WUNDERLI WANDERINGS

A prayer request for a friend and her family

2012-01-25T17:06:00.000+02:00

Last week we got a call from Summer, whom we have know for many years, to ask if she could stay with us whilst she got some medical tests done. Summer and her husband work in a place called Kitgum in Northern Uganda. You can read about their ministry in their own blogspot www.fromglory2glory.blogspot.com

The medical tests were to be done to make sure her liver was clear of all malaria parasites as she had been having recurring malaria. Thankfully these tests came back clear but she explained to the tropical disease Doctor that she still wasn't feeling well. The Doctor took some further tests and the tests revealed that she is suffering from anemia due to some internal bleeding. The Doctor recommended that she fly to Nairobi as the correct tests were not available in Uganda. On Friday she will have some exploratory tests done, an endoscopy, colonoscopy and laproscopic biopsy. She flies to Kenya tomorrow and will stay with a friend there before being admitted to the hospital on Friday.

Zane, her husband remains in Kitgum looking after their 13 children. Pray for safety for the family as they are apart and for wisdom for the Doctors to know the cause of Summer's condition. Also that she would have support in Kenya during this difficult time. She is hoping that a friend who returns from the States tonight to Kenya can be with her in the hospital. Pray for God's provision for her in these days.

A trip out west

2012-01-18T19:24:00.001+02:00

Our special wee kiddies

Working our way through the rainforest...sometimes it was on all fours!

Zara and Ruben - best friends

Another wonderful view of God's creation

Enjoying some cool off in the pool together

Happy New Year Update

2012-01-18T18:19:00.000+02:00

This is the first entry for 2012 and already so much has happened. We had a great Christmas spending it with my Mum and different friends during the time we had off. We even escaped for 4 days to the Western part of Uganda for a holiday. The weather was hot hot hot but we enjoyed the time away and we were able to go for walks in the rainforest which was a lot of fun. Hopefully photos to follow.

2012 seems to be going at the same rate as 2011 finished as life is busy for us as usual. Simon had some time off from flying over Christmas although did have to do a flight a couple of days after Christmas for a man in Sudan who had had a car accident. He was not able to be helped in Sudan and so it was recommended that he fly to Kampala for treatment. He had a suspected broken back. Thankfully we heard some days letter that he was well enough to travel back to Sudan and was grateful for all that MAF did for him.

Joshua and Zara are back in school as of last week. They were glad to see their friends again and catch up on all their news. They had a great time over the holiday being spoiled by Granny (as were Simon and I) and doing a lot of fun things with some friends. However, all great things come to an end and so life is getting back into a normal routine again.

Bible studies started for me this week. Today I taught two groups and tomorrow I have another two. The ladies are fun to spend time with and they definately keep me on my toes. We will finish our study through the Book of Genesis in about a months time. After that we will do a short study on prayer before moving into Exodus. Pray for wisdom for me as I prepare these lessons and that God would speak to us all so clearly through His Word.

As some of you know I have been doing some courses in counselling. I hope to develop that further in September this year when I take the second module course to complete the diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The courses in counselling I have completed, along with contacts in this field have been invaluable in recent months. There have been a few people who have been in need of a listening ear and some have needed to be put in touch with a professional for further assistance. It has been a pleasure to be part of this process and help people as they deal with some difficult life situations. Again, I ask that you pray for wisdom for me as I listen and guide in these situations.

Simon is back flying again but also has had time on the ground in his "office". Office days are not his passion but still needs to be done. Along with his medical evacuation of the man with the suspected broken back he also did another medical evacuation for a man with AIDS. He was suffering quite badly and needed some medical treatment in Kampala. The journey by road would have been long and arduous so a MAF flight was a welcome sight when it came.

On a different note our baby rabbits are not too wee anymore and so something had to be done about the prospect of possible more babies. We had to have the vet out a couple of times to our dog, Chewy, who was quite sick with tick fever and an eye infection. It was quite upsetting to see her so unwell but thankfully after a few injections and tablets she was beginning to look like herself again. The vet came again today with the final injection and tablets. While she was here we asked if she could check our "baby" rabbits to see what sex they were. Joshua and Zara found this all highly exciting and wanted to be in on the action. However, Zara was a bit distraught when she found out that it was one of her rabbits, Snowy, who would have to have the operation as that was the only baby rabbit who was a boy. The Daddy rabbit is also hers and she couldn't bear the thought of another one of her rabbits having to be put to sleep. Joshua did a good job of being a compassionate big brother and telling her that he would have her rabbit and she could have his (they are both pure white and apart from the colour of their eyes they look identical). After some consoling she came round to the idea that the wee rabbit would be okay just like Daddy Rocky. Who thought having rabbits and a dog would have such an affect on everyone :)

Well we trust that your 2012 has started well and I leave you with a verse that we looked at today in Bible study - Romans 8:28. May you experience the truth of this verse in your life this year.

Happy Christmas and every blessing for 2012

2011-12-22T09:22:00.001+02:00

Thank you to all our faithful family, friends and supporters who have stood behind us during this past year. We appreciate all that you do for us and we want to wish you a blessed time over this festive season. May you reflect on the true meaning of CHRISTmas in the days ahead.

Matthew 1:18-25

Has rainy season ended???

2011-12-09T07:34:00.001+02:00

As I write the sun is shining outside and there is not a rain cloud in sight. We have had a long rainy season and the temperatures have been quite cool. However, I am sure we will be wishing for rain again in a short while when the dust increases :)

Thanks to all of you who prayed for Simon when he was in Juba last week. He had very full days (a normal day was at least 12 hrs). He did everything from helping one of the staff with their driving after only recently passing his test, organising ground operations and loading and unloading aircraft. He said he found muscles he never knew he had. It was an enjoyable experience for him and gave him a good perspective on the real needs of the team in Juba. One thing that made the job all the more difficult was working in 40c+ degree weather. I think I would have just melted into a puddle.

While Simon was running around in South Sudan Joshua, Zara and I held the fort at home. The kids did really well with Simon gone although they were looking forward to him coming home at the end of the week and so there was much celebration when he walked into the house. He definately knew he was loved :)

Joshua and Zara have their last day at school today. By the sounds of things there won't be much work happening but end of year parties. They are ready for a break and I hear a lot of the parents say that their children are tired. Ours are no different. Of course what adds to the excitement is the fact that my Mum is supposed to arrive today for Christmas. However, the way the weather is in Scotland at the moment we will need to see if she makes it on time. We are praying that it all works out and she arrives he safely.

I had my last Bible studies this week. It has been a great time of studying God's word together and wrestling with some of the passages as we worked through Genesis. It was supposed to be an overview study but there are so many gold nuggets to be found that we ended up taking it at a slower pace. We should be finished Genesis in January when we restart after the children have gone back to school. It is so exciting to see so many women enjoying studying God's Word together. I pray that that passion never goes away. So far it is working out to split the Bible study into two groups and gives people more of a chance for discussion. There is a possibility of another lady joining us in January so the groups seem to get bigger. :) A good problem to have!

This week Zara has been struggling with a cough and I have been battling a cold that I pretended wasn't really coming. However, it has let me know its here and so I pray that it won't linger. Do pray with us for good health over the Christmas holidays and that we have a rest during this time.

Rain, Rain and more Rain

2011-11-28T14:49:00.001+02:00

This month we have seen a lot of rain. This morning when I took eight children to school the road in the valley was pretty much impassable. The water was up to the windscreen of a small bus and one car was already on its side. I was so grateful I didn't have to go that way. As I passed that way on the way to pick up the children the field next to the road was basically a lake. It is going to take a while before all that water recedes. With all this rain comes bad roads or inpassable roads and collapsed houses. As I drove today I saw people putting sandbags in front of their shops and houses so that the water wouldn't enter. I guess too much of a good thing can also be a bad thing....in the dry season we are glad to see the rain.

We are also experiencing a lot of power outs sometimes 24hrs at a time. This has had a detrimental affect on businesses who rely on power to get their work done. It is getting to the point whereby when we have power it is a bonus. The reasons for the power shortages are as long as a piece of string so I won't even try to explain. Last week there were some demonstrations in town as people become ever more frustrated at the situation.

On a different note...Simon is currently off to drier climbs. He is spending a week in Juba and will return on Friday. Due to changes in how we have to do our flights in South Sudan this has meant more work for the MAF team in Juba. Because of this some of our MAF Uganda staff are going up there for one week at a time to do various jobs. We will see what Simon gets up to whilst he is there. No doubt he will get a project or two :)

Work for me has also increased this month. I have gone from teaching two Bible studies to four. The international ladies Bible study has grown so we decided to split it into two groups so it doesn't become impersonal. This means that I teach two on a Wednesday morning. On a Thursday morning I go down to the MAF Guesthouse and teach the staff there and then once that is finished I head to the MAF office to teach one there. Thankfully I have made Friday my day off. My brain is pretty much "mince" by then so its a good thing nothing is normally scheduled. It has been a blessing and privilege to teach these Bible studies and to have ladies from outside of MAF come and join us. This helps us to not become too insular :)

Along with all of that I keep my hand in member care. Sometimes it is just connecting people so that they can talk to the right person; other times its going out for coffee and having a chat with somebody. Just this week there was a request (outside of MAF) for somebody who needed a counsellor. The staff member who needed some help had undergone a severe trauma. We will see if our contacts can start the process of helping this person.

Joshua and Zara are doing well. They keep very busy with school commitments, clubs and, of course, their social life. This week Joshua is taking part in a play at school. He has a dancing part in the play and also has to dress up like an old man. Rather him than me :)

If you think of it pray for Simon in Juba and for us in Uganda. Pray nothing breaks while he is gone :) Our car has undergone a few replacement pieces last week. It is showing its age (20 years) but after some work it has burst into life again. Pray that it has no further problems this week. :)

A last minute visit

2011-11-03T11:32:00.001+02:00

Last Thursday we had Summer and Eden come to stay. We have known Summer and Zane for a number of years now. Zane, in the last two years, has been Pastoring two churchs upcountry in a place called Kitgum as well as developing a farm. They meet under a mango tree for church :).

Summer has been having some health problems and was due to fly to Kenya but because of the recent bombings there decided against it and to wait a couple more weeks. She did, however, need to do some testings which couldn't wait so travelled, with their youngest daughter, Eden, to Kampala. This was an 8 hour bus journey which is not pleasant at the best of times but more so when you are not feeling well.

Thankfully they arrived safely and we enjoyed catching up on their new life in Kitgum. It is very different to what we experience in the City. To get a glimpse of their ministry you can check out their blogspot at http://www.fromglory2glory.blogspot.com

Due to the uncomfortable bus ride and needing an additional trip to the doctor Summer was able to fly back on a MAF plane on the Monday instead of taking the grueling bus trip back on Saturday. Due to the airstrip being in a bad way at Kitgum she had to get off at Gulu and then take a 2 hour bus journey to Kitgum. Still it was better than sitting in the bus for 8 hours :)

Above you will see a picture of Eden with Zara. Joshua and Zara enjoyed having a little sister for the weekend. Thankfully she is used to brothers and sisters as she has 12!. Summer and Zane have two biological children and 11 adopted. They have a busy home :)

Bunny Update

2011-11-03T11:14:00.001+02:00

As you will know from a previous post that we have bunnies. We thought we had 5 babies but it turns out we only have 4 but that is enough to keep up going I can tell you. Joshua and Zara love them and they get cuddled and kissed at any free moment. Some of J and Z's friends come over to play with them too so they have a been a source of great entertainment. It is difficult not to get attached to them because they are so cute and mischievous. I will let you enjoy the photos and see for yourself.

This and that

2011-11-03T10:33:00.000+02:00

For some of you reading this post you are in the midst of Autumn/Fall and heading towards the winter season. For us we are just coming out of a heavy rainy season and cooler temperatures. A couple of weekends ago we went out to visit some friends in the West of Uganda in place called Fort Portal. They are starting a new ministry there which includes discipleship and possible a prison ministry. It was great to see where they are living and have an idea of what their daily life is like. That side of the country is very green and we know why....it rains! It felt more like Scotland in February and it was definately cooler than Kampala. We were also able to hook up with some other people we knew there and also attend Calvary Chapel Fort Portal and to hear of the great work that is happening there.

However, during that time away I wasn't feeling 100% and continued to feel under the weather the following week. A trip to the doctor showed that I had a bacterial infection so antibiotics were required. I just finished the medication the other day and am feeling much better. Praise the Lord for modern medicine.

As I write Simon is currently in Kenya. He left Monday for a Safety Officers/Quality Manager conference. When I skyped with him the other day he said it can get overwhelming what needs to be achieved but as the saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day so one step at a time. We are happy that he will be home tonight and we will all be altogether again.

Thank you to all of you who pray for the Bible Studies I teach. We are having a wonderful time studying together. We are halfway through the book of Genesis and enjoying the time of fellowship together. God is doing an amazing work through His Word. This week we were studying the story of the death of Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah. It was interesting to note that despite the mistakes that Sarah made in her life God considered her a Godly woman and someone we can look up to. This is mentioned in two other places in Scripture. Isn't it great that we serve a God who forgives and uses us despite our weaknesses and failings.

Medevac and installing inverters

2011-10-24T15:21:00.000+02:00

Simon was called on last Thursday to do a medevac (medical evacuation) for a man upcountry. He was very ill with malaria and possibly typhoid also. When Simon arrived at the destination the man was visibly pretty sick. Simon flew him down to Kampala to go to hospital for vital treatment. We haven't had an update yet on his status but pray that he was able to receive the correct medical treatment and is on the road to recovery.

On Saturday Simon flew out to the West of Uganda to a place called Bundibugyo. This town is on the border of Congo. The team he flew out were going to be putting an inverter system in for their mission organisation. The plan was for MAF to fly them in and then they would stay overnight and return by bus the following day. This journey takes just over an hour by plane but many hours by bus. I know which one i would choose :). Thankfully Simon has had experience with inverters (a system that enables power when the main source of electricity is off.....a regular occurence in Uganda) as he put our one in and also the MAF guesthouse. Due to this he was able to spend the day helping the team put it all together which meant they finished earlier than planned. Because of this he was able to bring the team back in the plane to Kajjansi which meant they didn't have to take the bus the next again day. Praise the Lord for a handy husband!!!

Rocky, Fang and the babies

2011-10-21T17:20:00.000+02:00

This wee bunny is nicknamed "Baby Rocky" because of his colouring. He is like his Daddy.

Zara holding one of the white ones for the first time.

Joshua holding one of the smaller babies....maybe the runt of the litter :)

We had just gone swimming hence the lack of clothes on Joshua and Zara :)

Fang the mummy rabbit who did all the hard work. The picture of Rocky didn't come out well so we will show him another time.

The Wunderli family has significantly grown in the last month. When we returned from furlough we had promised that Joshua and Zara could have rabbits. To cut a long story this was achieved and we were the proud owners of Rocky (boy) and Fang (girl). Joshua had picked the girl rabbit unbeknownst to him at the time and Zara the boy. Hence the names :). Well 31 days later we are now the proud owners of an additional 5 rabbits. Joshua happened to be down at the hutches when Fang was giving birth. He saw two of them being born and was very excited about it all. One of them fell out so had to be rescued but seems to be doing alright. That was a bit of a drama as Zara was crying thinking it was going to die. Fang must have wondered what on earth was going on. Anyway I will let you enjoy the photos of the babies. They are a bit bouncy so it was difficult to capture them all at the same time and get them to stay still for any length of time. However, they are very cute and its difficult not to appreciate them.

A trip to R.O.S.S

2011-10-06T10:01:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday Simon was supposed to fly to Torit in the new country of the Republic of South Sudan. However, the passenger that he was to pick up had been out of communication contact so it wasn't sure if the flight was going to happen or not. However, about 9am the office got a phone call to say that the passenger had made contact and was ready to be picked up. Simon called me to say he was heading out to the airstrip to do the flight. In a moment of impulse (not usual when it comes to things like this :) ) I asked if I could join him and he said that it would be a good day to go as he was only picking up one passenger. South Sudan was the only country that I hadn't been to yet with MAF and was one of my goals before we left Uganda (if we ever leave Uganda). Simon picked me up on the way to Kajjansi and while he was pre-flighting the 206 (it wasn't going to be a fast flight) I talked with some of the team members from MAF Holland who were visiting our programme this past week.

