WUNDERLI WANDERINGS

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!

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...

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...

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.

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...

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 an...

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 Uga...

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.

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.

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 t...

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 Egy...

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 ...

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...y...