Majestic Marathon Maniacs!

26.2 miles. Nyendo to Lake Nabugabo and back. No small feat! The day finally arrived, and frankly most of our runners were filled with dread, as the challenge seemed unsurmountable. It’s never going to be a good day when you meet in pitch dark (5:50am) – or so they thought.
 

Yet the first runners were at the lake gate by just 7:30am (whilst we were munching our porridge and rubbing sleep from our eyes – shaaaame on us!!). A brief rest, and a welcome to the slower runners, and they were off again!
 

Thing is, many of us may have lacked faith in the fortitude of our colleagues, as we were astounded at their performances – Nalongo Juliet (our secretary) very nearly making it to the lake, whilst Elder Emily, cook Esther and general manager Paul plowed through the lake gates with triumph.
 

Of the 30 participants, SEVENTEEN completed the full run: staff, leadership academy, and even some of our teenage White Eaglettes (= female White Eagles!) – you know what, let’s give them some individual RESPECT… Julius, Joseph, Martin, Gerald, James, Ernest, Kellen, Maria, Baker, Ronald, Muyanja, Keneth, William, Peter, Mujjuzi, Kevin, Waiswa… we applaud you sincerely (and with some sheepishness, since we admit we weren’t sure any would make it the whole way). TONS of respect to you, not just for your stamina, but also your willingness to lend your own efforts to help raise money for our kids’ school fees.

Well, if you’d been at church when our heros hobbled in, you would have heard screams and crunches, as they were all treated to a hearty muscle rub…. But then… no pain, no gain, as they say!
 

Please do reward their efforts, and sponsor them – show them that you’re as proud of them as we are! Go to: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/backtoschool

We’ll leave you with Isaiah 40:31…. “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like [White] Eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”
  

Please sponsor our valiant runners and send our kids and young people back to school!

What a difference three weeks makes! We’re relieved to report that our runners are starting to look like… well, runners! It’s been early morning runs and aching muscles all around, and this is just as well, since the run is a week today!! 25 scorching, sweaty, arduous miles. Whew.
 


Novices to Pros in just a few weeks - our lads are starting to look the part!

And as for the chauvinists amongst you who wonder how the girls will manage, we’d like to inform you that the men have been seriously challenged by their persistence and tenacity. Boom! Every day, the gang are upping the ante, pushing themselves more, in order to prepare.
 

We asked Esther (seen here in blue) about the marathon. She’s a chef down at church and a mum of four little ones.
 

She told us “I am happy to be part of the fundraising team. I didn’t go to school myself, and I know only too well the difficulties that a lack of education can bring. But if the young men and women in the Leadership Academy can go to school with your donations, I will be so full of joy to have helped them get there! If you can, please donate, so that they can make it to school and really be productive members of our society, helping to bring about an improved Uganda. Thank you so much!”

Well, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. We reckon Esther’s setting a stonking example to her kids (and the rest of us!). Thanks Esther, and good luck to all runners.

Please reward their efforts, and visit: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/backtoschool

6 Men. 6 Bikes. 90 miles. 1 day.

The ladies and gentlemen of the Leadership Academy need to get back to University! Semester 2 starts in a few weeks, and currently there's not enough money in the kitty...

But, being the go-getting never-say-die kinda sorts, they've grabbed the opportunity to do something extraordinary. Next week, in the middle of dry season, 6 courageous young men are going to brave the dusty pot-holed roads of Uganda to cycle 90 miles in ONE DAY.

And they're inviting you to sponsor them, so that they can raise the £5,318 needed to send all 17 members back to their University courses.

It will be a tough and gruelling ride, starting at 4am from River of Life Church, heading 25 miles to catch the dawn ferry at Bukakata, cycling 20 miles across the largest of the Ssese Islands to the main town of Kalangala… only to turn round and come back!

And don’t be thinking of smooth tarmac roads and fast road bikes! Oh no. We’ve begged and borrowed a motley collection of bikes in various states of disrepair… this is no Tour de France. More like Tour de Survival.

