Christmas Day began with an early drive to Sanyu Babies Home. Mel, Sonia, Hannah and Lydia changed nappies and fed the babies while Jeremy and I hung up washing. To quote Eli's own words he "just walked around and did nothing" and was as happy as a pig in mud.
After nearly 2 hours at Sanyu we drove back to the Jesus House to get dressed for church (Sonia in her Gomezi and me in a Kunzu).
Peter spoke about the joy of the first Christmas and linked King Herod's plot against Jesus with people and circumstances which work against the work of the Lord in our daily lives today. He encouraged us to identify the 'Herods' in our life and ask the Lord to help us have victory over them.
The service also included the cutting of a birthday cake - to celebrate Jesus's birthday and the 4th Anniversary of the first church service at Kyampisi (the Lord has certainly worked miracles over this time)!
Following church, we enjoyed two lunches - initially with Mama Betty and her extended family and then with Mama Grace and her family.
Lunch at Mama Betty's consisted of chicken, chicken gizzard, beef, matoke, rice, irish potatoes, chipatis and passionfruit juice whereas lunch at Mama Grace's consisted of beef (actually fat), rice, matoke, gravy and Mirinda Soda.
To be honest, it was lovely to be able to spend time with a family and to be included in their Christmas celebrations. Both Mama's had gone to considerable lengths to ensure there was plenty of food and drinks. It was truly an African experience!
Both Sonia and I were challenged by the depth of faith displayed by both mothers, especially Mama Grace. Grace spoke passionately about the faithfulness of the man who initially introduced Christianity to Uganda many generations ago (and the fruit of his labours) and how this encourages her to be faithful when sharing the gospel message to her family and community - despite opposition from various quarters.
Following lunch we walked back to the church for some ball games on the lawn near the Children's church. After these games the children enjoyed some fellowship, which included a movie in the new church.
After this we all returned to the Jesus House for an early night.
Unfortunately Barbra had a fall from a Boda Boda prior to us leaving Kyampisi. When we returned to the Jesus House I drove her to Life Link Medical Clinic to assess her injuries as she was slightly concussed and needed a few grazes dressed.
On reflection it was good to be able to serve the children of Sanyu on Christmas morning and a team member on Christmas night - an out working of the Christmas message! Shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment