Rainbow International School Sports Day

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

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

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.