow we split between ACET Mbale and UWCM.
I
also received a text from Geoff on behalf of himself, Martin, Rachael &
Andrew:
“Arrived
safely in Soroti with puncture on arrival! Met the team and visited Pingire
project – fantastic welcome and hospitality. Also a visit to very remote bush
communities to see evidence of PEP fruit. PAG doing great work. To bed now with
grateful hearts.”
Wednesday May 2nd
Thank
you so much for your prayers. We have had another wonderful God-given day with
the CFE team. It is difficult to imagine how much of God's work is done with so
little resource by Pastor Paul and his team at CFE who are largely volunteers.
This visit is a stark illustration of how difficult it is to measure the impact
of St James' giving without plugging in to the day-to-day reality of CFE's
work.
This morning we visited one of CFE's 70+ centres, Mawagala where individuals at St. James support over 100 children out of a total Compassion project number there of 285. The welcome we received and what we saw was a testament to God's love in action through the work of Compassion (a well-regarded child-support Christian charity).
In the afternoon we had an opportunity to receive the testimonies of many people who have been trained by St James to run Alpha courses. It was truly uplifting. There are so many things to pray for. We are particularly thankful for God's transformative power through CFE's income-generation and HIV/AIDs programs and the impact of the Alpha initiatives from St James that have truly changed lives.
This morning we visited one of CFE's 70+ centres, Mawagala where individuals at St. James support over 100 children out of a total Compassion project number there of 285. The welcome we received and what we saw was a testament to God's love in action through the work of Compassion (a well-regarded child-support Christian charity).
In the afternoon we had an opportunity to receive the testimonies of many people who have been trained by St James to run Alpha courses. It was truly uplifting. There are so many things to pray for. We are particularly thankful for God's transformative power through CFE's income-generation and HIV/AIDs programs and the impact of the Alpha initiatives from St James that have truly changed lives.
Today
has been a wonderful day. Full of tears of sadness and tears of joy as we have
deepened our relationship with CFE, it's dedicated staff and inspirational
leader Pastor Paul who is in reality a Bishop. From the start of our day at
CFE's offices in Iganga when we met with it's leadership group, to a visit to
one of CFE's 74 centres (that are essentially key churches) and one of the
eight which are part of St James Love Africa project, we were welcomed so very
warmly. The work done by CFE is truly amazing. Funding for their work is very
limited and they never ceased to emphasise the vital role played by the Love
Africa St James funding. We are scheduled to visit a further centre that was
part of the St James Alpha initiative and look forward to giving you more news.
We have
been able to go deeper with CFE and continue to receive so many testimonies about the impact that the Love Africa relationship is making.
been able to go deeper with CFE and continue to receive so many testimonies about the impact that the Love Africa relationship is making.
Tuesday May 1st
And
the following text from Geoff & Rachael in Soroti (Deborah is heading up
the PEP mission work at PAG Soroti and Owii is one of the communities where PEP
has been running):
“Great
day in Soroti with Deborah. Many prayers and blessings coming from Owii
yesterday. Please pray for the school adding a new class and classroom and for
the new chicken house project. Also please pray that the termites will be
successfully removed from the mushroom growing house”
I
spoke to Nigel and Sue in Mbale by phone this afternoon:
Nigel & Annabelle had been to see 2
churches with Pastor Paul this morning and heard amazing testimonies from
people who had taken part in the Global Alpha Training back in Jan’10 and how
this had changed the lives of their churches. I’m sure this will be a great
encouragement to all those who took part in that training. Also, saw some very
successful income generating projects. Nigel said that he could see God truly
working through the initiatives which Love Africa has been able to support.
Sue, Jill & Jacky had taken the hazardous
trip up the mountain to Bulaago where they had received a fabulous welcome.
They had seen the work of small savings groups providing loans for people to
start small businesses. They were impressed by how organised these groups were.
Sue said that she could see how the success was spreading into other
communities and people were being empowered
I
received the following report from the team in Mbale regarding their day
yesterday:
Jacky
and Frank were with the ACET Mbale team for the day. We started by driving to
the foot hills of Mount Elgon to an area of astounding beauty in Bufombo.
