Marare Sharing Evening

Join us next Thursday, Nov 29 for an inspiring evening of stories and photos from this year's Marare team.

Day 11 - Nov 8 - Tearful Good byes

Having walked with the Marare11 team over the past ten days, I've had the privilege of seeing God at work in many ways. This was summed up for me today as we took part in what we affectionately call 'Closing Ceremonies.' We were given a show of how food is prepared and the products they have for sale (necklaces, banana leaf art, knitting and baskets). They then dressed us in their traditional gomas and suits before the program began.

It was at this point that I could really see how far we have come in weaving together the hearts of Northgate and Marare. The grade five choir began to sing, "I am so sad to see you go. I will cry, cry, cry." Then I noticed they weren't just singing it. They were actually crying. Tears began to stream down Sofina's face as she led the choir in this lament over and over. Then they personalized it. "Dear Matthew, I am so sad to see you. I will cry, cry, cry." Everyone was affected. I didn't realize how much of an impact such a short time could have for all of us.

The team was treated to a late lunch including the kasava, yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, g-nuts, field rice and much more prepared earlier in the day. We returned for the remainder of the program including speeches and more songs including the line "Will you remember me?" sung by different children.

We certainly will remember each moment and each life transformed during these days of loving, laughing and living. Sharing so much means we went far beyond traditional missions. We will never be the same again.

On behalf of the Marare11, Gary

Day 10 - Nov 7 - C2C Villages beyond Marare

Today we visited two FH sponsored communities. The first community was Nashisa (it neighbors Marare), and iscurrently a community not partnered with a church, but potentially will be once Capilano Church (Vancouver) next year celebrates with Bufukhula in their graduation from the C2C program. We were greeted by the children with singing and dancing.

The community has one water well by the school which has three new buildings. The church is under construction at this time. The community seems to be well under way, and did receive some government funding for their initial school block.

We visited Edith Littman's sponsored child from Northgate. The family welcomed the team with open arms, and gifted the team with 3 eggs. We had a time of sharing and took some pictures with the family. They we grateful for our visit and continued support of their daughter. Next we were off to Bufukhula where we were greeted with more singing and dancing. This community is farther advanced than Marare, and is looking at graduation from the C2C program next year! It has a church, health center, beautiful school and play ground, as well as iving quarters for up to 12 teachers. They are looking at adding a secondary school for the area because of the distance from the nearest centre. The biggest difference from Marare is that they are a rural community. As mentioned earlier, this community is partnered with Capilano Church in Vancouver.

Next we went back to the FH office for lunch and then finally went to Marare around 3:30 where the parents greeted us with singing.

Some of the team went to visit Rita's sponsored child and we also had one more VSLA meeting, which went very well. Matt spent time playing tug-o-war and taking pictures with the children, about 350.

They love being photographed. We enjoyed tea in Molex's (CDP coordinator in Marare) office which we had yet to see. Another typical evening, the power was out while we had our dinner at the FH office. The FH staff serenaded us while we ate our meal.

The team was serenaded all day long by every community. Tomorrow will be our final day in Marare. It will be a emotional and joyful time. Blessings from Marare!

Day 9 - Nov 6 - Progress

Today the team started the morning at the FH office for devotions. We are going to miss this part of our day, especially the singing. We then spent the morning shopping in town and then had lunch at the FH office. We then went back to Marare where we split off in groups. There was more Awana where it was time for the girls to play soccer. Jenni worked with the children on the banana leaf cards and completed about 50 cards. We hope to do more tomorrow!

There was another group sewing with Rita and another group making paper jewelry. Bill, Chris, and Diniz worked with 2 more Villiage Savings and Loans groups. They were so eager to learn and share.

We are meeting with more groups tomorrow and then we will put together a summary and come up with a game plan. We moved a few more bricks from the kiln to the construction site. The construction workers are flying and the main foundation walls are nearly completed. They hope to get the ground level completed by tomorrow so they can add rocks and pour concrete for the floors.

Tomorrow we are visiting 3 villages in various stages of partnership with FH: Bufukhula, Nashisa, and Makhai. Thank you for your prayers. The whole team is feeling great. Blessings from Marare.

Day 8 - Nov 5 - And the WALLS went UP!

It is sad to think this is our last week in Marare but we can be rest assured that our time here had filled us with enough joy to last a lifetime. It was nice to begin our day with devotions in Marare with FH staff and community members. Today was also monumental because our team began construction on the new leg of the school. Last week the construction workers poured the foundation of the school and today they were ready to begin the brick walls. Our main contribution consisted of moving bricks from the kilns to the construction site for use by the construction workers. The 6 of us guys were concerned this would take forever but to our surprise we had a few extra hands that wanted to help us out! Also in the morning Deon and Jenni had special moments visiting their sponsor kids.

In the afternoon Rita taught upwards of 25 eager women to sew. She was thankful that Moses was there to help with crowd control! Molex took Coreen, Diniz and John on a tour of 3 of Marare's 4 wells. John was surprised how long the walk between the wells was, which is great because this goes to show how well these wells serve the entire community. The new well built this year with Northgate's funds is a real blessing because it is in the school yard and provides a good central location. The Awana leaders (Chris, Jordan, Deon and Matt) had a blast today- we finally set up some soccer games! These kids are phenomenal players and certainly schooled us leaders. Deon will brag that his green team beat Chris' blue team, but just ask him whose team won ALL the other awana games.

We were saddened to learn at the end of the day that Paul #2 (FH Staff, and originally Moses' second hire upon starting office in the Mbale area) will leave for another community Kitgum in Northern Uganda. He has been a great source of joy for all of us and we are sad to see him go. We feel blessed for our time here and hope we can continue to give back to this community in our short remaining time.