Soon after Simon and I set off for R.O.S.S and I appreciated flying over Uganda again and seeing the changes in the landscape as we flew. On approach to Torit we crossed some rugged terrain and also dodged some weather systems. It was amazing to see the cloud formations at 10,000 ft and marvel at the size of them. It was remarkable to watch Simon navigate these clouds and find holes that I couldn't see until we were closer. I was thankful I was flying with an experienced pilot who knew his weather :)

On arriving at Torit we met with our passenger who works with Sh*lter f*r L*fe in Sudan. This organisation works with farmer and tillers of the land to help them move from just sustenance farming and to think bigger and work towards commercial farming. This organisation provides tools and seeds to the farmers to help them on their way. I am always amazed when I get to fly with Simon and meet some of the organisations that are working up country. It is fascinating to learn of the work that they are involved in and the difference they are making to peoples lifes.

It took us just over two hours to fly to Torit and we would have the same journey home. I couldn't imagine doing the journey by road and, again, it was an invaluable experience to see how MAF makes a difference in people and organisations lives.

On our approached to Entebbe Airport there was quite a bit of traffic in the air. You would think it would be quite easy to spot other planes around you but it wasn't easy at all. It makes you realise how important air traffic control is for a pilot. We landed safely at Entebbe and Simon was able to take the passenger through immigration before getting back on the plane again to fly him 6 minutes to Kajjansi.

When I told Joshua and Zara that I had got to fly with Simon they were definately jealous and would have skipped school to go to. Thankfully Joshua and Zara have both had the privilege of flying with Simon on occasions to experience more of life in Uganda. They are looking forward to their next holidays and the possible opportunity again.

Through the Bible

2011-10-03T14:41:00.000+02:00

Since returning from furlough I have restarted the Bible studies. This time we are doing things a bit different in that we are going through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We, obviously, can't go quite as deep as we would if we were just taking one book at a time but the idea is that we will see the big picture of what the Bible is all about.

The International group always seems to change each time due to the ever transient ex-pat community. However, as good friends leave new friends come and we have been blessed with new people this term.

This week and next we will be looking at the story of Abraham. It is a fascinating story and much can be learned from his life for us today. As I was studying today one of the main things that seemed to pop out was the fact that we can't rush God. God has a plan for our lives and we so often want to hurry God and help Him along. When that happens it seems to go quite pear shaped. We see this when Abram travelled to Egypt with Sarai and passed her off only as his sister in fear that the Pharaoh would kill him. (Gen 12:10-20) We see Sarai influencing her husband for the worst in asking him to take Hagar so that they can have a child (Gen 16) and there are also other instances of people taking matters into their own hands throughout the Bible.

As we have studied these first few chapters of Genesis one of the things that was highlighted was the fact that women have a great influence over men. We see that with Adam and Eve where Eve gave the forbidden fruit to her husband. We see it with Sarai giving Hagar to Abram so that they might have an offspring even although God promised this to Abram personally in 15:4 without the need of a maidservant. The choices we make today can have long lasting consequences for the future long after we are gone.

Abram, in 15:6, believed the Lord and He credited it to him as righteousness. In 13:4b Abram called on the name of the Lord. May we learn from Abram's example in this.

Pray with us that as we study God's word together that it won't be just for knowledge sake but will impact the way we live our lives with one another and those we come in contact with.

This and that...

2011-10-03T14:01:00.002+02:00

Thank you to all of you who prayed for Simon last week on his trip to Tanzania and Rwanda. The flight time was long and the weather proved a challenge but everything went as planned. The group that he flew were able to complete what they wanted so mission accomplished. We were glad to have him safely back on Wednesday evening. He did take some photos which I hope to post once I have downloaded them off his phone :)

This month has been a busy month for visitors not only personally but also for MAF Uganda generally. Last week we had a team from MAF Denmark visit the programme. Many of whom had never visited the field before but took an opportunity to come and visit and see what it was like for themselves. They were able to go on a MAF flight as well as take in some local sights. A MAF colleague and I took three of the ladies to one of the Christian Martyrs Shrine just outside of Kampala. This gave the history of 22 martyrs who bravely died for their faith. 13 of the martyrs were burned at this site between 1885 and 1887. It made us consider if our backs were against the wall would we willingly die for our faith. Good to be challenged by these questions now and again.

Over the weekend some Dutch business ladies who do support work for MAF Holland visited the programme. We took four of them to church yesterday and then spent some time talking with them over coffee afterwards. Today Simon is flying them to the North of Uganda whereby they will be on the ground for a few hours in Pader looking at a project there. This will give them first hand knowledge of the work that MAF does and the people that we support through flying and other means. We trust this will give them an even greater vision for supporting the work of MAF around the world.

Unforgettable moments

2011-09-27T08:41:00.000+02:00

Some details in this post have been left out for privacy purposes. The names used have also been changed.

You never quite know what a day will bring. Last Friday John who does some work for us and another MAF family came to me to tell me that his wife Sarah wasn't doing well healthwise. She was pregnant and had been having trouble with high blood pressure. I sent him home so he could take his wife to the hospital. Later that afternoon he called me to tell me that the doctors had confirmed that their baby had died. This was going to be their first child. Anyone who has lost a child will be able to identify with this family in their grief and sorrow. A friend and I went into the hospital on Saturday to be with John and Sarah during this difficult time. Due to them not being from Uganda they didn't have many family members around them for support. We arrived to find his wife Sarah in a room with 3 other ladies and coming to terms with her loss. We managed to find a doctor to speak to who explained what had happened and what the procedure would be from now. The high blood pressure was still an issue but they were treating it. In the afternoon they gave her inducing medication. However, the baby wasn't born until Sunday afternoon so it was a worrying time for them.

One thing that really struck me as we prayed and talked with them was the fact that they would never hear their baby laugh or cry or be able to hold him and enjoy those special first moments. Due to being in the maternity section of the hospital these were sounds that we could hear. During a time of prayer a lady in the next bed was soon in the midst of giving birth and then was whisked away to the labour room. As I write it is difficult to convey the sights, smells and sounds that we saw but is one I won't forget.

Another issue that they faced was where the baby should be buried. Because they are not from Uganda they didn't own land for this purpose. Thankfully someone we knew came to the rescue and organised something for them. John asked that we would come to the burial so my friend and I went to the hospital on Sunday night for the burial only to find that the place that they had chosen wasn't suitable. Now what do we do? Thankfully other arrangments were hastily made which meant our car needed to be used as a taxi and a hearse. The little card board box, which acted as a coffin for their son, sat protectedly on John's knee as we bumped along to the burial sight. When we got to the place where their baby boy was to be buried it was pitch black as the power was out and it was already late. The price had to be negotiated with the owner of the land so us "mzungus" (white foreigners) couldn't be present. We walked up a narrow, very dark lane and using our mobile phones as flash lights found the house we would wait in. As we entered this one room house there was a little light that was bright enough to disturb the darkness. This enabled us to see each other and find where we would sit. We chatted with the lady and her two children while we waited. Other wee faces appeared in the doorway through the course of the time we spent there and so we shook quite a few little hands that evening. The time came for us to leave as the baby had been buried and John said he would go back the next day in the daylight to attend to the grave. Everyone went their separate ways and were left with their thoughts of the day.

Please pray for this family when you think of them as they deal with the loss of their son whom they never got to spend time with on this earth. Pray that they might know God's love and comfort during this time and that we would be sensitive to their needs during the days ahead.

Furlough Photo update

2011-09-22T14:41:00.000+02:00

A beautiful part of the world - Bonnie Scotland

Who says the weather is not good enough in Scotland for some time on the beach? :)

Joshua and Zara look more ready for a trip to the moon with those helmets rather than karting

A wee trip to a Highland Games - Tossing the caber was one of the competitions

Joshua and Simon on the boat to visit the seals

This was the 1st August in Switzerland. Waiting for the fireworks to start.

Joshua and Zara with Alison Haswell. Alison was their first teacher at Rainbow International in Uganda but who has since moved onto work at a school in Switzerland. We were able to catch up with her and her family in Bern, Switzerland. It was a lot of fun to hang out together again. Joshua and Zara really enjoyed it and we got to meet wee Emily Zara!

The bears in Bern

Joshua and Zara enjoying an ice cream before their hike in the Swiss Alps.

Due to an unforeseen delay on our return to Uganda we ended up having to spend two days in London. We took advantage of this time to see some of the sights albeit by bus. Joshua and Zara slept a bit of the journey due to a very late night the night before but it was a fun day and the weather was perfect.

We took Joshua and Zara to a climbing wall one afternoon. Zara was like a wee monkey climbing up as if she had been doing it all her life. Mmmmmm I wonder where she has grown up??? :)

It has taken me a long time to download these photos so I apologise that they are not in any specific order. These were some of the fun things we got to do in between all the speaking and visiting of family, friends and supporters. Enjoy!

Speedy update

2011-09-21T14:14:00.001+02:00

Since returning from furlough life has been a bit of a sprint. The Apostle Paul likened life to a race but more of a marathon that a 100m dash over and over again. I am hoping that from now it will be more like a steady marathon. Time will tell. :)

Since I last wrote we have had friends stay with us who now work on the western side of Uganda who needed to renew their visa for living in Uganda. These things are never straightforward but thankfully they were able to get it by going to Rwanda and then coming back into Uganda again. I think, however, they had more faith than I did because they opted to take the bus. Not sure they will repeat the experience in a hurry though.

We also have had MAF's Pastor Care member, Tony Horsfall, staying with us for a week as he met with all the MAF Uganda families as well as leading our Fellowship Day last Friday and our first MAF Uganda retreat at the weekend. Tony worked through the book of Nehemiah. It was an encouraging time. We valued the time he spent with us personally and Joshua and Zara enjoyed having a "Grandfather" figure in the house.

I (Pam) have begun a new Bible study series with the ladies. We are doing a walk through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. How long this going to take is anybody's guess. We are on our third week and we have just finished the flood. It has been a great time of fellowship as we learn from one another and from God and His word. It is exciting to see people passionate about the Bible and when someone exclaims "I had never read that before....wow that is amazing". One thing that is an overarching theme as we start in Genesis is the greatness of God and His true love for humanity. Right from the outset He was preparing a Messiah that we might be redeemed from our sin. Praise the Lord.

Simon started back in Uganda at a fast pace also. Last week he flew 6 days and this week he has had less flights but more meetings with an organisation called EMI who are looking at ways we can develop Kajjansi (where MAF's airstrip, Hangar and possible future office will be). Simon has been involved in plans and coming up with ideas on how this will all work out. It is something he enjoys and makes his job with MAF quite varied :).

Joshua and Zara are settling back into life in Uganda. It has taken Joshua longer to settle this time. He is a wee boy who likes order and doesn't welcome surprises in his day so between furlough (Scotland and Switzerland), returning to Uganda, possibly Mum being in Kenya for 4 days and having guests has meant that life isn't quite as structured as he would like. However, we are hoping and praying that as things have quietened down a bit he will also feel more settled.

Back from Nairobi

2011-09-06T10:59:00.001+02:00

I am now back in Kampala after spending 4 days in Nairobi last week with the Advisory Council for MMCT EA(Mobile Member Care Team East Africa). This was a first for MMCT EA (made up of 2 staff members currently) to have such an Advisory Council and it was a blessing to be part of the group. There were 4 Advisory Council members there full time, one person joined us who was passing through Nairobi from Sudan onto Thailand (and I thought I had a crazy week of travelling) and then we had two people join us via skype for one part of it. It was a rich environment and lots of ideas were put forward aswell as gathering additional resources for our member care roles within our organisations. There was time for prayer and worship, showing how far MMCT EA has come, staffing needs, tactical planning, signs to look out for when a person might need professional help and looking at the member care needs of hot spots in Africa to name but a few.

Now it is time to process all the information and see how things can move forward in 2012. There are plans to hold SYIS courses (Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills) and possibly a MCMC (Member Care while Managing Crisis) aswell as other events that are yet to be nailed down.

It is exciting to see how MMCT EA will and already does, to an extent, help people on the field whether it be a national staff or international staff member. We look forward to what God has in store in the future.

On my last day there I had the opportunity to visit Tumaini Counselling Centre in Nairobi. This is a place where people can go for counselling and debriefs. You check out all that they offer you can click on the link beside this posting. I will also put a link to the MMCT at some point.

By the end of the 4 days it was good to know I was going home to see Simon, Joshua and Zara again. However, as seems to be a trend at the moment I was delayed in flying out of Nairobi due to a problem with the plane. All passengers had to disembark and go back into the terminal to await the readiness of another plane. Thankfully, one was available and so I was able to go home that night albeit a bit later than planned.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and MMCT during this time. It was much appreciated and prayers were definately answered.

We made it....

2011-08-29T12:42:00.000+02:00

After a unplanned stop in London for two days we finally made it back to Uganda. On arriving at Zurich airport we were told that we would miss our connecting flight to Uganda due to the delay of the British Airways flight to London. The reasons we were given for this was bad weather or a closed runway at Heathrow. We never found out which one it was. Anyway British Airways gave us the options of re-routing through Johannesburg and picking up a flight there to Uganda or waiting two days and flying direct from London to Entebbe. We opted for the latter. The thoughts of sitting on a plane all those hours didn't inspire us at all.

We made use of our time in London as we had one full day. We took a bus tour round London and saw many of the sights that I had only seen on TV. Yes, I had never been in the centre of London before. I know it sounds crazy but the opportunity never presented itself and there were always other places to go. Anyway now I can officially say I have been in London. Joshua and Zara slept quite a bit on the bus tour as they didn't get to bed till 1am that morning. However, it all worked out and we made it back to Uganda on Friday morning.

Chewy, our dog, was so excited to see us and made us feel very welcome. She ran around the house (outside) and didn't let us our of her sight in case we thought about leaving again.

The weekend was busy due to unpacking and friends that popped in to say hi on their way to Rwanda. However the bus they had planned to take was full so they stayed the night with us and departed last night. They will come back and stay with us on their return this week.

Yesterday we had a houseful for Sunday lunch as more friends came over so it was a fun time of catching up and enjoying some fellowship time together. Today is very quiet as Joshua and Zara started school and Simon started flying.

However it is good to be back home and getting back into a routine again after two months away. Thanks to all of you who made us most welcome for either breakfast, coffee or dinner. It was good to see you. Sorry to all of you whom we didn't see this time around. Maybe next time.

As usual we seem to be in the fast lane on our return to Uganda. Tomorrow morning I head to Nairobi, Kenya for the Mobile Member Care Advisory Council meetings. I am looking forward to what is planned and how, as a board, we can move things forward in Member Care for East Africa. I will let you know how it went on my return. I would also value your prayers for these meetings that God would lead us to what He has planned. Also for Simon, Joshua and Zara as they remain in Kampala that all would be well.

Well this is just a wee update and to let you know that we got back safely. Thanks for your prayers.

Furlough happenings....

2011-08-09T11:28:00.000+02:00

It has been some time since I have updated our blog. I am not sure where the time goes whilst on furlough. We are now in Switzerland and are half way through our time here. We had a good visit with people in Scotland for one month and enjoyed catching up with family and friends. We spoke at two regional speaking events, one in Dundee and one in Edinburgh. We were also able to have the MAF Flight simulator at the Dundee event which gave people an idea of what it is like to fly with MAF. Thankfully if you don`t land well no damage is done unlike the real thing :). I also had a shot at it and I don`t think Simon will be calling me to be his co-pilot anytime soon. As always there is never enough time to get round everyone but hopefully if we didn`t see you this furlough we will on our next trip.

Our time in Switzerland has been made up of meetings, medical checks, new passports for Simon, Joshua and Zara and other bits and pieces. A few of our speaking enagements are towards the end of our time on furlough. I will be sharing with Simon`s home Church "Seniors" at their afternoon meeting on Wednesday 17th August. We will also be sharing about Uganda at the MAF Day near Bern on Saturday 20th August and at Simon`s church here in Meilen on the 21st with a brunch. During the rest of the time we have had breakfasts, lunches and evening meals with different people giving them a personal update on what is happening with us and the work we do in Uganda with MAF.

We will be heading back to Uganda on the 23rd August. Please pray for Uganda as food prices have sky rocketed as well as fuel. Electricity is off every other day and so daily life is a struggle for many. Pray for wise decisions to be made by the government and that basic essentials will be affordable again.

Please pray for our remaining two weeks in Switzerland that we would share clearly what is on our hearts concerning our life and work in Uganda with the people we meet.

Thank you to all of you whom we had the pleasure of spending time with. Thanks for making us feel most welcome and being interested in what we do. I will post some pictures on the blog once we arrive back in Uganda.

New Airstrip opening and other flight stories

2011-06-14T10:01:00.000+02:00

Last week Simon and another Swiss pilot, Hansjoerg Schlatter landed for the first time at a brand new airstrip at Ibba in Southern Sudan. This airstrip has been built by the Diosese of Ibba to help the people there who have such difficulty with transport in that remote area.

