River of Life serving Living Water!

Oh for those innocent days, when we had no high-tech machines… our worship and praise sessions were only accompanied by the (sometimes!) melodious beat of the drum!
 

Some people even find it hard to connect with God without things being polished and “just so”. But out in the village of Mweruka, about 50 kilometers from Masaka town, it’s a different story…

We’d gone as an evangelism team, and were able to share God's word – nearly 30 came to faith during that time. The local church members were strengthened by the visit, and the Pastors expressed gratitude.
 

The aim was to serve Living Water Church, and serve them we did! We had a lot of fun, and got stuck into every activity on offer, be it sweeping, cooking, collecting water, or many others.

A couple of thanks. Firstly to our fantabulous team who went with open hearts and open arms. And then, to those of you that support our ministry. None of this work would have been possible without you!

Dental Delight in Nyendo!

All were welcome when a fantastic team of dentists from Dentaid came to serve the members of the River of Life family and community, as well as many others besides!
 

In Uganda, it’s really costly to have your teeth filled or removed, and because of that many people end up simply enduring the pain. It’s a wonder that Ugandans are so smiley and friendly – I definitely wouldn’t be if I had a constant toothache! Well, as you can imagine, our community was certainly excited to hear the good news that Dentaid were coming back to visit!

They started early and worked hard, treating nearly 400 street children, school children, orphans, widows and other members of our community over the course of their two-day visit. Even our own worship leader Julius got some assistance.
 

And it wasn’t just the blood-thirsty tooth yanking… they also ran oral hygiene sessions at two of our neighbouring schools (Good Foundation School and Hope School), as well as running a session for social workers/healthcare workers around Nyendo.

So on behalf of our community and some neighbouring communities, we would like to say a MASSIVE thanks to Dentaid for all you’ve done to help us keep our pearly whites ... er... pearly white!

Saluting Ssali!

Synergy is doing a lot of work to reach out to the young people in Masaka, since football is such a “universal language” – and Ugandans LOVE their football.

 We wanted to tell you about fifteen year old Ssali Abaasi, as we’re really proud of all that he has achieved! Ssali had sadly lost his father at an early age. His single mother struggled and struggled, in order to send him to Hill Road Primary School where he could get an education. This is where he met Synergy Academy coach Abbey, when the school were having a friendly match against Synergy. He was encouraged and inspired to join Synergy.

He says: “When I joined Synergy, I liked the attitude the boys had towards the game. They were friendly, and understanding: I was so glad to be part of this. Whenever we gathered together, we were encouraged to be disciplined as we play, and to also always work hard at school, since opportunities in life are grabbed by those that are ready for them.
 

I took this message seriously, and worked hard at school. Last year, I achieved 4 aggregates [ed: this is a really good score!!] in my primary leaving exams (PLE), and I was offered a scholarship at London College. This has really reduced the pressure on my mother, as she had struggled to search for school fees for a number of us.” For those that don’t know London College, it’s one of the best secondary schools in Uganda! We believe that this young man is going to be our light in this school, and beyond. He tells us: “Despite the fact that I am a footballer, I would like to be a doctor in future”.

Well done Ssali! 

I was sick and in prison – and you busted me outta there!

Ok we may be paraphrasing Jesus just a wee bit … but still, that’s what we’ve been doing!

Elder Betty heads up our community ministry; a way of reaching out to the individuals and families that are suffering in our community. Some of these individuals include isolated elderly, vulnerable young children, parents that struggle to provide for their children, sick members of the church and many others. Meet Jacent from Mabeera, who at 37 years, has 6 children.
 

Hers is a tragic story, fleeing her first marriage after discovering a plan to involve her children in witchcraft, only to have her subsequent happiness marred by an economically crippling fire, followed by the sad and sudden loss of her second husband to illness. Now with 6 young children, little income, and overwhelming debt, she was really feeling the pressure. Finally, one debt collector had had enough, and reported her to the police. Lickety split, she was locked up with many other women whose only crime is losing control of a desperate financial situation.

Jail breaks aren’t usually our speciality, but in this case, on hearing that Jacent was sick and imprisoned, leaving her 6 children without their mum, River of Life felt the need to intervene. Helping her out of this bind is one thing (and an important thing), but we don’t want Jacent to end up back in a hole again.

 That’s why we hope to help her, and others like her, with our Family Empowerment Fund, which aims to equip families to provide for themselves, though microfinance combined with education and mentoring. Want to get involved? Get in touch!

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