Day 7 - Sun Nov 4 - St. James Marare church

The team joined Marare this morning at their church, St. James church. Pastor John's message and Deon's testimony were moving.

Three people came to Christ. The time at Moses' home was also great for the team.

Diniz said he was not well in his stomach. Moses told him to eat and that he would then feel better. Sure enough he felt better and stronger for the rest of the day.

Chris was moved by Faith's prayer (Moses' grade 5 daughter). The service was 3.5 hours long so everyone was tired by the time they got back from Moses. John is well and Bill is on the mend. He got out of bed this morning and I spent the day talking with him. He'll join us for supper. Jenni is now queezy and will not take food. She used Imodium and could be out in the day but still needs to mend. Please continue to pray.

WORDS FROM PASTOR JOHN: Today we expierienced a Marare church service. The team participated in several ways. We sang two songs, Deon shared his testimony and Pastor John preached on the "Good News" using the five fingers on his right hand. God moved in a powerful way. As Moses gave the invitation, three adults invited Christ into their lives. One of the three that came forward was Godfrey, one of the grooms just married yesterday. After a rather lengthy but fruitful service the team enjoyed the hospitality of FH leader Moses and his wife's place. What a beautiful family inside and out. Grace thanked Northgate for the hospitality we extended to Moses during his visit to Edmonton last year. Please pray for health and rest for the team as we are expieriencing some fatigue and illness. Blessings from Pastor John and team

Day 6 - Nov 3 - A wedding like none other.

Pictures to Follow soon.... Day 6 Celebration Day Day of celebration in Marare as two couples got married. We went to the market to pick out gifts and do a little shopping. It was good to see the team feeling better and join the celebration, although Bill was still under the weather. We stopped by the FH office where they prepared french toast for us. The FH staff have been incredible hosts with wonderful meals and making us feel at home. The church was all nicely decorated and the two couples looked beautiful. The ceremony was a big celebration like nothing we have ever witnessed. Pastor John spoke at the service and gave encouraging words in regards to marriage to the couples. The ceremony then went outdoors where the weather cooperated. Praise God. There were two tents outside for each couples family and one for guests and the main ceremonial tent. The ceremony had traditional portions similar to North America, walk down the isle, followed by intense celebratory yelling, vows, exchanging of rings and signing of the register all followed with celebratory yelling singing and dancing. It was really interesting. Once outside both couples were presented to their family and friends. The brides then left to get changed into a new dress. They then cut the cakes and presented the cut pieces of cake to all attending. The couples then offered cake to one another, this was followed with presentations of wedding gifts. They were so happy to receive our gifts. After this there were many songs and dances performed. All this happened before the rains came. It was a beautiful day. God kept back the rains like he did with our garage sale. Blessings from Marare Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Marare 2012 Team

Day 5 - Nov 2 - And the RAINS came down!

Today was a very rainy day in Marare. We were able to do 2 more sponsor home visits with Gary and Chris. We spent time sharing more Northgate sponsor videos and the children and parents thoroughly enjoyed them. Jenni got to spend more time with her sponsor child while watching videos and Jenni showed her some pictures of her family. Diniz's sponsor child immediately greeted him as he got off the bus and wouldn't leave his side. They spent the morning watching sponsor videos and getting to know each other. Manjeri liked the pictures of Diniz's family, especially the snow.

We went to the funeral of Bill's sponsored child's aunt. She was only 40 years old and died of kidney cancer and leaves behind 7 children. Please pray for the family. One of the children is sponsored by someone at northgate we do not know who at this time We had a fun time at the FH office learning a song (Rita posted the words on Facebook and Jenni posted the video). It was lots of fun and we hope to be able to sing it for Northgate. Several team members became sick. John and Bill both had stomach issues (Bill is now feeling betterand John is still resting). Deon and Jordan both had bad headaches and feeling tired but are both better. Keep us all in your prayers regarding our health issues. The foundation for the new building is dug and filled with rocks. The concrete will be poured early next week. Tomorrow the team gets to go to a double wedding. We are all very excited and honored to attend. Blessings from Marare and Team

Day 4 - Nov 1 - Reshuffling of Roles

Day 4 Pastor John tried teaching some of the kids to play guitar before filling in as an Awana leader as Jordan and Deon were on home visits. He really had a great time filling in and joining in on the competitive games. We are also preparing 2 songs for Sunday's services.

Bill spent time with the children in Awana and felt 30 years younger and had a great time. He is excited to get started with the Village Savings and Loans training. We are gathering details for training starting Monday. We have met with some of the groups, but there are many more to meet as there are 20 in total.

Gary remains to be a strong leader ensuring that the team is doing ok and ensuring the team is comfortable in their roles. The staff has told Gary that they are very pleased with the way the team is interacting with all the children and the parents. We have become very close to the people of Marare and we are learning lots from them. The wheelbarrow tire worked well with the new wheelbarrow. We moved the smaller tire from the new wheelbarrow to an older one. They have never seen a solid foam tire and we know that it will make a big difference in moving heavy loads. They were very grateful. Jenni met her sponsored child Amina and got to hug and talk to her. Moses surprised Jenni with her sponsored child as she was not expecting To meet her until the home visit.

Rita continued with crocheting and will be starting sewing soon. The banana leaf greeting cards starts tomorrow as well. We did a few more sponsored child home visits today and were touched by the experiences. Jordan, Matt, and Diniz got to meet their sponsored children and were very blessed by the visits.