Sunday 15th October, 2023
Prayer for the Holy Land at this time of conflict
God of judgement and mercy, compassion and steadfast love,
look tenderly on your children at war in your holy land.
Still the souls bent of vengeance and destruction.
Change the hearts plotting death and devastation.
Raise up leaders within the warring parties and in the international community
who can turn violence into reasoned argument,
and listen to the pain until a way forward emerges.
Make us see what we have in common so much more than what divides us.
And let all who trace their past back to Abraham
find their common future in you.
Through Christ your Son our crucified companion forever. Amen.
Written by Sam Wells, SMITF.
Dear friends,
Greetings from a very warm Kampala.
I start this letter praying for the Israel/Palestinian conflict. The news has been devastating this week and yet most people apart from the International and Church Communities here seem to be unaware of what is happening in the Middle East, probably because many people here struggle to survive and earn enough to look after their families that World news passes them by.
On Tuesday morning Anton called into the office, he had phoned me on Sunday and I suggested he came to see me. He is at present staying in Kampala and working in a biscuit factory! He had been looking after an older sister and her children as she was sick and lives in Bushenyi, he then came back to Kampala to collect his ID card. He tells me a neighbour is farming his land and we had a good talk about what was going on! It is always very quiet in the village and I think he was missing the busy-ness of town.
Before I met up with Anton, Tresor and I went to Kisenyi to collect a couple of boxes that had arrived from the U.K. I always find it challenging driving there and parking but all went well! The boxes contained T-shirts, trainers, trousers, dictionaries, jumpers + knitted hats etc. These are really needed to stock our store.
Tresor has sent me through photos of Derek and Kodet who he visited at their schools last weekend. Today he and I are off to visit Dennis. Prayers please for Dennis who is taking exams this coming week, he is in Senior 5. Some of the boys went to football training this morning and others for extra tuition at school.
Monday was Independence Day and I went to see the boys. As they had been occupied all morning cleaning the house – we went off to the swimming pool again – my treat – even in the rain! The boys enjoyed themselves and they always return tired.
We still haven’t sorted the electricity problem at work – we bought cable, paid money for a generator to be brought up to the first floor, got the petrol and was then told it couldn’t be connected! The problem seems to be people trying to use a bad situation to get money. I think we will have to work from my home for the next few weeks until the problem is resolved.
On Thursday I went back to Garuga and met with Hon. Juma the Speaker from Katabi, on our Management Committee, he was helping us with ‘planting’ the road sign to George’s Place. This was quite an event and the local LC1 also got involved. Benard, Tresor, myself, Godfrey (who dug the hole and filled it with stones and cement) were present. Hopefully people looking for us will now be able to find Homes of Promise. The boys chose the Red for the sign!
All is well here, there hasn’t been too much rain this week. Everyone seems to be keeping well and we are planning another training day. Thank you for all your love, support and kindness. God bless.
Love Jane x
