Water water...in all the right places, a humbling encounter & an unwanted houseguest

Yesterday we woke to the wonderful realisation that after the best part of a week - we had water in the taps (well most of them) the cisterns and the shower tanks! What a delight - we were able to have showers, particularly welcome by Deb with such a mane of hair! Absence really does make the heart grow fonder when it comes to something that we take for granted so much. What a gift to delight in something we have all but ignored and rediscover how precious it is.

Another water related joy when we reached the BUU offices - we have running water and flushable toilets there! In the four months (today) that we have been in Uganda we have not had running water in the Baptist Union offices - so very different to Didcot! The notices that made us smile when we first arrived 'Do not flush liquids', have now been removed and (so long as there is water in the pipes - which as we all now know can be a problem)  we can flush away AND wash our hands without having to ensure water has been fetched & get someone else to pour whilst we rinse! We really are very grateful.

A positive day - we were able to spend time with two more pastors, helping us to build up a better picture of how the Children's Department can best serve the BUU to affect our planning for next year. Quite apart from our forward planning, what a privilege to meet such men of God who have such trust and are so servant hearted. One elderly pastor had made the four hour journey to Kampala because he needed hospital treatment. We shared tea together and listened as he told us about his community, his church fellowship, whom he so obviously loves and serves with such a willing heart. As with most pastors, the church cannot afford to pay him, so he has a plot which he 'digs' to provide for himself. The land on which the church is built was his which he had lent to the church. However, as he become older & weaker he realsed that when he dies the land would be split between his relatives. So, to secure the church he sold the land to the church members. Several orphans live on the site in a home built by the pastor with church 'mothers' taking it in turns to cook the casava grown by the children in their small garden with the assistance of the Sunday school teachers. The pastor told us that great emphasis is put on encouraging the children to learn scripture by heart as there are only four or five Bibles available to the whole church of about 80 people. As with our water, how much more value is placed on something we so easily take for granted.

We returned home tired but happy feeling it had been a day of many blessings, had some supper and then when Dug returned to the kitchen we discoverd a new houseguest - a rat! Not perhaps the first animal one looks forward to spotting when moving to Africa! A trip to buy a trap is the first thing on the agenda this morning!