World Mission - Uganda

Please allow me to take a moment of your time to briefly introduce myself, the Diocese that I shepherd and to tell you about a wonderful blessing the Lord has given us and about a huge need that we have here in the Diocese of Bunyoro-Kitara, which is a Diocese within the Church of Uganda.



Bishop Nathan and his family

INTRODUCTION

My name is Rt Revd Nathan Kyamanywa and it is my blessing, honour and privilege to have been recently consecrated Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese. Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese is located about three hours northwest of Kampala on the far western border of Uganda and it is separated from the Congo by Lake Albert on our western border. Our diocesan headquarters is located in the town of Hoima and our diocese is one of the geographically largest dioceses within the Church of Uganda. The land that our Father in heaven has chosen to give us is very beautiful and he has given us a climate that much of the world's population would envy. The people of Bunyoro-Kitara are, for the most part, very poor and the average person earns less than one dollar a day. As you can imagine, with an average income as low as the equivalent of one dollar a day, much of what our friends in the West take for granted and deem to be the barest of life's essentials is totally beyond most of our villagers comprehension.

HEALTH CARE NEEDS

One of the essentials is that of professional and attainable health care. To give you an idea of just how critical a need this is I recently read that the average life expectancy here in Uganda is less than 49 years old. Please don't get me wrong, we do have doctors, we do have clinics and we do have hospitals. However, we do not have anywhere nearly enough doctors or hospitals to meet even our most basic needs. Competent, professional health care is one of our most critical needs.



	The Diocesan Clinic

OUR BLESSING

Now let me tell you about the blessing, which we recently received from the Lord that came through some of our friends in the United States of America. We had a large piece of land with the shell of a building that had once been our diocesan clinic. Sadly, due to a severe lack of funds and qualified health care personnel, this clinic was closed about 10 years ago. Several months ago, a friend in the States gave us all of the funds needed to completely remodel and renovate this building and property. Soon the construction will be completed and then it will be one of the most modern health care buildings in Uganda outside of Kampala. We still have huge needs regarding our need of fixtures, equipment, supplies and drugs; however, we are absolutely certain that our Lord will make all of these available when they are needed.



The house for the new doctor; it's in serious need of renovation.

OUR PRAYER

Now let me talk with you about a prayer we all share and about what we see to be our most pressing and critical need. We all believe that, by far, our most critical need is for a Christian missionary doctor whose heart and spirit has been moved by the Lord to give two or three years, or perhaps all of his or her life to God's children here in Bunyoro-Kitara. We believe that with this Christian missionary doctor our clinic could easily become an awesome and fruitful ministry for our Lord and his kingdom. We pray that this doctor would be able to set up and organize the operation of the clinic, that he or she would be able to train assistants that would be able to go out into the villages to teach and treat the villagers in their own villages and that he or she would be able to train their own replacement.

OUR PRAYER for YOUR HELP

We all pray that whoever reads this letter will be moved to join us in our prayer for a Christian missionary doctor. We are absolutely certain that God has already chosen his doctor; even though we realize that this doctor may not even know that he or she has already been chosen. This is where we believe that your part of God's plan comes in. We believe that the doctor has been chosen, but it is left up to you and us to get the word of this need out so that the chosen doctor's heart can be touched.

Please join with us in this search and please help us find God's choice for his people here in Bunyoro-Kitara.

If you have any additional questions or if you require any additional information about Uganda, Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese, our people, our needs or our clinic please contact anyone of the people listed below.

Rt Revd Nathan Kyamanywa
PO Box 20
Hoima
Uganda
e-mail: bkdioces@Infocom.co.ug

Mr John Morris
Liverpool, UK
e-mail: john.morris@stlukecrosby.org.uk

July 2002 - Uganda

This month we have a letter from Thad Cox, an American computer man working in Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese, Hoima, Uganda. He writes about the desperate health care needs in Hoima. You can read his letter here.

This letter illustrates the appalling conditions which exist in the hospitals and clinics in Africa. It is the same in Malawi but they have Liz and Malcolm. Please keep them in your prayers, the work they do is beyond price and pray that we may find a Liz and Malcolm for Hoima.

Yours in his service

John Morris

PS Please, don't forget Thad in your prayers.

June 2002 (b) - Uganda

supporting

Orphans in the Diocese
Students at the Diocesan Training Centre, and
Special Projects

Great things are happening in Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese

Our brother, Canon Nathan Kyamanywa, who has visited us in Crosby a couple of times, has been elected as the next Bishop of the Diocese to follow Bishop Wilson who is soon to retire on health grounds. Nathan is a very popular man in the Diocese, where there is great excitement and much preparation by dozens of committees. Everybody seems to have a job to do or a role to play in the consecration and enthronement of the new Bishop on Sunday 4 August.

