Welcome to the June edition of our Luwero Newsletter
Pastor and church leader’s conference
ICCU (International Christian College, Uganda)
Family
The Kijjambu family are all well and thank everyone for their continuing support. Gabriel & Deborah continue to work hard amongst the people they serve in Luwero and elsewhere.
School
Numbers of children attending the kindergarten, primary and secondary schools have now returned to pre-covid levels. The new school term began at the end of May and continues until late August. At the moment about 80 children are sponsored by friends in the UK and approximately 50 children by friends through our sister support organisation in Germany (Christliches Kinderhilfswerk Luwero Uganda – CKLU). Whilst there is always a waiting list for children to be sponsored the UK Board is looking at increasing the number of children covered by our Bursary scheme. This scheme does not link individual children directly with sponsors but enables Gabriel and Deborah, in appropriate circumstances, to subsidise either on a permanent or temporary basis, parents unable to fully fund their children’s school fees.
Pastor and church leader’s conference
This year’s conference, held 15th to 19th May, was attended by around 500 delegates. Gabriel says he has received a lot of positive feedback from those attending the conference which focused on the question, ‘What is wrong with the world?’. As well as plenary sessions there were workshops and question and answer sessions as well as presenting every delegate with a Bible either in English or Luganda. Most of the teaching was presented by two UK speakers (20 sessions between them which included Sunday services) who were supplemented by local visiting guest speakers.
ICCU (International Christian College, Uganda)
In parallel with the pastor’s conference modules dealing with issues such as leadership, pastoring, family life, etc. were taught to a select group of 30 students under the auspices of ICCU. These modules, taught by UK speakers, enabled the completion of a 12-part series of modules which have been taught in parallel with the conference over a number of years. About a dozen students had completed all modules and so they ‘graduated’ this year. In addition to being taught the modules, the students were also taught how to present the modules themselves, and were provided with all the necessary resources on a memory stick (i.e. manuals, PowerPoint slides and videos). It enabled them to teach others all 12 modules using either laptops, iPads or mobile phones.
Children’s Club
A 5-day Children’s Club also ran at the same time as the pastor’s conference. Each day between 350 and 400 children attended between 9.00 am and 2.00 pm. In previous years the Club was always run in conjunction with teams of people from the UK. This year however it was run entirely by a Ugandan team of young people ably led by Patrick, a social worker from Kampala. Eighty children are reported as having made commitments to follow Jesus.
Land
After much searching, over many years, an area of approximately 200 acres of land had been identified as suitable for developing a farm to support the Luwero project. The UK Board commissioned an independent report from an African agriculturalist regarding the suitability of the land for its intended purpose as well as seeking legal advice from Gabriel’s legal agents. Based upon the information and advice received the Board, as a step of faith, decided to proceed with the purchase of the site. It is currently leasehold land which is capable of being converted to freehold property. At present negotiations are under way to purchase the site. The site was visited by one of our Board members following the pastor’s conference.
Visit by Gabriel to UK 2023
Gabriel will be seeking to renew his UK visa which will allow him to visit the UK this autumn. Anyone wishing to have Gabriel visit their church during his time in the UK are requested to contact us via the website. This will be his first visit since 2019.