I have included some photos of this event to give you an idea of what it looks like. It is amazing the difference an airstrip can make to a remote area.

The first landing of an aircraft and it was a MAF one :)

A group photo of all the people that attended the opening ceremony

Simon walking the airstrip to measure it out.

The speeches at the opening ceremony

Yesterday (Sunday) we were able to respond to a request from International Hospital to medevac a patient from Mweya. A man had a complicated fracture of his leg. He had previously had a hip replacement operation and he had stepped wrongly and fell causing his leg to twist and break. The flight time from Mweya was 1Hr 15 minutes. The alternative would have been around a 6 hour drive in an ambulance over very bumpy roads so he could arrive at the hospital for treatment. Please pray for Michael as he receives treatment for his injury.

Our Operations Manager read a newspaper story last week of 2 ladies who had died whilst giving birth.The hospital they were at is not one that MAF supplies blood with, as there are reasonable roads in that area - but they had still run out of blood and were unable to give a lifesaving blood transfusion to either of these two ladies. This really underlined how important it is that blood is available when and where it is needed. It is a reminder of how important the MAF blood deliveries are for the hospitals and people of Northern Uganda, and of the lifesaving service MAF provides in getting the supplies to the remote areas we serve.

SYIS

2011-05-23T08:49:00.000+02:00

Last week I attended a week long course on Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills (SYIS) by the Mobile Member Care Team (MMCT). This course is designed that those who go through it might help others in their own organisation. The task it too big to rely solely on professional care-givers and so Christian leaders must take some responsibility also to help those who struggle both with personal, interpersonal and work related problems.

Some of the areas we covered this past week were:

Looking at relationship killers
Listening skills
Drawing people out
Helping other solves problems
Confronting well including receiving confrontation well
Building trust
Lving in community
Managing conflicts
Helping others grieve well
Managing stress
Maintaining margin
The battle for moral purity
Being an encourager

The course was designed with lots of interaction, practice times, discussions, as well as theory. Now the big question is what do I do with it all now. The first thing I am planning is to look at ways that MAF can incorporate a more structured way of doing Member Care. How that will look in reality is not clear yet but definately a goal worth pursuing. I will keep you updated as to the developments that take place.

If you would like to know more about the Mobile Member Care Team you can visit their website at http://www.mmct.org/

Furlough looms

2011-05-09T14:53:00.000+02:00

I am not sure where the time has gone in 2011 as it feels like Christmas wasn't that long ago. Be that as it may the reality is that we are in now in the month of May and our furlough starts in June.

We have been looking at ways to make our furlough more efficient in the sense of getting round to see as many people as we can. We appreciate that many of you support us both in prayer and through finances and that it would be good for us to touch base with you. The way that we are going to do that is to have two regional events, one in Dundee and one in Edinburgh. The one in Dundee will be held at Broughty Ferry Baptist Church and the one in Edinburgh will be at Wester Hailes Baptist Church.

If you would like to attend either one of these events then the dates and times are noted below:-

Broughty Ferry Baptist Church
Dundee area
Scotland
28 June 2011
7:30pm

Wester Hailes Baptist Church
Edinburgh
Scotland
3 July 2011
4pm

We will also be speaking at Simon's home church in Meilen, Switzerland.

Chrischona
Meilen
Switzerland
21 August 2011

If you would like more information then please do get in contact with us regarding either of these events.

If you would like to meet us on a one to one basis it would be help if you would contact us direct at pam.wunderli@maf-uganda.org and then we can set up a day and time.

We look forward to catching up with you and thank WHBC, BFBC and Chrischona Meilen for being willing to open their churches for us that we might share what God is doing through us in MAF in Uganda. We also thank the team at MAF Scotland for being involved in the organisation of the event in Dundee.

If you have any further questions or queries then you can contact us at the email address above.

Sorry to those friends and supporters in the States as we will not be going Stateside this furlough. One of these days we do hope to make it. :)

Just another day in the air....

2011-05-06T12:50:00.000+02:00

Usually when I ask Simon how his day has gone I get the standard answer fine, went either according to plan or almost :). Yesterday when I asked him the same question he said yes ok although one of the planes had a problem with its alternator and had to cut short its flight and return to MAF's aistrip in order to be fixed. However, the pilot returned the plane and picked up another plane to complete some of the stops. Due to this Simon's day didn't turn out as it was originally planned and a lot of dialogue went on to ensure that passengers weren't inconvenienced too much by this unplanned problem and help was given by the staff in Juba, Sudan also in order for the passengers to make it to their intended destination.

Today Simon was supposed to fly to Bunia, East DRC but the days plan changed again as the MAF Congo team's plane was in for maintenance and couldn't complete a flight that had been planned for. Simon picked up the charter and was able to combine that with his shuttle run to Bunia. He will now do an interior flight within Congo. I believe, he hasn't been to these strips before so it will be something new for him.

I realise more and more you have to be flexible in this "job" as you never know what a day is going to bring. For the pilots it just another day in the "office".

MAF Congo team have asked for prayer due to the LRA (rebel group) being active in the northern parts of E DRC. They carried out attrocities in Uganda in the past years but have now moved into E DRC and other places. Just recently there was an attack on two towns. Pray for those who have suffered at the hands of the LRA. It is unimaginable the suffering that these people have gone through.

Member Care

2011-05-04T16:48:00.000+02:00

Some of you might remember last year I did a course with the Mobile Member Care Team on How to Manage Crisis. This was a course designed to help people who have gone through a trauma whether it be within their own mission but not limited to. We addressed issues such as grief and loss, chronic stress, burnout, anxiety and depression to list just a few. It was a very helpful course and so I have been working towards becoming a peer responder. One who would be a point of contact to help someone manage a crisis that they have just gone through or presently going through. In two weeks time I will be attending another course by the Mobile Member Care Team on Sharpening your Interpersonal Skill (SYIS). During this time I will be discussing with MMCT how I can get more involved in this line of work. The plan is to then be able to develop this kind of support within MAF if a need arises. More talks on how this would work will be addressed with someone from MAF International in September.

As you might be aware missionaries/ex pats living overseas can face different circumstances than people from their own home countries. Armed robberies, unrest, car hijacking, insecurity are just a few things that can happen on a fairly regular basis in some countries that people serve in. Often times there is not a support network in place to help people who have been through a trauma hence the reason a MMCT East Africa branch has been opened up. It is great to have people on the field with the expertise to help people through a crisis. This can be a major deciding factor on whether the individual or family concerned remain on the field. We hope by developing this support network within MAF and leaning on the expertise of the MMCT that MAF missionaries and national staff will feel supported when they go through a difficult situation.

In addition to this I have been asked to go on their Advisory Council. The purpose of the Advisory Council ... "is to help the EA team understand member care needs and priorities in the region, to give feedback about how people are using our services and how we might improve, and to encourage and pray for the EA team."

I am honoured to have this opportunity and to gain experience from those in this field. The first meeting of the Advisory Council will be in Nairobi, at the end of August, when we return from furlough. I will keep you up to date as to how it all goes and what developments might take place.

Peace within but not peace without

2011-05-02T16:24:00.001+02:00

We are getting used to Uganda having security issues but last Friday went to a whole new level. There was widespread chaos around Kampala which you can read about in detail on the BBC or other news websites. This would not be the right place to talk politics :) The results for us and for many meant that we were to stay at home until it subsdided. Thankfully we were getting regular updates from the B* High Commission as to where to avoid and where the main problem areas were. For some weeks now there has been a strong police presence and that is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

Simon ended up doing an extra flight to Congo in the afternoon due to the pilot who was scheduled to do the flight not being able to get to the airstrip because of the insecurity. Simon on his way home from the airstrip witnessed the aftermath of rioting on Entebbe Road with rocks and evidence of burning tyres etc. Doesn't seem to take long before a situation can turn for the worst.
Joshua and Zara were at school but the school were keeping abreast of the situation also and informing us of what was happening. When I arrived at school to pick up Joshua and Zara I was told by one of their teachers that they had been kept in most of the day due to shooting not too far from the school. They didn't want any to take the risk of stray bullets finding a target. Thankfully the children appear to take it all in their stride. Definately a very different school experience than I ever had as a child.

As most of you know last Friday was a special day in England with the Royal Wedding. I managed to watch some of the event with two friends as one of them had cable TV. It was a bit surreal watching a Royal Wedding with all its pomp and circumstance and then listening to gun fire and tear gas being shot off not far from where we were sitting. There wasn't much else we could do as we couldn't travel anywhere so it was a good way of taking our minds off what was going on around us.

As I was studying the book of Hebrews today in preparation for Wednesdays Bible study I was very much aware that we serve a Prophet, Priest and King who is far superior than anyone we will ever have on earth. One that is in full control and knows the end from the beginning.

Hebrews 4:14-16 - We truly serve the High Priest and can approach Him with confidence in our time of need. Amen!!!

Catch up time

2011-04-23T11:25:00.000+02:00

It has been a while since I have given an update and that is largely due to Joshua, Zara and I being unwell and then having some holidays in the west of Uganda for the Easter school break.

Prior to the holidays Joshua first of all came down with a stomach bug which lasted about a week on and off. Then Zara and I came down with it. Thankfully Joshua and Zara only had a stomach bug and it righted itself within in a few days although Zara was given medication from the doctor to stop her being sick. I, unfortunately, had an amoeba (will let you google that one :). I haven't felt that sick in a long time. The medication also had some side effects so it took a while to get over it. Thankfully, as of today we are all healthy again.

Simon and I took some days off while Joshua and Zara were on school break. We headed with our tent to the west of Uganda to Lake Albert. It took us 3 hours on a tarmac road and then a further 2 hours on a dirt road to finally arrive at our destination. If we had taken a MAF plane we would have been there in 50 minutes. Ah the luxury of flying! Anyway we enjoyed the drive as we got to see parts of Uganda that we hadn't seen before. It was a hot few days and not cooling much below 100F each day. Thankfully the lodge had a small swimming pool which we were able to take advantage of which cooled us down somewhat.

We had plenty of adventures while we were there. Two nights we slept in the tent, well Joshua, Zara and I did and Simon slept in his hammock outside. The third night the owner of the lodge came to us and asked if we would like to use one of his little cottages as he wasn't busy at all. We took him up on his offer since we hadn't slept much the last two nights due to the wind blowing quite strongly.

Throughout the week we encountered snakes, one being a black mamba (a very poisonous snake) which was in the cottage two down from us. The owner of the lodge is a hunter so he came with his rifle and shot it. It was 8ft long. Photos to come. The next day I was lying on the bed reading when something dropped from the roof, it was a bit of the grass (thatched cottage) and low and behold in the rafters was a snake. Thankfully it wasn't that big and we found out later that it was a grass snake so we were in no danger. Felt a bit odd going to bed that night not knowing where the snake was though. Praise the Lord for mosquito nets.

Joshua and I also encountered a very large baboon which kept popping out of the bush as if it was stalking us. Thankfully it didn't try and come in and steal any food. They can be known to be quite vicious. I had plenty things nearby to throw at him if he did try and come any closer :)

A couple that stayed at the lodge for two nights were professional hunters from the States. One night they had gone out and killed a very large warthog. We were able to go and see the staff skin and prepare the skin for it to be sent to the States in two or so months time. It was quite the sight. Joshua and Zara enjoyed all these experiences and thankfully took them all in their stride.

Unfortunately we had to cut our holiday short due to Joshua having very bad earache. We drove back to Kampala on Sunday and went straight to the clinic. He was given ear drops and then to come back in three days for his ear to be syringed. He is back to normal now and in no pain which we are grateful for.

Another blessing of coming back on Sunday which, we believe, God orchestrated was that we missed the riots on the Monday. During the time we were away there were some problems around Uganda including Kampala due to the increase in fuel and food costs. The road we would have travelled into Kampala on was a hot spot for trouble which included riot police and tear gas. We were glad we didn't have to witness that. There has been more trouble this week but thankfully we are getting reports from the British High Commission and from other sources as to where the trouble is located so we just stay at home or avoid those areas. We would value your prayers for Uganda that these troubles don't escalate into what we are seeing further north in Africa.

A family day out...

2011-03-11T16:17:00.002+02:00

Joshua and Zara playing before they go on the Northern shuttle flight round Uganda

Simon preflighting the plane and getting the plane ready for the arrival of passengers

Showing our position on one of the legs of our flight

Flying over a village on our way to Kaabong

Kaabong airstrip which looked more like a disused path from the air

More scenery as we were flying from place to place

Joshua enjoying some time outside the plane at Kaabong

Kalongo - one of the first places I flew to when I arrived in Uganda over 9 years ago

Children excited at the arrival of a plane. Simon had a challenge keeping them away from the plane when he started up again. Thankfully security came and were able to move them out of harms way.

A boy taking a stroll along the airstrip coming to see what all the commotion was about.

Zara stretching her legs when we arrived at Kaabong

Due to an extended half term break for Joshua and Zara because of elections and possible unrest we took the opportunity as a family to go on a flight with Simon. It was fun to be able to visit places that I hadn't flown to before although the names the names were very familiar. Great time had by all.

Elections this week

2011-02-14T17:08:00.002+02:00

On Friday we have elections here in Kampala. So far it has been peaceful and there have been no cases of riots. This week we are seeing more and more rallies taking place as the time gets closer to people voting. Today we had the opposition leader speaking at a rally round the corner from our house. Apart from being loud and busy things went well as far as we know. Museveni (current President) brought parts of downtown to a standstill today as he went on his campaign trail.

We would value your prayers that the situation would remain peaceful during the voting process and the results would be fair and a correct representation of how people voted. Pray also that the opposition of whoever gets in will accept the decision and not retaliate with violence.

Joshua and Zara have a week off from school starting Wednesday for half term but also an extension added on because of the elections. They are not complaining :)

We have made provision in case things do go pear shaped in stocking up on some supplies and making ourselves aware of the contingency plans that MAF has put in place. We pray we won't need them.

According to some of our Ugandan friends they believe everything will be fine and there will be no problems. That is comforting.

Joshua said the other day "What will happen if the current president doesn't get in again and a bad man gets in instead what country will we go to? Got to love the thoughts of a 7 year old.

Thanks for you continued prayer support for our family and ministry.

Christmas Trip to Kidepo National Park

2011-02-01T08:53:00.014+02:00

Landing at Kidepo in "Scotty"

One of the two pick up trucks that we went in for our morning safari. You can see Zara in her pink rain jacket sitting on the cab of the truck....who needs seats :)

Daddy and his little Princess

In search of lions.....

Joshua our junior tracker found some antelope like animals

African vulture

A herd of giraffe which included a baby one....not shown in this photo.

A buffalo with an interesting horn decoration

Our home for two nights.

Bulbul the elephant who hangs around the bandas on occasions. He was on a mission to find some food and had smelled some pineapple. I wasn't about to stand in his way.

This is him finding the kitchen entrance, he drank all the water that was lying out in a bucket as well as trying to get into the kitchen for the pineapple. He also raided the bin and made a lovely mess. Who is going to tell him off? One way to get rid of him is to light a fire which one of the staff members did. He then trundled off.

Joshua and Jalil our two junior trackers!

Some friends invited us to Kidepo National Park just after Christmas. There were 12 adults and 6 children so it was quite the group. It is probably one of our most favourite parks in Uganda because of its remoteness. We had enough people to fill two MAF planes and flew north for just under two hours. The park is situated close to the Sudanese border. We flew over some amazing scenery aswell as seeing some animals in the distance as we came into land. We spent two nights there staying in bandas and enjoyed some game drives in the back of a pick up and some of the group went on a walking safari. The photos, hopefully, will do the story more justice.

Referendums and Elections

2011-01-19T07:17:00.002+02:00

Last Sunday was the start of voting in Sudan. This voting is to decide whether or not the largest Country in Africa will divide into two separate Countries. We have been praying that there would be peace during the process and for the most part there has been so we give thanks for that. We should find out the preliminary result during the first week of February. However, the way that the voting has been going it looks almost certain that the country will divide.

A separate voting will take place in the oil rich side of the country to see whether this part will join the North or the South. This is, most likely, where there will be tension.

Next month we will be seeing elections again in Uganda. As always we are never sure how things will go so contingency plans are made in case things go pear shaped. We do pray for a peaceful and fair election. This past weekend the government rolled in some new police trucks with tear gas and water canon capabilities into Kampala. These were bought from the Chinese and as the local newspaper said that this was to show that anyone who thought about causing problems during elections would be dealt with swiftly.

