We’re back and we had a fantastic time in the UK!

Well, it’s been 20 years in the preparation but finally on Saturday 12th November 2011, Africa Renewal Ministries celebrated its 20th anniversary!

What a day it was! The sun was shining down on six enormous tents, sponsored children representing each of the ARM projects marched through Gaba village with a brass band and the huge cake was ready to be cut and shared by almost 4000 people. Speeches were made by the guest of honour, ex-PM Apollo Nsibambi, Pastor Peter and representatives of the ARM board in America.

The church was transformed into a dining hall for the VIPs, complete with colour coordinated tables and a canopy of fairy lights stretching the length and breadth of the hall. It looked fantastic, as did the tents in the main arena with their hanging canopies of red, yellow and black hangings and yellow and red roses.

Mwangaza choir sang and danced and the students of the Next Generation Leadership Programme enjoyed their graduation (which for many was the culmination of child sponsorship which began when they were in primary school)

Jez was busy coordinating the programme (making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be!) and Helen ushered in the VIP tent!

It was a memorable occasion and we were so pleased to be a part of it.

Well done, ARM! Looking forward to what God has in store for the next 20 years.

ARM 20 year celebration!

For the last few weeks, the Gaba campus has become a building site as we share parking with graders and large trucks and office space with noise and dust! But it’s all for a good cause, as the grounds are being prepared for the 20 year anniversary of Africa Renewal Ministries! We are expecting to be celebrating on 12th November with around 3000 guests from all over the world which is all very exciting.

Preparations are underway to feed and entertain all the visitors, as well as creating a pleasant environment in which to spend the day.

In the photos you can see the new guest seating area being built behind the ARM head office- the area in front of the seats will be made into a basketball court for the school!

Ever wondered how we manage to attract so many visitors? They just can’t resist the advertising.

The whole bedroom costs a bit extra. If you’re interested in taking up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you know where we are!

Vacancies

Uncle Jez, Aunty Helen and cousins Charis, Jonah and Ethan are delighted to announce the arrival of Joshua Anderton White!

A beautiful son born to Helen’s brother Matt and his wife Natalie at around 7am on 19th September. Joshua is very excited that he will be able to see us all on Skype at the weekend! Mum and baby are both doing well and Dad is eager to get them all home.

God is good all the time!

Last month I was privileged to be part of the team from head office who went on a Mercy Network outreach to the other side of the city.

Mercy Network is a part of ARM and is concerned with helping families with very young children; for a limited period of time, a family joins the Mercy Network programme and is given regular food parcels. More importantly an integral part of MN is that the primary caregiver in the family is given skills training so that when the family leaves the programme, the mum/dad is able to continue to provide for their family.

Our team saw many needs- stories of desperation but also of hope. We visited a mother of three who stays in one tiny room, alone with the children; the fathers are nowhere to be seen. She was so happy for the simple things we brought. We prayed with a lady who is taking care of 11 children- three of them her own, eight of them from her sister-in-law who has abandoned them. Through the work of MN, hope is coming to these families and many others like them.

We thank God for the work of Mercy Network as it is really making a difference at the point of need.

We just had a great visit from Helen’s parents, Jan and Martin, who exchanged the UK for Kampala these last 3 weeks. We managed to have some time off to spend with them, travelled to Fort Portal for a few days, visited the equator, toured the ARM projects in and around Gaba and had a few coffees at nearby Quality Hill!

Thanks for coming Mum & Dad, we really enjoyed having you with us. Happy memories indeed!

A brief dog blog this week, just to let you know that on 21st June, Sasha delivered 9 cute little puppies! We’ve gone from strongly disliking dogs, to owning one, breeding her and currently housing 10 of them in our compound!!

They really are very cute, as you can see from the pics, and in about six weeks will be ready to go to their new homes- anyone in Uganda, let us know if you want to buy a genuine German Shepherd pup, they really are rather nice!

This year ARM celebrates its 20^th anniversary! In order to mark this important event, there are different smaller celebrations taking place each month throughout the year. In May, all the staff at head office enjoyed breakfast together at a local Gaba hotel. It’s not often that you need to eat breakfast wearing hat and sunglasses and work out where to sit in order to not get sunburnt! The morning culminated in us being divided into 3 teams and producing our own ARM theme song in just 15 minutes!! The results of our respective efforts are pictured below, it’s just a shame there is no sound…or maybe it’s a relief….

It was a glorious day as the crowds gathered to await the arrival of the guest of honour, the prime minister of Uganda, to officially open the NEW campus for Gaba Bible Institute (GBI)!

GBI has spent the last few months relocating from a cramped double-storey house in Gaba fishing village to a beautiful, spacious campus in Buloba, on the outskirts of Kampala. The new place is like paradise- space for an extensive library, purpose-built dining area and classrooms, room to keep goats and rabbits and pigs (training students in animal husbandry) as well as trees and grass in plenty for a quiet walk or study in the sunshine! Wow!

God is so good; when he provides he does so in abundance. This is a place where GBI can really have room to grow and, eventually, become Africa Renewal Christian University, offering an even wider range of subjects than are currently available.

What a fantastic celebration as GBI received high praise from the guest of honour, donors and education minister.

Well done GBI, we look forward to an exciting future!