Joshua's School Sports Day

As you can tell from the photos below it was Joshua's sports day. It was a great morning and all the kids did a great job in participating.

Sports Day Certificate from Principal Roberta

Joshua and his classmates cheering on the other racers

Joshua and Daniel (one of his best friends) laughing together

Roll the tyre race

The Sprint

Tug of War

Motorbike Race (his favourite)

Relay Race

Bedtime reading

Joshua and Zara were telling each other stories out of our news magazine. I wish you could have heard them talking. They were like an old married couple :)

Using the "big girl" toilet

See girls can multi task. They can go to the toilet and flush all at the same time!! :)

Excuses and Sports Days

Sorry it has been a while since I have posted anything on the blog. I have been battling a cold for a week now which is reluctant to go completely. Due to this fact I have only been on the computer when it has been absolutely necessary :)

Anyway I was planning on having some great photos for this update of Zara and her sports day yesterday. Unfortunately Zara fell off the swing before the sports event took place and banged up her chin. When I arrived she was still a bit upset and wanted to go home. We stayed to watch some of her classmates run and do different things but she wasn't into it at all. I do, however, hope to have some good pictures on Saturday as its Joshua's turn for his sports day.

Matany, Northern Uganda

Matany Town

The "Twins"

Yesterday Simon along with a MAF Representative from the UK, Martin Rodgers flew some people up to Matany (town in the north of Uganda). Due to the fact that this was the only stop on the manifest they were able to take a tour of the local hospital which is run by Italians. This was quite an eye opener as they were able to go into all areas of the hospital due to the fact that the management at the hospital know MAF so well. A lady 20 minutes earlier had just given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. They were also allowed into the operating theatre to see the lady being stitched up (she had had a c-section). Funnily enough there are no photos of that room. :) I think Simon and Martin made a hasty retreat from that scene and moved onto the next location. It was great for Simon and Martin to visit with the people that MAF serves on a more personal level. Most times the flight schedules don't allow it but there are always the rare occasions when it does.

God is at work!

Don't forget to check out the Jesus Film Ministries link for the new stories and prayer requests. Many have come to know the Lord this week through this ministry as well as being challenged in their Christian lives. Be encouraged God is at work!
http://www.mafspace.org/JesusFilmMinistries/

Animals of all sorts :)

Zara and her new friend, a highland cow or for you Scots out there a "heiland coo".

Joshua and Zara love playing animal games. This was them pretending to be puppies (their favourite). Before that they were pretending to be monkeys and lions. Anyone watching us must have thought we were mad.

"No Vacancies"

Yet again our guest room is occupied with another guest. Joshua and Zara are loving all the attention they get from our numerous guests.

On Saturday a MAF Rep team arrived to get a glimpse for themselves of what MAF actually does. MAF Reps doing a lot of great things in the UK. They schedule meetings and speaking engagements throughout a given area to promote MAF and to share about the difference that MAF makes around the world in the various countries.

They have a fairly full schedule this week as they go on flights, meet with MAF folks, customers and also head out with Sam from Jesus Film Ministries to see the work that he does.

The Rep that is staying with us, Martin Rodgers is a fellow Scot from a place called Drumnadrochit (what a cool name!!). You probably have no idea where it is but if I told you it lies beside the banks of Loch Ness you might have a fair idea of the location. He kindly brought some presents with him. Zara got a cuddly toy of the highland cow variety and Joshua got a book on the Loch Ness Monster. The past two nights we have had to reread the story. He is quite taken by it all and can't believe that Martin stays close to where the monster is supposed to live. I think Loch Ness might be one of the destinations we will need to take Joshua too when we next make a visit to Scotland. We could call it our "Scottish" Safari.... in the hunt for the monster. This would make a change from our African Safari's :)

Structurally challenged buildings and earthquakes

Last night we had some friends up for dinner. They are on the MAF Congo team and had just recently come back from furlough so we were looking forward to catching up with all their news. Earlier in the evening we had been discussing all the new buildings that were going up in around the city of Kampala. How most of them keep standing is a miracle in itself. The other day Simon and I had been driving past a hotel that was in the midst of construction. There was a workman perched on the edge with a ball of string in his hand with a piece of it dangling over the edge. Whether or not he was using it as a plumb line or not we will never know but it was a frightening thought if he was. Although this did help to explain the look of the partly finished hotel. It was wider at the top than it was at the bottom and part of the corner of the hotel jutted out onto the walkways. Once these hotels are painted on the outside you think they look great but if you keep in mind what it looked like before you think twice of going inside.
Anyway while we were discussing all these recent constructions we wondered what Kampala would look like after even a moderate earthquake the unthinkable happened. We had not long just uttered those words when our chairs began to vibrate. It lasted at least 30 seconds which is a long time in an Earthquake. Throughout those 30 seconds you are wondering if this is going to be earth splitting or just a rattle. Thankfully it was just a rattle and it disappeared. It was quite an eerie feeling as we looked over towards Kampala with a lightning storm going on in the distance. Even the animals were alarmed by it as dogs started their chorus of barking as did many birds. It made us realise who really is in charge of this world and it certainly isn't us!!!

Bookworms

Sheryl Strietzel (from MAF Congo team) came up for coffee one afternoon as well as read books to Joshua and Zara. She loves to read books and so Joshua and Zara were in for a treat. They had a great afternoon together.

Going to Pre-School....

We had a few minutes before it was time to jump in the car to go to school so thought it might be a good photo opportunity. Enjoy!

Jesus Film Ministries MAF Space

This week I have been busy doing some work for Jesus Film Ministries. Two weeks ago MAF put together a website/blog for MAF staff to use. We decided this would be a great tool for JFM to use so that friends and supporters can keep up to date with all the work that is going on. The site is still in its infancy and there are still some bugs to be sorted out but we are going ahead and using it anyway. You can visit the site at http://www.mafspace.org/JesusFilmMinistries/ Hope you enjoy reading about what amazing things God is doing both in Uganda and in Sudan. Enjoy!

Chewy and the rooster getting poised to do battle with each other

Chewy has a hold of the rooster's tail as they run around the garden

Pam and the Rooster go head to head

This morning I was thinking that I should really update our blog with a story but wasn't sure what that story was going to be. Well after having that thought an opportunity presented itself in quite a dramatic fashion.
Please bear in mind that most of this story happened before 8am and it made me wonder what was in store for me the rest of the day :)
Joshua and Zara had gone out to play as is usual before I take Joshua to school. The next thing they are both back in the house excitedly telling me that the rooster had got out of its coop. I went to have a look and sure enough there was the rooster strutting around the garden liked he owned it. The next thing chewy started chasing it in fun (she could have killed the rooster if she had wanted to) and then the two of them started fighting one another. It was quite hilarious to watch especially when chewy got ahold of the rooster's tail and chased it round the garden. The rooster put up a good fight before chewy got bored of the game.
Well I was about ready to put Joshua and Zara in the car both of whom wanted carried to the car in case the rooster turned on them. Anyway I got them both in the car and went to open the gate as I was going back to the car the rooster attacked me. It was doing running leaps at me. It took me quite by surprise and before I knew it I had lost two sandals in the fight to escape its wrath and then dived into the car. I was now sitting in the car with no sandals on and having to take Joshua and his friends to school. I figured that the rooster might have got bored of "playing" so I got out the car but picked up a stick just in case it thought it was only round 1. I managed to retrieve my sandals which had been launched in two different directions and made my way back to the car. The next thing I know is the psychologically deranged rooster is making a beeline for me again. This time I was ready for it. A few whacks with the stick didn't deter it though and it kept fighting back. I managed to get in the car again along with the stick. Anybody seeing me must have thought I had gone mad. Well I wish I could tell you that that was the end of the story but its not. On my return from dropping the kids off at school the rooster had another go at me. This time he is relentless in his attack and I am using my trusty stick to defend myself while calling the MAF Office Manager to ask if the dayguard could come and help me get it. Thankfully the MAF Office is just across the road so Chris is not long in coming. He managed to grab it and then we put it in the chicken house and locked the door. Chris was definately my hero today. The rooster will be no longer as of tonight. Our nightguard Moses will be given it as a gift as he looked after it for us while we were gone and the original owners don't want it back now. So everyone benefits. I am free from its harassment and Moses and his family enjoy a fresh chicken dinner.

Wow don't I look cool!!!!!

Yet another birthday

This time it was Deborah's birthday. They enjoyed eating cake together this morning and yesterday they were all taken to a new park to play. It's great fun being 4!!!!