So, please dig deep and sponsor the lads now! You can do it online here, or if you would like to donate some other way, please get in touch. The first £500 donated will be DOUBLED by one very generous donor - so please donate quickly and your money will go twice as far!

And just in case you needed reminding, these guys are nation changers, and worth every penny in our humble opinion :)

Yes, we're still two bikes short... but they're coming! Let's hope the team rides as well as they balance :)

Team Tentastic make Fundraising Fantastic

With 24 hours to go, just six tickets had been sold. Six! And with a venue that could comfortably sit 90, it was looking like the Fourth (or is it Fifth?) Annual Flixton ROL Quiz Night was going to be a bit of a quiet affair. At least everyone would have been guaranteed a raffle prize.

But as the doors of Flixton Cricket Club opened, it was clear it was going to be anything but quiet. As more seats had to be brought in and the guests topped 100, the organisers gave a sigh of relief and set about making it a night to remember.

And what a night it was! The room was gripped by the double-act of quiz masters Juan and Dan, but after a General Knowledge round, Music round, Acronyms, Records (of the Guinness Book of variety) and Picture round, the winning team - "Where's Wally" - emerged! Miriam was particularly pleased, having not answered a single question, to find herself clutching a bottle of bubbly.

With photos and videos showing the impact of the work being done by River of Life, a raffle of prizes donated by local businesses, and local celeb The Sumo Guy who caused quite the stir for some excited guests, the night just got better and better!

Thank you to all those that donated prizes - Helen Parsley, Haworth's the Butchers, Krispy Kreme Donuts, David Lloyd Fitness, Proctor and Gamble and others. And thank you to Team Tentastic, Flixton's 2012 Mission Team, who made the night happen!

So, what DOES VHS stand for? No googling folks!!

How high can a White Eagle fly?

Our motto at the White Eagle Project, and one that speaks of our commitment to quality at River of Life is ‘flying high’. With the opportunity to do the National 3 Peaks Challenge, we decided to put it to the test (literally) with Mr Julius, former White Eagle Project Manager. Rob takes up the story...

“I couldn’t climb up or down stairs for three days afterwards, but I’m incredibly proud to be able to say we did it! Julius was seen, 'Flying High', from the top of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, all in 24 hours!

 Ben Nevis Summit conquered

The idea took shape in a small office in Manchester 2 months previously, as Rob and Miguel (a White Eagle Sponsor and long-term hatcher of madcap fundraising challenge ideas) wondered how they could make the already barmy idea of doing the 3 Peaks a little more eccentric. And then the thought of taking our very own White Eagle, who had never climbed a mountain before, to the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales dawned on them...

So, at 1710hrs, on 30th June, the River of Life Team started their ascent of Ben Nevis. By 0440hrs the following morning, they were on the slopes of Scafell Pike. And by 1330hrs, they'd left the minibus for the final assault on Snowdon...

Dan, Julius and Ming on Snowdon

Now, for the uninitiated, Ben Nevis is MASSIVE. Scafell Pike is a big heap of rocks - in driving rain and hail it’s the last place you'd want to be at anytime of day, let alone 5am. Reaching Snowdon, we had just 3hrs 40 to complete the challenge...

Stiff, sore and still wet from Scafell, the advance party, including Wing Commander Julius, made mincemeat of the climb, pushing through to record a fantastic overall time of 23hrs20. But with 10 mins to go, there was no sign of the rear guard...

Finally he hobbled into view, the rear guard being just me, and I reached the mini-bus (painfully parked at the far end of the car park!) with just 5 mins to spare! It was the most epic challenge, and has raised nearly £5,000!”

Made it! The Team at the finish

To all the climbers - Anna, Dan, Jeff, Julius, Mark, Miguel, Neil, Rich, Rob, Robin, Sandor, Tom, Tommy - well done! And to the wonderful support crew - Andrew, Phil & Meredith - thank you! And finally, a massive thank you to Rich Statham and his Dad Tony, for organising the whole thing and keeping us safe :)

If you would like to sponsor the heroic efforts of Julius (and the team!), please visit www.justgiving.com/riveroflife3peaks!

