Esther and Katie signing off

We're here. We've done it. We've reached the end of our adventure in Uganda. To say we've enjoyed it would be an understatement- we've LOVED it. Having been here for almost 7 weeks we've been able to get really stuck into to everything at ROL and, as you may have read in our previous blogs, have loved experiencing new things and stepping up in ministry.

For our last weekend in Uganda we went on safari! We had the most amazing 3 days seeing lions, hippos, elephants, giraffe and almost getting killed by a buffalo when our crazy guide thought it would be nice idea to go for a walk in the wild! (Note to self- NEVER DO AGAIN.) Although we hiked up the amazing Murchison waterfalls and went on a boat along the Nile as the sun started to set, we missed our home in Masaka and all the amazing friends we have made there!

Our time in Uganda has been an amazing and unique experience and now it's time to fly the nest. We have met some amazing people here who have created a second home for us and taught us a lot. There have been so many highlights such as visiting a school CU for the first time, going on community visits to pray with people, playing with the amazing White Eagle children, meeting phenomenal people and almost getting killed by a buffalo (to name but a few). We've been incredibly blessed and hope we've blessed the places we've been too!

This is Katie an Esther signing out for the last time.

Please please...stay fresh.

Malaria, Prison, Bubbles and more!

Wow, it's been a while- we've missed you. Unfortunately we've been busy being ill and having malaria. As it's so common in Uganda they were able to quickly treat it with strong medication.

So now we have two weeks to cover in this blog as we missed last week. Last week we had the chance to speak at the youth group here and visit Masaka prison where we were asked to share a song. Both were great experiences for us and gave us the chance to step out in ministry more. In the youth group it was amazing to be able to share with people our own age our passions to see a courageous generation seeking The Lord together despite inevitable cultural differences. When we were given the chance to visit the prison we were asked to bring a song with us, they don't allow just anyone to have a quick look around. The idea of singing to a bunch of prisoners at first was slightly daunting but once we arrived and were joyfully welcomed with singing and A LOT of hugging, it was easy to relax and enjoy ministering to them!

This week, now we are on the mend, we have spent a lot of time with the White Eagles children. This is the last week before they go on holiday so we're making the most of the time we have together. Over the last 5 weeks we have spent our weekends with them playing, dancing, eating, singing, shouting, running and everything else. One of their favourite things to do it set exams for us to do - this has been embarrassing at time, especially when on of the topics was farming tools and we have no clue where to start! We brought some nail varnish with us and as they are know are on holidays we all spent the afternoon being pampered, even the boys joined in! Who doesn't love having pink nails? The White Eagles are a great bunch of kids and spending time with the has definitely been one of our highlights and we'll miss them when we leave!

Also this week, we had the privilege of going to our dear friend, Julius', Kwanjula which is kind of like a pre wedding ceremony where Julius was formally introduced to his fiancé, Martha's clan. This was a proper Ugandan day out! We were dressed in the traditional Ugandan party dress called a Gomez which as colourful and flattering as they were we will not be rushing to wear them a anytime soon- Ugandans have the right figure for it but we most definitely don't! Fortunately for us, the majority of the introduction was in English as requested by Julius so we were able to roughly follow what was going on. It has been such a joy to get to know Martha over our time here and we can see that they are going to be very happy together- what a match!

So, now we're preparing for our last week in this wonderful country and are looking forward to our safari trip which we'll tell you about next week.

Stay fresh.

Can you join the Gideons?

The Gideons? What's that? Well, faced with a powerful enemy of 120,000 swordsmen, God got Gideon to raise an army of just 300 to fight for freedom. The rest is history… (read about it in Judges 6!)

When faced with the challenges we face in Uganda, it can be easy to feel similarly outnumbered. And yet the opportunities to change lives, to see communities transformed and individuals flying high have never been so great! From the tiny babies on the Baby Unit to the budding nation-changers of the Leadership Academy, we know that we can dare to dream - but only if we dream together!

So we're recruiting ‘Gideons’ - people who want to be part of this dream and are ready to fight through regular prayer and regular giving, so that we will see more lives transformed.

We want to be snatching hope from the jaws of despair - as a Gideon you'll be on the frontline of the action! You will get regular prayer updates and the inside track on our news, and we also want to hear from you and be praying for you. Please consider signing up today from just £10 a month. It's easy - you can set up a regular gift on our BT MyDonate page.