At 21.00 on January 27th the 12 members of the ‘Uganda’ SMILE team will leave London Heathrow to fly to Entebbe airport in Southern Uganda, and from there drive to our home for the next four months in Kampala, the capital city. I am sure that we are all excited about various different things; perhaps for some it will be gorilla trekking in the mountains, maybe for others it will be just experiencing the African way of life, personally I am excited about tasting the sweet Ugandan banana for the first time! But the thing which unites all 12 members of the team and indeed, which is the focus our whole trip, is having the privilege of being able to share the astonishing news about Jesus Christ with the people we meet and spend our time with.
I hope this doesn’t sound patronising, but I’m sure at this point some people reading this blog will be thinking “so what, the whole religion thing is a sideline issue and actually a matter of personal choice, why go to Africa just to tell people about your faith, isn’t that a little pig-headed”, or at the very least some might be nonchalantly thinking that Jesus has nothing to do with them so you skip over the bit about Him. Well actually, the ‘good news’ about Jesus is not just good news for poverty stricken Africans.
No, the reality is quite the opposite: God has told us that He Himself practically and literally demonstrated His vast love for everyone, the whole world, by sending Jesus to earth to die 2000 years ago. He sent his own Son into the world as a rescue for the people of Earth. Jesus was as good as it gets, and didn’t do what we have done; he never ignored God and always followed God’s orders. Jesus died for people who’d rejected and ignored God. So Jesus’ life and although it may seem strange, his death on the cross, involves you and it involves me. He died our death, took our punishment and brought forgiveness. We are going to Uganda to offer Jesus’ message of eternal life and forgiveness to anyone who will listen. That is how important God says His message is.
We will be teaching in 4 different schools in and around Kampala and I am sure we will learn vast amounts from these amazing children. The ages range from babies and toddlers in ‘Children’s Corner’ – a school in the centre of Kampala, to much older children, even teenagers in schools such as ‘Glory for Education’ in the relative countryside of outer Kampala. The teaching consumes the majority of our work in Kampala and we hope to be sharing God’s love, every day we spend in the schools. At the moment the foreseeable plan is for the guys of the group to also help out at a Street Kid’s initiative run by the local church, Calvary Chapel at the weekends. Street children are generally ignored by the public in Kampala so this will be a great opportunity for the guys to bond and make friendships with kids who might never have known affection and care before. Albeit a challenging task, we hope to be motivated by God’s love for us and that we may say with John, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4v19)
So, armed with 50% deet insect repellent, travel towels, medical kits and a whole wealth of other articles, not least clothing (!), we await Tuesday in eager anticipation of beginning our journey to Africa and getting stuck into Ugandan life. This blog will be used for keeping everyone updated on our news and happenings in Kampala and anything of interest which we deem fit for these pages e.g. if we decide to rear chickens or the like.
Phoebs
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:17
Uganda
@ The main languages spoken are English and Lugandan.
@ Much of the land is fertile and well-watered
@ According to
the census of 2002 Christians made up 84% of Uganda's population, 6.00% were
Mulism, and 4% traditional ethnic and a small minority Baha'i and Hindu.
@
Uganda is the first country in the world with a massive aids problem to halve
from 25% in 1992 to 8-10% in 2000.
@ Life expectancy for a man is 51 years,
and for a woman, 52.
@ The area of Uganda is 241, 040 sq. miles meanwhile
Britain's is 244, 820 sq. miles. However the population of Uganda stands at 31.9
million, while Britains is almost double that at roughly 61 million.
@ Much of the land is fertile and well-watered
@ According to
the census of 2002 Christians made up 84% of Uganda's population, 6.00% were
Mulism, and 4% traditional ethnic and a small minority Baha'i and Hindu.
@
Uganda is the first country in the world with a massive aids problem to halve
from 25% in 1992 to 8-10% in 2000.
@ Life expectancy for a man is 51 years,
and for a woman, 52.
@ The area of Uganda is 241, 040 sq. miles meanwhile
Britain's is 244, 820 sq. miles. However the population of Uganda stands at 31.9
million, while Britains is almost double that at roughly 61 million.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God and of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
2 Corinthians 1:3-5