If you want to relive the adventure, all our photos and video clips are plotted on an awesome interactive map - check it out!

We’re coming of age - help us celebrate!

1st January 2012 marks River of Life Church’s 18th Birthday! Help us mark this wonderful milestone by fundraising for our work now and in 2012!

From recruiting sponsors for the Sponsorship Challenge through to arranging a Fundraising Event, we’re delighted to give you the opportunity to do something a bit different in the next 3 months to help us ‘come of age' in 2012.

We’ve got solid plans to expand our impact in Masaka - to support 300 orphans through the White Eagle Project, protect and purify Nyendo’s community wells, partner with the local hospital for a community-based nutrition and healthcare programme, finish building our Children’s Centre and Church in Nyendo, take part in mission trips to Northern Uganda and continue praying and working for peace and reconciliation, develop the new Prayer Mountain, build up our healing work in the villages through our Roots Ministry...

But none of it is possible without you! We’ll keep you posted to inspire you with ideas, or contact Rob direct on rob@riveroflifeuganda.org

Onwards and upwards with River of Life Church

The end of this year marks a 'coming-of-age' for River of Life Church, as we're turning 18! Some of us have been around since 1994, when Pastor Duncan and Aunt Mary responded to the call to leave their work with the homeless in London, and come to Masaka in Uganda to plant a church. Since then we have grown in response to God's call, trying to keep our vision always in sight:

To see the Glory of God cover Uganda and the Earth through Church Revival and Community Transformation in the name of Jesus!

The White Eagles enjoying
the Day of the African Child

Over the years, various activities and ministries have been piloted, established and developed to help us realise this vision, from Schools Ministry (visiting 9 schools a week to run Christian Fellowships) to Street Evangelism, Operation Acts of Random Kindness (social action on the streets) to the White Eagle Project - supporting orphan and vulnerable children, particularly street children through resettlement, quality education, intensive mentoring and ensuring a safe and secure home. There are many more - we currently have 24 separate ministries either fully operating, or in pilot stage.

It's fantastic that, even in the face of grinding poverty, ill-health and the general challenge of living and working in a developing country like Uganda, the River of Life Team are plugging away with courage and determination to help some of the most vulnerable and destitute people of our Community.

Over the last year, the River of Life Board have restructured our work into four distinct departments - 1) Community Outreach, 2) Training and Discipleship, 3) Prayer and Healing and 4) Operations and Mission. We've brought on a new Operations Director, Mr David Nyongesa, who is ensuring we have the capacity and the expertise to do the work we are called to do, and so, as we 'come-of-age', we are excited by what lies ahead.

We've designed a leaflet that introduces you to all the ministries at River of Life Church. Do download it, and share it with your friends, family, church or whoever you please!

Challenge 21 - 21 Days to Transform the World for Someone Else

Can you join Challenge 21?! It’s our end of year campaign to raise much needed funds to cover both this year’s work and budget for next.

Over the last few years we have seen our work expand. Our Community Outreach Teams are seeing people filled with hope for perhaps the first time - in the Hospital, Prison, Nazareth Children's Home and out and about in Nyendo itself. Our Discipling & Training Work - the Student Conferences, the Youth Club, the White Eagle Project (now directly supporting 50 orphans and other vulnerable children!), and Ball Line Football Academy (now with 250 children on the books and winning national competitions!) - is seeing lives TRANSFORMED! And through our Prayer and Reconciliation work we’re seeing the body of Christ come together like never before in Uganda, people set free and healed and, most importantly, lots and lots of prayer!

So we want to launch Challenge 21 - 21 Days to Transform the World!

To help continue the work, become part of it! Challenge 21 is about giving yourself, and maybe your friends, 21 days to do something amazing to Transform the World for Someone Else. It might be a sponsored event, a dinner party, a quiz night, or just a work whip-round, but what ever it is, it can only take 21 days from start to finish! So far we’ve had a Sponsored Bike Ride from Manchester to Milton Keynes (we aimed to get to London but were defeated by a lethal combo of torrential rain and the A5), a Musical Marathon, a Quiz Night (which to be fair has taken longer than 21 days to prep!)