We would ask for your prayers for Sudan and for Uganda during these times of change that ultimately it would be peaceful and the results would be accepted by the people.

Happy New Year

2011-01-10T13:21:00.002+02:00

I can't believe we are already well into January. The Christmas season just seemed to fly by. We trust you all had a great time with family and friends celebrating the birth of our Saviour.

We had a lovely time over Christmas with friends and my Mum made it out just in time before the snow closed the airports. Of course Joshua and Zara are loving all the attention and the extra homebaking that is going on.

We had a week off during Christmas and New Year and travelled up to Kidepo National Park for two nights with friends. It was wonderful to be out of the City for a couple of days and enjoy the wonder of God's creation in this part of the world. Because of the remoteness of the place (north of Uganda bordering Sudan) we had to take our own food up and the the accommodation is basic but nevertheless adequate.

We enjoyed game drives in the back of a pick up and some folks including Zara went on a three hour safari walk. It was wonderful just being out in the open space and enjoying the sights of zebra, giraffe, elephant, buffalo etc. Unfortunately we didn't manage to see lions this time although when you are sitting exposed in the back of a pick up truck sometimes that is a blessing :).

Well we are back to work again. Simon is busy with flying and his other commitments so life is never dull. I am currently studying for Bible studies again. We will start on Wednesday and will do a short study on the Holy Spirit and then in a few weeks we will commence the Book of Hebrews. I am excited about the things that God will teach us during these studies and would value your prayers for these times.

Joshua and Zara are back to school as of last Wednesday. They are glad to be back and enjoying seeing their friends again and being challenged...well Joshua loves that :) At the moment we can't keep Joshua supplied in enough books as he reads constantly. He loves to read and seems to eat his way through them. Zara loves the outdoors and so is open to walking whenever she can. She really enjoyed going for the safari walk in Kidepo and had no problem walking for the three hours. She will be ready for the Swiss Alps when we are next home on furlough.

Well this is a short update but I will fill you in on photographs and more stories when time allows.

2010-12-09T17:29:00.003+02:00

Please note the updated Praise and Prayer requests on the side bar.

Prayer is to the skeptic a delusion, a waste of time.

To the believer it represents perhaps the most important use of time.

Philip Yancey

Thanks to all of you who make the time to pray for us. It makes a difference!

Hit and Run

2010-12-09T17:01:00.002+02:00

Simon had a sad start to his morning flight to Sudan today. On his way along the Entebbe road at 6:30am he witnessed a lady being hit by a car. She thought she could make it across the road in time to reach the centre reservation but was hit by a car which was driving in front of Simon. The lady was propelled over the car and landed on the road side. Of course with Simon driving behind the car he saw it all and realised that there was no way this lady could have survived this fatal accident. The car who hit the lady didn't stop but continued on his way. Simon managed to follow the car and get its registration number. There are usually Police out on the Entebbe Road so it didn't take long for Simon to locate one and give him the information regarding the hit and run. What will happen with this information we we will never know. However, please pray for the lady that was hit and for the family she now leaves behind. Also to pray for the man who hit the lady as I can't imagine how he must be feeling today.

It gives us a sober reminder that we never know the moment of our departure from this life. This past week I have been teaching on the two parables in Matthew 25 concerning the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Talents. As believers, we need to be like the 5 wise virgins who lived in constant anticipation of the Lord's return. During our wait we need to also be in active service for our Lord in what He has called us to do like the faithful servants in the Talent parable. A good reminder for us all.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

2010-11-08T08:02:00.021+02:00

Standing next to an terminte hill with the rhinos in the background. One eye was always on the rhinos and we were warned that if they charge we should climb a tree or hide behind one. Fortunately we didn't have that expereince.

Enjoying some family time together :)

Our two "swinging" monkeys

"Two peas in a pod"

Baby Augustu - Only one year old but a formidable character nonetheless.

Bella the female and Augustu

Augustu was very interested in us and the guides said that she wanted to come and play. However, this would cause problems with the mother so they were able to talk her down from coming any closer. There are rangers with these rhinos 24 hours a day to protect them from poachers so the rhinos know their voices very well. Not sure how well off we would be with a playful rhino :)

Simon and Zara strolling through the bush.

Moja the dominant male, Augustu the baby boy and Bella the mother of Augustu

It was amazing to get so close!

Our little Princess!

Safari J with his arrow. We left the bow in the car. Afterall we didn't want him mistaken for a poacher :)

The drive to the rhinos was pretty rough so we were glad we had a robust car. We were able to just park our car in the bush and walk a short distance to see them. Sometimes you need to walk up to two hours to find them. Maybe next time we will get to walk :)

Joshua saying hi to one of the many rehabilitated animals in the sanctuary.

We had a very playful kitten come by our little house to play with Joshua and Zara. They enjoyed it a lot.

In the dining room there was a wall split into three sections whereby you pay $5 to write on the wall. Depending on what part of the wall you draw on depends where the money goes. Joshua wrote on the side that supported the ranger and Zara wrote on the side that supported the local community school. The middle section was for the rhinos themselves which we were supporting anyway by staying in the sanctuary :)

Another wee friend that J and Z enjoyed following and touching.

This past Saturday we headed two and half hours North of Kampala to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. This sanctuary was established in 1997 in order to reintroduce rhinos back into Uganda. Due to poaching, hunting and an increase in human population the numbers of rhinos in Uganda have dropped significantly. Due to the civil unrest in the 1970's rhinos were poached to extinction for their horns which fetch a high price on world markets particularly in China, Asia and Yemen. In 2004 the sanctuary was completed and they now have 9 rhinos in total. After a viable population of 3o rhinos the sanctuary will release the rhinos into their original habitat in one of the National Parks in Uganda.

During our time at the sanctuary we were able to see three rhinos. The dominant male called Moja, one female called Bella and a baby called Augustu. The 9 rhinos in the sanctuary are enclosed in a 69 sq km electrified perimeter fence. This is to keep the rhinos in and the poachers out. The total length of this fence is 60km!!!

At the sanctuary they also had some other animals that they were looking after. Some bush buck, African Grey Parrots and other deer like animals. The photos will give you a better idea.

Slowly but surely we will have a new hangar

2010-11-05T15:28:00.002+02:00

MAF Uganda is in the process of building a new hangar. This has been a project that has been a bit of a challenge from day one. This is due to different factors including weather and contractor issues. However, we are finally seeing builders making progress and the construction is beginning to look like a hangar. We are excited as to the difference this hangar will make to the maintenance of planes within MAF Uganda. I know the maintenance department are very excited at the prospect of moving out of their current hangar due to the problems it has one of them being old age :) I am sure the team overseeing this project would appreciate your prayers for work to go well and a good end to a challenging project.

Chicken "Pops"

2010-11-01T07:02:00.003+02:00

The last three weeks have been Chicken "Pops" weeks. Three weekends ago we headed off to Jinja (2 hours East of Kampala) for a weekend away with friends. The day after we arrived Joshua had various spots on his body. At first we thought they were bed bugs (not unheard of in the place where we were staying) but the day after confirmed that it was chicken pox. He did pretty well with it and considering everyone that we were with had had it we decided to stay for the remaining two days. I think the cold water of the swimming pool helped a lot to keep the itch out.
Well two weeks on from there we were wondering if Zara would actually get it. If she didn't then we reckoned she had the constitution of an ox. However, last Friday she came out with spots and then Saturday there was a plague of them, she had them in her throat and mouth so she was very uncomfortable as you can imagine. Our little Princess was not her happy go lucky self. She was miserable. Yesterday we took her to a pool while everyone else was at church and dunked her in there to give her some relief from the itch. It seemed to do a lot of good. She was happy to swim around in the pool staying cool than sitting in our bath at home. Last night she slept in her own bed and slept all the way through so we have turned a corner towards good health. It is not fun when kiddies are unwell but glad that J and Z have both had chicken pox now and don't have to suffer it when they are older when it is much more painful.
By the way Chicken "Pops" is Zara's version of Chicken Pox :)

2010-10-12T12:07:00.002+02:00

It has been a week now since I finished a five day course on Member Care while Managing Crisis. It was an intense course starting at 8:15am and finishing at 6:30pm each day. My head felt fuzzy for a couple of days afterwards :). It was a fantastic course and I learned a lot. The course is designed to teach leaders how to look after their staff and peers during a crisis situation. For those of you reading this who live in a cross-cultural setting you will identify with the following list of crises that people face. Civil unrest, natural disasters, road accidents, plane crashes, bomb threats, violence, robberies, sickness are just but a few of the issues that people face. When we live in our home countries there is usually a support network that we can tap into that helps us through any crisis we might face. This is often not the case for the cross-cultural worker.

This course was an introduction into how to help people who have gone through crisis within our own organisation and others that we know of. We practiced peer crisis de-briefing within the workshop using the techniques we were taught which was very helpful. It was amazing to hear what people have been through in their lives and seeing how God was faithful through it all.

The facilitators leading the course had a wealth of experience in living cross-culturally as well as in dealing with people who have gone through crisis. Not only that but the participants also brought with them their own expertise in various areas. It was a rich learning environment and very beneficial.

The MMCT (Mobile Member Care Team) have a good set up in West Africa and so now they are looking to setting up a team here in East Africa. This will enable more workshops to be done as well as providing support to those that need it.

So you might be wondering what happens now. Well there are more courses that I can do with the MMCT which I would like to pursue. One of them is to become a Peer Responder which would qualify me to actually do de-briefs with peoplel who have gone through a crisis. Also there is a need to help with logistics and facilitate a workshop for the MMCT which I am interested in doing. We will see how things develop in the months ahead.

Simon did a great job with Joshua and Zara whilst I was gone. He flew morning flights only so he was home for Joshua and Zara in the afternoon which was a blessing. By the last day Joshua and Zara had had enough of me not being home in the afternoon and Joshua told me that I should tell the course leaders that I was sick so I could stay home. I guess I was missed :)

Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and for Simon and the children. Everything worked out really well and so I give thanks for that!

Catch up

2010-09-27T10:36:00.002+02:00

It is about time for another update on what we are up to. Time seems to speed up when you get older :)

Two or so weeks ago our guest room was busy again. One 0f Simon's flight instructors from his Moody Aviation days was coming to Uganda to do some flight training with some students from a flight school in Soroti, Uganda. It was fun to have him with us and catch up on what former classmates were doing as well as other mutual friends/acquaintances. He had never been in Africa before so this training week was going to be an eye opener for him not only on the work side but just the whole "African experience". He witnessed the crazy driving, the not so time orientated culture, pot holes, and the general exciting smells and sounds of Africa. It was good for Simon and I to see some of these things through fresh eyes as a lot of these sights we now take for granted and see as "normal". He was also able to go on a flight with Simon and see different parts of Uganda as well as observe Simon fly and see how good a job Moody did in preparing him for the field. :)

Now that I have completely handed over the guesthouse job I have moved into a new sphere of work. Over the summer I was given the opportunity to take over the teaching of the MAF International ladies and National Ladies Bible studies as some of you may know. This was a huge step but it has been a blessing. We are currently going through the book of 2 Timothy and learning a lot as we study together. We are moving into Chapter 2 this week and have learned from Chapter 1 to be bold in our proclamation of the Gospel and to stand firm and not be timid. This is never easy but we know that we don't do it in our own strength but through the Holy Spirit who strengthens us. I have really enjoyed the time with the ladies and to see them really engaging in the Bible study and bringing their own experiences has been a blessing!

As many of you know I am currently enroled in a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy course and hope to complete it by the end of November It has been a great course to study and ties in so well Biblically. Our battles begin in our mind and as Paul says in God's word we need to take every thought captive. (2 Cor 10:5). Along with this correspondence course I will be attending a day course this week starting on Wednesday which goes through until the following Tuesday. It is a Crisis Reponse training workshop from the Mobile Member Care Team. It is an intense course so I know I will probably sleep for a week afterwards :) A colleague and I will be attending this course together and our goal is that, in time, we will be equipped to give better member care to people whether it be in MAF or outside in the midst of a crisis situation. I will keep you updated as to how it all went. I would value your prayers as I go through this course and for Simon as he helps out with school runs and caring for Joshua and Zara whilst I am gone as the sessions run late. He is scheduled to fly mornings only so hopefully all that works out :)

We would also value your prayers for Simon's mum as she is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer again. Please pray for strength for her as she goes through this difficult treatment with all its side effects. Pray also for Simon's dad and the rest of the family. We give thanks for her strong faith in the Lord and the trust that she displays so readily.

Thank you for your continued love and support for us whilst we minister here in Uganda. It is truly a blessing.

Stuck in the Mud

2010-09-06T11:46:00.011+02:00

Above are some photos that were taken of a road in Sudan. The Rumbeck Yirol road to be exact. As you can see it is impassable and many vehicles are imbedded in the mud and it will take time to clear. This is an ongoing problem in rainy season and often times there is only one road in and out. Villages and towns can be cut off.

Pray for our pilots during this rainy season as some airstrips are difficult to land on and take off especially in Sudan where some of the airstrips have cotton soil. It is almost impossible to walk in it never mind trying to get a plane out of.

Also for wisdom for our pilots as they navigate heavy rain fall and storms in flying. Pray that they will be able to get passengers and supplies safely where they need to go.

This is just another clear reminder of why MAF does what it does.

Medical Evacuation

2010-08-24T08:11:00.004+02:00

Yesterday Simon was called upon to do a medical evacuation in Bunia, Congo. The person concerned had suffered a broken neck due to a motorbike accident. Amazingly enough the patient had a proper brace on to prevent his neck from being further damaged and was able to walk to the plane. Simon was medevacing him to Kampala for treatment but if the injuries were too great then he was to be sent onto Nairobi. Please pray for this young man that he would get the proper treatment and that there would be no further damage done to his neck.

This is when we realise that MAF is vital in this country and in Congo and Sudan. To do a trip from Bunia to Kampala would be a very long ardous task even when you are well. To have a broken neck and travel the rough roads would be disasterous.

Time for change....

2010-08-03T14:47:00.003+02:00

It is difficult to believe that almost 3 years ago Jacqueline (Friend and MAF co-worker) and I took over the running of the MAF guesthouse and completely revamped the ministry. This also meant moving it to a different location. Well change has happened and we are now stepping out of this ministry and into another (the next one isn't so clear yet :)) Jacqueline will be moving back to the UK with her husband, Adrian (Operations Manager) after three years with MAF Uganda. They still hope to be involved in MAF but in what capacity we are not sure yet. God has provided two other very capable ladies within MAF to take over the running of the guesthouse and we are looking forward to what God has planned.
It has been a fun job and I couldn't have asked for a better co-worker. We have laughed a lot through these three years whilst working together and this, I think, has kept us sane as we have faced some very challenging problems and situations we couldn't have even dreamed of. On the other side we have lost a lot of sleep over it and brain cells I think. (No comments please) We both know it is right to stand down and pass on the baton but we will look back on our time with the guesthouse as a great opportunity and a positive experience.
What does God have in store for me now....well there are other opportunities on the horizon and once He has made it clear I will let you know. I will have a hand over time with the new Guesthouse Managers during the next couple of months just so the transition is a bit easier. I am looking forward to the next challenge that God brings my way and see what happens.
Thanks to those who have supported the Guesthouse ministry since I have been involved in it by giving up precious kilos to bring things out from the UK or giving financial donations. They were greatly appreciated.

Holiday photos of the land of sand

2010-07-28T14:37:00.024+02:00

This photo is taken at the top of Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world......so far :) We were so hot by this time as we had walked from the metro station to the building in searing heat. Unbeknownst to us there was a bus that took us straight there. We learned the next time when we wanted to go to the Dubai Mall which is in the same area.

Outside the Wafi shopping mall

Dolphins following our boat in the Persian Gulf

Zara and I enjoying the cool wind through our hair as we ride the dhow boat through the fjords in Oman.

A stop for a bit of diving, swimming, snorkelling and floating

A fishing village in Oman that can only be accessed by boat.

Simon going native!

Enjoying a trip to the desert

What a view!

Zara and I riding on a "ship of the desert"

Zara enjoying the zip line at splashland...a good place to cool off in temperatures above 50 centigrade or 100+F

Cooling off in Ibn Battuta mall where each area is distinctly designed into countries/regions such as Egypt, China , Persia, India, Tunisia and Andalusia. It was fascinating to walk through.

This year Simon and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We decided to mark this milestone by going to Dubai and visiting some friends that we knew from our Moody days. It was a wonderful holiday and these photos are only a fraction of the ones that we took. Over 700 if I remember rightly. We can bore you anytime if you come visit us. :)

We are back...