St Luke's has been invited to attend and a small party, led by David Trollope, is going out to represent our Church. The Ugandans love their ceremonies and a three-hour service is normal. This could be the longest service ever, probably all day, with everybody packed in on rough wooden benches.

Nathan was in America earlier this year studying, and he planned to visit us in May for a week on his way home. Unfortunately there was a mix up with his visa and he could not come into the UK. He had to go straight home and is now safely back in Hoima with his wife and family. He sends his love and blessing with his apologies for not being able to to see us but he hopes to visit us in God's time. He asks for your prayerful support for his new role as Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese.

Joram has moved into his new house and sends his love, thanks and blessings to all his friends who helped him. Jackaline (his wife) and their five children (two of whom are adopted orphans) also send their thanks as they now have a water pump only 15 feet away with no more carrying water uphill from the river over a mile away. Praise God.

Team Uganda 2002

Five of our young people, Rachel Winsor, David Howard, Amy Coutts, Helen Howard and Liz Winsor, and leaders Cathy Howard and Jan De Villiers leave to go out to the Uganda on 18 July for two weeks. They will be working with the orphans and children in need, in and around Hoima.

They plan to form and run a play/activities group, which they hope will carry on when they return home. David is studying for his GNVQ level 3 in child care. Working in the local clinic and hospital, Jan is a child care nurse. Liz will teach the children to play football, and they will all be involved in many other projects and things of interest. They are to stay in the Mothers' Union complex, a nice comfortable building that John Morris helped to build in 1997. Joram is going to organize their programme and if it is like the last one, they will need a year to complete it. Unfortunately they have to return home two days before Nathan's Consecration and Enthronement.

Our thanks go to Marion Winsor and all the team who have worked so hard to raise the funds needed to enable the project. This will be no holiday, but an opportunity of service which may only come once in a lifetime. There will be long and arduous travel, hard work in a foreign land with a different culture but the rewards are beyond measure. The Lord rewards well those who serve him and his people.

The team need your support, in prayer, now and while they are away. Please encourage the young people with your money or any other way you can.

Crossroads Hoima

We are still praying and working for the creation of a drop-in centre in Hoima. We will be looking into this while we are there for Nathan's consecration. All the churches in Hoima are in favour of the centre and have pledged their support. An excellent site has been found in an ideal position and they are in the act of raising the funds to buy it. It is our prayer that we can be of help in this project if it is the Lord's will.

June 2002 (a) - Uganda

St Luke's Church helps to support six main charities and June is Uganda month. Once again we ask for your prayers and financial support.

Bishop Wilson Turamanya sends his greetings and blessings to all the friends and supporters of the Diocese. He and his wife Sayuni are coming to spend three weeks with us in September/October after his retirement, when we will have the opportunity to host and thank him for all the help our brothers and sisters in Uganda give to us.

Canon Nathan is on his way home from America; he was unable to visit us in the UK on his way because of problems with his visa. Please pray for him as he travels and as he takes up the burden of his new office as bishop of the Bunyoro-Kitara diocese in succession to Bishop Wilson. David and a small team from St Luke's will be going out to be present at Nathan's consecration and enthronement on 4 August 2002.

This is the month when we pray for and try to support the people of our link diocese of Bunyoro-Kitara. At the invitation of Bishop Wilson five young people and two leaders are going out to the diocese in July, to work with the orphans, children in need, local clinics and schools. They have all worked very hard for many months raising funds at car boot sales, catering to functions, holding auctions and in so very many other ways. They go in service to the Lord and his people in Africa, a land ravaged by wars, conflict, AIDS, malaria and all sorts of other medical problems, with no free medical services and only a tiny local hospital supported by charities, running at 185% capacity.

This will be no cushy holiday. They will be based in the town of Hoima, a small dusty bush town 150 miles up country from the capital Kampala, along rough roads of rock and dust, full of huge potholes and most uncomfortable to travel on. The town has no running water or a reliable electricity supply. Water has to be carried from the rivers and springs. There is very little paid work, the people eat what they grow, and yet they are a loving, caring, family-based people, loyal and faithful to the Lord, generous and hospitable to a fault.

Please pray for the team, their hosts and the mission in general, that they are able to help in Hoima, serve in Africa and come back better people for the experience of serving God at the sharp end.

We will be fund raising for the orphans and special projects in all the usual ways: catering at functions, barbecues, tubes of Smarties, plant sales, lifts to the Airports, etc. We look forward to your support for this important work in the Lords service.

Crossroads Crosby/Crossroads Hoima

This is a project and link which we believe is touched by the hand of God.

