Survival of the Sweetest!

Do you remember baby Survivor? You might not, as she was born over two years ago. If you want to read about her, click here: http://rabuinuganda.blogspot.ug/2013/10/beating-odds.html

 

In a nutshell, she made it by the skin of her teeth (or gums??) as her labouring mother was told the unborn baby couldn’t possibly survive, since she was below the official “survival gestation” for Uganda. She nearly headed off home to deliver and bury her baby… after all, what’s the point of staying in hospital if the baby will die anyway? But our baby unit nurses persuaded her to give the baby a chance. What happened? Well, the clue’s in the name!
 

And this year, we got to meet her mother again, as Gertrude delivered a little boy this time, in poor condition, with “birth asphyxia”.
 

It’s such a privilege to be able to help her build a healthy family, as this little fella went home the other day on fine form, and now has come back for review looking fantastic!

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

Inspiration from some role models!

We’re SO proud of our Senior Synergy guys. At times, you can worry that all your mentoring and advice falls on deaf ears. But when you see the guys walking the walk, and not just talking the talk but SPREADING the talk… well, that’s just fantastic!   A couple of weeks ago, some of our Senior Synergy lads gave up their own time to come and encourage the younger Academy players, including Kiweewa Andrew, Peter, and Yiga, among others.

Andrew said, “We learn from our mistakes so don’t fear to make them! We all love the game, but I’d advise you to attend school whenever you have the chance, because a good education is important. Work on making good relationships with your teammates, and keeping your integrity – others may cheat, but no-one can take your integrity unless you allow them!”

And Peter talked about time keeping and encouraged them to believe in themselves, to be disciplined, and to always stand as ONE, because a strong united team is hard to beat!

After the rousing speeches, the seniors offered some practical football tips on the pitch to the younger guys.
 

A big thank you to the lads for the beautiful work they did for us… it’s great to our younger guys to have role models who have walked the path they are travelling along!

Ding Dong, the Witch has Fled!

Moving mountains is God’s bread-and-butter, so you can be sure that shifting a witch doctor or two is child’s play to Him!

Many of you will have heard about our legal battles over the Misaali prayer mountain. It’s been a frustrating time, despite victory in court cases so far (some are still ongoing). And our challenges haven’t ended in the court room – we have received great opposition from the Witch Doctors based in Misaali, who had a number of shrines near our prayer huts.
 

Shrines

But God is faithful to what he says, and he has been giving prophecies through people. And now we’re seeing a shift! Our caretaker Waisswa couldn’t contain his delight when he told us that the Misaali shrines have now been abandoned, as the witch doctor residing there complained that the “God of Born Agains” (a.k.a Abalokole = us!) has made their gods powerless! Boooooo ya!

No more witch doctors here!

There is a big vision for Misaali, and we hope to see more prayer huts built, as well as a school, church offices, and even a fine football pitch there, but this needs resources. If this is something you would like to get involved with, get in touch!

Praising and Praying in droves this NYE at the Prayer Mountain!

A problem shared is a problem solved... Or... “how many Nyendo-ians does it take to build a platform?”. You pick your catch phrase!

Either way, this scene was just a taster of the New Year celebrations to come, as different churches from Nyendo and Ssenyange came together for the occasion. There was much to do, including driving poles into the ground, and building a platform, but it was a lot easier “with a little help from our friends”!

And the event itself? Amazing! Hundreds turned up on the Misaali Prayer Mountain to ring in the New Year in a massive overnight extravaganza – unity at its best! It was a time of promise, but also a time of challenge.
 

One of the comments a speaker threw out to the crowd was: “God is going to do great things for you in this New Year…. but will God be able to trust you with what he gives you?”. Translation: It’s easy to serve the Lord fervently when you want something, but when you’ve got it, are you going to stick around?
 

Another speaker reminded us that all things are possible with God, and he encouraged the youths not to despise humble beginnings because God has a plan and is in control.

We entered the New Year, proclaiming to be victorious and conquerors in Jesus’ name. Extra bonus joy: despite it being an overnight prayer event, many people that attended weren’t actually Christian, but made a decision for Christ that night! Pretty awesome 

Marching against domestic violence with Mifumi!

Right, left, right, left! Here are the White Eagle team marching through Nyendo with Mifumi (a Uganda-based human rights NGO) to celebrate 16 days of activism against domestic violence. This is particularly pertinent for the White Eagles, since many of them initially came to us fleeing violence in their home environment.

According to the coordinator of Mifumi: “Nyendo is one of the places where we know that the rights of children and women – and even men – are being violated daily. Parents complain about their children’s disobedient behaviour, without recognising that they have contributed to this, by exposing them to constant fights and quarrels.

Similarly, some parents think that, because they suffered as children, their children must also suffer in life in order to achieve something – but this is a totally wrong perception. A child CANNOT be expected to study well in class if he or she doesn’t have peace at home. Don’t expect to have a better Uganda tomorrow, if we don’t create violence-free homes for our children today.”

It was an honour to be part of this event and we thank Mifumi for what they are doing to reduce domestic violence in our communities.