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The Missouri contingent arrived home yesterday afternoon, and we have heard that Anne and Warren are safely home too. I just learned that their posts home are available online, and I wanted to call attention to the relevant website in Blackmore Vale -- well worth reading!

Exit

The mission team is back in Kampala. We arrived last night and had a wonderful dinner of lasagna and cake and ice cream. Today we went to the crafts mall by the national theater. Anne and Warren have just left for the airport; the Missouri contingent will leave at 6.30 tonight for a 10.55 flight from Entebbe. I'm sitting at the Missionary Aviation Guesthouse looking out over the hills of Kampala listening to a muezzin calling people to noon prayers. It is cool and thundering and has been raining. Uganda is so different from Southern Sudan and yet so nearby and so much the same peoples. In our debriefing last night we really tried to sort out our experiences and the way forward in this work. Whatever it is, we are all deeply grateful to have the people of Blackmore Vale in it with us.
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Last Post from Lui

Here's the group eating breakfast, then a shot of Warren between Robin Denney (left) and Jennifer Ernst,who came yesterday to visit us. Robin is the TEC ag missionary, and Jennifer is the TEC/ECS partnerships coordinator. They'd been in Rumbek for the standing committee meeting. Below, Sam and Marc. They and Robin have been talking ag, presiding over a long but fruitful meeting of themselves, the Lui diocesan leadership, and Wayne, Warren, and me today. They have wonderful, doable ideas that don't involve raising funds for a tractor -- more about all that from home. Then Sam, Marc, Robin, and Jennifer took off for Mundri and a chat with the World Harvest Mission ag folks, while the rest of us stayed in Lui. Vasco, Stephen, Gordon, Warren, Bishop Bullen, Wayne, and I sat for a long time discussing diocesan priorities and fundraising. This morning Susan and Ev presented school supply funds (we bought and distributed all we could!) and our art project supplies to Lunjini's headmaster. We have the final tea party and goodbye at 5 pm, then we pack and go tomorrow -- MAF flight at noon. More from Uganda, perhaps.

Two Things That Make Me Happy

This is Evelyn in her element. One person -- Ismail -- asked to come and read with her. But when he came for the lesson, he brought two friends. Then two more showed up. I have never seen anyone happier in Lui than Evelyn teaching reading to adults. She did this yesterday and has another lesson scheduled for this afternoon.









Today we visited the Mothers' Union poultry farm project, which was funded by a Women to Women grant of the Episcopal Church Women of TEC. When we were here in December, the chicks were new. In May, they were struggling to survive. Now they are thriving and laying eggs, 10 or 20 a day, which the MU sell for 1/2 a Sudanese pound each. They are not yet making a profit, and in fact their income doesn't completely pay for chicken feed and the stipend to those who care for the chickens, but the cheap source of protein is wonderful for families with children.



None of the chickens are featherless as they were back in May. The MU continue to sell some off as meat to fund the feed of the layers.

We also visited the MU sewing room today, and it is thriving, with many more garments for sale -- and made with more finesse -- than we saw in May. They also have baskets and bows (the shooting kind) for sale.

More news -- the cathedral here has scraped together its funds and purchased its own grinding mill to raise money. And Bishop Bullen told Deb, who had the nerve to ask, God bless her, that his baby is due within a couple of weeks. He has asked us all to tea at his compound this afternoon.

A bit of a virus or something is making the rounds among us -- not pleasant (chills, fever and digestive upset) while one is sick but not long running so far. Please keep the mission team and our health and safety in your prayers.