Sparks

Laura is in Northwestern Uganda these days. In her absence, I (Ruth) went to do a quick errand yesterday morning. Upon my return, all seemed quiet except that the office light didn’t turn on. When, our helper, Dorcus, came back into the house, I commented how strange that the light isn’t working. She smiled and said the problem is much more than one light. She then narrated the story of what had happened during the short time I was gone.

Our day guard/gardener, Biajo, had been trimming in the back of our house. He cut off one of the many nuisance vines and was tugging at it to get the rest of it out of the tree. Unknown to him, the vine crossed over a razor wire (which is used on top of the compound walls but this one was completely separate and who knows how it got in the tree). That brought down the razor wire across the electric line that is draped through the tree (safety standards are quite different here!) and it slashed into that wire causing a horrible bolt of flashing electricity. By God’s grace, Biajo was not hurt although very shook up. Dorcus, our helper, was doing dishes in the kitchen, heard the bolt and saw the lights flicker. Quickly she turned off the main switch for the house (good for her!) and ventured out to see what happened…and found Biajo still somewhat stunned from the experience…which is where she was when I came home. When I went out to see it, there were still small sparks coming from the slash. We thanked God together with Biajo that no one was hurt.

I called our electrician who, ironically, happened to be working in the same northwestern town that Laura was in, a 12 hour bus trip away. (This morning she and Beth traveled another 3 hours to the Bidibidi Refugee Camp.) When he heard our situation, he called another electrician who came within the hour and got the situation corrected. Praise God for His protection.

Hanging Out with the Puppet Crew

The time has come to bid (at least temporarily) my farewell to the Scripture Union Puppeteers, a group of around ten College age young people who are passionate about puppetry and fellowship. We try to meet once every week or two and in the process share Bible study, testimonies, puppet practice and life as it happens.  Of course breakfast or supper is an important part of our meetings (smiling face).  
 

Recently, with “ordinary” puppets "under their belts,” most of the group have shown great interest in ventriloquism.  Last Saturday after our breakfast, Bible study and prayer, I shared some vent techniques and gave time for some practice.  They again proved keen and we took time to hear from two who had actually used vent during the Scripture Union Mission last month. 

An older picture of the Puppet Team; Jonathan is back row,
3rd from right; Hilda is front row, 3rd from right.

Yesterday puppeteer Jonathan, our tech guy good on sound systems and cameras, celebrated his birthday.  The greetings on What’s UP App went on and on.  What caught my attention was puppeteer, Hilda, who decided to use her newly acquired vent skills and made a video greeting with her puppet Celyn!  I was pleasantly surprised with her lip control and presence, complete with singing "Happy Birthday."  A great short performance! (Now if only Jonathan was here, he might know how to put that greeting into this blog...but that's way beyond our abilities!)

I leave these young people in the capable hands of a Missionary Aviation Fellowship couple who will continue coaching and feeding the puppet crew.  Praise God for the fellowship and even family that this group has become.  Go puppeteers go!

Surprise Sunday

We had known for a few weeks that once her daughter returned from Boarding School, our colleague Beth was having her “farewell” at our church. Beth moved from Kampala into a house in Jinja the end of May; now it was time for the church to officially recognize and pray for her. The day was set for July 9, Scripture Union (SU) staff were invited to the church for the occasion, and Beth was arranging a barbecue following the morning service at Kampala Baptist Church at Scripture Union for the SU people. She told Ruth repeatedly to bring her camera but said nothing more. Sunday morning following Bible study, we sat back in the Worship Service and enjoyed Beth being introduced by the Pastor. Rather than sharing personally, she began by promoting the VOICE program and then CrossTalk…but that didn’t surprise us too much—she’s an opportunist! But I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.  Beth began to read a letter from EvanTell, Dallas, Texas, explaining that their Board had decided to give the annual Matthew 4:19 Annual Award to none other than yours truly.  I was stunned as I stepped forward to receive the world map plaque and a beautiful Evangelism Study Bible that went with it.  Yes, over the past number of years both in the Philippines and now in Uganda, I had done the leg-work for EvanTell to print several hundred thousand CrossTalk and other literature in English, Luganda, Swahili, Burundi, and Zande languages, but this award?!  So the church “Farewell” turned out to be much more than we knew! At the Barbecue, both Ruth and I were thanked multiple times for our contribution of VOICE, CrossTalk, banana bread and more. 

Little by little, the story came out how this had been in the planning for several months between EvanTell, Beth, and the Scripture Union National Director but the glitch was to get the plaque and Bible to Uganda. Finally they were able to connect with a short-term missions team who arrived earlier in the week. We praise God for this unexpected honor and surrender the applause to the Saviour who is worthy of so much more than all that we could ever give Him.