So our trip to Kampala is drawing to a close. We feel our trip has been successful and productive in a number of ways. We have completed all the research we needed for Reach at this stage and more! We have loved spending time with people in the community of all ages and building long-lasting friendships. We will miss many people here as we feel we have become part of the Word of Life Church family.

Sunday morning, we sang our last ’special number’ for the church and were able to spend one last Sunday school with the junior youth. The youth decided to bless the children by serving them porridge after Sunday school and we were excited to be a part of that. For the children, Sunday school is an opportunity to be fed and have fun with their friends so it was an honour for us to be involved with serving them. 

On Monday, we had the opportunity to accompany Jez on a home visit. It was great to see the church taking an active role in supporting and serving the neediest in society. We visited a man who had almost no income and two children to support. The church had built his house on the weekend in order to support him as he struggles to bring up his children. There are plans to further this in building him a bathroom this weekend. It both encouraged and humbled us to see the heart of church members who recognise a need and take action. We took him some food and were able to go into his home and pray with him. 

Monday evening brought the teachers together for fellowship that we went along to. This gave us a chance to address the whole teaching body at Treasured Kids Primary School and Kindergarten and show our appreciation for their generous welcome. They asked us to sing one last time and prayed for us to have a safe journey home. We were very pleased to get a group photo as we have grown to love all of the teachers individually. They are truly wonderful people with amazing gifts and talents. They do an incredible job in shaping the futures of all the children they teach and it has been a pleasure to work alongside them.

We feel torn at the moment; we are sad to leave our new friends here in Kampala but we are extremely excited to see everyone in Swansea. We have been blessed in every aspect of this trip and we are looking forward to seeing the fruit of our efforts when we return.

Thank you for partnering with us! Your prayers and encouragements are greatly appreciated.

Beth and Bex

Category: Uncategorized  |  Author: bethcorbett  |  2 Comments »

Yesterday we were really excited to be able to give gifts to the children in the orphanage that Cornerstone Church so generously support. We spent some of Thursday shopping for school supplies that the children needed, and then packed and labelled one bag for each of the children.  

We pulled up to the house with Jez and were welcomed by the children one by one, who each had massive smiles on their faces. We were then able to give out the bags and also huge sacks of posho (maize flour), sugar, beans and rice to Aunty Sarah who looks after the children.

It was a real privilege to give out the gifts as we have been able, over the past few weeks, to really get to know the children who live in the orphanage and some of their stories.  Despite all that they have faced, and continue to face, they are bright, cheerful, intelligent, and genuinely loving children, and this we find incredible. 

We also have grown to love Aunty Sarah and Uncle Frank who live in the orphanage and look after the children.  Their courage and strength will always amaze us as they continue to act as the mother and father that the children can look up to and trust.

We feel productive in what we have been able to achieve whilst we have been here.  We will miss the friends we have made, and the huge pineapples, but we are also excited to think what the coming months have in store for us with starting up ‘Reach’. Having met some of the families that we will aspire to help, we feel passionate about the project and determined to make any difference we can. 

Thank you for your continued support and prayer. Neither of us have been ill and Beth has kept her voice for the entire trip, which is a miracle in itself, especially with the amount of singing we have been doing with the worship team and the dry and dusty conditions here!  

Only 4 days left and we’ll be home- can’t believe it!!

Bex

Category: Fundraising, Stories  |  Author: bexparr  |  No Comments »

It’s been a very eventful week here in Uganda! Sunday was filled with church meetings and a football match for the youth. The match was against a neighbouring church and was an opportunity to meet people in the next community. The pitch left a lot to be desired as most of the players found themselves almost swimming through lengths of grass. While most of the youth got involved in playing, I was able to spend time socialising and building solid relationships with some of the youth from the children’s home near the church. It was great for us all to be together and to get to know each other better. Fortunately, the disappointing 1-0 defeat for Word of Life was not enough to spoil our day!

The rest of our week has been packed full of school visits with Teacher David. It has been really encouraging to us to have him on board. He knows all of the children personally and has really been able to give us a clear insight into the situations that most of the children face daily. We’ve got very familiar with the communities surrounding the school and have been able to achieve more research than we originally expected! We are very excited to bring our findings back to Cornerstone to see what difference can be made. We certainly have had our eyes opened to the troubles that are so often experienced in this country.

We are very sad that it is now less than a week before we leave Uganda, it has been a very valuable experience to the both of us.

Beth

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