Daudi was conducting a 5 day course peer education seminar with a group
of 40 Compassion kids and training another ACET facilitator. Jacky and I sat
and listened to presentations from each group on experiences of peer pressure
and how they had dealt with it. The kids spoke with a lot of assurance about
issues of smoking, school dodging and sex. For us it was the first chance to
see the ACET guys deliver such a seminar that raises awareness about HIV and
builds capability by training peer educators and a new ACET facilitator. Jacky
and Frank spoke to the kids about Love Africa and Gerrards Cross and they were
very attentive The level of knowledge about sexual health as judged from the
written questions submitted was very low showing the importance of this
training in raising education and awareness.
Next
stop was another seminar for younger children let by Jane with input from Paul.
The topic was teenage pregnancy. Interestingly the boys were more vocal in the
groups and feedback sessions. The level of engagement from the group was very
high, the questions very good and the way Paul and Jane handled the kids on
this sensitive topic very impressive.
While
we didn't see it in the sessions we were in, it was apparent from the timetable
and the charts that the kids had worked on in the 1st 2 days that all these
messages were in the context of God’s love for each person and each one of us
being a unique creation of God’s.
Then
it rained, more heavily the ever and we set out deep into the bush along red
dirt roads and became comprehensively stuck on a mud road despite the 4 wheel
drive. After about 30 minutes and after we had emptied the van of people and
belongings a group of local lads lifted the van onto a flatter part of the
road. It was the only "sticky" situation that either of us had
experienced in 7 visits between us to Uganda. We continued on foot to meet a
local VHT (Village Health Team) trained by ACET. This was group of 10 people
each of whom were responsible for the health of 30 families in their village
really focussing on immunisation (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, Hep B)
malaria diagnosis and treatment and TB treatment .They also followed the
weights and development and health of babies in the village. The group were
varied in their faith ("saved", moslem and no comment) and hugely
enthusiastic in their voluntary activities. The role of ACET as the sole
provider of training for this group, none from the government, was clearly
recognised and appreciated .
We just beat another storm back to the Mount Elgon Hotel.
We just beat another storm back to the Mount Elgon Hotel.
Jill
and Sue spent the day with UWCM. The day started at the office with UWCM
morning prayers and Bible study (Proverbs 7) let by Annette. The first visit
was to a teenage mothers project where they met about 40 teenage mothers and
some babies with George Susan and Zoe - the main volunteers. The babies seemed
very healthy - apparently in Uganda babies are an average of 4kg at birth. The
girls presented some drama about the dangers of "rich men" and
accepting the girl back into the family with the baby. The role of UWCM was
highlighted in teaching the girls about vaccinations, contraception and income
generating projects such as goat projects. Not surprisingly they make crafts -
crocheted squares and bowls, doughnuts and fruit. Some of the girls gave
powerful testimonies of how UWCM had helped them as teenage mothers.
They
then moved on to a CCMP project supported by St James in Memyenye. Jill
and Sue were surprised that there was an agenda for their meeting (they were
item 8). Through a PEP process 5 communities were working together where they
had built a Church together and had focussed on agricultural skills to learn
about organic farming. In the middle of the meeting in the rain a man arrived
on a bicycle - the mobile healthcare vaccinator - with an insulated box of
vaccines. As people left the meeting they were offered tetanus vaccinations.
Some of the women then gave testimony about how they were now allied "out
of the kitchen" and had grown in confidence through PEP process to be
women leaders in the community.
They
had also grown 5 new Church leaders within the community through the PEP
process. Jill reported that a lizard dropped out the ceiling during the meeting
narrowly missing Sue as she was giving her introduction - such are the hazards
of Love Africa field visits.
Jill
and Sue were then recruited to the UWCM "ministry in the market
place" and managed to stop the traffic in Mbale high street when they were
measured in the street for dresses.
Friday
is Edith and David's 38th wedding anniversary. The LASG team have ordered a
cake for them from St James to thank them for their hospitality and support.
Edith
and David Wakumire invited the group to dinner in their home with a group of
people involved in UWCM. It was a really blessed time with wonderful food from
Edith's garden. The evening closed with short introductions and speeches from
everyone about their faith and commitment to the work of UWCM and Love
Africa.
During
the day we heard from Nigel and Annabelle in Iganga with Pastor Paul They had
spent a useful time in the office with PP's team and then a visit to a
community with a Church plant and the evening with PP and his wife. They felt
they were really making progress in understanding the work of CFE in this
extended visit .
2 May
- travelled from Soroti to PAG Apac – one of Love Africa’s newest and
most remote projects.
