Good evening!
I hope you are all well! Thought I would update you all on what we got up at the end of last week and over the weekend.
On Wednesday and Thursday we started to prepare for the children's clubs. Over the course of the year we will be focusing on teaching the children the parables Jesus told. We received help from 'Mama' Carol to prepare the material and plan how we can carry out the lessons most effectively. She is an American missionary, who works a lot with children, so she was a very useful resource to have. She was also very strong in her beliefs that preaching the gospel and showing people Jesus is the most important thing in life. Often bringing up that scenario of when we are stood before God in the afterlife and him asking "why didn't we pray for friends/families/neighbours/the kids at the clubs etc? or tell them about Jesus." I have not really been used to this kinda view on things so it has challenged me in my faith and how I serve God. Perhaps this might sound very strange to any non-christians reading this. However for the Christians reading this, are you seeking to serve God each day and really work for Him? Or is being a Christian just something for a Sunday, and what you can get from being "blessed" by God. Would God be pleased with your 'work' if you were to die today?
On Thursday afternoons we will be taking part in 'community outreach.' This takes place in the slum area. The main aim is to meet with local families and get to know them. Smile International also supports a number of sponsored families in this area. As it was out first week of this, we decided we would go about in a large group, rather than splitting in to smaller groups which will probably happen in the coming weeks. We walked around the various houses meeting a number of families. There were a number of refugees from Congo living there. It was a very strange experience, seeing the conditions people live in first hand. It is almost unimaginable living in the UK. Perhaps the first thing you notice is the smell from the open sewers. It was quite heartbreaking seeing some of the kids in nothing more than rags and living in these conditions. The people were incredibly welcoming and friendly though. The kids very excited to see us, following us round the various houses as we met the people. They all wanted to hold our hands or be carried. I am looking forward to getting to know the people of the community better hopefully finding ways in which we can support them.
On Thursday evening we went along to the choir practice for the Sunday worship. Ruth and I took part in the singing. However on Sunday I didn't actually help with the worship. I plan to take part in coming weeks though. Ruth did take part though so it is good that we are able to get involved at the church.
On Friday we started kids clubs. Currently we run two clubs, one at Family Believers Church (in the slum area) and one at Blessed Word of Life Church. I was helping at the club at Blessed Word, which is about 30 minutes walk from the house. This week we were just welcoming the kids back, playing various games such as "simon says" and "duck, duck, chicken" which was fun. We also sang a couple of short songs such as "our God is a great big God" and also the "hokey cokey" that kinda thing! We then registered the kids and handed out biscuits before we headed home!
On Saturday we went along to the church student group's "fun day." This was a day out to the 'beach' at Lake Victoria. This was really cool to see! This was the first time we'd seen Lake Victoria as when we landed at Entebbe it was already dark. We spent the time there playing games and generally sociaising, getting to know the students from the church. This was good fun and I enjoyed it a lot, hopefully we will get to know the guys better over the coming months.
I didn't actually take any photos over the course of last week..... However I will make an extra effort to take some this week and have a special picture blog or something, so you guys (if anyone's reading this..) can actually see some of the places and people!
Today we started teaching at Ruth Mother Care, however I will update you about our experiences there later on this week!
Thanks for all your prayer support. Those of you praying please pray that we would have strength and energy to carry out the teaching and help support the school. It would be good to pray for the kids clubs too and so we can serve God well and really touch the children's lives.
Hope you are all well,
Kenneth :)
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