August/September 2009
Prayer Answers, Thanksgivings and Petitions
1. The College
Give thanks that Trevor has now been formally appointed at Bishop Gwynne College. The old college has now been completely wound up and we can start planning for the return of the students in January 2010.
Please pray that those who owe the college money may pay it all up to date, so that we will have sufficient income to restore the existing building and employ a new member of staff. If everything that is owed is paid we can make ends meet until the end of the year when we expect the 2010 income to commence.
Give thanks for a very successful visit to Limuru, Kenya that took place on 13th August which has settled the curriculum for the foreseeable future. We were made very welcome and feel extremely assured that we have a good solid basis on which to build up quality teaching in the future.
Please pray for Tina as she gathers people to help her start the process of restoring the library.
Please pray as we begin the process of finding the right staff to teach the syllabus in 2010.
Pray also for the students who will shortly be receiving letters of recall and those contemplating applying to begin for the first time in 2010.
2. The New Site
Give thanks that a little progress has been made in this direction.
Please pray that those who can make things happen here will be inspired to work hard so we can begin to put together a construction schedule.
Pray that the suggestion of a BGC Guest House will indeed come to pass and that the investment sought by Anglican International Development will be found.
3. The Schools
We give thanks that Tina has managed two more Juba primary schools - this time in the poorer western suburbs.
We pray for these children and the staff that seek to teach them. Neither of these schools has any furniture. One has three classrooms inside the church with mud walls in a poor state of repair. There is no furniture in either school. Children sit on the dust floor or bring their own plastic chairs. All that they have is a blackboard and exercise books and pencils supplied by UNICEF.
Please pray that there will be sufficient resources to pay and train the teachers, and enough income in the children's families to feed them and pay their school fees.
4. Sickness
We rejoice that both Bishop Peter Amidi and the Archbishop are recovering.
We thank God for all those who contributed to the care of Bishop Peter of Lainya needed a triple heart by-pass and after being taken to Nairobi was finally transferred to India where he had a successful operation. He is now in Kampala with his children making a full recovery.
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Archbishop Daniel was admitted into hospital in Khartoum with a recurrence of his stomach ulcer. He has now left hospital and is due to return to Juba in three days time.
We thank God for this.
We pray that he can have a well deserved break and that he may have time to recover properly.
5. The Nation
We give thanks for a peaceful resolution to the Abyei crisis, and the quite definite reluctance of the Government of South Sudan to return to war. There has been real rejoicing here following the announcement the international Court of Arbitration that allowed the Dinka tribes to be part of the south - even though the question of the oil wells is still not fully resolved.
Please continue to pray for the Governments of National Unity and South Sudan.
Pray for those seeking to resolve the issues of the census and those working to ensure that fair elections take place on the date decided on in April 2010.
Continue to pray for Dafur. Although it is a long way from Juba the people there desperately need the same opportunities coming to the south as a result of the peace here.
Please pray for the international community as it puts pressure on politicians to work for peace.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Friday, 21 August 2009
From busy Juba
Sorry about the delay! Many people have been wanting things since we got back to work - not least the Church Times if you read it, and a new column beginning in October in the Sarum Link.
... And life has been much busier here of late now the college is finally wound up and we can begin the new venture. We have been sorting piles of dusty files going back decades and the building needs to be put back into good repair. Not that we have got any money yet, of course. We are owed thousands of dollars in rent from the houses that are leased out - but that doesn't mean the occupants want to cough up. It's all very frustrating but, as always, patience is the name of the game.
We hope to decorate one of the biggest rooms and reinstate the library. None of it has been painted since the early 80s. We shall to be using the Library of Congress classification system so Tina will have her work cut out cleaning, sorting out, and cataloguing. Nothing of this has been done for many years if ever. When we decide what we will be teaching next year we will order the books we need and get folk to bring them out. This is one of the many things we need to do in the next month or so, too.
The new site is going to take time to establish. Please keep of it in your prayers. We know we shall be in the same building for at least the next twelve months and may be longer but even if everything else falls into place immediately, putting up buildings and fences will take much money. It will all come when we need it. We have all we need for now. We will crawl, then walk before we can run. Of course, some of the local people have very high hopes than we can come in with millions and present a working university within a few years. But that doesn't happen anywhere in the world, and it is not the way Creation works either. Nevertheless you can understand the frustration of Africans when they see what is happening in other continents. The message is, if you want to invest in something really worthwhile take a look at the plans for theological education here.
Last week Trevor spent 4 days in Limuru near Nairobi, Kenya to visit a university there that we will affiliate to. We received a wonderful welcome. The place is very attractive being sited in the highlands north west of the capital - about an hour's drive. They have about 900 students, and 300 in affiliated colleges doing the diploma courses.
The region was the first region of Kenya to grow tea, and there was a visit to the original tea estate where we were treated to an explanation of how to grow tea and walked around a bit of forest as well as the tea. Then followed a wonderful lunch on the lawn of a lovely house built in the European tradition with all kinds of flowers and shrubs (including fuchsias!). At 7000 feet, though, it was all quite cool (15C). Many layers required - and a hot water bottle at night. Glad to be back in warm Juba (28C).
Next week Tina is off to visit two more local primary schools. Watch this space....
Thanks for your prayers.
... And life has been much busier here of late now the college is finally wound up and we can begin the new venture. We have been sorting piles of dusty files going back decades and the building needs to be put back into good repair. Not that we have got any money yet, of course. We are owed thousands of dollars in rent from the houses that are leased out - but that doesn't mean the occupants want to cough up. It's all very frustrating but, as always, patience is the name of the game.
We hope to decorate one of the biggest rooms and reinstate the library. None of it has been painted since the early 80s. We shall to be using the Library of Congress classification system so Tina will have her work cut out cleaning, sorting out, and cataloguing. Nothing of this has been done for many years if ever. When we decide what we will be teaching next year we will order the books we need and get folk to bring them out. This is one of the many things we need to do in the next month or so, too.
The new site is going to take time to establish. Please keep of it in your prayers. We know we shall be in the same building for at least the next twelve months and may be longer but even if everything else falls into place immediately, putting up buildings and fences will take much money. It will all come when we need it. We have all we need for now. We will crawl, then walk before we can run. Of course, some of the local people have very high hopes than we can come in with millions and present a working university within a few years. But that doesn't happen anywhere in the world, and it is not the way Creation works either. Nevertheless you can understand the frustration of Africans when they see what is happening in other continents. The message is, if you want to invest in something really worthwhile take a look at the plans for theological education here.
Last week Trevor spent 4 days in Limuru near Nairobi, Kenya to visit a university there that we will affiliate to. We received a wonderful welcome. The place is very attractive being sited in the highlands north west of the capital - about an hour's drive. They have about 900 students, and 300 in affiliated colleges doing the diploma courses.
The region was the first region of Kenya to grow tea, and there was a visit to the original tea estate where we were treated to an explanation of how to grow tea and walked around a bit of forest as well as the tea. Then followed a wonderful lunch on the lawn of a lovely house built in the European tradition with all kinds of flowers and shrubs (including fuchsias!). At 7000 feet, though, it was all quite cool (15C). Many layers required - and a hot water bottle at night. Glad to be back in warm Juba (28C).
Next week Tina is off to visit two more local primary schools. Watch this space....
Thanks for your prayers.
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