Welcome to the April 2024 edition of our Luwero Newsletter
Family
The family are all well except for Peggy, one of the triplets, who continues to struggle with her health. Recently she has had multiple recurrences of her health problems and several visits to the hospital were necessary for various treatments. She is currently responding to medication and is improving.
Church
A new church has been planted at Kamira, the site of our new farm. Regular nightly prayer meetings are being held at the new church. Recently 26 new Christians were baptised in the church at Luwero.
Building the new church
Clinic
A new nurse, Lydia, has been busy at the clinic with many cases of malaria, other sicknesses and infections amongst the children.
Schools
Schools returned for the new academic year at the beginning of February. Currently there are 580 pupils in the primary school and 250 attending the secondary school. Both schools are adequately resourced with teachers and support staff. We have a list of children requiring sponsorship, details of which can be found on our Support page.
Land
The acquisition of the new farm is progressing well, and the full purchase price (approximately £165,000) has been paid. Lawyer’s fees and the cost of transferring the lease and acquiring the freehold have yet to be paid.
Farm
55 acres of land have now been cleared by hand. Thirty acres are ready for planting maize. At present there is a lack of rain and drought conditions have led to two boreholes drying out. In South Sudan, on Uganda’s northern border, all schools were closed due to intense heat and high temperatures. Two water tanks have been purchased for water storage purposes at the farm.
Car
Gabriel’s vehicle needed replacing. Following a visit to an auction of UN vehicles in Kampala, Gabriel was able to secure a good quality second-hand vehicle which met his needs for driving a high mileage, often over rough terrain.
The funds to purchase the vehicle were provided by our German partners. Our UK trust is covering the costs of registration, taxation, and some minor repairs. At present we are also discussing with Gabriel the practicalities of carrying out extensive repairs to his former vehicle to extend its working life.
Pastor’s conference
The conference will take place this year between 5th and 10th May. The theme is ‘The return of the King of kings’.
One of Gabriel’s key coordinators Pr. Peter Kakooza died recently leaving a gap to be filled in the organising team. It is hoped that visiting speakers from the UK and USA will be able to attend to support the conference.
Children’s club
Plans are well advanced for this year’s children’s holiday club to be run in parallel with the pastor’s conference. The team leading the children’s club is fully Ugandan.