Gill and Carlos Olaaka - Uganda |
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January 2010 Prayer Update
Hello and Happy New Year!
What a lot has been going on since we last wrote. We have been able to see many dear friends and family members while in Ireland, and we truly had a fabulous time in Dublin, Monaghan, Cork and Galway! Christmas with Gill’s family (the first time her parents, 2 sisters - plus one sister’s husband and 3 children - were together for Christmas since 2001!) was extremely special and we were delighted to see a white Christmas – certainly Carlos’ first and Gill’s first in living memory!
It was sad to leave, especially as we had a housing drama to face when we returned – we had hoped we could stay in our own house for another couple of weeks in January as we looked for a new place, but then heard around the 21st December that our landlord had accepted new tenants to move in on 1st Jan (we had not given official notice, though communicated that we were planning to move, and we didn’t think he would look for new people so soon, so presumed we would be able to stay for another month while we house hunted once more). So arriving back in Uganda at 11pm on Tuesday 29th we had 2 days to find a new house and move ourselves in! Somehow by God’s grace we managed – a true miracle – and on the Wednesday around 1pm we were able to pay 4 month’s rent in our new place. It’s in a lovely accessible area, just 2km away from our former house, and a very nice place, though it’s a little more expensive than we would like to pay, so we will have to see if we can stay here long term – but certainly it was a perfect option to move into in the time pressures we had! It was extremely stressful returning to Uganda and not knowing the future, but at the same time because it was so out of our control, we just had to trust God – and truly He proved Himself faithful once more. Thank you to all who were praying we would find a new home! The dogs aren’t so happy yet – Agent keeps on trying to get out of the gate, we think he is protesting that he isn’t in the place he knows!! – but will be fine. We have 2 options for the Crosslinks house too, though just have to finalise one of those in the next 2 days, but all in all we are really seeing answers to prayer – praise God!
Well we hope you are all well – it was so wonderful to spend time with some of you recently – we are sorry we didn’t get to spend more time with more people but such is life! We pray you have a wonderful start to the New Year and truly know God’s peace and blessing. Thanks as always for your prayers,
Much love
Gill and Carlos
Prayer for:
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Please pray that we would settle back into life in Uganda after Gill’s work trip and fabulous holiday, and pray that Gill would be able to catch up with all the work she needs to do quickly when she goes back on 4th Jan. Specifically please pray for an audit that started in December, that it would be finished soon and easily; for some fundraising proposals being written; for the recruitment of Hellen’s replacement; for an impact assessment for 2 projects – Net2Work in Kampala and the Bambejja Skills Training Project – that are being done from now until March; for recruitment of new students to Net2Work in Gulu, Pader and Kampala; for the Bambejja girls’ holiday programme in January before they return to school in February; and for various things happening in Beersheba, particularly with one key staff going on maternity leave, a new group of girls being recruited, and some progress being made on some new initiatives in the community.
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Please pray we would be able to finalise the Crosslinks Team house in the next couple of days and buy all the furniture needed, as well as getting people to help with security and cleaning/cooking, and pray that the team of 12 who are coming in mid January would be preparing themselves and would have a positive and wonderful time on their 4 month mission here
Thanks for:
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Surely we can thank God for His provision for this new house, and we would appreciate prayer for our security and joy while we stay here, and that we would be able to host many people here as we have been able to in our previous home, and to have peace if this is the right place for us to stay longer
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We were so blessed by all the good things that happened while we were in Ireland – such kindness and generosity seen in lifts given, meals cooked, donations to the work given … we thank God for the body of Christ and how much love we received from everyone!