Tilehouse Street Baptist Church, Hitchin

Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 2:25 PM
Subject: News from Kampala

Those of you who have been following our African journey, right from the beginning, will - almost certainly - remember an e-mail entitled “Two weeks down…”. Just in case the finer points of this e-mail have now slipped from your memory - suffice it to say that, in part, it was looking back at some of the lows that hit us during our first few days in Guinea.

Well now the good news - there doesn’t seem to have been so many of those in our first two weeks in Uganda.

Despite (perhaps because of) getting lost a few times, we have begun to get used to the Kampala traffic. Nicky is beginning to find some of the local fruit and veg sellers. Esther is already playing with the other children in our shared compound (a Pentecostal pastor and his family are living next door), and Hannah has organised her bedroom so that she can get on with the homework which is already coming from school.

Both Hannah and Esther seem to be loving school. Getting out of bed at 6.30 a.m. seems (so far) to be worth it for them. They are making friends and, as we had hoped, really enjoying the social interaction and stimulation that comes from a more normal school environment. Today (Friday), Esther has come home with her first award: “Child of the Week”, for having an exceptional start to the year!

Arthur and Nicky are beginning to understand some of the work that lies ahead for them - both with the Baptist Union of Uganda and with KEST (Kampala Evangelical School of Theology). They have discovered, at least, the bare bones of what they will be doing - and will, in the next few weeks, begin to put some flesh on to these bones. In general, they will (once again) be training pastors - a work that they are both very excited about.

Alongside all of this, there are several administrative hoops which need to be jumped - getting a Ugandan driving licence, entry permit, etc. There does not seem to be any doubt that these things will all come to pass - it is just the waiting in queues that takes time! On the other hand, we are very grateful for the other BMSers who are already in Kampala, who are old hands at all of this, and who are guiding us through this process.

You will remember, from our last e-mail, that we were having a few plumbing issues - well, these are continuing, and we are now on very familiar terms with our local plumber (who goes by the name of Deo). He reminds us a bit of the roofer we had in Guinea who came regularly to fix the roof, but always seemed to leave with another problem that would need fixing the next day!!!

Despite this, our house is beginning to take shape - a few camping chairs and some furniture from the roadside MFI will more than suffice until something better comes along. It is all in the pipeline…

…in fact, this is perhaps a good way to sum up what we wanted to say in this e-mail: yes, there have been some frustrations in the first few days, but things are in the pipeline, and we are both grateful and encouraged by the things that seem to be falling into place (a whole load of mixed metaphors - sorry).

We are grateful, too, for the messages of encouragement that we have received from various corners of the world. And those who have been praying for us, we hope that you, in your own place, will be encouraged by the thought that God seems to be answering your prayers on a regular basis.

Arthur, Nicky, Hannah and Esther