So the question is, what could you do for some of the world’s poorest?! Get in touch for tips and advice!

Our maddest cycle challenge ever to raise £21k!

This is going to be our biggest challenge ever... after the exploits of Manchester to Blackpool in 2008, the Great North 'Try'Athalon in 2009 we've set our sights higher... a non-stop team endurance ride from Manchester to London! 185 miles of batty-punishing, thigh-knackering, madness which will see us riding in pairs from Manchester's Albert Square to London's Big Ben in one go!

The madcap scheme was inspired by Jon Room, who liked the look of the London to Paris 24 hr endurance ride. Jon has already run a Marathon, cycled from Manchester to Liverpool and back and swam 2 miles in aid of River of Life, and was clearly wanting more of a challenge... He nearly bailed when working out the route he thought we'd be going most of the way on the monster-road, the A5, but has regained his enthusiasm with the revised route which will takes us from Manchester, over the Peaks to Derby, down through Nottingham and Milton Keynes to end up under Big Ben. Hopefully.

Jon has been a tower of strength in our challenges over the years - you can check out his motivational talk 60 miles into last year's bike-ride here.

So this year, we really are going one better. We'll be riding 185 miles non-stop in pairs - 3 hours on, 3 hours off the bike - all the way to London. We have some awesome team members - some familiar faces from previous years, and some new ones: Ming the Merciless,  joining us in his jesters outfit; Mark "I'm not waiting for the rest of yous" Cartmell, Dan the Man (who can forget his yellow leotard of the Blackpool Ride?) the legendary Tim 'Rabu' Crow and the unforgettable Andy "I'm ready to throw my bike into a ditch and catch a taxi" Rous. New to this cycle challenge we also have Will, James, Richard and Leigh - all of whom i'm sure will provide unforgettable memories!

And why are we doing this? For the poor and needy, and the Orphans and Street Children of Masaka, Uganda! The 50 orphans and vulnerable children that we're helping 'fly high' and reach heights they never in their wildest dream thought possible all need extra funds. But there's thousands more children that need help, so we've set ourselves the fantastic challenge of raising £21,000 in 21 days to help establish the next phase of the White Eagle Project and rescue more children from a future of despair in Masaka! The money we raise will also go towards running River of Life's other ministries - wherever the need is most.

You can be part of something amazing, and save a child from neglect and poverty. Please give generously on our JustGiving page - click here!

Can you do a sponsored event for River of Life Ministries this summer?!

With 4,000 Orphaned and Vulnerable Children on our doorstep, and the vast majority of the people around us living on less than a dollar a day, there is a MASSIVE need to be met. Can you help?!

Cycle, Swim, Run, Walk, Auction, Quiz Night, World Cup BBQ - whatever it is, be inspired by our new Fundraising Pack with ideas to do something this summer that will make a massive difference to some of the poorest people on the planet. Whether you raise £100 or £10,000, every little bit helps to keep the River of Life Ministries running. The target is that between us we raise £20,000 this year from fundraising events, that will help the River of Life Team on the ground continue to reach out to the neediest children, care for the poor and sick, and help put the destitute back on track. Together we can do it! Download your fundraising pack today!

If you want to chat to someone about your plans, please email us

Anyone up for a Cycle Challenge?

In 2008 we cycled Manchester to Blackpool. In 2009 we cycled Manchester to Liverpool and back, climbed a couple of mountains and swam the combined total of about a million miles. But we've not managed to do anything quite as impressive as the guys that helped kick this all off back in 2000, when they cycled Lands End to John O'Groats to raise money to build the first section of the Boys Home. Until now...

This is an idea, only an idea at the moment, but it's gathering momentum. We're thinking of organising a Bike Ride - Edinburgh to London. That's 400 miles, which is pretty impressive in itself - but we want to do it non-stop. Yes! That's right non-stop Edinburgh to London. It's madness! The way it would work is that we would cycle in teams of two for four hours at a time, one on the bike the other resting in the support car, on, off, on, off all the way down the East Coast, through Newcastle, York, Scunthorpe, Lincoln and on to London!

