December 23,2024
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
It is hard to believe that Christmas is just 3 days
away. It comes so quietly here. No Santa Claus or Christmas trees, no
wrapping presents or mad last-minute shopping.
The weather is bright and sunny with an occasional thunderstorm, but
they pass quickly and the sun is shining again like nothing happened. Not your
typical winter wonderland.
It has been a strange year with many twists and turns and
challenges. My mother passed away last
December so the first part of the year I was dealing with all the paperwork of
getting her estate settled and trying to get my work visa so I could return to
work in Uganda. As always God’s timing
is perfect and I received my Entry Permit just after the Estate closed and the
last of my Unemployment check was received.
So I am now back in Uganda working with Victory Faith Foundation
Ministries. I have been gone for 18 months and everything is different but
nothing has changed.
I came back just in time to attend Pastor Tiondi’s adopted
daughter’s introduction and wedding. I have attended 2 more weddings since I
have been back and too many burials.
Such is life in Africa. One of
the burials was a childhood friend of Pastor Tiondi’s, Thomas Inyo. He had moved to the states years ago but he
always kept in touch and about 10 years ago he was able to establish a
Christian orphanage and school in one of the refugee camps in the west Nile
area. I had the privilege of working with him a couple of times, and we still
do work in the refugee camp. He will be
missed but his work is continuing. God
is good.
We closed the school November 30th
with a very successful Speech Day. It was a long day that started with the
Marching Band announcing our graduates and then ended with a 5pm Lunch. The
children had great skits to show what they learned this year and the graduates
from nursery to primary were honored with diplomas and a special cake. School
will star again January 20th, 2025.
We are hoping to increase our enrollment and even take in more boarders.
Our Annual Conference was held in Moyo this year, which is
in the north west corner Uganda about 5 miles from the South Sudan
boarder. We left early to get things set
up but due to car trouble we barely made it there in time. We had to have our
transmission taken apart twice. The car
never did make it. We spent 2 nights in
run down guest houses that didn’t have electricity but we were able to bath,
but our clothes were in the car and we were unable to get to them so we were in
the same clothes for 3 days, TIA . We had to hitch hike into Gulu in a lorry,
then hire a private car to take us to Adjumani where we met Pastor Tiondi’s
brother and got another car to take us to the rest of the way to Moyo.
The conference was good but not as well attended as people
had promised. It is a very depressed
area and many people were not able to financially afford it. We were able to go
out to some of the areas and meet with them but that was only a very quick
meeting but it was enough to let them know that we are praying for them and we
encouraged them in their struggles.
We haven’t been able
to do as many conferences this year due to travel issues and safety. I stayed close to home and worked more in the
school and teaching bible classes. We have
gone through the book of Esther and we are now going though Genesis. I am also preparing to teach a class at the
school to the Upper Primary on Knowing God and His Attributes. This is challenging due to the age of the
children and the language barrier. The
children do well in English and this class will help them even more.
We are going to be adding the final primary class this next
year. We have a great group of teachers
and all of them have said they would be back and Lord willing they will
be. We finished the new primary rooms
that we had started before I left and now we are trying to finish the 4 new
classrooms before we start classes next year.
Finances are always tight. We are
in a very poor area so we are trying to balance Low school fees that are
affordable with meeting our needs to pay the bills.
Many children are not
able to attend school because of school fees.
One little boy, Nathan, top of his class and doing very well in the
Bible study and he always could say his memory verses; missed out on final
exams because his mother couldn’t pay school fees. I am hoping he will return
next year. There are many children like Nathan that need help in paying school
fees. If you would like to help out and
sponsor a child let me know. The fees
are $35 per term for day students and $135 for boarders. Most of our boarders come from the refugee
camps that we work with.
So many children are not able to go to school. That is why we are working so hard to build
the school and allow the children an opportunity to learn and grow both
academically and spiritually. It is a
great outreach ministry for we get to minister to the children and the parents
as well as the neighbors of the children.
The people of Uganda are very hospitable and I have been invited into
many a home to get out of the weather.
Of course, they always want to know what the muzungu is doing here and
so I get to freely talk about the gospel and the ministry we have here. It also helps me to make a friend and be able
to say hello and talk to them more later and encourage them in their spiritual
walk.
Well we now have all the children home from school and so
there are 18 of us in the house.
Christmas will consist of morning prayer at the church from7am until 11
am. Then we will go home and have a good
lunch/dinner together. The women usually
get their hair done and the children get some new clothes. Very simple and quiet with good fellowship
for there are always visitors.
New Years is usually an overnight prayer meeting and
everyone sleeping late the next day.
Again there will be a good meal with plenty a friends. I don’t know what the New Year holds but I
know I can trust God for all things and I’ll wait and see what he has
planned. We would like to do some more
outreach crusades and conferences, but finances are always an issue. Any time you could help it would be much
appreciated. Or if you would just like
to come over and work with us, the door is always open.
Take care and God bless.
Thank you for all your love prayers and support.
Tammie Walker
Victory Faith Foundation Ministries, Lugazi Uganda
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