Patterson, John - Uganda

Patterson main page

Prayer Letter April 2007 (click here for pdf version)

Dear Friends,

I hope you are well, as am I. It’s nice to be in touch again, and thank you for your support.

Earlier today (5.00-7.00pm) we ran the first session of our Alpha course and I am really encouraged by the way it has started. All Saints Church in Hoima attracts a large congregation. One hundred people (all church members) signed up for this first course, with a further twenty people, working in pairs, as group leaders. The Course Leader and the Course Administrator have worked hard to get to grips with something quite new to them and I thank God for such a smooth start. The only last minute panic was that the speaker for the evening had not appeared by the time we had started the evening, but he made it with no time to spare. It is all being done in Runyoro, though at present the supporting Alpha literature is in English.

Just after I had written my last letter a young man called Ayesiga John Baptist came to live on the compound. A recent school leaver aged about twenty, he has been an excellent help doing all sorts of jobs around the house and compound. Unable to cook when he arrived, he now cooks the tea most days and the vegetable plot has been transformed by his attention. He has been worth the wait and is friendly and pleasant into the bargain. Thank you for praying

TEE continues, and two groups of students who had finished their courses have just competed re-sits of exams they had failed near the start. I set off for Kabale in southern Uganda tomorrow to take their scripts to Bishop Barham College (a campus of Uganda Christian University) for marking. If all has gone well with these and their December exams, they could, after four years on the course, be close to receiving their Certificates or Diplomas. Recruiting for new courses is proceeding only slowly and we are well short of the numbers we need. I am hoping, however, that once we have some graduates from the present students, some good publicity may stimulate renewed interest in others. One issue that has a large effect on our present running of the course is the considerable distance that has to be travelled to Bishop Barham College (about 375 miles each way by road). Communication by email, which would be ideal, is often erratic or non-existent but it is often just too far to go in person to try to get guidance or information. This has an adverse effect on the students and the course (and the Coordinator!). I don’t know if there is a better way to do things, but value your prayers as I explore this.

I am now up and running as Chaplain at Bulera Core Primary Teachers’ College. I like the students and am glad to be involved here. Many of the students (of whom there are several hundred) are young people who have completed O-level at school and are now embarking on primary teaching careers. The college also does a lot of in-service training. Universal Primary Education is less than ten years old in Uganda so the students will be entering a system which itself is still in its infancy and which has a lot less experience and resources than we would take for granted in the UK. One colleague here, who used to be a teacher before UPE, had a class of 180 children. And if it’s tough for the teachers, what’s it like for the children? The government has just this year taken steps to start Universal Secondary Education.

I am very much looking forward to a month of leave in the UK. I fly from here on 4 June and return on 4 July. My ‘sending’ church is in fact a group of churches, Churches Together in Great Crosby. This comprises two Anglican, two Roman Catholic and one Methodist church. I am grateful for the opportunity to be at St. Luke’s Church in Crosby at 6.30pm. on Sunday, 17 June, and will be pleased to see any of you who can be there also. There will be light refreshments and time to talk after the service. If you need directions to the church, please contact the church office on 0151 931 3119, or email at stlukesgc[at]btconnect .com.

Some recent visitors to Hoima from the UK invited me to go with them, at the end of their stay, to the Murchison Falls National Park. During our three days away we visited the head of the falls where you can look down on the Nile as it narrows dramatically to drop through a gap in some rock. We also did a river trip in which the boat chugged upstream for a couple of hours towards the falls. Although the view of the falls is less dramatic because the boat has to stop a long way short of the falling water, it was an ideal way to see some of the birds and animals that live along the river. We saw lots of hippos, also crocodiles, an elephant in the distance and more besides. We also did two safari rides with a guide, seeing more elephants, giraffes, a couple of lions and lots of smaller creatures. To top it off we stayed at a beautiful safari lodge on the bank of the river. Oil has been found in this area, and although that is a blessing for the country as a whole, the hope is that extracting it will not disrupt the wildlife.

At a national level, Uganda is gearing up to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in November. This event, which takes place somewhere every two years, involves the heads of some 53 governments. The Queen and Prince Philip, as well as Prince Charles and Camilla, are due to come. Arranging accommodation and security for such a gathering is a major challenge and work, especially in Kampala, is going on apace to try to get ready in time.

Well, it’s nearly time to stop. The next prayer-letter should appear about four months from now. Wherever you are reading this, I thank you again for your support, covet your prayers and wish you God’s blessing.

Best wishes

John


For Thanks

  • The help of John Baptist at home

  • A good start to Alpha

  • Getting going at Bulera Core PTC

  • The progress of TEE students

  • Safety and good health

  • The support of many at home and abroad

For Prayer

  • John Baptist’s replacement come September!

  • The translation of Alpha materials into Runyoro;

  • Wisdom about how we spread the no. of courses

  • UK home leave: arrangements and quality time

  • Recruiting for new TEE courses;

  • Easier communication with our TEE HQ.

  • Spiritual protection and fruitfulness

  • Eyes to see what God is doing

  • Uganda’s government preparing for Chogm

 

Patterson main page

name index        country index