“Arrived
safely in Apac – journey was 1.5 hours on good road and another 1.5 on dirt
road. Welcomed for lunch at Bishop Richard’s house, together with Pastor
Geoffrey. Bishop Richard is the head of PAG in Apac, and Geoffrey is the PEP
field officer. Then met all the PEP “disciples” at church in Apac; some
had travelled 30km just to meet us. They all send warm Christian greetings to
all at St James.
At
Akere church we received the usual exuberant welcome with singing and dancing.
Heard about PEP enabling people to meet the problems in one hand with resources
in the other. Examples already included pastor being able to save and buy a
motor bike and a family making bricks and about to use them to build a home.
Real sense of all this being enabled through studying God’s word, and of partnership
between them & St James. Thanks for your continuing prayers. Love Martin
& Andrew”
Thursday
3rd May
“Nigel
and Annabelle arrived safely back from Iganga with Pastor Paul and his daughter
Pamela. They were full of what they had seen, the welcome they had received in
the projects they visited and the impact that Love Africa support makes in the
8 villages/Churches we support. Nigel was enthused about how faith in action
impacted people’s lives in small ways but showed God's love e.g. teaching
people about planting seeds to get the best yield on crops, micro finance to
get an income generating project started, one lady made a 7 times return on a
brick making project.
The
CFE team were also very open with Nigel and Annabelle (the "Nigels")
about their structure and finances so our confidence in the support has
increased greatly.
Jill,
Jacky and Sue made the trip to Bulaago with Janet from UWCM. They were invited
to a CMT review meeting - 2 hours of reporting and were asked to each share a
"word" with the CMT members This group is now an example for other
CMTs in training due to the success of the programme and it is now almost time
for UWCM to disengage and let them go ahead on their own as UWCM's work is
done. Jill said that of the 30 ladies she met last year there were only
27, 3 having died. The raincoats from the pastorate were still very much appreciated
in the cold and rain on top of the mountain. They all said that the impact of
the rains and erosion was obvious from last year. One village had been
abandoned and cracks are apparent in the side of the mountain due to
erosion. Another village had been wiped out in a mudslide with the loss of all
except 3 people who escaped. Despite the dangers these people do not want to
change their way of life which has clearly been vastly impacted in faith and
works by the intervention of UWCM.
The
evening was spent with the 6 team members & Paul and joined by Naomi (from
ACET Mbale) her husband Robert and 1 month old Esther - who was much admired.
We
have seen the reports from Apac and Soroti but had no direct contact with our
colleagues.
This
morning Geoff and Rachael are arriving from Soroti and then the 8 of us
are proceeding to Jinja for the visit to Tumaini children's home. We had a very
constructive session with Pastor Nicholas and Maria on Monday so we are looking
forward to being welcomed - we have prepared some activities for the children
as well as the supplies Pastor Nicholas requested.
Tonight
we all gather in Kampala and then tomorrow we have our debrief meeting on the
trip.
Friday 4th
May
Despite
no electricity or running water much of the time, and the stifling heat, Andrew
& Martin were doing well. They had felt very privileged to have the
opportunity to meet the communities in Apac and to see that the PEP Programme,
despite being new in Apac, was already making a real difference to people’s
lives.
At
Pastor Geoffrey's house this morning he presented them with two live
chickens! As far as I know, that’s a first for Love Africa J. They
promptly named them (Eve and Catherine) and then gave them back to Pastor
Geoffrey for safe keeping - now they will have to go back to check up on them!
“Friday
was the day when the whole team was planned to assemble in Kampala in time for
dinner, but it didn't work out quite like that!
Geoff
and Rachael arrived early in Mbale from Soroti - they had left at 0600 so the
first reunion and swapping of stories started. Deborah from Soroti accompanied
them on the drive so we were all able to thank her and say good bye. Edith
arrived to greet the team. Jill and Sue greeted her in their new Ugandan
dresses and gave her the anniversary cake. It was an emotional farewell for the
then 8 members of the team. We had shared a lot with Edith and Janet from UWCM
and Deborah from PAG Soroti. Their welcome and generosity to us was
extravagant. Their faith in action is humbling to experience.
We
managed to load the 2 ACET vans and set off for Iganga first where we dropped
Sue to meet her Compassion children with Pastor Paul and then to Jinja. On the
way we rehearsed the programme for Tumaini. As we made good time we had a short
excursion to visit the source of the Nile - the first down time the group had
managed.
We
collected Sue at the Madhvani Guest House (no time for the curry lunch buffet)
and set off through the estate to Kakira visit - imagine our surprise when
Martin's face appeared at the van window! He and Andrew had made good time from
Apac to Kampala and driven straight up to Jinja for the Tumaini visit - the
whole team was together for the 1st time since Tuesday morning.
