rothwellsmission: August 2015

''Lord, if it's you,'' Peter replied, ''Tell me to come to you on the water.'' ''Come,'' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.

Matt 14 : 28-29

This has been – and still is – a month of visitors -

Two lovely girls from Gulu – Jody (from Australia) and Rachel (from Canada) came and delivered a fantastic three day teaching session on phonics for almost 50 local primary school teachers. It was great to see them all making sounds, singing songs, doing silly dances and 'throwing' pretend flowers at each other!

Jerry and Elspeth have been here, and it's been great to catch up and talk...and talk...and talk....

Michelle and Beth (old friends) and Charlotte, (a new friend) have now left. They were all amazing – Activate, library lessons, science teaching, serving (and eating!) posho and beans, befriending, teaching in The Bridge (puzzles, stories, art - you name it)......and Michelle said she couldn't te

A reminder for all of us - you can't walk on water until you get out of the boat. All of them have done things they said they thought they never could – it is amazing what Africa and God gets you to do - when you get out of the boat!

We now have a team of 11 from Christchurch London here to present an end of term programme for the students in what they call lousy week. The students are at a loose end whilst the teachers mark all the exam papers and write reports, so not only is it a great help to the teachers it provides something different for the students before they leave for the holidays.

So far their programme has included worship, teaching (health, science, politics, law), lots of sport and even self defence and Chinese – the students are loving it.

Last week we were delighted with the football match we were able to persuade some of the staff to take part in – a ServeDirect team (although we didn't play!!) consisting of some members of the Christchurch team, the Director of Studies, Jimmy, the school secretary and assistant librarian, Enoch, the Head of Security, Baptiste, Willy, an OB of the school and now head of a primary school locally, grandly titled Vienna Memorial Academy, plus a few of the teachers, played against Wobulenzi Town Academy students, ably refereed by our sports coach Barnabas.

It was a tough match – the students certainly made no allowances for seniority – but the final score was a very respectable 1 – 1, although we lost 5 – 4 on penalties. The support was amazing – the whole school walked up to the Lukomera pitch and even more amazing they all returned! It was heart-warming to see the difference it has made in the relationships between students and the staff that took part, we pray it continues into the next term.

After a few nights of the Christchurch team leading worship they asked WTA students to do so. The whole school – and the Christchurch team - danced and worshipped under the mango trees until we (at least Stan and I) could dance no more. It was rounded off by Stan leading everyone in a 'christian conga' around the school as we sang and danced to one of the African worship songs. Stan has now been officially seconded into the church worship dancers!

And the great thing about all of the visitors we have mentioned here? They have all given their time for free and left something wonderful behind for the school, the students, the children at The Bridge and the staff and patients at The Rock - and we don't just mean in a financial way. We pray that all these volunteers will be blessed as they are blessing others.

When the Christchurch team leave here we head for the airport for a brief break in the UK, so there won't be a blog until September when we will return here for Term 3.

Prayer requests from the last blog -

From the last blog – not only is the new matron at the disabled unit a great success the school the unit is attached to has a new headmaster – J. John - he must be God-given! He is very keen to improve the situation of these children, something many of us have continually prayed for. So please keep him and the unit in your prayers.

Charles' blood pressure is now at a satisfactory level, he thanks everyone for their prayers. He has promised to rest (a little!) during the holidays, although he has tasked himself with learning more about emailing, the internet and spreadsheets, so we suspect the rest will be minimal.

Finally, some very sad news. Last month one of our dear teachers at The Bridge died very suddenly. Linus had been recovering at The Rock and Will and Amanda had been to visit him, but sadly he had a relapse and died on his way to hospital.

Linus was a conscientious, kind, caring and considerate teacher who had a real heart for the young children who come to The Bridge even though originally he had been teaching very successfully at secondary level. He will be sadly missed and will be very difficult to replace. He leaves a widow and eight children.

Please pray for his family, the staff at The Bridge and in particular for the children whose lives he touched. His legacy is all around The Bridge every time we look at those young people.

The Bridge has been very fortunate in securing the services of Ajok Dennis, and old boy of Wobulenzi Town Academy now trained as a primary school teacher. He will be joining us next term and will be living on site, leaving his wife and new baby back in their village. We do pray that he settles in quickly and will bring fresh ideas to the work of The Bridge. We also pray for his family far away.

We are delighted to have an OB of the school as a teacher as not only will he already know how and why The Bridge and the school were set up but what a great testament to the school that a pupil wants to return as a teacher.

With love and every blessing – see some of you soon

Sue and Stan