A family day out...

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.