In the shadow of our Crosby Group of Churches Crossroads project and in the true spirit of ecumenism, the churches of all denominations in Hoima have come together (even in the face of the tribalism which is still very strong in the area) to work together, for the Kingdom of God and the good of all the peoples. They have formed an ecumenical committee to set up and run a Crossroads project similar to ours to care for all in need.
They went to the local council to see if they had a piece of land in a suitable position for a centre. Much to everybody's surprise the council immediately came back with an offer of an ideal piece of land (have you ever known a council do anything quickly?). The site, which is in the middle of town, on a crossroads, was overgrown with 30 foot high bush, abandoned by its owner 30 years ago at the time of Idi Amin. The owner was found and agreed to sell at a very fair price and the committee are in the process of buying it. When the bush was cleared a half built hotel was found underneath, which is in reasonable condition and will convert very quickly into a suitable building to start off from, while prayers are said and funds raised to build the rest of the project.

For further information or to support this project please contact John Morris (e-mail: john.morris@stlukecrosby.org.uk)

Update on Joram

Joram is moving his family into their new house next week (mid-March). He says it has a large compound (garden) in which to grow the family food, and it is only 15 feet from a bore hole for water. What a blessing this will be for his wife and children who would normally have to carry it over a mile from the river. They now have a safe house to live in, with neighbours on each side, a bit better than the DTC house which is isolated at the bottom of a big hill on the edge of the forest.

Bunyoro-Kitara Gets New Bishop

The story of Nathan's election as the next Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara (see February 2002 update below) is carried by allAfrica.com.

February 2002 - Uganda

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER
Today, 26 February, we received the good news from Uganda that our friend and brother, the Revd Canon Nathan Kyamanywa, who spent some time with us last Summer, has been elected to be the next Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese. The consecration and enthronement of the new Bishop will take place on Sunday 4 August 2002 in St Peter's Cathedral, Hoima, Uganda.

Bishop Wilson is standing down after carrying on the arduous office of Bishop for two extra years after he was advised and tried to retire because of continued ill health and on the persistent advice of his doctor.

Bishop Wilson has invited any or all of his friends from St Luke's or the Great Crosby Group of Churches to join them for the enthronement of Bishop-elect Nathan.

Nathan is studying in the USA at this time and will be returning to Hoima in July. It had been hoped that he would be able to stop over in the UK to spend a few days with us before he returned to Uganda but the enthronement date is sooner than any of us expected and he will have to go straight back to the Diocese to prepare for his big day.

Please continue to pray for Bishop Wilson, Bishop-elect Nathan and the whole Diocese. Bishop Wilson is a totally dedicated man of God, working tirelessly for the Kingdom of God and His people and he will be a hard man to follow. Nathan will have his hands full just trying to do what Bishop Wilson did as a matter of course. We wish him well and pray he will be happy and contented in his new role.

If you wish to send Bishop elect Nathan a congratulatory e-mail, his address in the USA is nathank@ccgf.org. I am sure he will be delighted to hear from you and hear that you support him in prayer.

We hope to send a group out to the diocese for the enthronement. If you are interested or want further information please contact John Morris (tel: 0151-286 8380 e-mail: john.morris@stlukecrosby.org.uk).

Christmas Greetings and Blessings

To David, John and all our friends in St Luke's

Thank you for your help and support throughout this year, for Rev Joram's study leave, your support of the Orphans, the students at the Diocesan Training Centre, the Shoebox Christmas Chests, the Orphans' Christmas Party and so very much more. I could go on for a long time, it has been a great encouragement to us to know you love and care for us so much. God bless and watch over you, may His light shine upon you and give you His peace. We wish you a Blessed Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

From all your friends in Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese.
Bishop Wilson Bunyoro-Kitara

Letter from the Revd Joram Kavuya

We received the following letter from Joram by e-mail on 24 November 2001

Dear fellow Brothers and Sisters at St Luke's

I send you warm Christian greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have also written to express my gratefulness on the way you hosted me, and appreciate all the love extended to me. I felt at home while in Crosby and I enjoyed free interaction and especially when we met for bible study in home groups. I cannot forget to thank the vicar Rev David for his guidance and contribution whenever we met. The Backbones that is John and Brenda can never be overstressed.

I am happy to see that I can contact you at this time when we are nearing the birth of our Lord Jesus our Saviour. The incarnation was expected to have a lot of significance, influence and impact on our relationship with God.

The birth of Jesus aims at crowning the redemptive efforts of God. After the fall of man God tried to redeem man again and used so many channels to do so but all could not do what He wanted exactly and therefore GOD HAD TO OFFER THE BIGGEST SACRIFICE OF GIVING UP His only Son for our redemption and salvation. He wants the first glory and fellowship with man to come back.

The second thing is that God HEARD, UNDERSTOOD and SAW man's strife for peace of mind and joy in vain. Man tried all ways of defence, comfort etc but could not go anywhere and God sent His only Son so that we may have them.

