Four of us women that live here with SOS Ministries celebrate a birthday either late March or early April so we were shouted out together for lunch and a back massage as a treat and birthday surprise. Deane and the kids spent the day swimming at a local hotel and 10 pin bowling (since it had been closed on the Monday 17th Sam’s birthday) We all met back at home after a long day out, wet day too, then gathered for a Easter Friday candlelight service to remember the death of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It was a great remembrance service and we were again blessed with having Alex and Simon with us from Luweero, for the long weekend and Anthony from SOS had his sister Clare and friend Deborah stay at Mukono also, so there was a large gathering of us most of the weekend.
Saturday was another busy day, lunch with all of us and another 15 guests, friends of Shannon’s were over, so we had another busy day.
RAIN, well when it rains in Uganda, it sure rains, it started midnight Saturday with the hughest ever thunder and lightning storm and boy was it scary, Bri spent most of the night in our bed!! Anyway it was just torrential rain and no power for 17 hours. We had an Easter celebration service and then a SOS community lunch with around 30 people again, we had spent a fair bit of time Saturday afternoon in food preparation, thankfully before the power went off. We were spoilt to have an USA turkey for lunch, Danielle’s family had bought it over in their suitcase in late December so it had been saved for a special meal, we had a great feast of turkey and all the normal NZ Christmas traditions to go with it, Ugandan style. A great day of entertainment, encouragement and fellowship. The rain just poured down continuously. We ended the day with an old-fashioned “SINGALONG – HYMNS”! which you might think oh no, but we ALL really enjoyed it, the Ugandans love to sing and it has certainly encouraged our boys to get involved in the singing too.
The power finally came on but after that amount of rain it makes you SO thankful to have a house and roof over your head, and I constantly thought of the people that live in the local villages, or just in the mud huts, and there are many that live in substandard houses, I mean pieces of iron and timber just placed (not nailed) together and how they would fear in a storm like that (probably the water just flowing through the middle of some of their houses, or having to go to the “outhouse” or outside to the separate “cookhouse”).
The water in our house has been muddy looking since the heavy downpours, this is definitely the rainy season and its easy to think of yourself again when the toilet wont flush properly, or the shower water heater breaks down, or the power goes off but again I remind myself how thankful I am to live in a house out of the damp and wetness.