The
first timers were quiet as we entered Kakira village to see the huts, poverty
and the people on the way to Tumaini. As we drove up we were welcomed by the
children with songs and smiles and handshakes and hugs. Pastor Nicholas and
Maria were generous in their welcome and especially pleased to see Pastor Martin.
We
had 3 hours at Tumaini which reminded us all of the paradox of this project.
There were 35 children present, the rest having "gone home" for the
school holiday - or at least to members of an extended family.
The
greeting from the children was huge. They have acquired an electric keyboard so
their repertoire has much more of a beat as they sang of their faith in English
and the local language. Pastor Nicholas made a speech - representing the
children he said. He told us that the support for school fees has had a
good impact with 3 of the top 6 results in the primary 7 exams for Kakira being
pupils from Tumaini but that the "children" were requesting further
support from St James in a number of areas. We listened dutifully and then
launched into our programme for the children who responded
enthusiastically.
Jill
had put together a programme that included "going on a lion hunt",
worship songs (fortunately the children knew most of them) a Zaccheus play, the
"parable of the pencil" and a play on Jesus calming the wind and
waves where all the group acted (!) It was great to see the engagement of the
children (and the adults) in these activities which then led to a period where
the team members met in small groups and 121 with the children.
These
children are amazing in their faith and the love they show. Pastor Nicholas and
Maria have the biggest hearts in the world for taking on the challenge of these
72 children. However the way Tumaini is run and the attitudes are poles apart
from the Godly stewardship we experience with other projects. Most of the team
were torn over our support and our involvement with what is a wonderful
project .
It
was difficult to leave - and took a long time. Eventually tired, elated and
hungry we got into the vans for the 2 hour trip to Kampala, or so we thought.
The traffic jam in Kampala can only be described as "Old Testament"
in proportions, plagues of frogs, parting of the Red Sea and Kampala traffic on
a Friday night. We reached the ARA about 9 pm to find a Folk Night (obviously
open mike from Kampala's ex pat community) in full swing. But fortunately they
had kept back dinner from the buffet and a private table in the garden so the
weary travellers (like Geoff and Rachael who had been on the go for about 20
hours) had a wonderful meal and a few beers to unwind and up load iPads with
pictures.
It was a great day - exhausting physically and emotionally.
It was a great day - exhausting physically and emotionally.
Saturday 5th
May
“We
gathered in Kampala this morning for the third and last part of our trip - our
Love Africa Steering Group meeting.
After
a time of prayer and reflection we spent time as a group with feedback from
each project visit and from each individual on their personal high spots,
concerns and "God moments". We felt as a group that we had
built up a unique perspective of Love Africa at this point in time - probably
with better understanding than we have ever had before.
We
finished with an open discussion about the future direction of Love Africa and
a commission to LASG to look broadly at the future direction over the next 9
months.
Martin
concluded for us in prayer to thank God for all the wonderful things we had
seen, experienced and done this week.
In
the afternoon we had some free time to shop or relax (though paying the bill at
the ARA could take several hours) and tonight we (think) we are having dinner
with (Arch) Bishop Simon Peter.
Last Day
“The
final evening in Kampala for the team was spent as the guests of (Arch) Bishop
Simon Peter and Bishop Franco of Kampala from the Pentecostal Assemblies of
God. They very generously took the whole team and Paul for dinner at a lovely
restaurant which was a wonderful end to our visit. Simon Peter reflected on the
impact of the partnership between St James and the PAG projects especially the
links in prayers, the level of involvement and understanding with the projects
and the shared faith and values. Bishop Franco spoke on the value of
partnerships and told us something of the work of Watoto (8 Churches in Kampala
which are part of PAG). Frank and then Martin were called on to respond for
Love Africa.
At
the ARA the group met for the final time and reviewed the time we spent
together, concentrating on the hilarious, bizarre and culturally Ugandan!
However what happens in Uganda stays in Uganda so unfortunately this section is
censored.
Sunday
started at 0530 Uganda time. We were not sure if the music and dancing outside
the ARA was the late partiers finishing or the next shift taking over but we
left as we arrived in torrential rain. The group were pleased to see BA0062 on
the ground when we arrived at Entebbe. We had an uneventful flight to London
and even no immigration queues at Heathrow.
There
was an emotional parting of the 10 team members at arrivals as we were met by
Gail, Gordon and Heather and we distributed home.