2010-07-26T14:36:00.002+02:00

It has been a while since I have updated our blog. We have been on three weeks leave and travelled to Dubai to visit some friends. It was a fantastic holiday and I will upload some photos sometime this week. We just arrived back in Uganda yesterday so still trying to get readjusted to "normal" life again. We really appreciated the break we had and also catching up with old friends and making new ones.

Many of you will have probably heard on the bombings in Kampala which happened on the final of the world cup. Thankfully none of our staff were hurt in the blasts although one relative of a staff member was killed along with at least one friend of a staff member. Since arriving back in Uganda we have noticed a tightning up of security with cars being checked at the entrance to shops aswell as our bags being checked. This is also due to the African Union conference which is taking place this week in Kampala.

We have been asked to avoid busy places or any public gatherings until further notice. MAF Uganda continues to monitor the situation on a regular basis and keeps us up to date with what is happening. We are just being careful as to where we go shopping etc. Churches are also considered targets depending on their location and up till now it has been requested that people find an alternative church to attend during this time or stay at home. We will see what is advised this week.

Photo update of Simon's trip to Sudan

2010-06-24T10:24:00.028+02:00

On arrival in Mvolo, Sudan it is good to find out where you will be sleeping

The next important thing is water....start filtering guys!

Just so you know that you are not alone....the distances to the neighbouring towns/villages.

Building a new school

The local parish church

A health and hygience course being taught under the big tree.....who needs classrooms!

Some local children...how can you resist those smiles.

Then we have the older generation...a chat and a smoke what could be better :)

A 1939 English outpost

The Mvolo River...well so the locals call it.

The very posh dining room with the sleeping quarters behind

Showering facilites - top notch compared to some I have showered in :)

Home Sweet Home....well for a night or two.

The walk to the Radio Station. When the cotton soil gets wet its almost impossible to walk in.

Aid Sudan's radio station mast

A view from the top of the mast - Yes Simon climbed it!

Anybody for lunch? - doesn't come much fresher...

A settlement...you can see how parched the ground is.

Just when things seemed to be going so well......a flat tyre.

Carrying water for making cement for the building projects.

The three team members from Aid Sudan and, of course, our lovely pilot...Simon :)

Simon was able to go on a week long trip with three guys from Aid Sudan. They flew up in MAF's 206 and Simon shuttled them around to their various projects in different parts of Sudan. Simon loves these trips as they are always an adventure and he gets to spend time with the missionaries and some of the locals.

Symptoms of mumps now

2010-05-29T08:31:00.002+02:00

Adding to Zara's bacterial infection she has all the symptoms of Mumps. We think it could be a reaction to the innoculation she had last week. She has been in a bit of pain and her face swelled up quite a bit. She slept through the night last night which I was grateful for. We just need to wait for the swelling to go down. During the day she seems to be fine. Eating can be a bit of a problem as it hurts to eat but we hope to see some more improvement in the next couple of days.

J and Z are excited to have Daddy home today. We hope to see him later this afternoon. He sms on the sat phone this morning to say that it rained during the night so the airstrip was a bit soft and wet. They were going to wait until it dried out a bit before taking off. Hopefully around lunchtime. It will be good to have him home again and hear all the stories and see all the photos.

Thanks for praying for us this week. Jehovah Jireh...He has been our provider!

A get away in Sudan and swollen adenoids

2010-05-25T14:28:00.004+02:00

This week Simon is doing a 6 day charter for an organisation called Aid Sudan. He will be flying around 3 team members one of which, I believe, is the Director of the organisation who is doing a tour of all the bases. Simon flew on Monday to a place called Malualkon which is just south of Darfur and then will fly to Mvolo, Nasir and Torit which are further south in Sudan. These trips are often fun for pilots as they get to see what our passengers actually do when they leave the plane. They get to "hang out" with the team and participate in some of the ministries that are going on. Pray for safety for the whole team, for Simon as he flies and for good weather. I think he will enjoy my cooking when he returns as it sounded like he will be living on beans, rice and peanut butter sandwiches while he is there.

I would value your prayers whilst we remain at home. I had to take Zara to the doctor yesterday as she was in pain on the side of her face. I could feel a lump under her jaw. It turns out that one of her adenoids was swollen. After persuading her that she needed to have a blood test we finally got the results which said she had a bacterial infection. She is now on antibiotics so we look forward to seeing the swelling going down in the next couple of days. Apart from the pain in her face when she eats she is doing remarkably well. She had a day off from school today and has slept for almost three hours this afternoon so that should help.

Medical evacuation

2010-05-10T13:58:00.003+02:00

Just to give you a pictorial idea of what a medevac looks like I had added a couple of photos.

Time for an update

2010-05-10T10:43:00.003+02:00

It has been a while since I have updated you on what we are up to. I don't quite know where the weeks go. They seem to evaporate. Below is a brief synopsis of what has been happening in the Wunderli home.

Simon continues to lead a full life with his MAF responsibilities. He has to juggle his time between a full time pilot, Security officer and Health and Safety officer. Along with all those jobs he is also a check pilot which means doing 6 monthly flight checks with the other pilots. Fortunately, at the moment, there are two other pilots who can also fill the role of check pilot which helps a lot.

A few weeks ago he did a medevac for a man in Sudan who became very sick. He was way up in the interior of Sudan and not close to any medical facility that could help him. MAF Sudan flew him to Juba where Simon picked him up and brought him to Kampala. He was then transferred to the International Hospital here.

Below is a short email that MAF Uganda received to update us on Moses' condition.

....Along with an update on Moses, I am writing to thank you and your team for the wonderful service you provided in getting him to Kampala and the hospital. It means the world to those of us deeply concerned and so far away. You may simply see it as doing your job, but it really is so much more. Blessed we are by goodness of people around the world like you!

Moses seems to be stable and feeling more comfortable after a surgical procedure on Thursday to drain an abscess. They are treating the infection as systemic. We have been able to speak with his physician and feel comfortable with the care he is receiving. We appreciate your recommendation of The International Hospital.

Again, many thanks for your service extraordinaire.

Then from Thursday:

FYI, Moses remains hospitalized and is being treated for a very serious infection necrofasciitis. Certainly, he was hours away from losing his life. Your role in getting him to medical help is very much appreciated. This, along with the skill and knowledge of his doctors, has saved his life. At this time, he is stable but his recovery will be months in length. We are contemplating how and when he will be transported to the U.S.

It is always encouraging to get such emails as it is another confirmation that MAF is making a difference.

This summer is going to be a busy one for MAF Uganda as we have various families on furlough and also our Chief Pilot, Gerrit Pap and his family will be moving onto a new MAF Programme. They will leave at the beginning of July and head to Canada then the States for training before heading to Indonesia. This is a big transition for them as a family but one they are very much looking forward to. I am sure they would value your prayers if you think of them.

We currently have 7 pilots in the MAF Uganda programme but there is always usually one away on furlough, holiday or on a training course. However, this summer we will be down to three pilots for five planes. An interesting challenge for those concerned. We do have a relief pilot coming in for a couple of weeks to help out but i am sure it is still going to be a challenge to keep up with all the flying and extra jobs that will need doing. We would value your prayers that God would give wisdom to the Pilots and the Operations staff when booking flights.

I have been really busy with the Guesthouse recently as Jacqueline has been on furlough for the last few weeks. As always when one of us is gone the challenges come. I have had my fair share of challenges these past few weeks including dealing with a very difficult landlady. There have been some tough choices to make and so for anybody reading this who has been praying for me and the guesthouse I am grateful. God has really helped me through it all and it has been a good stretch for me :)

The Bible studies have been also going well. The MAF wives group has been enjoying the new study in Bible Characters. So far we have covered Gideon and Hannah and this week we will be doing Jonah. Lots to learn from these people and hopefully put into action.

Last week Luan and I finished our teaching in the Book of James for the ladies in the MAF Office. We have learned a lot through this study and have had a lot of fun doing it. Next week we will start a study on the Names of God in order for us to know God and His character better.

I am also continuing with my studies in Counselling. It is a very useful course and one that has proven to be of use even in these past few weeks. I just need to try and fit in more study time which is always a bit tricky.

Joshua just turned 7 on the May 1. It is difficult to believe that I have a 7 year old already. Where has the time gone???? We enjoyed a double birthday celebration at Kajjansi Airfield as Zara turns 5 on May 28. We enjoyed a BBQ and games with some friends to celebrate their special days. The highlight was the construction area for the new hangar as at the moment it is just a big mud pit. The kids had fun sliding down the mud walls and splashing in the puddles. Each one of them was covered from head to foot in mud. Thankfully we had warned parents to put them in old clothes. I will follow this post up with some photos so you can have a visual of the experience.

Joshua also had exams this past week which was a bit of a surprise to his Mum :) He didn't seem to worried about most of them except the mathematics one. Math doesn't come as easy to him as spelling, literacy and writing. However, Simon loves Maths so he was able to sit with him and show him a few other ways of doing things which made more sense to him. By the end of the week he said he had enjoyed the exams and even Math so hopefully that continues.

Joshua is our little thinker so you are never sure what he is going to ask next. At the moment he is into making things, drawing and being very creative with his lego. He also has some good friends that he enjoys playing with.m They make up games with swords, arrows and shields. Sometimes it is better not too watch :)

Zara does well to keep up with her brother in "boy" games and still play princesses at other times. It seems I have a pink tomboy! She is starting to read now which is fun and both her and Joshua really enjoy books which we encourage a lot.
She continues to do well at school and seems to show a keen interest in computers and math. Maybe she takes after her Dad in this. However, this can change so we keep an open mind. :)

Zara has a special friend, Ruben, whom she loves to play with. Ruben is in her class at school as well as being a "MAF kid". Usually once a week they get together to play. Ruben calls Zara "my Zara" and us, as parents, get a laugh at all their antics. It is a bit too early to know if this is going to be a marriage made in heaven. :)

As always our house is open to guests. We had Christine and Fritz Peter from Simon's home church in Switzerland visiting us for a month. They were able to go on two safari trips and then a trip to Tanzania on the coast while they were. It was fun to get to know them a bit better and to introduce them to the African experience.

In the month of June we will also have someone, who used to be in Simon's home church, visit with us. Lukas Fürrer is doing a backpacking trip and so will arrive from Ethiopia at the beginning of June for a three week visit in Uganda. It will be interesting to hear the differences he will see between the countries.

After that we will be taking a three week break. We have a special opportunity to visit some friends who we know from our Moody days who are working and living in Dubai. It will be fun to visit another part of the world and experience a new culture.

New looks for Joshua and Zara

2010-04-23T15:18:00.007+02:00

Zara's new look. This was a post swimming picture but gives you an idea of the new style. It is much easier to manage now since she has swimming most days :)

After a couple of weeks of wiggling his loose tooth it finally came out. Joshua was so happy! Below is another picture of his wee tooth in his special box where he keeps his swiss army pocket knife.

Water Rocket Fun

2010-04-16T15:05:00.006+02:00

Can you see how far the "rocket" went. It is a little dot in the sky...it got pretty high that time.

Zara's turn to launch it...

Time to get out the way before you get wet....half the fun of course!

Southern Sudan

2010-03-24T19:08:00.002+02:00

The other day Simon returned from doing a flight to Sudan. Most days are "normal" for him although I don't know if even I would say it was just another "day in the office' as most flights have a tale to tell. Anyway this particular day he came home to say that he had almost been arrested. He had flown into a certain place in Sudan, which will remain nameless, only to find that the President of Southern Sudan had just landed there. To say his security detail weren't happy was an understatement. After many conversations and Simon proving his right to be there by producing the properly stamped paperwork he was free to go. Simon said it was a bit hairy for a while but thankfully it all turned out well. Southern Sudan is due to have elections next month so the President is doing his rounds. Its an interesting time for Southern Sudan and we are not sure how it is going to go. Many NGO's have evacuation plans in place in case the need arises. MAF and other NGO's would value your prayers that God would intervene and that there would be peaceful elections. If Sudan goes to war it will have far reaching implications not only for the people of Sudan but neighbouring countries also. We need to pray for peace as this country and its people have gone through years of suffering.

One NGO group that Simon flew to Sudan a while ago said that there are first world, second world and third world countries and Sudan is far from all three. This group had seen a lot of countries on its travels but Sudan was the worst it had seen in terms of need.

Simon is currently up in Sudan tonight and will be doing some flights for the MAF Juba programme tomorrow. Pray for safety for him and pray for the staff that God will give them wisdom in the next few weeks concerning the upcoming elections.

Sipi Falls, Eastern Uganda - Random photo update

2010-03-19T14:15:00.036+02:00

Simon and Zara enjoying the wonderful view over the valley

A visit to Patrick and Stella's house who look after widows and orphans and run a coffee making business.

Zara loved every stage of the coffee making process

Zara helping Patrick sieving the grounded coffee

Joshua and Grossvati grinding the coffee beans to get the shells off.

Joshua climbing up the rock face to get to the bat caves. Some of us took the ladder :)

One of the many colourful lizards we saw on our visit.

Watching a localised rain storm pass through the valley.

We stayed in some comfortable, but basic accommodation. We helped the amenities along a bit by enabling their tap to turn on with the help of a 100 shilling coin.

Simon greasing the door hinges with some butter from breakfast. It did the job no more creaking!

This was as close as we could get to the waterfall as the path down was too slippy and muddy. Even here we were getting soaked by the spray.

Awesome power of water!

Another wee creature that we met along the way - a chameleon!

Joshua and Zara enjoying the tree swing!

Some little kiddies that accompanied us for brief moments on our walk.

From a different angle....

Some more happy faces that joined us on our way...

We climbed this ladder to get to the bat caves. These ladies went one further and carried their fire wood at the same time.

The view from the top of the ladder.

Simon and Zara in the bat cave. I beat a hasty retreat after about 10 minutes. I don't like bats and I was convinced on my way into the cave that I saw one hanging in front of my face. It was enough to see them flying around never mind hanging so close to me....Ahhhhhhhh

Beautiful rainbow and a reminder that God keeps his promises!

Will it hold us all over the drop....thankfully it did!

J and Z standing out a mud hut that was being constructed.

Some of the most beautiful roads in Uganda. Do you like the removal truck? I particularly liked the bike hanging on the back. Good job there weren't many pot holes on this road. Not sure if they would have made it to their next abode.

We were able to go away for a weekend with Simon's parents to Sipi Falls. It is a beautiful part of Uganda and we enjoyed the new experiences we had there. We had a 4-5 hour walk into the valley to visit the falls and then had lunch with a national family. We also had a coffee tour where we went through every stage of the coffee process. It makes you appreciate coffee and all the work that goes into it.

The ground has been broken for our new MAF Hangar

2010-03-04T14:52:00.011+02:00

This area is now full of water. MAF has its very own swimming pool!

In the background you can see four containers. These contain our new hangar. One day soon we hope to see these containers open and construction started. :)

The start of the swimming pool :)

For all those Scots who are reading our blog the first plane in the picture is "Scotty".
Thanks to all who were involved in the Caledonian Connection. This plane is busy flying all over Uganda, Sudan and into Congo. Praise the Lord!

This is the back side of our old hangar. Definately could do with some TLC!

After many months of raising funds, much organising, finding contractors, architects and finally purchasing the new hangar we have broken ground at Kajjansi for the work to begin. Unfortunately due to heavy rain and unco-operative machinery the excavating has not been as quick as we would have liked it. Above are a few photos of the beginning process.

Photo update of my trip to Congo

2010-03-03T14:41:00.005+02:00

Sheryl Strietzel and I with whom I stayed with during my visit to Bunia. Sheryl and her husband are friends of ours who have been in MAF for many years. They are the Programme Manager family for the East Congo programme.

Some of the beautiful scenes on my flight back from Congo

In comparison our flight to Congo which was fraught with rain and storms....a different picture altogether.

Sheryl and Lary's home in Bunia. They are often without power and the water needs to be boiled before even going through the water filter due to typhoid. Even we don't have to boil it first here in Uganda.

It is difficult to see in this picture but these three ladies were colourfully dressed. Congolese love bright colours. Behind them there is a man building a house out of local bricks.

This is the road to Lary and Sheryl's house

Another road to one of the other MAF family houses. This picture doesn't do the potholes or the gradient justice.

This is the main street in Bunia. On the right there is the UN. The car in front of which you can just see has a problem with its exhaust box as its dragging on the road. The owner didn't seem to mind as he continued driving.

This is also the main part of Bunia town. In the centre of this picture is the main market. You can even exchange money on the roadside here with Congolese currency piled high for all to see.

