Mission Partner news
Partner by partner in brief --- longer accounts further down the page.
Louise Wright is on her way to the Congo via Eldoret in Kenya. She is helping with the TEE programme there while Cathy Burgess is on leave.
Judy Acheson is in Bunia working with the Agape team and as Provincial youth Co-ordinator. More below.
Diana and Philip Bingham are now working with the new director of the Africa region in CMS, Rev Dr Zac Niringiye from Uganda. He is bringing new ideas and challenges to the team.
As a family they are enjoying living in the multi-cultural east end of London. They are expecting a brother or sister for Jessica in early September.
Pat Clay has completed her service with MAM.
Maggie Crewes (CMS Australia) continues to be based in Kampala and act as liaison officer for Congo 2 days a week.
Francesca Elloway is in Aru. Her current work includes teaching Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the government nursing school and visiting schools to give AIDS education. More below.
Pat Nickson continues to make many travels. Since the last newsletter she has been to Sri Lanka (examining students at the University of Kelaniya); Dhaka (Bangladesh); Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, Liverpool; at the World Health Organisation in Geneva; and Côte d'lvoire
Charlotte Plieth (MAM) is working as a Specialist Registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology at the West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, West London. She is applying to get into a five-year training programme to train to consultant level. More below.
Heather (Sinclair) and David Sharland are handing over their work in Aru and will be focusing on the Sudan in their future work with CMS. More below.
Some Former Mission Partner news
Nigel Pearson has been back to the Congo to do a case study for Oxfam. The case study is called Under Fire: the human cost of small arms fire in the north-east DRC (we hope to get permission to put extracts from this onto the web site). The report is available from Julia Saunders at Oxfam, OX2 7DZ.
Roger Raven is to be ordained deacon on July 3rd by Martyn, Bishop of Beverley. Pray for Roger, Carol, John and Peter as they move to Cantley in South Yorkshire. Also pray for the people of St Wilfrid’s among whom Roger is to serve.
News in depth...
Judy Acheson writes:
I have enjoyed Christmas from December through to March. Thank you all so much for your cards, your letters, your loving thoughts and your prayers. Christmas for us was anything but carefree. Rumours of wars and tribal fighting meant the festival took on a new meaning. Jesus Himself was born into a divided, troubled world.
He understands this world and all the sin, all that ruins the beauty of God's creation. He came so that we would be lifted out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in His wonderful kingdom of love. As I have looked at what evil can do to men over these recent months, I am so grateful to Jesus for suffering on the cross so that I may be set free from the chains of such evil. This tribal fighting has made me realise in a fresh way the greatness of what Jesus achieved for us. I felt for those who were suffering. We cried out to the Lord in prayer on their behalf. We beseeched the Lord to protect people and bring this fighting to an end. Again and again we saw answers to prayer. Again and again we were able to praise God for being so personally involved in what was happening in this area and for helping His people in so many different ways
Charlotte Plieth writes:
After over two years of sitting on the fence I have finally resigned as a mission partner with MAM. The reasons are that the situation in Congo is far from settled and it is time that I free my link churches to support mission partners who will serve overseas in the near future. My main concern at present is to keep MAM’s partnership with the Church in Congo alive .
Gbombo, who has so faithfully led the clinical work in Boga since my departure in 1998 will start his language study in Uganda with a view to hopefully study medicine in Mbarara in the South of Uganda. This was already planned before the current crisis. His family is also in Uganda. For his wife it is not the first time that she had to escape ethnic killings, this time with 9 months old twins! One of the babies almost died during the flight because of the lack of clean water.
Sitting comfortably in London surburbia I cannot even imagine what it is like for all these folk. Many of those I know served their community so faithfully over the years, going without salaries for most of last year. They are numbers in UN statistics and reports, but who can count the sadness, pain, loss and sheer terror each one is experiencing. Yes, I know the One who can and who will count every tear.
Last year the Sharlands wrote that they were hoping to return to Aru in March or April this year, however this has not proved possible and in May David wrote:
The work in Aru seems to be going well, despite insecurity. We are still unable to rejoin the team there, and it has been hard for us to offer adequate backing from outside. I have had 10 years involvement with Aru, and now is the time for Jesse, Isaac and Mama Biku to take the work forward. Both Tearfund and CMS agree with this, so Heather and I will be spending the next couple of months doing a proper hand-over and moving out from Aru. This will be a sad and hard time, but it is the right time for us to move on. Please pray for a smooth transition for all involved. Of course we will remain friends to Aru, backing, not leading.
Francesca Elloway writes to update us about Grace, the daughter of Komasi who was mentioned in the last newsletter:
Grace was baptised last Sunday at the church I attend, with several other children, including the two children of Baba, our Administrator. The baptism coincided with Baba and his family moving into their new house, so in the afternoon we enjoyed a house-warming party there. Another name familiar to some will be Esther, the widow of Pastor Angemoko who died last year, and her daughter, Glory. Life has been particularly hard for Esther since her husband's death for a variety of reasons, but I am very pleased that she is going to begin work as the chaplain at our health centre at Mahagi next month. I hope in this way we will be able to support and encourage her as well as keep an eye on both her and Glory’s health.
I have also started teaching about Health Issues at our local Bible school. This has been particularly 'linguistically challenging' for me as I cannot use French, the language I am most comfortable with here, but have to teach in Swahili instead. This is very good for me, the preparation takes time as I have to write everything out beforehand, but the problem comes with the students' questions. I can usually understand what I am being asked, but trying to answer off the cuff in Swahili is another matter. I sometimes wonder if they are learning more about health or I am learning more Swahili in these lessons!
On a less positive note I regret to report problems at Kuluva Hospital in Arua. We have, over the years, been very grateful to the hospital for the support it has given to our work, both in helping with some supplies and with referring patients. On a personal level I shall very much miss the professional support I received from the medical personnel there, especially the other missionary doctors, as well as, their friendship.