This Christmas was one containing many “firsts” for us.

The first time we have been out of Britain for Christmas day, the first Christmas we have been away from immediate family, the first time we have eaten Christmas dinner in the warm sunshine, the first time we have had no turkey or Christmas pudding, the first Christmas we have experienced no pressure of commercialism, the first time we have shared Christmas with Jenny Green and her family, the first Christmas we have really been able to see the simplicity and poverty surrounding Jesus at his birth.

There was no glitter or glamour then either, the stable was mucky just as the cow sheds are here, the cows probably lean and underfed, ribs showing through, just as they are here, no water on tap, no sterile cleanliness, no midwife or doctor, the straw on the floor trod in with dung and dirt; not a neat pretty manger scene but a working
animal habitat, smelly, dark and uncomfortable. Not the sort of place one would expect to see the King of Kings!

Yet isn’t that just like God. He goes where we wouldn’t expect. To the down and outs, the unloved, the unwanted, the misunderstood, the lonely, those on social benefits, the chap who’s “not quite all there”, the prostitutes, druggies and anti social misfits. Not for Him the comfort of a nice house, relaxing friends, good social standing and money in the bank. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things and there’s many people who need to hear about Gods love in that environment, but as we come to the start of a new year maybe we should start asking God what “firsts” He might have for us in 2011.

Perhaps it will be the first time you start to take a serious look at God’s love for you and do something about it. Maybe it will be the first time you ask Him to show you His plan for your life, maybe you need to have a fresh look at your work and make sure God is “first” in your heart. Or will it be the first time you open up to the work of the Holy Spirit and ask for His power to move you forward onto new aspects of work for God.

Coming to a new country with such a different culture and perspective on life has shown us many new things, especially many new aspects of God and His love. We can honestly say we are gaining so much more than we are giving. We hope for many more “firsts” in our lives over the coming New Year, knowing we are protected and loved by Him who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.

Prayer requests

For Irene to make contact with the new Head of Education and be able to have a good discussion over the difficulties surrounding the Vocational Training Centre

For Malcolm to have the opportunity to work closer with the new Treasurer of the Diocese

For travel back to England for our son’s wedding in January
We wish you all a very happy New Year, and pray that God will be first for you

Is Christmas Coming? Is the turkey getting fat?

The birds are singing, the trees are lush leaved and cranes are building nests high in their branches. Strolling in the sunshine, in short sleeved summer clothes, through clouds of grass hoppers and with bright green fields around us, we can’t say it feels like December.

Yet the weather isn’t the only thing that has made us forget about the season. There is absolutely no commercialization of Christmas here at all. Presents are not exchanged, most people couldn’t afford them, but also wouldn’t understand the reason why it’s done elsewhere. The shops are unchanged, there are no decorations in the streets and certainly no toys or luxury gifts advertised anywhere. No one is feeling pressurised to make sure they have remembered to get “Aunty Jane’s” handkerchiefs, or buy the right size turkey, or get in enough beers, crackers and mince pies. Nor are they worried about the in laws or “odd Uncle Jack” turning up. All the hassle and worry of “getting Christmas right,” and not offending anyone is total absent.

Of course we will miss the fun of decorations, the sight of snow on Christmas eve, the over-indulgence of turkey and Christmas pudding, presents, and most of all, being with our family; but there is something so marvellously simple and “real” about having the opportunity to remember what God did for us without all the modern day European trappings which, to many, have replaced the real meaning of Christ’s birth.

Christmas is a wonderful time, and we would love to be able to share it with you all in the traditional way, but how easy it is to forget our priorities at this time. What are you most focused on at the moment? Is it the Christmas cake, the children’s presents, how you are going to sit 18 round your dining room table? Even maybe the cute nativity plays with a little blonde baby in a neat tidy stable?

Or are we remembering the greatest gift we could ever receive. An awesome God, giving His only Son to us in love. We who so often turn our backs on Him, who continue to go our own ways, who are so tied up in our material world that Jesus is sometimes the last person we think of at Christmas. Let’s put time aside this year to think about what we are doing and make sure that Jesus is in the centre of all our thoughts and preparation.

It will be easier for us to do that here with none of the external trappings we have been used to around us; we will be able to concentrate on the wonder of such a gift to us. We hope you will be enabled to do this too.

Prayer requests

Give thanks for the joyful arrival of our daughter’s second son, Mark, born 10 days early on Nov. 27th, his granddads birthday!