Another angle of Bunia from the air when I was flying into Congo

On the way home flying over Lake Albert. The middle of the lake is the border between Uganda and Congo

This was the MAF plane that flew me to Congo. I was grateful I didn't have to drive there as it would probably be a two day drive. It only took me about 1 hour 15 minutes in the plane!

Off to Congo

2010-02-22T10:39:00.002+02:00

As I write I am sitting at Kajjansi Airfield waiting to fly to Congo. The weather is terrible so we will see if we take off or not. :)
I am off to visit with friends from the MAF East Congo programme. Up till now it has not been possible to go for a visit with work and family commitments. Now that Simon's parents are here for a visit and Simon has two office days this week I decided to use this opportunity to go. I will return on Wednesday afternoon. I hope to take lots of photos so I will post them when I get back. Pray for a good visit and for the family as they remain at home in Uganda.

You know you've been in Uganda for a long time when......

2010-02-09T20:00:00.007+02:00

One of my facebook friends belongs to a group called "You know you've been in Uganda for a long time when...." These are some funny things that we come across often when living in Uganda. I thought I would share a few with you. For those of you who have had the privilege of visiting this country you will appreciate them all the more. Enjoy!

YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN UGANDA FOR A LONG TIME WHEN...

- When you walk into a restaurant and ask 'is there food?' (Brenda Mawenu)

- When "E" on the fuel gauge means Enough (Alex Porter)

- When "being lost" to someone actually means they haven't seen you for a few days (Jamie Mills McKenzie)

- When the taxi driver indicates that he is turning left when is actually turning right because only one indicator works but he needs to let you know that he will be turning in some direction at some point.... (Joyce Byaru)

- You get arrested and start bargaining over the bribe whilst you drive yourself to jail. (Jason McKelvie)

- Clothes becomes a two-syllable word. Clo - thes. (Ruth Townley)

- When the sight of a boda-boda with a passenger carrying yet another boda-boda [effectively a boda-boda breakdown service] does not cause you to raise an eyebrow. (Kaz Kasozi) (Boda boda is a motorbike taxi)

- When you stand in a queue and feel something is very wrong because it is orderly and the person behind you respects your personal space. (Nick Astles)

- When you have named the potholes. (Nanna Schneidermann)

- Its 32 degrees C outside and you can still see one or two people fully dressed Sweater and all. (Kaliika Annat)

- When you point with your lips and say yes with your eyebrows. (Marcia Baugh)

- When are reluctant to let go of a new, CLEAN 1000 shilling note. (Daisy Asiimwe)

- When your home does not have an address. (Alice Kimbowa)

- When you still have to look left,right and left again before crossing a one way street. (Francis Musinguzi)

- When you consider going to Garden City a "trip to the Mall", made even more special if the escalator is switched on (Stuart Cook)

- When you give inanimate objects the capability to act and feel, e.g. "this soda is defeating me" or "This computer is refusing to work" (Marianne Bach Mosebo)

- When you say "let me come" and you go in the opposite direction! (Maureen B Ndahura)

- When instead of asking to be passed something you say stuff like "Please assist me with the salt" (Bill Reynell)

- When the taxi conductor speaks of Obama like a long lost friend! (Jimmy Delyon)

- When you finally take it as a compliment and smile sincerely when someone comments on how fat you have grown (Karin Bridger)

- When you express surprise by saying "Eh!" (Rebecca Swan)

- When you call a cab a 'special hire' (Charles Mugyenzi)

- When a road that has not been opened for public use [Northern bypass] develops potholes (Benjamin Muganzi)

- When you ask where the bathroom is, and the response is, "short call or long call"? (Karen Cassidy)

- When it is o.k. for another guy to impulsively call you, 'My dear' (John Kamau Matalanga)

- When you have nicely chiseled and perfect square potholes (Suna Kironde)

- When traffic lights are always off and the traffic police guys have to battle it out with whistles (Patricia Nandyose)

- When you have lost count of the number of districts in the country (Benjamin Maguanzi)

- When "the speed bumps" develop a pothole (Moses Katafiire)

- When a Polite Notice of 'No Peeing Here' carries a fine of 100,000shs (Suna Kironde)

- When tear gas is part of the weather forecast (Patricia Nandyose)

Toilet trouble

2010-02-04T08:03:00.005+02:00

The other night Simon and I had just gone to bed when there was a loud noise coming from the bathroom. At first, we thought it was something that had just fallen off the shelf. I jumped out of bed only to find that it wasn't anything falling off the shelf but that the toilet cistern had cracked and there was water pouring out of it. I ran to the kitchen to get a bucket to catch the water as well as shout to Simon to tell him what happened. By the time i got back with the bucket there was no Simon. I managed to catch some of the water in the bucket while trying to explain to Simon what happened. I don't think he believed me or heard me at first. Anyway we managed to rig something up for the night so that no water would come out. Simon was able to purchase a new cistern and fit it in as best he could. You can't always find the exact size so it needed a bit of creativity to make it work. You can see the mess Simon is in the photos. :) It wasn't two days and the toilet handle broke off. We seem to go through a lot of handles. Just another day in you know where :)

The wonder of His creation...

2010-02-01T20:12:00.008+02:00

Over the Christmas holidays we took Granny and J and Z down to the Speke resort where they can do some horseriding. This is becoming a bit of a tradition when Granny comes to visit. We had a lot of rain over Christmas and so the flowers were just spectacular and so i thought I would share some with you...just so you know we could do with some of that rain now. Today it was 90 degrees in the shade..hot hot hot!

Just another day in Uganda....

2010-02-01T06:52:00.002+02:00

We sadly said goodbye to my Mum on Saturday night as she returned to Scotland. We had a good visit with her and enjoyed our time together.

I am going to share with you a day with you that Mum and I had together. It started out as a normal day whatever that is in Uganda. :) We had a couple of things to do in town but unfortunately our car was out of commission as two of the wheels nuts on one tyre had sheared off. Don't ask me how that happens. Anyway due to the condition of the roads here I didn't want to chance it and have my tyre come off so we hired a MAF car for the things we were to do. It is a saloon car so already you need to drive a bit differently. With our 91 Landcruiser people move out of the way but in a wee toyota corolla people think they can plow through you and have every right to cut you off every which way. As we were driving down Makindye hill I was aware that something had bumped us. I looked in the rear mirror to see a cyclist jump off the ground out of the way of an oncoming matatu (taxi bus). I stopped the car and went to look at the rear of the car to find that he had broken the light of the car and put a good dent in the back. I wasn't sure where the guy was but passersby told me just to go as it wasn't my fault (if someone hits you from the rear it is always their fault). Being a mzungu (white foreigner) can be a bit tricky in situations like this. Anyway I followed the road back a bit to find a small crowd round a man with a rather twisted bike. "The crowd" told me he was okay and I should go. He looked fine apart from having a sore leg. Well I took "the crowds" advice and went on my way. After a bit of thought it was kind of embrassing to think that I had been hit from behind by a cyclist. I guess I wasn't going that fast :)

The saga continues...Mum and I had to stop at a shop and pick up some mosquite curtains that I had had made for Zara's room. You would think that all you would have to do is go in and pay for them and come out but no not here. Everyone has to sign a piece of paper and the man that needs to sign the next piece of paper is not always at hand so the whole drama can last a bit of time. When I finally got to the last desk the man behind it said I need to see your passport. I just about laughed. I have never been asked before to show my passport in order to buy curtains (just another day in Uganda :-). Well as you can probably guess I didn't have my passport on me but thankfully had my Uganda drivers licence so i was able to finalise the purchase. What a marathon!

After these two dramas I still had the British High Commission to go to and wondered if it was a a wise option. However, always up for a challenge, well mostly, we headed onto the British High Commission. After we managed to arrange for them to write a letter for me we exited. Mum made the comment that it was like going into a jail with all the security, doors etc. Thankfully we didn't have to stay :). We finally made it back to Makindye without incident and and dropped off the car at the MAF office.

The story is not over yet...In Uganda it is always advantageous to go and write a police report at the police station when you have been through an incident whether it be your fault or not just so the other party doesn't cause problems for you. I decided to do this. I got on a Matatu and headed to the police station. Police stations are not always the nicest places to go to as they are not always above board in their dealings and like a bit of "tea money" in order to meet your request. After asking God to give me wisdom I entered the Police Station. There was quite a hive of activity and two Police ladies asked me what I needed. After enjoying hearing my story they passed me onto the next office. As I crossed the courtyard to the next office I had to navigate myself through a couple of hundred boda bodas (motorbike taxis) which had been confiscated off the road. I finally made it into the office where there was a "queue" of people. I asked where I should sit and then everyone laughed. Mmmmm better just to laugh along with everyone else. I opted to continue the banter by asking the policeman about all the bodas stacked outside. He asked me if I wanted to buy one but I am not sure who would have got the best deal :) I was glad that I got the young police lady in the room as she didn't look so intimidating as the rather full lady at the back with the sullen face. Well just my luck they transferred me to her and told me to sit. This was a problem as there was no space so I said where and she said next to the lady behind me (in Africa there seems to be the philosopy that there is always room for one more). I weasled myself into the space and hoped that the guy at the other end of the rickety bench didn't fall off. Anyway I went through the happenings of the morning in which she made very little comment but her pencil kept moving so at least she was writing something down. They asked me where I was from and I told them Scotland. At this point the countenance of the Police lady changed as she recounted how her favourite football team (English league) had a player from Scotland in it. After that we were best buddies and her parting comment to me was that I was very smart. I think she only said that because I had greeted her in Luganda.. They like that! Well I made it through the gauntlet of the Police post thanking the Lord as I went.
Now to find a matatu to take me home. I had considered walking but already the heat and dust were at a level that taking a matatu seemed like a better option. I was beckoned from the other side of the road to drive in a specific matatu and was ushered to the front seat next to another man of African descent who I later found out was Ethiopian. The journey should have taken me no longer than 5-10 minutes but, of course, we had to stop at the petrol station because they had a problem with one of the tyres of the matatu. Anyway after a short time that was fixed and we were off again. The man next to me began chatting and eventually got onto the Bible. He told me that he was Rastafarian and believed that King Celeste of Ethiopia was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. He told me to go and read certain portions of the Bible and I would see it too. I told him I believed that Ethiopia was mentioned in the Bible but Kind Celeste was a bit of a stretch and told him that is might be worth reading the whole Bible and not just picking pieces out of it and merging them together. We parted amiably each encouraging the other one to read the Bible (not a bad thing :)and me telling him that God only had one son and that is name was Jesus and that he hadn't been reincarnated. An interesting conversation. By the time I got home I was ready for a wee cup of tea and a seat on the verandah. Just another day in Uganda......

New Year Update

2010-01-14T06:54:00.002+02:00

Happy New Year to everyone!

I can't believe we are already about half way through January 2010. Quite unbelievable where the time goes.

We had a relaxing break over Christmas and New Year. My Mum flew out at the beginning of December for a two month visit so it has been good to have her here. However, the weather wasn't very nice at all over Christmas with a lot of rain so we didn't venture too far and didn't do much swimming with Joshua and Zara which was the plan. Although we were able to relax with having about a week off from work so that was a blessing. Simon was able to complete two bunk beds (double deckers as they call them here) for Joshua and Zara which they love as they are really high so they can have a desk underneath. He was also able to make two new beds for the guestroom so that kept him out of mischief over the Christmas holidays.

2010 has started off fairly busy again. Simon is back up flying and keeping up to date with his "paper" job. (Safety and Security Officer position). Yesterday he had his flight medical and passed with flying colours. They said he had the heart of someone who does a lot of sports so I guess he is still in good shape :)

Joshua and Zara are back in school again. They were definately glad to get back into a routine again after the holidays and see their friends. Joshua started his German lessons again yesterday after school with friends of ours. He is really enjoying it. Zara also started yesterday so we will see how that goes. She has a bit of a shorter concentration span but it is good that she wants to try.

I am back doing Guesthouse work. Just before Christmas we had the whole place fumigated to keep undesirable "furry and bug type" guests out. The staff did a great job in helping have the place ready for the fumigators to come in. Hopefully, this will last for about a year before we have to repeat the process.

We are also working on a couple of new systems within the running of the guesthouse. We hope this will better aid the staff in the work that they do. As we grow and develop our systems and procedures also need to. There is always something that is needing upgraded :)

Last week, Jacqueline and I, needed to go shopping for a coat/shoe rack for one of the bedrooms. Now you might think that this would be an easy task. We went down to Gaba Road where all the woodworkers display their goods. We parked on the roadside and began to walk between all the furniture to see if we could find one. The first one we came across was okay but not great and when I asked the seller how much he wanted for it he said Ush 800,000 which is about $400. I said I think you mean Ush 80,000 but he was adamant that he wanted Ush 800,000 and looked surprised that I didn't want to pay that. Well after a few more chats we found a seller who was willing to sell it for Ush 50,000 which is about $25. A big difference :). Unfortunately we had taken Jacquelines car which doesn't have a roof rack and the rack wouldn't fit inside the car. Not to be outdone we did it the "Ugandan" way. There is always a way although it might not look pretty. We covered the top of the car with a mat and then placed the rack on top and then just tied it down to the roof. I could just imagine doing this in Europe and not getting too far before being stopped by the police but we just blended in fine in our neighbourhood.
We drove at a snails pace and had to stop a couple of times to make sure the tie downs hadn't loosened but we managed to reach the guesthouse without incident although we did laugh a lot on the way. I think our imaginations were running a bit wild as to what could happen to this piece of furniture above our head and where it might land if it did decide to slide off. Just another day in Uganda!

This week saw the start of our Bible studies again. I will be hosting the MAF International ladies one at our house and a good friend of mine, Luan, will be teaching. We just finished the book of Daniel before Christmas and we are starting Ephesians this term. Yesterday was our first get together and having a introductory session to the book of Ephesians. We are excited about what we are going to learn.

Today is our first study with the National staff ladies in the MAF Office. Luan and I did "Women of the Bible" with them last term and this term we are going to be going through the book of James. Luan and I will be team teaching this book. I have already learned a lot just by studying for this class and so I am excited about what God is going to teach us through it. Please be in prayer for these two studies that they would be a blessing to all those who attend and that lives would be changed.

Well this wasn't supposed to be such a big update and I hope to be better in doing smaller posts more regularly. We will see what happens :0)

Trip to the Islands

2009-12-18T13:25:00.005+02:00

A pow wow with the local leaders of the village
Checking out the dirt. One of the problems is all the termite hills on the land. Not good if you land on one of those and your plane disappears!

Walking the potential site of the airstrip and pegging it. We heard that not long after the team had been there someone had come and uprooted all the peg marks. I guess the wood was too good just to leave in the ground and could be used for something more useful

At the end of September Simon and a team went to a village called Kamese where MAF hopes to have an airstrip built. I have delayed in showing you some of the photos due to lack of time and I only have three at present due to not being able to access the file for some reason in the office. Just another day in Uganda.

The work has been slow going. It has also been hampered due to trying to acquire permissions from different people for authorisation to go ahead. Please pray with us that we will see fruit from this labour.

Also we had our first Strategic team meeting last Monday. Please continue to pray for the team as we go through all the data and come up with a plan for MAF Uganda in the next new year and the years to follow. Pray that God gives us real wisdom as to where we should be focusing our resources and time. There is much need all around us but we can't possibly do it all so pray with us that we might know the mind of Christ for the future of MAF Uganda.

Was it a jumping spider or something else?

2009-11-19T09:49:00.004+02:00

Last week I was aware that I had been bitten by something on my back but didn't give it much thought until the itching was driving me mad. Well, once i check it out i realised I had been bitten by something about 12 times (Zara and Joshua confirmed for me as they enjoyed counting all the red marks). I tried different potions to relieve the itching and pain but to no avail so off I went to the doctor yesterday. He confirmed that I had been bitten by something and that they were now infected. I walked out of the clinic with two different creams and a 5 day course of antibiotics. The doctor said I should see an improvement in three days and to come back in five for a check up.

Well jumping spider or not something had an enjoyable time munching on my back. Let us hope its had its fill and won't come back :) Just another day in Africa!

Strategic Plan

2009-11-17T18:23:00.003+02:00

This Friday MAF Uganda is having its Fellowship Day. We usually all get together and have a time of worship, a guest speaker and, of course, fellowship wouldn't be complete without some great food.

This Fellowship day is going to be slightly different in that we are going to be praying through and discussing a strategic plan for this programme. The plan has been dividied into different catergories and staff have been asked to look and research various areas. Some of these divisions are the political situation, environmental, social, geographical, etc. I volunteered to do the Geographical analysis which I have enjoyed looking at as I was covering both Sudan and Uganda. One of the other pilots has taken on Congo for me and our OPS Manager has helped me with some insights into Sudan and Uganda along with looking at the islands in Lake Victoria where there is a great need.