My worry is whether we have achieved anything that God wanted us to get. Are we redeemed and free? Do we enjoy the peace of mind and joy? It is hurting to see that we are still in a World dominated by uncertainty even after we have celebrated the divine birth 2000 times now. Let us not make that day a day of merry making but a day of meditation. What an embarrassment and discouragement to love someone not caring and appreciative

I wish you the best as you prepare to celebrate the divine birth. Jackline and the whole family send their greetings.

Joram

November 2001 - Uganda

Joram is back home safe with his family; praise the Lord. He sends his heartfelt thanks for the love he experienced at St Luke's from everybody and thanks the people who supported him so well.

The tea-chests have cleared customs and arrived in Hoima. We thank God and all who took part in Shoebox Uganda for the love and care shown to the orphans and children in need in Hoima. We still have two Christmas trees and daffodil bulbs to sell. Several hundred bulbs have already been planted in the Church grounds, but there is always room for more. Please buy the last of the bulbs so that John Morris can send the money out to Uganda for the orphans and children's Christmas party.

John Morris outside his house with nine tea-chests full of shoeboxes Shoeboxes

We collected over 100 shoeboxes full of goodies for the orphans in Hoima. Nine tea-chests, weighing almost half a tonne, left for Uganda on Monday 5 November 2001. Many thanks go to those who filled the shoeboxes and helped with the cost of sending the tea-chests to Uganda.

October 2001 - Uganda

Our link with Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese is as strong as ever and moving forward. As a congregation, we are contributing towards feeding all the student population at the Diocesan Training Centre in Hoima, which has doubled in size since the rebuilding of the classrooms and dormitory blocks ("St Luke's Millennium Project"). We still support some 50 or so orphans, with food, clothing and basic education and a small number of special support projects by personal connection through members of the congregation.

We are still pushing on with the fund raising for the Diocese, with Social Events, Auctions, Raffles, Smartie tubes, Scrap Jewellery, to name but a few.

The latest, very exciting project to come into being is the prospect of the Churches Together in Great Crosby making contact with the Churches Together in Hoima with a view to opening a Crossroads Centre in Hoima. It will do much the same as our Crossroads does in Crosby and provide a place of safety and peace where folk in need can go and receive some real help, irrespective of tribe, clan or religion - be it a cup of tea, some simple food, a friendly chat or to be directed to some counselling.

It was thought that the Churches in Hoima would not really work together but the prospect of an Ecumenical Crossroads Centre was greeted with open arms and great enthusiasm by the Bishops and Clergy of the different Churches in the area. They have formed an ecumenical Crossroads committee to run the Hoima end and have approached the local authorities for a suitable piece of land on which to build the Centre.

The council in Hoima immediately made available a large piece of land on an ideal location for the project. (Have you ever known a council do anything quickly? God moves in wonderful ways.) It had become overgrown in the 30 years it has been idle, covered with bush and trees over 20 to 30 feet high. When this was cleared, a partly built hotel was found underneath. It had been abandoned in the time of the Dictator Idi Amin, and the owner had fled. He is now back and prepared to sell the land and buildings at a fair price for the Crossroads project. The partly built buildings are about 65% usable, which is a great start for the project and what a prospect for all the people in need in the Hoima area, and they are many.

Please keep the project in your prayers. For information or support for any of the above subjects please call John Morris (details at the bottom of the page).

September 2001 - Uganda

At this time we welcome to St Luke's, the Revd Joram Kavuya, our friend and brother from Uganda. He is here with us for the next two months on study leave in and around our Church, the Great Crosby Group of Churches and the local Hospitals.

Joram is the Principal of the Diocesan Training Centre in Hoima. He works in the Cathedral and is also the Chaplain to the Teacher Training College in Hoima. He is married to Jackline and they have four children.

The rebuilding of the Diocesan Training Centre, from mud huts to good solid brick and steel buildings, was St Luke's Church's very successful millennium project. With the new buildings, the Centre is now training twice as many students to be readers in the Church. Readers in Uganda are not quite the same as readers in the Church of England. When they finish their two year residential full time training they are sent out to the villages. There they are both pastor and teacher, and are often the only representative of the Church. In addition to all their Church duties, they train the villagers in basic management and financial control to help them get out of the poverty trap and to be able to provide for their families and manage their own affairs.

The Centre is now used, over and above its normal training courses, for other training, courses and seminars almost every day and evening. There is the possibility of it becoming a Bible College with full training for ordination.

As the students and potential pastors are sent all over the Diocese of Bunyoro Kitara in Uganda your donations have been a wonderful help to the Diocesan Training Centre in particular and all the people in the Diocese in general.

Joram has a dream to expand the existing tiny library at the Centre to a size and standard that will be able to accommodate the proposed expansion of its uses.

If you have any books which might be suitable for the Centre's library and which you would like to donate to the new library, please contact John Morris (details at the bottom of the page).

Contact: John Morris
e-mail: john.morris@stlukecrosby.org.uk

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this page was last modified on 6 June 2004