A belated Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year

Greetings to all, it has been several weeks since we last wrote and it has been quite a hectic time. As I write I am sitting in Ruth's bach at Waihi beach having returned to NZ, this time for an extended stay.Yes for now we have left Uganda after five and a half years. It has been a busy time preparing to leave but we are happy that most of the tasks we were involved in have been taken up by others. There is a great group of younger missionaries who have joined NACMU over the last three months and this has made it easier for us to leave. It does not mean however that our relationship with Pete and Pita or the organisation will cease, definitely not. We will continue to support and promote NACMU in NZ and hope to one day return with a team. In the weeks leading up to our leaving we have been farewelled in grand style, sung to, visited, feasted  you name it. Our Aunties and the family units put on an African meal for us which took 2 days to prepare and was absolutely wonderful and we were both peripherally involved in the Cantata that the compound presented for the local community. Because we were leaving we had decided that it would be unwise to be involved in a big way so we were allocated the roles of 'encouragers'. Marilyn arranged a children's choir to sing Little Donkey and also play one of the songs Christian preferred not to, and I sang in the choir (which was led by Aunty Christine), except when I had to fill in for Dr Luke for two performances. The cantata was called "Mary Remembers" and involved old Mary talking to Dr Luke about the events of the birth of Jesus, then having the actors on stage enacting it as it went. It was a magnificent show with acting,choir singing, solo singing,  African dance, ballet, children's choir, a shepherd's stomp and some magnificent costumes and the stage set. It involved all on the compound in one way or another and in doing so that was a bonus. Pastor John gave a message after each performance and the children who attended all went home with a gift. We intended to have only three performances but such was the demand that an extra one was scheduled for the Saturday and we still had to turn hundreds away. Each performance saw about 1200 people in the church and that in itself was amazing. Katie, Stefani, Jared and Christian did an amazing job of putting it together, it was a real team effort with Bev, Rianne and Agnes doing some wonderful costumes and Colin doing most of the set. This was a magnificent outreach to the villages which we are sure will be repeated in the future.
As well as this we were hopeful that the 3rd boys family unit would move in and they are all-but there, we had hoped they would be in before we left but it was not to be.
We left Uganda on the 22nd Dec., given a wonderful sendoff by the band, a very emotional time for us and arrived in NZ at 2:30pm on the 24th to be met by Chris. Marilyn had been struggling to ward off a migraine so the last 8 hours of the journey were not pleasant for her, otherwise the trip was uneventful. All up, from the time we left NACMU to the time we reached Chris & Beck's was 42 hours and we were knackered. We had a wonderfully quiet Christmas day ( though did miss the organised chaos of giving out the presents) and have both been struggling with our health, Marilyn with a chest infection and I with a cold. However we have SLEPT and are regaining our energy day by day.
We do wish you all a very happy New Year, we may not get a chance to write again before then
so until next time God Bless

Teacher's Party

Saturday 6th Dec was a wonderful day for the teacher's end of year party held at African village just up the road from NACMU. Here the teachers assembled for the group photo. We were delighted to be included.

 Swimming in the morning with only Fred & Bosco joining Marilyn and I in the pool

 Lunch at our long table. On the left with a big smile is Tchr Lindah who organised the day

 Headmaster Moses and Tchr Charles pose with the lions

 Playing dodge ball in the after lunch time

 Marilyn with Deborah's wee girl Martha who was with us. She is a treasure.

Marilyn not dodging very well

 blindfold find the bag, somehow the bag kept moving

 Almost there Bosco

 Charles going straight for it

Martha pointing out to  her blinfolded mother "its over there mommy"

Another activity, pass the parcel with things you had to do, here Marilyn was caught having to model something, she chose my hat.

 Then there was exchanging gifts. We each had a secret friend to buy for.

 Marilyn's secret friend was Lindah

 Moses ready to hand over his gift, we all had to 'dance' our gift over

And of course there was cake

Modelling my new shirt, WOW

more pics

 The shepherds singing led by Angel

 Shepherds visiting Jesus, surrounded by angels

Jefta as King Herod who was 'a bit upset'

 The view from the back

 Nelima getting in on the act as a donkey

 Gladys delivering the Christmas Speech on behalf of the children

Secondary students with their dance

Mirembe as Mary showing the pain of childbirth

Mirembe and Aimable as Mary and Joseph with a Muzungu Jesus

A farewell and school breakup

 Last Thursday evening we were visited by the boarding girls who had come to say farewell

 these girls have been a tremendous group of young women. Marilyn has taught many of them guitar and they came to express their appreciation in song

 They gave us a lovely gift, we will remember them fondly and will miss the way they praise and worship and live for the Lord.

 Friday morning was the school breakup. These are some of the 'stars' (Baby Class) arriving with teacher Winnie.

Opening the occasion with prayer.

 The opening song O Come All Ye Faithful complete with actions.

 Baby class contributing with "the angel's name was Gabriel, Gabriel...."

Some of the animals, oops one has his head upside down (the mask is fine but his head is wrong?)

Mary on the little donkey ( Paul)

Rhode with her classmates following proceedings, well sort of.

 Angels getting into the swing with their wings

The Nursery School stars preparing to dance

Ably led by a wonderful singer

Exhibition day, Scripture Union party

 Saturday 30th November was a busy day at NACMU. We played hosts to the children of the police in Mukono (all 94 of them). 

 They had a range of activities, making mosaics

 and chalk drawing on the floor. Here our social worker Sarah and sponsorship coordinator Joanita work with some of the children. They also had lunch, watched a video, played games and received a shoebox. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.

 The same day was also our Secondary Vocational School Exhibition day. It poured with rain in the morning but cleared up late in the afternoon. Here the band in their smart new uniforms were playing.

 A Dance presentation by some of the students. Mostly girls, but not all.

 Some of our budding scientists, Sarah, Brenda and Joshua showing how to make vaseline, glue, and shampoo

 Afterwards was the Scripture Union party. This group is very strong in the school, here they are leading some praise songs.

 Justine, a wonderful young woman and one of the leaders of SU in prayer

 Our Pastor John delivering a brief message

 One of the leaders, Aimable, also sharing a few words

 The cutting of the cake (there is ALWAYS cake to be had)

 Another of the guitarists Marilyn has taught, Victoria, presenting an item

 The giving and receiving of gifts

 Uncle Daniel who doubles as a hospitality teacher and the Band master, along with Teacher David who is the administrator of the SVS

Gifts were given and received with many hugs. A wonderful occasion!