Sunday 19th April
I can’t believe that this is the end of my second week
already! The time has really flown by.
Saturday was a super quiet day as the power was out for
about 6 or 7 hours. I had no scheduled programmes so it was a day for chilling,
watching dvds and sermon prep. Of course, due to the power cut, the only thing
that actually happened was sermon prep!
I had to preach twice this morning, at the 1st
and 2nd English services. I had been told that many of the clergy
would have to attend a service out at Maracha Archdeaconry so it might be just
me and one other to lead. I was relieved when I arrived at the vestry to
discover that it was Rev. Pamela who would be leading, I felt that I was in
safe and familiar hands. The provost and Rev. Collins would be there at the
beginning but wouldn’t be able to stay to hear my sermon. Relief!! You can then
imagine the shock horror on my face when Rev. Pamela stood up to do the
announcement and she welcomed the Bishop and the Diocesan Secretary to the
service – and they would be staying to hear my sermon. The pressure was on and
I was already nervous about the size of the 2 congregations who would be there!
I was preaching on the topic of becoming children of God.
The readings were Zephaniah 3 and John 21. Usually I would opt for the New
Testament reading but this time I felt that Zephaniah 3 was the right choice
and I did refer to John 21 a few times. As I explained to the congregation, I
have been praying for weeks that God would give me a message to preach, very specific
to the people of Uganda. I don’t know enough of the culture to discern that for
myself so I depended on God to really come through. To my delight I opened the
lectionary, looked up the set readings and discovered that Zephaniah 3 talks
about the Rivers of Cush- one of which is the White Nile which flow from Lake
Victoria in Uganda! What a faithful God we serve! The basic points of the
sermon were that despite Israel being sinful and fallen, God calls them
‘daughter’ and welcomes them back as children. We focused a lot on verse 17 - “The Lord Your God is in your midst, a mighty
one who will save; he will rejoice over you with his gladness; he will quiet
you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” – talking about
how God treats us like precious little newborns. We then talked about John 21,
how becoming a child of God means that we get to join the family business-
fishing for people and feeding his sheep. Although it totally scares me, I get
such a buzz from preaching! Between services, we got a few minutes to breathe
in the vestry and then after the 2nd service I was able to get out
of my robes and go back to the guest house, Pamela had to stay for the Lugbara
service.
Rev. Pamela and I having a wee photo call in the vestry between services!
I was glad of the
little break before going to Rev Alice’s house for lunch at 3! I was amazed
that when we got there Alice was literally only in the door before me. The
woman never rests! To her credit, her daughter and dependants (nieces and nephews) had made the lunch
for us and they had cooked rice, deep fried vegetable
bake, chicken, vegetables and sauce. We enjoyed the chat over dinner and then
Mercy, Alice’s youngest daughter, wanted to play in the compound at my
guesthouse so they walked me back here and she played on the zip wire for a
while. It really has been a blessed day full of provision
with love from Uganda
Danielle x
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