A long awaited update...

October has been a busy month for us between one thing and another. As you can imagine there is lots to tell. I will omit the photos for now otherwise this update might take a bit longer to complete.

This month we had more visitors. This time from Switzerland. Simon's two sisters and brother-in-law made a three week visit to Uganda. They were able to enjoy some of the delights of Uganda and took in a trip to Kidepo National Park. They saw lots of animals including a leopard which was a special treat. It was great to spend some time with them and Joshua and Zara loved all the extra attention.

Simon had a special trip out to Buvu Island in Lake Victoria this month with some other members of the MAF team including Sam from Jesus Film Ministries. This day was set aside to go and mark out a possible airstrip and meet with the local people there including visiting a school and donating some gifts. It was a productive day but you could tell that no women were on the team as most of them got sunburned (didn't put enough sunscreen on) and some didn't drink enough water. Simon's face was peeling for days. :)
We now just need to be patient and await what is next for this project on the islands.

Two weeks ago Zara had a school trip to Bananule Primary School. This is a local school that her year supports. The classes had a cake sale and the money raised went towards new school supplies and toys for this local school. Zara's teacher asked if I would join them so Therese (Simon's sister) and I went on the class outing too. The children all mingled well together and even did a dance together which was fun to watch. I will post some photos of the morning in the next few days.

Last week was half term for Joshua and Zara so we decided to take a few days off. We went to Jinja (2 hour drive from Kampala) to a place called Kingfisher. We have been here many times for holidays because it is reasonably priced and has a swimming pool which is a necessity when you have two fish in the family. :) Joshua and Zara swam everyday and almost all day till we had to drag them out of the pool for their meals. They had a fun time especially as some of their friends also turned up for a holiday too so they had plenty of friends to play with.

Zara had her first sleepover this month too. One of the other MAF families has a daughter who is slightly older than Zara and they are good friends even although they now go to a different school. Zara was invited for a sleep over and so we decided to let her do it seen as the family don't live too far from our house. It wouldn't have been too disasterous if we had had to go and get her during the night. As it happened she had a fantastic time and didn't want to come home. This, of course, started a chain of events and before we knew it Joshua was having a friend over for a sleepover. This weekend they both want to invite a friend over for Saturday night. Our family of 4 will increase to 6. We shall see how it goes.

Today Simon was supposed to fly to Congo but due to some difficulties in getting clearances MAF Uganda couldn't fly into Congo and MAF Congo couldn't fly into Uganda. Simon flew up to a place called Arua in Uganda and then the passengers were then transported by road, across the border, into Aru, Congo where they would be picked up by the MAF Congo team. Not the best way to travel but the only solution at the moment. We are praying that the clearances come through soon so normal operations can start again.
Also while Simon was in Arua he got a call for a medical evacuation. A man was having problems with convulsions which the local hospital couldn't deal with. Simon and the OPs team were organising for him to be transported to Mulgao Hospital in Kampala where they have "better" facilities. We pray that his condition will be diagnosed and the correct treatment administered.

A week from Thursday I will be leading the ladies Bible Study in the MAF Office. I would value your prayers as we look at Proverbs 31 - The virtuous woman. The ladies seems excited to study it and i ask for prayer that I would be a clear communicator and that God would guide me as I lead. Pray that these Bible Studies would be life changing and that we would allow God to change us accordingly.

Well I think that gives you a snippet of what is going on with us right now. I will try and do a picture update soon.