Also we want to give thanks for continued good health and safety (despite Malcolm’s nearly close encounter with a motorbike)

Please continue to pray that our work visas come through soon as we have both had to renew visitors visas which means travelling to the Rwanda border and paying to return !


You know you live in Africa when…

… having a full English Breakfast is a special treat

… you talk about ‘Cricket’ and ‘the ashes’; its about something to eat that has got burnt in the fire

... its December , and still no signs of Christmas in the shops

News from the Crawfords, Kisoro, Uganda - Novemer 2010

We have spent the last month slowly getting more into our work here and beginning to understand a little of how the Diocese works and our function within it. Irene has been trying to help the students at the Vocational Training Centre to look forward to the end of their training and begin to make plans to find work, set up businesses or go on to further education. She has been seeing students individually almost like a careers officer and has started a short Business Studies course for those wishing to start up on their own after completing the tailoring, carpentry or bricklaying courses they are taking at the Centre. The biggest difficulty facing most of the students is lack of finance for tuition fees, most try desperately to find work during term holidays but companies don’t want to employ them until they are qualified, especially as the Centre makes a practice of assisting those who have struggled academically and therefore have little in the way of formal education to offer. Irene is trying to find sources of funding to be able to buy tools and a sewing machine for the students to use during their holidays so they can make and sell things to earn enough to continue their education.

Malcolm has been looking at the Dioceses income from Parish, and as in English parishes there is tension between the needs of the Diocese for funding and the ability of Parishes to pay their ‘quota’. He has also started helping for one day a week the manager of the Potter’s Village babies home and orphanage to maintain their financial records

Taken for Granted

We walk around the town stunned by the beauty of the volcanic mountains, the variety of attractive birds, lizards and flowers, but the locals seldom give them a second glance. Conversely in Britain, we take for granted having a cooker, fridge and kitchen sink with hot water, whereas local people here rarely even have a kitchen. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” was the title of a popular song some years ago, and how true it is. Last weekend we received a fridge and gas cooker, and a water heater arrived today. They were a cause for great excitement and thanks to God, but in England we would just expect to have them as our due.

One of the tasks Irene has been carrying out has been to teach Amos, the acting head of the Vocational Training Centre, how to use a computer. He had one on his desk but had no idea how to even turn it on. Irene’s skills aren’t extensive but she has a fair understanding of Word packages so they looked at writing letters, forms, tables etc. Amos was so thrilled by the way you could correct faults, manoeuvre paragraphs, change letters to capitals and use different type faces, he just kept praising God for such a marvellous instrument and typed with childlike wonder and awe. We had forgotten what an incredible labour saving device a computer is, and how fortunate we are to own one.

How easy it is to do that with God too. When things are going well and life is comfortable it’s so easy to forget who enables us to enjoy all things. Sometimes it’s only when we suddenly face trouble and fear that our life style will change for the worse, that we remember God and all He has given us. Don’t take Him for granted He gives so much to us all we should be full of praise and wonder every day.

Prayer Items

Please thank God:
- for an international team who arrived under a scheme called “Rooted in Jesus“ and who taught church leaders how to go deeper into discipleship training
- that despite mild attacks of ‘flu’, probably caught from babies at Potters Village, we are now both well

Please pray for:
- Jenny Green at Potters Village as she has been increasingly tired looking after sick children both at the orphanage and her own home with disturbed sleep and little rest time
- that our work permits will arrive in time to avoid us having to travel to the Uganda/Rwanda boarder to renew our visitors visas

- for guidance about where we should focus our time and that we should find our ‘slots’ (i.e. God’s will for us) here

You know you live in Africa when….

.. you realise none of the wiring in your house is earthed which explains why you are getting electric shocks from the case of your laptop

…you take as ‘normal’ when a dozen or so flying ants, with wingspan of about 2 inches, fly around your lounge in the evenings.

…you don’t have to bother turning the clock back – dawn is about 7a.m.and dusk 7 p.m. all year round

News from the Crawfords, Kisoro, Uganda - October 2010

It has just been 4 weeks since we arrived in Kisoro, but many things have changed already. The town is strategically placed on the borders of both the Congo and Rwanda and currently the main road from Kampala to these trading partners is being upgraded from earth to tarmac. Already this seems to have brought more economic activity to the town as its central shopping centre, a network of over 100 small shops, has largely been demolished and is now being rebuilt.

