11th December, 2022
Dear friends,
Last Monday I went to see Nora first thing in the morning, in the centre of Kampala, amazingly I was at her office before 9am, the traffic can be so bad early in the morning but I drove through many of the side roads! She handed me a form to collect a letter from the NGO board on Friday, for my work permit but sadly when I arrived Friday morning at Kingdom House the letter was not ready!
It was Petra’s birthday last weekend and we celebrated with cake on Tuesday. Two of the young girls who work nearby came and joined us. Peace, Tresor and Yusuf had cake the following day.
Wednesday morning Peace and I took Yusuf (Joseph) to see his father. We have had difficulty locating him over the last few years. Sadly, we found him in a hospital, unable to stand and very unwell. An older son was with him, a half brother to Yusuf. Yusuf spent over an hour with them both. He found out he has 5 half siblings, all older, and now has contact details for some of them. It is difficult for the boys when they know so little about their families – we will invite the brother to come and spend some time with Yusuf.
‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.’ Philippians 4 4/5
Thursday we went to Kayunga to visit Dan’s family, and collect Dan who is staying at George’s Place for Christmas. With Jesse’s help (our driver) more sand, cement, stones and bricks were delivered to finish the latrine. It was a long day, we had wanted to meet with the local Probation Officer again but knew he was chairing meetings all day. This enabled us to spend valuable time with the family and take them food supplies for Christmas. In the photo Ronald is missing, I’m not sure where he disappeared to and a friend of Dan seems to have joined the family!
Diana is still with me and on Friday we visited Revd. Canon John and his wife Joyce for lunch. Earlier this year they came and spoke to our older boys about marriage and relationships. They have been looking after Faiza, the young girl who you may remember had walked from South Sudan to Kampala a few years ago and whom my friend Sue has been supporting with school and vocational fees. It was lovely seeing Faiza, she has recently finished a bakery course, (that she came top in,) and had prepared lunch for us. She is such a delightful young lady and looking for an internship.
Peace and Benard took Johnson (Musumba) to the Eye Clinic on Friday, to arrange for him to have an operation on his eye, for a detached retina, he is returning for more tests next Monday. Prayers please.
The weather was good on Saturday afternoon so we took the three youngest boys, Denis, Saidi and Dan swimming. Yusuf and Johnson came along later. Tim had gone off to meet some friends and Asaph came for the walk, he is starting his industrial training on Monday.
As I was driving home from work one afternoon a boda came alongside me and someone said ‘hello Auntie Jane’ – it was big Brian. I pulled over to talk with him, he is fine, I told him we had missed him at the party and he promised to call in over Christmas. It was good to see him and to know that he is well and working.
This Sunday, after church, Christine and I are hosting another barbecue, this time for Diana to meet up with many of her friends and acquaintances.
Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. It’s much quieter in GP with so many of the boys back with relatives for a few weeks, we miss them all and most days receive calls letting us know how they are.
May your week be filled with love, peace and joy.
Love Jane x
