No power in the flat but plenty in the name of Jesus!

It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks. Five days without power, one day with power, six days without and then on the seventh day UMEME fulfilled the promises they had not managed to keep on the fifth & sixth days! Power was restored!! Scrabble and Backgammon by candlelight begin to lose their romantic ambience after a while - although our scores were much improved. It’s dark soon after 7pm here every evening, all year and it’s even darker when the whole neighbourhood has no electricity! We are very blessed in that we have an inverter which charges up some huge batteries and runs the lights & a couple of sockets so we can keep our phones & laptops charged. However, the poor inverter couldn’t cope with being emptied and not replenished! (There is definitely a sermon or at least a children’s talk illustration there!) We tried very hard to play the ‘being glad game’, however we both had seriously grumpy days (usually not at the same time – which can just add to the frustration if you’re grumpy and the other person is calm and accepting!) The fact that we were grumpy and frustrated by something as normal to so many people in Uganda as having no electricity just made us feel inadequate and guilty – and fuelled our grumpiness!

There were other knock-on effects of the lack of electricity. We usually drink a large bottle of chilled water between us during an evening. However, drinking room-temperature water (where the room is really quite warm) is not nearly so refreshing! Therefore we haven’t been drinking as much and therefore Deb’s been having night leg cramps. It’s OK – we started drinking more again, it’s been relatively cool so back to pots of tea! Of course another knock-on has been the backlog of written stuff, including this update!

Good Friday – we attended the longest service we have ever attended, started at 9.00am and finished at 5.30pm!  It was a service for all the Baptist churches in the area and there were some real highlights, like the beautifully harmonious women’s Luganda choir from Kampala Baptist and the poignancy of holding a 6 inch nail in your hand whilst in silence the Pastor hammered another one through a piece of rough wood. Deb had the privilege of being the only muzungu in the worship group and sang a verse of ‘When I survey’ unaccompanied whilst communion was being shared. Later our friend Pauline told us “I was so proud, you sang with no accent at all!”

Easter Sunday – great service of real celebration and wonderful worship at Lugogo Baptist. At testimony sharing time, Deb shared our exciting news of the safe arrival of Eloise Grace, our first granddaughter, with the fellowship. Not only was there clapping and cheering but also lots of ululating – Eloise was celebrated Africa style! After the service we both received many congratulations on becoming a Jjajja (grandparent). We felt truly part of the fellowship as everyone shared in our joy and excitement.

We have been busy with work too – with Chris we took the first module of the Sunday School teacher training to Jinja, where we were particularly encouraged by the number of Pastors who attended with their children’s workers.

A few days later we delivered the third (& final) module in Kampala. Twenty people completed all three modules and were awarded with their very smart certificate and a Bible (New Living translation – possible through a donation from a link-up church in the UK). We had not told anyone they would be getting a Bible along with their certificate and many were quite overwhelmed. Several people contacted the Department to say thank you over the next few days. As well as planning to roll out the training further upcountry over the next couple of months, we shall also be doing a one day follow-up at the end of the year for those who ‘graduated’. Our desire is to encourage the formation of Sunday School teacher ‘fraternities’ to provide ongoing self support in each area.

And finally….Pauline SCREAMED when Deb opened the door to her. At the BUU Benon shouted YI YI YI (several times), Chris denied it was Deb, Stephen was open mouthed, Juliet frowned, Rose was confused, the GS was polite, smiled and said nothing. It’s only a haircut!