And to make it that more exciting, we've got one of the guys, Richard, that did the original bike ride back in 2000 interested. It could be immense - if you're interested in joining us - for all of it or perhaps for some it - drop me a line! It's likely to be sometime in September...

It's time for Operation ARK once again!

Watch the Operation ARK 2010 Promo on our website!

Remember the amazing Operation Acts of Random Kindness (ARK) where we gather together the youth of Nyendo and Masaka for a week long programme of social action in some of the poorest areas of MAsaka? Well, it's coming to town again! In May we hope to bring together 100s of Christian youth from across the churches in an act of unity to help bless the poorest in our community. Faith without action is dead, and we believe we must show the love of God to the poor through deed as well as word.

When we launched in 2008, 20 young people, almost exclusively from River of Life Church took to the streets of Mabera, a notorious local slum. In 2009, 109 young people from six different churches in Nyendo joined in the action for Kakyafu, a local area which when translated into English literally means 'rubbish'.

You can read all about last years efforts here on Tim's, the Operation ARK Coordinator, blog

We also need to help raise £1,200 to make it happen - so if you would like to donate, please visit our JustGiving Fundraising page. Every penny helps!

Buy a gift with a difference this Christmas...

Back by popular demand, we have updated our Alternative Gift List... this year, it's all about boosting the bog fund! As you know fundraising has been continuing apace all year to keep on building the boys home. In January, we opened the new sitting room, dining room, kitchen and store. And now it's time to build the washrooms and toilets! Our estimate for this section of the boys home is about £15,000. With all the fundraising that's been going on we're hoping to have raised about £13,000 - can you help us push it up to the target?!

Our vision in the White Eagle Project is for a qood quality home in the middle of Nyendo. Somewhere that some of Uganda's most destitute and vulnerable can call home, somewhere that can help us give a standard of care which will release the White Eagles to fly high!

So, please do download the all new Alternative Gift List here , go straight to our online donation page here and be inspired to buy someone a washbasin, a toilet or even part of a cesspit!

Time for a little swim...

The 'Try'Athlon Team have finally finished their challenge! 12 River of Life supporters met up at the Manchester Aquatics Centre to see how far they could swim, most having not managed more than 20 lengths since before time began... Collectively they managed 13 miles, with 8 year-old Eva the star of the show, putting in a very handy 50 lengths at about twice the speed of everyone else. Others who couldn't make the Manchester swim did it where they are, with a particularly impressive 150 lengths from Kath Room the following morning, and the extraordinary exploits of Brenda Davies, who is training to swim 300 lengths - just shy of 5 miles - next week!

Most excitingly, the White Eagles themselves joined in! Emily, our Director, writes: Thirteen children and two staff were able to swim last Saturday and the rest of us were just giving them morale support - I didn't know we could actually have world champions in the White Eagle children! Eight children - Mujuzi, Nicholas, Ssemakula, Tony, James, Ernest, and Nakawuki - and Julius were able to swim lengths and five children - Judith, Daniel, Namatovu, Kisakye and Kevin - and Rhonnah swum widths. The 1st group swum a total number of 129 lengths and Ivan was the best and swum 30. The 2nd group that swum across did 20 widths. We were all shocked at Ivan's speed!

Who'd have thought it, the White Eagles swimming well over 2 miles between them! You can sponsor their heroic efforts by donating online here.

Spread the word on Facebook!

We're starting a campaign this autumn to spread the word about River of Life on Facebook. We're developing a fancy new Facebook Connect Gizmo that will help us easily tell all those hundreds of Facebook 'friends' most of us have by posting a message to our walls...

You'll see a little Facebook Connect button appear on the homepage, and throughout the rest of the site, and the idea is you just click on the button, write a short message like "I'm checking out the River of Life website" or something, and submit it to your wall... that then turns up in all your friends' newsfeeds, and they get a chance to click on the link and go check out the site. Ultimately we want to spread the word and gain support for the work :)

We've also got a Facebook Group you can join, and our own Facebook Page which I'm beginning to build...

