Oh Annie... you won't be an orphan for long!

You might recognise those lyrics from the Musical, Annie. We want to make families, not orphans which means working hard for reconciliation, and ensuring resettlement successfully helps every child to 'fly high!'

But every now and then we have a case where we wonder how it can happen. Our Annie* came to us last year from a terribly abusive family situation. She had suffered the worst betrayal any child could suffer from the hands of her father. We know of one case where, due to the shame brought on the family by such actions, a child has been killed rather than allow the 'evidence' to live. Thankfully in this case the authorities acted quickly, the Police were involved, arrests made and Annie came to us in secret.

Annie had a mother, but we had no idea where she was, and no way of contacting her. Annie hadn't seen her for years. With the rest of the family off limits for making any enquiries, we were left with very few options. In the meantime, as you can imagine, our Annie was exhibiting some extraordinarily challenging behaviour. The White Eagle Team were certainly kept on their toes, and their resolve tested to the limit.

Annie's behaviour improved, as we knew it would, but we were no closer to tracing her mother. Then, last month, Annie started praying. As a treat for finishing First Term, the Girls watched the Musical, Annie. Our Annie desperately wanted her mum to find her, just as Annie does in the film, but all Aunty Sarah could advise her to do was to pray.

What do you do in that situation? Do you worry about things like false hope and the potential for a little girl's broken heart yearning for a mother who, for all we know, may not even still be alive?

No. You join that little girl on her knees and pray. And pray. And pray. One week passed, then two. Week three came and still we prayed. And then, on the Friday afternoon, having searched for we don't know how long, Annie's mother and grandmother appeared in reception...

Annie was overwhelmed! Successful resettlement, especially in cases as traumatic as this one, take a lot of time, so she’ll be visiting her family every holiday and staying with us during school term time, with visits from her mum. This will help her to continue with the good start she's made at a supportive school whilst with us, help us to continue giving the expert care needed in such a traumatic case, and help her Mum to adjust to live looking after her own daughter again.

And in the meantime, we all praise God that nothing is impossible for Him!

Emily and Annie's Mum on that wonderful Friday

*We’ve changed Annie’s name in line with our privacy policy

A new Manager for the White Eagle Project

We're delighted to welcome Paul as the new White Eagle Team Manager, taking over this week from Sarah who has done an absolutely stirling job as Acting-Manager for MUCH longer than the 6 months she initially agreed to do.

Paul comes to us from a Swedish NGO where he has worked for 12 years, most recently as their Head of Administration. He has a wealth of experience in both the NGO sector and in Masaka's wider church life. He's a Pastor at a local church a few miles from us, helps to run a ministry for the elderly in his spare time and also chairs a Marriage and Family group drawn from Masaka churches.

He's a man after our own heart, and we're really looking forward to getting to know him!

Update on Prayer Mountain

The battle for Prayer Mountain continues, two years to the day that we secured the funds to purchase the majority of the land. You may remember that we are in dispute with some encroachers. There are many twists in the tale, but the latest is that we have now registered criminal trespass cases with the courts.

Unfortunately the courts are overwhelmed because Masaka does not have a Judge. The threat of legal action seems to be working though. The encroachers appear to be striking a more conciliatory tone, and we're hopefully that this long, and painful saga may be over soon.

There is some excellent news too - we’ve recently been bowled over by an awesome donation that will help us secure the next 2 acres and begin to renovate the exisiting huts and commence 24/7 prayer!

Banana Smoothie Anyone?

Last weekend, we made Fresh Banana Juice at the WEP.....It took FOREVER!!!

Here’s how you make it:

1. Peel 80 yellow bananas and put them in a pan
2. Find some long thick dry grass stems, cut into 4 inch pieces, then put them in the pan
3. Pound, squelch and squash the mixture in the pan for 1 hour
4. Take out the banana and grass mush (which now looks like vomit!), squeezing out each handful as hard as possible
5. Pound some ginger, then add it to the banana juice and cook on the charcoal stove for 60 minutes, bringing it to the boil
6. Leave to cool for 12 hours
7. FINALLY drink!

“Go and Explode!” - The ROL Leadership Academy

"Genda Obwatuke - Go and EXPLODE!" was the rallying call at last weekends Leadership Academy get-together. Our vision is for the 30 odd young people on the programme to take River of Life’s vision of spiritual revivial and community transformation out into the world.

On the day, Sali, a founding member of River of Life Church and now a qualified Crime Scenes Investigator specialising in cyber-forensics AND a Pastor in Manchester, UK, really inspired us all with his testimony. As a small boy he had mingled the mud to make the bricks which built the church! A couple of the Academy Members deserve a special mention - Robert, having stormed his A-Levels has won a Government Scholarship to do Medicine and Surgery whilst Sharon, who was disappointed with her A Level results, has completely repaid the trust we placed in her by getting the best first year University results we've ever seen! She's studying for a BA in Adult and Community Education and is getting some good experience through our Community Outreach work during the summer break.

It costs approximately £100 per month to send one of our Academy members to University - but it's worth every penny. We're looking for funding for 3 University Students right now! If you think you could get a group of people together to cover the costs, please get in touch.

Synergy FC are Champions!

A new force has exploded onto the scene of African football. It's a force that plays with poise and steely determination, that respects the referee, and scores beautiful goals. It's Synergy!

The Synergy Senior Team have stolen the show this season, remaining unbeaten in the league, winning the regional tournament and therefore promotion, despite some seriously dodgy refereeing decisions (which were respected!).

But Synergy is not just about playing the beautiful game. Manager Tim, Head Coach Brian and their team invest a huge amount in the programme. Mentoring, Discipleship, Life Skills, Physical Training - it's all about trying to get Masaka's down-trodden to step-up and realise their God-given potential. 16 Synergy Members are currently on full bursaries for secondary education - nine at O-Level and seven at A-level - whilst three have completed A levels. We even have one member who has won a half bursary to University!

And then there's 'Synergy Away', a weekly programme focused on a local primary school delivering health-checks, sports training and life skills to a class at a time. A Ugandan School class might have upwards of 50 children, so it's pretty full on!
Synergy is proving Nelson Mandela's assertion that "Sport has the power to change the world... the power to inspire... to unite in a way that little else does". And do you know what, we’re certain that one day we'll be seeing Synergy players on the world stage... How amazing will that be!?

But of course, none of it could happen without the generous and sacrificial support of the wider River of Life family. Earlier this year Tim and Rob were musing on a fundraiser that could get together some much needed funds for Synergy. "I know," says Tim, "Let's do a Football Marathon..."

Over 60 players, 16 hours, 246 goals, 4 twisted ankles, some horrendous looking blisters, and days and days of planning later, and the Synergy Football Marathon Team has raised an awesome £2,437.57!

The teams kicked off at 9.15am, and staggered over the finish line in the wee hours of the following morning. Jon, who has done some of the more extreme fundraising events for River of Life, including cycling from Manchester to Milton Keynes, said it was by far the most grueling and knackering challenge he had ever done.

So, we want to say a massive THANK YOU to the Synergy Marathon Team. Your sterling efforts have not been in vain - the money you've raised will help Synergy Sports impact hundreds of children's lives. If you would like to sponsor them, go to their Justgiving page

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!!