Welcome to the April edition of the Luwero Newsletter
Work about to begin on new wells
Following the situation regarding the chronic shortage of water within the Project, Gabriel and the Trustees have acted quickly to address the drought situation at Luwero. Quotations were received from contractors, contracts agreed and work on boring 2 new wells within the Project will begin soon. The rig for digging the wells is on site and we look forward to hearing how the work progresses. A number of you have kindly donated towards the funding of the new wells and we are very grateful to you for that.
Similarly, the team of 20 people who are visiting this summer are focussing their fundraising towards raising funds to contribute towards the costs of the drilling the 2 boreholes: any additional money raised could go towards completing the construction of the girls’ dormitory or buying food to compensate for the poor harvest. We are all taking part in the Glasgow Kiltwalk for this purpose (details are below).
https://glasgowkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/luwero-2019/members
Pastor and Church Leaders’ Conference and Children’s Club
Preparations are in hand for the Pastor and Church Leader’s Conference and Children’s Club being held 29th April to 3rd May. A team of 5 are travelling to Luwero on Friday 26th April.
Three Scottish church leaders (Stuart, Darnell and Ernie) will speak at the conference and two ladies (Karen and Sandra) will assist a Ugandan team with the Children’s Club. The Children’s Club theme is ‘Jesus is alive today’.
This year’s conference theme is ‘Renewing our Covenants with God’. Each speaker will have approximately nine sessions at the conference over three and a half days. Stuart will speak on Covenants in the Bible, Darnell on the Five Purposes of the Church (Evangelism, Discipleship, Worship, Fellowship and Ministry) and Ernie on Selected Psalms. In parallel with the pastor and church leader’s conference, there will be 3 x 1½ day modules run consecutively over 4½ days for ICCU:-
[1] God’s Plan of Salvation (Romans 1-6),
[2] Christian Discipleship (Colossians 1-4)
[3] Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
A total of four and a half days will be taught at the ICCU (International Christian College, Uganda) which has been established at Luwero. Our three conference speakers will rotate between the conference and college. A cohort of 32 students will attend.
Farm News
The work of the farm continues, despite the hostile conditions it is facing to grow. Crops have been planted recently and we pray that they will grow and provide food for the Project. The really good news is that some rain fell on Luwero recently and we hope and pray that this continues. Please remember to keep praying for rain to sustain the crops.
School News
Dormitory Construction
Following the hiatus in construction work on the boys and girls dormitory blocks at the secondary school, I am delighted to be able to tell you that work has recommenced and is progressing, albeit slowly due to lack of water.
School Roll Figures
The confirmed school rolls for this academic session are:
399 children are attending the primary school
196 children are attending the secondary school.
Secondary Headteacher Leaves
Aminah, the long-standing Headteacher of Luwero Community Secondary school has resigned her post so that she can spend more time with her two young sons. She leaves with the good wishes of all at Luwero and she hopes that the Project continues to thrive.
Marion’s Visit
Marion, a former ICC Glasgow student with Gabriel, travelled to Luwero recently to spend a fortnight visiting the project. I am delighted to include a short report from her on her visit.
My return to Uganda after more than 10 years was all I had hoped it would be. The opportunity to catch up with old friends and participate in the lives of women and children in Luwero was as heart-warming as I remembered.
I ran a 4-day conference on ‘The empowerment of women and womens’ role in the church’. I helped out in the nursery classes and the primary school.
My first teacher asked me to draw 10 wall charts for her …. my worst nightmare, since I can’t draw two straight lines! It took me 3 hours! The next teacher gave me craft to do – my next worst nightmare. I really think God was having a good laugh. I moved on to marking – much more my style and also some interactive Geography and Science teaching. I loved being back in the classroom albeit with 56 pupils, no electric light and fixed blackboards, the top half of which I couldn’t reach!
I was invited to preach on the first Sunday I was there. The African style of worship is so joyous with the drums and dancing I was more than happy to join in.
The Ugandan diet was just as I remembered! If I never see another banana this year it will be too soon, not to mention goat and beans! Though the fresh pineapple and mango were amazing.
The best thing of all, apart from renewing relationships, was to see how the projects I’d been involved in had reached fruition. God is so good. Bishop Gabriel’s community has gone from strength to strength in an amazingly short time.
To see how folk live there and how their faith in God sustains them through so much hardship is very humbling. I was incredibly blessed throughout my time of sharing in their lives.
If you have any news that you would like to share with other supporters, please send it to the Luwero CP offices using the address shown on the accompanying email.