The needs are so great in this part of the world that it can be overwhelming as to where our focus should be. Northern and Southern Sudan will be voting within the next couple of years as to whether they will stay as one country or divide. These situations are never simple and often lead to war. Our window of opportunity could be short lived here. The Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria are also needy in the areas of spirituality, medical, education and the list goes on.

Our prayer is that God would lead us to where we should focus our attention. He knows the beginning from the end and it is so much easier when we walk in the light than stumble around in the darkness. We need to be proactive rather than reactive to the needs that are around us in each of these three countries.

Please pray for us as a team as we seek God on this issue that we would have the mind of Christ and be unified in our decisions.

Class Trip

2009-11-17T18:10:00.007+02:00

Rainbow and Banunule children together for a photo shoot

Zara with one of her class mates, Elijah (left) and a new friend from Banunule

Banunule children teaching Rainbow children a new dance

One of the bright smiley faces of Banunule

In October Zara's school class went on a trip to Banunule School. Each year the Reception classes pay a visit to this underprivileged school. The children all mix together to play games or sing songs. Before the trip the classes at Rainbow have a bake sale to raise funds for the school. The money raised buy toys, games, pencils and notebooks for the children there. Above are some of the photos of the outing. Simon's sister, Therese, and I joined in on the trip and took some photos.

The house of the healthy

2009-11-13T14:41:00.002+02:00

We are thankful that this week everyone is back to almost full health and strength. Zara and Joshua have got over their stomach issues although we were wondering if Zara was heading for a cold the last two days as she was coughing but nothing serious at least. Simon is doing a lot better and was able to resume flying yesterday. He is still very tired in the evenings but I have been told this is normal after fighting off high fevers over a few days. It is just great to see him returning to normal and so we are thankful for all your prayers for our family.

A longer update will be out soon.......

The house of the sick

2009-11-06T12:52:00.001+02:00

We would value your prayers for Simon. He is down with Malaria and not feeling too good at all. I did a second malaria test this morning which confirmed it. He is now on medication and so we hope to see an improvement soon.

Zara was also off part of this week too due to a stomach bug but went back to school yesterday. Joshua is off today complaining of a sore tummy but seems to be alright. As I write he is munching on some bananas so can’t be too bad J

Medical evacuation update

2009-10-28T15:23:00.003+02:00

In the last post I mentioned that Simon was doing a medevac for a man who was suffering from convulsions. He had had a stroke the previous day and so was in need of treatment from the hospital in Kampala. Last night I received a phone call to say that the man had died. Simon and the medical staff did a lot to keep this man alive even during his transporation to Kampala. Before they took off the man had stopped breathing. Fortunately they were able to get him breathing again and Simon was able to hook him up to the oxygen in the plane. It can be quite frustrating for all those involved to make this medevac happen and then at the end of it the man dies. Pray for the family, his co-workers and friends as they mourn his loss. Also for Simon and the MAF operations staff as they come to terms with it too.

As believers we can hold onto the fact that God has all our days numbered and this does not come as a surprise to Him. He had a purpose in all of this even although we can't comprehend it.

A long awaited update...

2009-10-26T14:51:00.002+02:00

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.

Ladies Bible Study

2009-10-05T18:12:00.007+02:00

We are now into the fourth week of Ladies Bible study with the employees in the office. Luan and I have been encouraged by all the ladies who are so willing to participate and learn from God's word. We have already heard comments like "...I never knew that before and I am learning so much.." It is great to see each woman contribute to the study either by asking questions or sharing what they have learned. We are going through the Women of the Bible and are spending two weeks on each women. So far we have covered Eve and are half way through Miriam. Please continue to pray for the women that they continue to grow in their knowledge of the Bible and that it would transform their lives. Thanks to all of you who have been praying. We are seeing God answer prayers.

In addition to that we have a Bible Study for the International Ladies on a Wednesday. I am hosting it and Luan is teaching it. We have about 6 ladies getting together to study the book of Daniel. It has been quite an eye opener to us all as we study. Daniel's complete confidence in God is quite amazing and as we study the prophecy section of Daniel we see very clearly that we are indeed living in the end times. Exciting times!

A visit from a friend - Sharon

2009-09-22T06:58:00.008+02:00

Daddy and his little princess - enjoying the fact that the storm passed and its not raining anymore

Have we discovered the Loch Ness monster - no just a salamander enjoying the rain.

The first time we have seen chimps so active. Due to the storm it was a lot cooler and the fact they had been sheltering in the trees for an hour waiting on the rain to pass they had a lot of energy to expel.

Auntie Sharon and Zara outside the ostrich enclosure

Auntie Sharon and Joshua

Sharon returned with us from furlough and stayed with us for a couple of weeks. Despite being grounded for a couple of days due to the riots and getting rained on during a day out at the zoo we had a lot of fun together. Enjoy the photo highlights.

Route checks

2009-09-21T19:09:00.002+02:00

Simon is now back with us in Kampala after having a successful Safety Officer course in Nairobi last week. He had his route check today with another pilot. Every six months each pilot has to do certain checks on all the types of aircraft we have plus do a route check. Today was his day for a route check. This took him to Bunia, Congo as this was where the flight was booked to go. Thankfully the weather was kind to him and he had no trouble passing the check.

Last week pilots had quite a bit of trouble with the weather as rainy season is now upon us. One pilot flying into Bunia last week had to turn around and head back to Entebbe due to a storm that covered a 60 mile radius. Thankfully the weather was kind the next day so they were able to complete their journey.

Please pray for the pilots as they deal with difficult weather situations and also for all of us driving on the roads during this rainy season. It can be quite challenging.

Chief Safety Officer Course

2009-09-16T07:52:00.002+02:00

Simon is in Nairobi this week doing a Chief Safety Officer course. Simon has been Chief Safety Officer in the MAF Uganda programme for almost a year now and was doing on the job learning. Now he had this opportunity to go on this course and solidfy some of the things he has been doing. Pray for him that he will enjoy the course and that it would be helpful for him and the MAF Uganda programme. He is not used to sitting down all day so that will probably be one of his biggest challenges ;)

Meanwhile back at home we had another answer to pray in that some mains water came through last night so we were very excited about that. Thanks for praying with us.

Last night I had an undesirable guest in my bed - a cockroach. I didn't realise at the time what was disturbing my sleep but it must have been the cockroach crawling over me. It has now been well disposed of :)

Calm has returned to Kampala

2009-09-15T19:56:00.002+02:00

Thankfully we are experiencing peace around Kampala again and are not restricted with our movements anymore. Thank you for praying for us.

During last weeks troubles we also had a lot of power cuts. This has continued into this week and now we are getting no mains water either. Nothing like a challenge to keep you going. However, after dropping a guest off at their lodgings Joshua, Zara and I got into a conversation about hearing God's voice. Well one thing led to another and I said we really need to ask God to turn on our power again as we were running out of water and needed to pump some up from the bottom tank. We were also talking about how God answers prayer. Well we drove into our compound to find that our power was indeed on again and so that produced a few Praise the Lord shouts from Joshua and Zara. It was definately a time of exceeding joy! I told them now we need to pray that the water returns! We will see what happens in the morning.

Riots in Kampala

2009-09-12T15:57:00.002+02:00

Some of you are now beginning to see reports of violence in Kampala on your news reports. For the last two days there have been riots in downtown Kampala which has spread to other areas. Thankfully we are all well and appear to be free to move around again.

On Thursday we were told not to go downtown as there were violent clashes between the police and supporters of the Kabaka (King). Rather than me try to explain it all I will post the BBC version of it for your interest http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8252043.stm On Friday I drove down to the MAF Guesthouse with a friend, Sharon Brown, who is visiting from home. We could see the evidence of where burning tyres had been but all seemed calm. Just to put you in the picture we hadn't had power for about three days and for some people it is a lot longer than that. The guesthouse remains without power and will probably not be fixed until next week. Due to the lack of power the freezer had defrosted so we asked Shiella to cook all the meat and then I could come down later to put it in our freezer. However, it was not to be as Shiella called me later that afternoon to say that there were gunshots very close to the guesthouse and that it wasn't safe to be out.

On Friday morning I had a call from a MAF colleague to say that Rainbow School was closing because of the violence. Sharon and I raced to school only to find the main road to school was blocked by burning tyres, a tree and also gun shots could be heard. We took the backroad into school and were able to pick up Joshua and Zara along with some other children who lived close by whose parents were still on their way to school. We drove out in convoy and arrived home safely. Gun shots could be heard throughout the day some far away and some close. We remained at home and waited it out. Today, Saturday, there has been calm and we were able to go out again. We drove to Entebbe and went to the Zoo. All was quiet and life seems to have returned to normal. We pray that the Kabaka and the Government will be able to come to a peaceful resolution regarding the issue at hand.

We would value your prayers for this situation and that we have no further problems. Thanks to all of you who pray for us regularly including praying for our safety. It makes a difference!

Furlough statistics

2009-09-07T15:35:00.003+02:00

Along with all the fun things that we were able to do whilst on furlough we also did some work too.

Thanks to Simon's parents for giving Joshua and Zara some fun outings whilst we were involved in speaking at Church or visiting supporters and friends.

Thanks to my Mum and Auntie Anne and Uncle Jimmy for the times that you helped us out in looking after Joshua and Zara whilst Simon and I were travelling to various parts of Scotland. We managed to do 2,000 miles of driving whilst in Scotland, visited and spoke at 6 churchs, visited many friends and supporters along the way and also got to see some family.

In hindsight our furlough seems a bit like a whirlwind tour but it was fantastic to see so many of you, reacquaint with old friends and also make some new friends.

God willing we will be doing it all again in two years time.

Part 2 of furlough in Scotland - Friends

2009-09-07T15:21:00.008+02:00

Sorry this photo is so small but wanted to share it anyway. Great friends from back home and we were all able to be together for a evening which was a real treat.

At Lills birthday get together. We had some fun games on the Wii. It definately wasn't my gift!

Zara doing her princess poses

Joshua doing his "I'm tough" pose.

Family photo - easier said than done ;) - Thanks Cydil and Nathan- !

Cydil and Nathan - good friends of ours from the States who celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in Scotland which they kindly coincided with our furlough. It was great to catch up with them as it has been a while since we were together. Thanks guys for the time and for all the photos..

Photo highlights from our furlough in Scotland (Part 1)

2009-09-06T16:01:00.009+02:00

My Mum was able to get Military Tattoo tickets for us while we were home in Edinburgh. What a treat it was.

Zara and my cousins little girl, Abby. This was our first meeting with our little second cousin. It was a lot of fun.

We were able to go to an airshow while we were at home. The sights we saw were slightly different to the Cessna's we are used to in MAF

Joshua and Zara Go-Karting. They did a great job going round the circuit!

The Wunderli's have stopped wandering....

2009-09-01T15:11:00.010+02:00

Highlights from our furlough in Switzerland

Dog carting with Auntie Therese

Joshua and Grossvati looking at the baby peregrine falcons in the bird box

Grossmueti and Zara enjoying the view in the mountains

Yeah! we found some snow in the mountains in July.

We had a good snowball fight and all felt pretty cold afterwards.

Whilst in the mountains we came across some alp horn players.

What an amazing sight and sound.

Stopping for a snack along the way on a cloudy walk it the mountains

We are now back in Uganda after being 9 weeks away. I had hoped to keep up with blogging whilst on furlough but failed miserably. Anyway I have decided to give you a photo update which will convey a thousand words. Enjoy!

Wunderli's are still wandering

2009-07-27T20:49:00.002+02:00

It has been a while since you have heard from us. We are now in the second stint of our furlough after leaving Switzerland last Monday. We had a great time in Switzerland with Simon's family and visiting friends and supporters. We are now in Scotland and seem to have hit the ground running. Every Sunday is taken up with a different Church and then we have midweek meetings also. We have many photos to share with you and hope to upload them within the next week. Joshua and Zara are doing well and enjoying all the attention they are getting. They have had some wonderful experiences and have adjusted really well to all the changes. Thanks to all who have been praying for us during this time of furlough. We will update you all again very soon.

Random thoughts from Joshua and Zara

2009-06-17T07:28:00.002+02:00

Yesterday Zara and I were driving past the American Embassy in Kampala and she asked me "what is that?" I told her it was the American Embassy which I explained was the place where Americans do business such as get passports renewed etc. She said "...we're not Americans..." and I said that is right. Her reply was "..I'm a MAF Kid.."

The other day I was driving to a friends house to get my haircut. On the way there Zara turned to me and said "...why didn't Jesus have to die twice?.." I explained that Jesus only had to die once and that what He did was enough to pay the price for our sins and save us...she then proceeded to talk about the lovely orange gate that was in front of us so that was the end of that conversation. It makes me wonder sometimes what goes through kids heads :)

I have been reminded a lot recently of the passage in Deuteronomy 6 where it talks about Loving the Lord your God and impressing these things on your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. Maybe I need to add in when you are driving in your car :)

The other day we were sitting down to our evening meal and we usually ask Joshua and Zara to give us an account of their school day. Joshua loves to talk so he always has something to say. He told us that he had learned two new words at school. Of course we said that is great what are they. He said "gravity" and "capacity". We took the conversation a bit further and asked him what do they mean. He then preceded to give us a concise definition for each word. Simon and I just looked at him in amazement and found it quite difficult not to laugh. He had got the definition for both words spot on. The things you learn about your children. I guess his time in school is not being wasted ;)

Zara's 4th birthday at the Zoo

2009-06-12T15:02:00.011+02:00

Our little Princess

We enjoyed a birthday celebration in the morning...birthday cake for breakfast....YUM

Watching the rhinos from a safe distance

A very uptight ostrich!

Zara and her friend Kathleen

Always a highlight getting to ride on the donkeys

Two girlies watching the Zebras

One of many monkeys who tried to steal things out our bags......yes they roam free in the Zoo

Two jungle boys

Praises and Prayer Requests

2009-05-27T16:17:00.001+02:00

Please note some additional Praise and Prayer requests!

Thanks for supporting us in this way.

Thank you and Happy Birthday Zara!

2009-05-27T15:57:00.004+02:00

Thanks to all of you who were praying for Zara. She has made a full recovery from the Pneumonia and is back to being her usual self. She even went swimming for the first time yesterday which she was excited about.

We hope to go to Entebbe Zoo on Saturday for Zara's birthday (May 28th). We can't quite believe she is 4 years old already. It has been a fun packed 4 years and we are so blessed to have her.

Zara has Pneumonia

2009-05-14T16:17:00.003+02:00

Last Sunday Zara was quite unwell with a high fever and bad cough. We took her to the Doctor where we were told she was very dehydrated. Over the next couple of days, despite drinking lots, we couldn't get her fever to stay down. On Tuesday I took her back to the Doctor and he confirmed a diagnosis of pneumonia. Thankfully with some good antibiotics and cough medicine she is recovering well. She still looks a bit pale (peely wally for the Scots) but her sense of humour has returned and her cheekiness so that is a good sign. We just pray for a full recovery and no further problems.

Busy days..

2009-05-11T19:26:00.002+02:00

I was looking at our blog today and realising that its about time I filled you in on what we are up to these days apart from celebrating birthdays and escaping work for a few days :)

Simon has been really busy with flying recently and has spent most of his time flying into Sudan and the Congo. The Sudan days can be long and it seems to be catching up with him at the moment. Thankfully he has a lighter schedule this week thanks to auditors who are visiting the programme. They will be doing two audits on the programme. Simon will be involved in meetings concerning the safety audit side seen as he is Safety Officer. We are hoping for a postive result at the end of the week.

Amongst all of that we are planning our furlough home for this summer. We have been gathering material for our presentations in order to put something together that reflects our lives and work with MAF here in Uganda but also Congo and Sudan.
Thankfully all our speaking engagements are booked and pretty much finalised. We will have a particularly busy time in Scotland as we have committed to speaking at six churches of which 2 are new to us. In addition to this we have personal supporters, family and friends to catch up with all in five weeks. We are sure it is possible. :)

Joshua and Zara are looking forward to all the travelling this summer and are already reminicing about previous times in Scotland and Switzerland. Now that they are a bit older they should remember more about this trip.

We are grateful that the plumbing work and the two new bathrooms to be installed in the MAF Guesthouse should start this week. We pray for good workmanship and that everything will be functional at the end with no leaks or problems.

