Honesty Lessons Convict a Test Teacher

Earlier today this email came from one who test taught the Upper Primary module on honesty. Rejoice with us that God’s Word is at work, even in the lives of the test teachers. The English/punctuation is a bit rough but I think you’ll get the gist.

“i love so much these lessons because as i teach them they do i lot in my life. the testimony i will give mine. after teaching i was supposed to give accountability for the transport i used when they sent me. for the whole journey i used 7500 but as i was writing  i wrote at first 8000/= making round figure. but before giving in the accountability i had the voice saying is this the right figure the answer was NO. i changed the figure and give 7500 which i used and i was glad for that.”

[The difference between 7500 Uganda shillings and 8000 is about 20 cents.]

Bare Feet and a Soccer Ball

It was Saturday and I was praising God for a beautiful day while wondering how the day would go. Ruth was committed to her tireless work of formatting the Lower Primary Honesty Lessons and holding the fort. We always look for ways to encourage Ugandans who are working with children and Ruth Beth, the Children’s Coordinator for our church, KBC, is one who is pouring her heart into seeing children reached with God’s love and His truth. She had planned a Children’s Event and I volunteered to join and help. She had given me permission to bring two children in our circle—our helper’s son and our Administrative Assistant’s cousin. Soon the two arrived, raring to go…attending such an event is a rare treat for both of them. Just before leaving, I spied our fairly new bright orange soccer ball and decided to bring it along with us.

The orange soccer ball providing great fun!

Even some of the leaders got into a competition

Dresses? No problem!

We motored the 30 minute drive to the Church, praying that God would grant us a rain-free day despite fairly frequent rains these days, and joined the registration lines and visited with children and their leaders, including an inspiring young man, Tony, who uses soccer in his ministry. Eventually some 200 children and their leaders were transported to a nearby home that has a huge lawn and soon the soccer ball was entrusted to Tony who provided fun for dozens of children, many of them bare footed. The girls surprised me – soccer can be played even in a skirt. God also answered prayer and the weather was beautiful with a bit of cloud cover. There were relay races, balloons, a Bible Quiz, and small groups for sharing the Gospel—a few groups used the CrossTalk tracts.

Finally (I wondered how the children could survive without food for so long) around 2 PM, the food arrived and was served--the meal of rice, beef (mostly bones) and cabbage the climax of the day. It was obvious that our orange soccer ball would be more widely used for God’s kingdom in Tony’s possession and so it now belongs to him. Who knows what God will do with these precious children who for a few hours got to run on green grass (as opposed to their tiny cramped homes) and be loved by a team of church volunteers.

Celebrating 65 Years Young in a Foreign Land

Our friends from the Philippines (one of them being Canadian) minister here in Uganda for several months each year with their base about 3 hours east of us (depending on the traffic). Our full schedules don’t allow opportunity to visit us often. BUT, they had to come to Kampala to pick up another co-worker flying in from Canada and so they came a day early and spent the night with us.

Our birthday brunch

A few days before their arrival we learned that one of them, Ate Grace, was turning 65 on Friday—the very day they would be here!! Talk about God’s timing!

Ate Grace with her compassionate heart for children
interacting with Ernie

Oops. she blew out those candles
before I got the picture taken

Since they did not need to leave until late morning and since we have a little experience of birthday celebrations in the Philippines, we had the perfect opportunity to “pull all the stops” to bless our dear friend…balloons, omelet, fruit, chocolate decorated cake with candles, singing, ice cream…and Ernie! Although we were interrupted by various cell phone calls, we ate, talked, laughed, cried and prayed with our friends. What a joy to celebrate the life of this servant who had done such an outstanding job of connecting with at-risk children and their families. We were inspired as we listened to their cross-cultural stories (including snake stories) of how God is using them here in Uganda. At a time when many from our own culture count the days until retirement, this servant is still asking her Saviour, “Where can I serve You?”