Parting Seas Newsletter 2 - April 2013
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Transcript of Parting Seas Newsletter 2 - April 2013
Parting Seas Letter #2 - Arrival in Kampala! Well, here we are, nearly 3 weeks in to our time in
Uganda. We had a good journey down to Heathrow
in Graham's Street Jesus van, quite appropriately.
Unfortunately there was a delay on the flight, but
the wind was on our side, and we made up most of
the time in the air! We were greeted by Reuben and
Connie (Medad's wife - Medad was away on a
mission) but were met by 24 hours of electricity
failure and thunderstorms – true welcome to life in
East Africa!
Our first day was a day of rest, and then we went
car shopping! Painful to day the least! Firstly we
were shown 2 very nice Landcruisers - we obviously
were giving off an air of wealth! They were both far
from new, more like 10 years old, but were around
£11,000 each! Needless to say, once we realised
this we soon shifted along to the other end of the
car bond! We were feeling rather disgruntled and
thinking that we weren't going to find anything
within our budget that wasn't literally an old
banger, and just as we were walking out, there it
was! A 1996 Rav 4 which had just arrived from
Japan. It had been driven up from the port of
Mombassa in Kenya, and so was looking rather
dishevelled, but we felt that it was to be "the one",
and it was under budget (just as well, as we were
to find out 2 weeks later!) So, a patience-stretching
2 weeks followed, whilst we waited firstly for the
money to transfer from our UK bank, and then for
the paperwork etc to be done!
Our first Saturday was spent at a "Give-away", a
concept completely new to us, where the bride is
officially given away to her husband and his family.
This was a ceremony and feast which out-sized any
actual wedding that we’ve ever been to, and was
certainly an interesting event. The following day
found us at a wedding Launch: basically when a
couple are getting married, a committee is formed,
and then 5 meetings are held, whereby the
committee organise the wedding! The Bridegroom
to be, sits on the committee but doesn't really have
a say, and the committee raise the finances for the
wedding via pledges and cash-gifts made by those
attending!
The next day we were taken out by a new
"muzingo" (white) friend called Mary. This proved a
bit of an escapade. Mary was taking us to the
medical clinic in Kampala to buy malaria pills, and
then to find a fridge! Unfortunately, she took a
wrong turn, and as she swung the car round at an
intersection, a policeman "appeared" from no-
where! She’d turned into a section of road that
wasn’t allowed , and so we were pulled over, and
the policeman proceeded to start shouting at us,
telling us we should have taken notice of the sign!
When I pointed out there was no sign, he then got
even crosser, saying that the shape of the kerb
stones is the "sign". He issued an immediate fine,
and told Mary she had to follow him to the station.
Mary, however, chose to do otherwise (she’s lived in
Kampala for 4 years and is used to the wiles and
ways of the police trying to take corrupt fines etc.)
So instead she drove off! Needless to say, as we
were driving along, the policeman appeared at the
side of the car and continued shouting! We came to
a junction and he put his motorbike in front of the
car, telling Mary she was under arrest; she insisted
she was not, so he went to the front of the car, and
ripped off her number plate! We were dumbstruck!
Anyway, we carried on with our chores, and the
next morning, Mary went to the police station
where she was told she was "forgiven", cautioned,
and given back her bent number plate!
Thursday 28th, and we were at our first official
meeting with Worldshine volunteers, a long, but
interesting time. Easter Sunday found us at All
Saints Cathedral, Kampala, a church with an
enormous congregation. It was a wonderful service,
and we were moved by the story of a new project
that they have, working with people who live on
the streets. A man was invited to stand and tell his
story; he has lived in Kampala on the streets for
many years, having fled northern Uganda. He was
crippled himself, and he told us of how he met a
lady who is completely blind, who was also living on
the streets, and he made it his mission to look after
her 24/7! They are now married, and since coming
to faith in Jesus, he has been "given" the gift of
speaking clear English; something that he was not
able to do previously! An amazingly humble and
grace-filled man!
And so "car-collection day" finally arrived! A whole
other saga ensued which, cut short, meant that we
had to spend the best part of two days at a garage
having a service, and many other works done to
make the car "Africa-proof"!
Friday 5th April was then "moving" day..........we
will update you in the next newsletter!
Our love and blessings,
Jane & Alan.
http://www.parting-seas.co.uk/
http://www.worldshinefoundation.org/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parting-Seas/261327057322213