Economic growth and expansion brings great opportunities for the church to extend the gospel as new people move in, but also brings new challenges. About 16 years ago, when the Diocese was first established, the Bishop had a vision of the cathedral being the source of gushing rivers of water moving out to the people and countries around. The area was central to the Rwanda revival in 1935 and has experience of knowing God at work in powerful ways. In recent years the Diocese has gone through a period of ‘confusion’ when Christians were split over the election of a new bishop, but now sense God moving to reconcile these differences and to heal emotional and spiritual wounds. The church longs to see God at work in the town and area, to see people come to know Christ and to see God’s kingdom expand here.

Please thank God for the healing He is bringing to the Diocese, and pray that:
- Christians here will continue to grow together, to forgive past grievances and to serve God
- that the church will be a source of hope and Good News of salvation to the area
- that God will protect the church and the town from the corruption and social problems that economic growth can bring.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland “ Isaiah 43:19

Peter’s Story


Peter was one month old, weighing about 2 .5 kg, when his grandparents brought him to the Potter’s Village orphanage for help. His mother had died from septicaemia when he was born by a caesarean operation, a problem unlikely to kill in the west . His family had tried to care for him but did not know how to bottle feed a baby, and did not have money to buy the ingredients. By the time he was brought to the Village he had lost about a third of his birth weight and was at an advance state of starvation, almost comatose, without the strength to cry or focus. Peter had also suffered because milk blisters in his mouth had been dug out with a bicycle wheel spoke to be given to the witch doctor. (In local, pagan tradition white flesh in an African is considered witch doctor material; albino babies are sometimes killed for their skin).

For the next 2 weeks Peter needed to be fed every 2 hours. Small amounts at first as he was too weak he digest milk properly but soon his strength returned. He ate more and more, recovered his birth weight and begun to behave like a normal 6 week old baby.

The Potter’s Village was built by the long term CMS Mission partner, Rev. Jenny Green, because of the large number of babies, orphaned or abandoned by their parents, who would otherwise die. At any one time there may be between 20 to 40 young children in care, some returning to their families and other’s found foster homes in the community by the time they are 2 years old.

Please thank God for the work of Potter’s Village and pray for Peter that he will not suffer any long term problems from his early experiences.

Our initial experiences in Uganda - September 2010

We are writing this on our second night in Kisoro. Outside we can hear the thunder and lightning of our first tropical thunderstorm. The annual rains only started the day we arrived here so maybe we brought them with us from England!!! If so the villagers are delighted as they have been desperate for rain so they can begin sowing crops for next years harvest. We are also writing this by the light of a candle as we experience the third power cut in 24 hours to – a regular feature we will have to get used to.

We are very happy that following a lot of hard work by the Diocese staff the house has been ready to move in to. The accommodation is basic and adequate – and there is plumbing ‘In’ and plumbing ’out’ to the shower room. Further work will be needed to convert a room to a kitchen and to provide hot water. At present we have the loan of a Baby Belling type hob and furniture.

Unfortunately, because our flight was late, we missed our connection in Nairobi, and arrived in Rwanda, the nearest airport to Kisoro, over 5 hours late. This was long enough for the staff here to get extremely concerned that something terrible may have happened to us en route, for the Bishop to be interrupted part way though conducting 2 weddings and a funeral, and for urgent phone calls to be made to England. We felt guilty that we hadn’t found a way during our journey of letting our hosts know that we would be late.

We have arrived at a busy time for the Diocese as 2nd September is the start of a 4 day ‘Convention’. These large Missions are held every 10 years or so, and attract several thousand visitors (10,000?) from across Uganda and other countries, including the Archbishop and many Bishops. We imagine this will be like a ‘Spring Harvest’ or ‘New Wine’ but with most of the meetings in the open air. Although there is rejoicing that the rains have come, there is also prayer that they won’t be too heavy during the convention.

The local CMS Mission partner is Jenny Green who has lived here for about 15 years, and is responsible for the Diocese’s Children’s work. Her main project is the Potters Village Children’s Home which looks after abandoned or orphaned children, and young single mothers. She has two adopted children, Hannah and Joseph and is currently looking after a baby, Joanne, until she is strong enough to be cared for at the Potters Village.

Prayer:
We thank God for:
- The hospitality and generosity of churches, family and friends in England during our last weeks in saying farewell to us and providing somewhere to sleep
- our safe arrival, and that all our luggage arrived with us
- for the way we have been made to feel welcome here by the Bishop, Jenny’s family and Diocese staff
- that the rains have arrived

We pray for the coming month, that:
- we are able to make our basic house into a home
- we find our way about the Town, and begin to adjust to the new culture
- we can a learn few words of the local language
- we can find out the work that God wants us to do here so we can help the mission of the local church, and so that we grow spiritually