Wed 6th

An early morning appointment with the Bishop of Mukono, we were beginning to pick up on the difficulties the diocese are facing over ministry in the islands. There are over 60 islands on lake Victoria, it seems to be a bit of a lawless place, inhabited by fishermen who move with the fish, and the poorest of the poor. The police don't go there because people disappear in the lake!

An American missionary and his wife had ministered on the islands for 29 years, but they both died (of old age) The Bishop asked us to pray that people would feel called to ministry in the islands, nobody really wants to go there because it is so dangerous. There is  only one minister there at the moment, he is extremely poor and in desperate need of support both financially and prayerfully. The last time he met the Bishop, apparently the wept together over the situation.

Ronnie the youth pastor and chaplain to St Lukes Kirangira kept ringing me all morning, he had arranged for us to go to Nabbale C/U Primary school with him for the 8am service and to spend the morning at the school, Tim and Suzanne were also supposed to be at the Chain school, we were so pleased that we got to meet the Bishop, but the children were very disappointed their visitors might not visit their school after all.

We visited every class!

We were late but we did get to the school in the end... Praise the Lord!

The welcome we received was overwhelming, the children were in two lines from tallest to smallest, as the car door opened the singing and dancing and clapping was wonderful. I was in tears... It was like we were royalty arriving!

We met the head teacher and were taken on a guided tour of every class, we had morning tea and lunch provided for us, and the children entertained us with traditional songs and dance to the beat of African drums. It was something I will never forget.

In this picture the children were singing and acting out the story of a fishing trip, the boys around the edge are paddling the boat - they acted out hauling the nets, the waves, the celebration of the catch, the feast, it was amazing.

The orange and yellow costumes had been borrowed for the occasion.

This class room had been cleared of desks for the day so that the children could entertain us. Later I was able to teach the choir a chorus...For God so loved the world...Jn 3:16

I had been given  3 packs of Christian stickers by my friend Lorraine Keys, I had them with me, and every child in the school got a sticker, there were 160!

We also met some nurses who had come to vaccinate the children - and anyone else who got in their way! (James the curate from St Dunstan's)

We headed back to Bristol (the name our driver had given to the Mpima's!) for a short rest. We were then collected again and taken to Soroma Christian High School... the difference... This school has a reputation for excellence, the facilities were a mile apart from Nabbale

It has its own chaplain who lives with his wife and family on the campus. We joined the school for community worship which was vibrant, 1,700 students, all boarders.

We were invited to speak, we introduced ourselves, sent greetings and gave our testimonies, then Ronnie preached. We were invited to stay for supper, but we had arranged to meet with the rest of the team that evening to debrief, so had to decline.

Good to catch up with the team later at a restaurant in Mukono...

It had been a truly amazing day.