Let me know what you think about it all, either by emailing me or leaving a comment below!

Latest newsletter is out!

We've just produced our latest newsletter which you can download here. It comes complete with a sponsorship form for the 10/10 hike - where the White Eagles will be doing a sponsored walk in Uganda and we can all raise sponsorship for them!

It contains some of the stories you can also read on this blog, plus more including prayer requests, 'news in brief' and more about the 10/10 hike.

Please do download it here and share it with your friends and family!

Join in with the 10/10 Hike!

On October 10th across the UK and Uganda we're organising sponsored hikes to commemorate 10 years of the White Eagle Project! The White Eagles and all the staff themselves will be walking 16 miles from the church to Lake Nabugabo and back, and we're hoping that there will be a number of hikes organised by different people across the UK too!

So, if you would like to organise your very own sponsored walk, please let me know. We can give you all the advice and materials you might need, and you can get your friends and family to join in the fun!

To whet your appetite and encourage you to organise something if you can, the guys at LUXSON who do our website and have helped River of Life in so many ways have decided to organise a hike for the 10th October, but also a bike ride and a swim as well - the The Great North Bike Hike 'n Pike Try-athlon! It'll be spread over 3 months to maximise the number of people who can be involved (and give us a chance to recover). They've set up their page on JustGiving - check it out here. The events will all be in the North Wales / Manchester area on the 5th September, 10th October and 7th November, so if you want to join in the madness, drop me an email.

Fundraising Update...

We have a big challenge facing us to raise all the money we need to keep the marvelous ministries of River of Life going, and to increase our impact with the poor and marginalised of Uganda. But we're rising to it! I told you last time about Mark, who's run across the Gobi desert in China. He came in a very respectable 90th - you can see his official finish position here. There's pictures on that site too - it looked like the most incredibly hard endurance race! Mark's well on his way to raising his target of £2,500 - if you haven't sponsored him yet and want to, go to his Justgiving page.

And we've also had our Charity Quiz night on Friday 19th June, which went swimmingly well, and once all the money is in we are expecting to have raised £2,000, which is brilliant. The art work done by some of the older boys proved a big hit - you can still support this event by helping Ivan with some bricks by donating here

Coming up we have a Summer concert of Classical music and Jazz on the 7th July, and there are rumours flying around that some crazy folk are going to be attempting what they're calling a 'Try-Athlon' - Bike, Hike and Swim...

And don't forget the 10/10 walk - put 10th October in your diary - for the biggest sponsored walk we've ever done. We'd love as many people as possible to be involved - there'll be more details nearer the time.

Come to the Charity Quiz Night!

On Friday 19th June we're having our first ever Quiz Night, with comedy, a top DJ, an African Art Sale and even a chance to build the boys home (out of lego). It's being held at the John Alker Club in Flixton, Manchester - click here for directions

It promises to be a top evening of great entertainment, so come on down! If you can't make it, we're selling barrow-loads of bricks for £1, or 6 barrow-loads for a fiver, so you can still support the event! You can even buy them online through this special JustGiving page - click here. We're still fundraising to finish the boys home, with the next phase being the toilets and washrooms, and then the extra bedrooms and bed-sit for the house-mum, Mama Kat.

You can download a flyer about the event by clicking here. If you'd like to buy tickets, please email us by clicking here.

A new look website!

As you can see, we've done a bit of a spring clean of the website! We wanted to develop some new features to help bring the work of River of Life Uganda alive for all our supporters and visitors. So there's a fresh new home page, with our priority fundraising appeal and the latest news headline.

At first glance the biggest change is the addition of our new gallery at the foot of every page, which we'll keep up to date with little video clips and pictures. We've also brought much more of the latest news on to the site, so that you're better informed with what's going on, and made it easier to subscribe to Crane Mail, our monthly email newsletter.

The thing I'm most excited about is is the new login section, which now shows video! We've put together short videos by the White Eagles to really show the impact your support is having in Uganda. Go and login and tell us what you think!