Since handing over my job as Learning and Development co-ordinator for MAF Uganda to a colleague I have been able to take things at a slower pace. As many of you know I have been doing a counselling course with BTI (Barnabas Training International). I am now over half way to completing the first course. The first 6 modules plus essay were returned with positive feedback so now I hope to complete the final 6 modules before we head for furlough. Well I can always be optimistic.

As well as studying for the counselling course I have also picked up my German lessons again. I hope to put in quite a few hours before we head to Switzerland. I pray that my brain will soak in the information like a sponge. Oh to have the brain of a child that is eager to learn and to absorb.

Last but not least Simon and I have been doing some Bible studies via CD by Chuck Missler. I am in the midst of the Genesis series and Simon has moved onto a study in Ezekiel. The insights we have gained are fasinating and I wish I could share them all with you but there are too many. It is satisfying to know that the more we spend in His word the more we will get to know Him. What better way to spend our time ;) If you are interested you can check out Chuck Missler on the Internet and purchase some of his studies online.

Sunrise over Kampala

2009-05-08T10:50:00.003+02:00

The other morning we were awoken early to flashes of lightening and crashes of thunder and heavy rain. However, once the storm abated and moved away we were able to experience a wonderful sunrise. The photos don't do it justice but thought I would share with you anyway. You just can't beat an African sunrise and sunset!

Birthday Boy!

2009-05-08T10:28:00.007+02:00

Zara was all partied out by the time we arrived home!

Zara with two friends, Ivan and Deborah on the trampoline

Normally we take a photo of the beautiful cake before its eaten but unfortunately that didn't happen this year. I won't bore you with the details. Anyway this is a photo of the end of the cake! I managed to find orange food colouring for the icing on the cake. This was the colour that Joshua had chosen for this years cake.

Joshua and his best friend, Anguci, being silly together on the trampoline

We had planned to go to the Zoo for Joshua's 6th birthday but it had rained the previous day and rained on his birthday so we had to have a plan B. Thankfully there is a restaurant in Kampala that has trampolines so this was a good alternative. We had 9 kids with us and thankfully some of the parents came too so we had a good time together.

Prayer Requests

2009-04-26T17:08:00.003+02:00

I have updated our prayer requests on the right side of this page. Thanks for praying!

Kingfisher, Queen Elizabeth National Park

2009-04-21T14:06:00.012+02:00

We had a rainy safari trip this time and came home with a muddy car.

Simon had to get out at the fishing village and put the car in 4WD as we got stuck in the cotton soil. Thankfully between 4WD and differential lock we pulled out of the mud no problem. Unfortunately his sandals and feet paid the price.

A cow and a calf outside a house in the fishing village. Not to far away was the river with hippos bathing in it and men selling fish. Unfortunately getting the car out of the mud was the priority so no pictures of hippos this time.

Difficult to see if this photo as the guide said we couldn't go any closer. A Mother elephant protecting her baby which was wallowing in the mud beside the smaller elephant. The mother elephant was flapping her ears and letting us know of her displeasure at us being so close. We eventually reversed back down the track again and left her in peace.

Joshua and Zara playing the game "Around the World"

Our little Pool Garden Princess

Taking it easy!

Anyone for tea????

Joshua and Zara spent many an hour on this slide

Joshua all set with his water guns

Sunset over Congo

2009-04-20T13:37:00.008+02:00

Last week we went away for a few days down to the SW of Uganda. On the last night we experienced a beautiful sunset over the Uganda/Congo border. The colours were amazing and changed so quickly...more pictures to come of our holiday!

Rainbow 2 Kabira 3

2009-04-03T17:47:00.002+02:00

Last night was our second football match. It was also our second match against Kabira International school. Unfortunately due to a penalty we lost the game but this time we put up a good fight. Our team played much better this time and it was a joy to play. This time I was playing in the midfield section so I was covering the strikers and the defence. I definately got a work out. It was a fun evening and we look foward to next term where we will be playing a Congolese team and the final match will be against some senior students from Rainbow.

Due to Simon being in Sudan Joshua and Zara came to watch. They had more fun playing with the other little girl who was there and doing somersaults off the other goal posts than watching Mum play football. However he was really disappointed to find out we didn't win. It is difficult to explain to a 5 year old that its the taking part that counts and if you win then its a bonus. He wasn't for buying that argument.

On the way home we stopped for some chips. Joshua and Zara thought this was great as not only did they get to stay up late but also have chips too. We did however get stuck in traffic on the way home and right in the middle of the jam my little 3 year old said "I need the bathroom". If it had been Joshua he would have gone in the spare plastic bottle I had but girls are another challenge. Thankfully we made it through the jam onto a road with a ditch. We stopped and did what most Ugandans do when they need to go..... in the ditch or by the side of the road...not many public toilets here. Thankfully Zara is still at the age where she doesn't mind where she goes......maybe it has something to do with growing up in Africa where when you gotta go you go!

Rainbow International School Sports Day

2009-03-27T16:33:00.010+02:00

Zara's team came third in one of the races.

Zara racing towards a tunnel in part of her obstacle race. I was trying to cheer her on and take a photo...not easy :)

She was very careful not to step on the grass on this one.

Her team won this bike race.

Joshua and his other Ssese (Name of team) teammates waiting for their races.

Joshua's team came first in the big shoe race.

Joshua and his best friend, Anguci waiting to race.

The big shoe race.

Above are some of the photos of Joshua and Zara taking part in the Primary School sports day. It was a fun two days for them but it was very hot. Thankfully there was plenty of water flowing. I enjoyed watching them all and there was a great competitive spirit on both days for Primary and Secondary school. It was amazing to watch some of the upper class students run..wow they were fast!

Braiding and scissors

2009-03-16T11:57:00.003+02:00

On Saturday Joshua and Zara's school had a fun day. World Cup fun day to be exact. They were able to do a lot of fun things like face painting, crafts and there was even a bouncy castle. One of the hightlights for Joshua was a stall that sold plastic swords. He spent most of the morning running round with his friend Anguci having sword fights. It looked even more realistic when he had his face painted like a pirate. Zara's choices of the morning were to have her nails painted pink and to have a length of her hair braided. She was very patient for both activities. However, the patience didn't carry over into the next day. As we were getting ready for Church she told me that her braided hair hurt and she wanted me to cut it. I told her I would be able to help her in 5 minutes. Unfortunately our little independent daughter decided that Mummy's 5 minutes was too long and that she would deal with the issue herself. It wasn't 5 minutes later and she came into the bathroom where I was brandishing a pair of scissors and the cut off braid with her hair still inside the braid. Thankfully it wasn't a lot of hair gathered in the braid so you have to look quite closely see the tuft of hair left on her head. We explained to her that it wasn't a good idea to take scissors and cut her own hair and that she should leave that to Mummy. Simon and I did have a good laugh at the situation but Zara didn't find it quite so funny and got quite upset as she thought that everyone would be laughing at her hair. Thankfully no one noticed at Sunday school so the issue was long forgotton by her and so our happy go lucky little girl returned. Sorry we didn't take any photos. We would have been late for church otherwise and I am not so sure Zara would have been happy about it :)

Time for Change

2009-03-12T13:56:00.003+02:00

It has been a while since I have blogged and so I thought it was about time I gave you a bit of an update from my side (Pam).

These past three months I have been reconsidering my role as Training Co-ordinator or Learning and Development Co-ordinator as it is now called. I have been doing the job for the past 5 years. I have really enjoyed the role and it has stretched me in different areas which has been good but the time has come to let someone else take the work forward. It wasn't an easy decision to make but after making it I felt a sense of peace and joy. I will continue in this role until we leave for furlough in June. I have some training that needs to be completed before I leave for furlough so still enough work to be done. You might be asking what will I replace this job with...well as it stands I still have enough to keep me out of mischief. The MAF guesthouse which a friend and I manage is doing really well and continues to be busy with more and more teams wanting to stay.

I am also still helping out Jesus Film Ministries with writing up their blog and finding funding for various projects that they have which is a lot of fun and awesome to see how God provides. The last project we did was to find funding for 70 school uniforms for a school down in Masaka. The school is run by a local Pastor and church. This Church has such a Godly influence in the area that even muslim families are sending their children there. We give thanks that our nightguards wife was able to make all the uniforms (she has just finished a seamstress course) so this was great for her newly learned skills and also a blessing for Pastor Christopher and the school. We are looking forward to seeing the photos of the children in their new uniforms from Sam in due time. Thanks to those who sponsored this project...you know who you are. :)

Along with that I have just started a Biblical counselling course from Barnabas Training International. Two friends also joined up in doing the course. So far we are really enjoying it and had our first group meeting today which went very well. In the different roles that we have within MAF and outside of MAF this training is going to be very beneficial. It is amazing how many people don't have anybody to talk to or just need to be listened to. We hope that we can help fill that gap when appropriate and needed.

A friend has also been leading a Bible Study for women in our home on a Wednesday morning. We finished the book of Philippians before Christmas and are now coming towards the end of our second study which was on the topic of Heaven. Both studies have been really helpful and many, including myself, have benefited tremendously from the study on Heaven. It has been amazing to search the scriptures together and get a glimpse of what Heaven is like and the awesomeness of it all. For believers it is a blessed hope and something that we can enjoy looking forward to.

Another thing I have taken up is playing football. As a child I really loved playing football and also at Moody I enjoyed the soccer intermurals. At Rainbow International (school Joshua and Zara go to) a teacher/parent team started up. I have gone along for the fun of it and for the exercise. It has also been good to get to know some of the teachers better and do something else outside of MAF. A few weeks ago we had our first game against another International school. Unfortunately the game ended at 2-1 for Kabira International but it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. There is a bit of pressure for me to be there now as I was the one that scored the 1 goal for our team. To be honest it was more luck than skill. I realise that I am not a teenager anymore and that running up and down a football field doesn't come quite as easy.

Of course looking after two active children, a husband as well as running a household can be pretty full time in of itself so life is never dull. :)

As I mentioned earlier we are planning our time home this summer for furlough. We will leave in June for Switzerland where we will be there until the 20th July. From Switzerland we head to Scotland and then back to Uganda at the end of August. We are already filling up our calendar for speaking engagements which is good. We hope to get to see as many of you as possible in Switzerland and Scotland. Sorry for those folks outside of these countries. One day we might get Stateside to visit you all over there just not this time around.

A night in the Rainforest

2009-02-24T13:43:00.010+02:00

Our wee "pink" monkey

In the search for leopards! (the fact that the guide has only seen 2 in 15 years didn't make us lose hope of sighting one :)

An enormous web hanging from a tree. Thanfully the spiders weren't of the same enormity!

The path down to our room! Got to be fit in the rainforest, it seemed like you were either walking down or up!

Zara and her bugs. Zara asked me to hold her grasshopper while she washed her hands. As she picked it up one of its legs fell off! Then she launched it off the balcony to see if it would fly. I think the poor grasshopper was just glad to be out of the clutches of our daughter. What a lass!

I don't know if many of you have read Steve Saint's book "End of the Spear" (Steve Saint is the son of Nate Saint who was a MAF pilot that died at the hands of the Waodani tribe in the Amazon jungle) It is well worth a read and I just happened to be reading it at the time we decided to do an overnight in a rainforest just 1.5 hours east of Kampala. Joshua and Zara were on half term and so we decided to go away for a night to a place we hadn't been to before. To be reading this book in a rainforest when you are reading about the Amazon jungle is quite an amazing experience. Its not every day you can read a book and feel like you are living it. We listened to monkeys screeching, Joshua and I found a big lizard in the pool toilet and many animals sounds although didn't actually see the body attached to the noise. Maybe that was a blessing. We went for a guided walk in the forest which was very interesting. The guide mentioned to us about different trees that are poached for medicinal purposes. He told us about the Pygmy people who used to live in the forest like they do still in Congo and the trees where they stored their food. Joshua and Zara got to swing on vines that could even hold our weight! Anyway the pictures above will give a glimpse into what we experienced. We definately serve a creative God!

2009-02-08T13:06:00.005+02:00

There are many favourable attributes for living in sub sahara Africa and that being that the temperature all year round doesn't vary too much unlike our homelands. This means that Joshua and Zara enjoy the freedom of playing outside most of the time. 99.9% of the time this is a good thing until Zara came in the house to tell me that Joshua had found a great picnic place. This intrigued me no end so I went out to investigate. The pictures above will explain it more than I could ever with words. I remember doing the same thing as a child and wondered why my parents were a bit unnerved. Now I understand! Thankfully they are very sure footed but it still makes the mother in me come out in a cold sweat. :)

The things your children say...

2009-02-06T07:23:00.002+02:00

Yesterday Zara and I were driving up the dirt road to school listening to some music and then out of the blue this was the conversation we had...

Zara: Mummy, I love Santa and God?

Me: Oh really, why is that?

Zara: Because Santa gives me presents and God is in my heart

Me: Why else do you love God, Zara?

Zara: Because he doesn't make me flat?

Me: (She had lost me on that one) What do you mean Zara?

Zara: So I don't get run over by a car!

Me: Do you mean that God protects you

Zara: Yes....

You sometimes think that your children aren't listening to you but they are taking things in...unfortunately the bad as well as the good :)

It's that time of year again...

2009-02-02T13:21:00.002+02:00

We all woke up at 5:30am this morning with yet another storm crashing overhead. Joshua and Zara were all dressed and ready to go to school by 6:15am! Joshua kept asking is it time to go yet to which the reply was NO there is still another hour and 15 minutes left. I was just praying that the rain would stop and dry up somewhat for the usual 10 minute journey to school. If not then it was going to be a interesting one. Well we managed to get to school fine although it was quite muddy. As I was leaving school I decided to go the back way. I didn't get too far up the road before I was met with chaos. Cars were stuck and others trying to pass one another on a very muddy, slippy road. I decided to back down the way I came and go the "main road". This, of course, was no better as it was really muddy and it had started to rain hard again. As I looked up the road to see what it was like I was met with more chaos. There was one lady stuck on one side of the road, a small car behind her spinning his wheels with mud flying and other one trying to pass on the opposite side and the wheels kept sliding into the ditch. This road is only a one track murram road too but it had turned into a "mud" rink. We weren't going anywhere. Finally the guy in front who was the father of one of the little boys in Zara's class got out to see what he could do as well as myself. In the end he drove the ladies car out that was stuck in the mud fishtailing all the way. The second car wasn't going anywhere so we shoved some rocks and stones under the tyres and tried to push him out but to no avail. Finally we both got in our cars and reversed down the hill. Of course there always has to be some hero who thinks his car is better. This particular car came charging down the hill thinking he could pass all the mayhem only for him to get stuck and come within in a few cm's of touching the other cars. I think he learned his lesson when he was given a few "encouraging" words as to the error of his ways. Anyway we all made it home safely albeit slightly muddy. Just another day in Africa!!!

Guests come and Guests go.... and so do family!

2009-01-27T19:27:00.004+02:00

The fated day had arrived. That day was Sunday. It was time for my Mum to return to Scotland. Airports are fun places to be at when people arrive but not so fun when they have to go. We were sad to see her go as it was becoming normal just having her around. She helped us a lot in the time she was here and I am sure she went back home for a rest. :) Joshua, in particular, took it badly and even cried in the afternoon saying "I miss Granny". We consoled him with the fact that we would be home in the summer and see her again then.

Yesterday more guests arrived. Due to a change in plan we had to put these guests in our MAF Guesthouse as their original schedule meant that they overlapped with Mum's visit. Anyway we decided to give our guest room a break and keep the plan as it was. Hillery and Helena are here in Uganda to see the Life of Christ play take place in Kiwangala, near Masaka. To give you a bit of a background. Hillery Ingram Smith used to be my Bible Class teacher at Wester Hailes Baptist when I was a wee lass. We were reacquainted again through this Life of Christ play taking place in Uganda. It is amazing to see how God orchestrates things to work out in ways we could never picture. She has been the costume designer for this play and has been working with local seamstresses and Pastors since June last year. She made an initial trip in June 2008 and then a following trip in August 2008. Now she is here to see the production with a friend from Church. It is exciting how God has opened doors for this play and we pray that many will understand the Gospel because of it and come to a new life in Christ. Please pray for this minstry that God will make Himself known not only in this area of Uganda but that it might spread further afield even into neighbouring countries :)

As I write Simon is overnighting in Sudan. He is picking up a team from a place called Kauda tomorrow. We pray for good weather for him as we have had quite a bit of rain and storms the last couple of days. It seems rainy season has started early. The fun rides to school are about to start. :) Praise the Lord for 4WD!

Well it has been a busy day and I am also struggling with the cold and sore sinuses so I think it is time to call it quits for the night.