R.I.P

We are very sad that our boer buck has passed away!!!

Miriam update

*lach* Der Titel bringt die grosse Frage: „Wo ist mein Zuhause?“
Nun, momentan bin ich Zuhause, denn ich bin bei meinen Eltern und dort lebe und schlafe ich zur Zeit und den grössten Zeil der nächsten 5 Wochen, die ich noch in Deutschland bin.
DOCH:

„Zuhause ist, wo Dein Herz ist“

…so heisst es. Und so gesehen ist mein Zuhause In Uganda, genauer gesagt in Karamoja, denn ich liebe das Leben und die Arbeit dort und meine kleine Lehmhütte.

weiter auf:

Miriam

Christmas time

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.  ~Charles Dickens

In this time we all wish you a stress less, joyful, happy, thankful and remember-able Christmas time!!

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!  ~Hamilton Wright Mabie
 

This week.......

We are all in retreat this week with KACHEP. We're at a beautiful Christian retreat center along the Nile called Mto Moyoni. Just now I'm enjoying the unfolding of the morning complete with the praise of various birds and paddling of dugout boats of a few fishermen. Pray that all of us would feel God's touch thru refreshment and renewal of our Spirit, enabling us to passionately continue serving Him in Karamoja

KACHEP Prayer letter october 2011

Karamoja Christian Ethnoveterinary Program
(Uganda)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Mukisa Ayub is my name and I am the program Manager of KACHEP. Thanks a lot for all your prayers. I would like to share with you about God’s work in Karamoja and for KACHEP. God is doing many wonderful things in Karamoja. KACHEP has been busy in the community. Over the last couple of months we have been able to do several spraying events to control ticks on animals. After spraying the animals, Dr. Tom Reed is able to share a story with the shepherds. This has been very positively received by the community members.

In addition to this we have been de-worming, castrating, and treating against other various diseases. With every animal we treat, we are supporting the people and sharing the love of Jesus with them.










Now let me introduce you to one of our KACHEP members. We have a watchman whose name is Lomokol James, aged 43, married to Magret Leese, age 28. They have six (6) children. The watchman
takes care of the office, making sure that no one steals program assets. He takes his job very seriously and God has blessed him with genuine heart. He is tall and is an indigenous Karamoja from Pian born near our office premises in Nabilatuk. Lomokol and Margret’s fourth child, Kokoi, got very ill. For 3 months she suffered with this sickness, and was repeatedly taken to the local clinic. They thought that it was malaria. Lomokol James was spending all his salary paying medical bills with the hope that she would get better, but nothing happened. One day Lomokol resigned from his job to go home and help his family. Kokoi’s sickness had progressed to such an extent that her neck was bending at a certain angle making it impossible for her to stand or walk. The parents had lost hope, they had spent all of their money and they had no means for helping their child.
One day Margret Leese approached the office and presented the problem to the KACHEP team
concerning the worsening condition of Kokoi. The wife explained the conditions of the family, they were not sleeping at all because the Kokoi was crying all night, the husband had disappeared to go tree cutting to burn and make charcoal for selling to earn some income for survival and he had been away from home for 2 months.
The KACHEP team prayed for this family, and felt God’s leading to get involved. We informed Margret to look for her husband so that we could give them some medical help. Margret found Lomokol James and they came to office with the girl. Indeed she could not walk, and her neck was bent. Dr. Jean contacted some of her friends at Cure children’s hospital in Mbale some 130 Kilometers from our office. We facilitated transportation for the family to go to the hospital. There they diagnosed the child and sent them back to KACHEP with a medical report that said she needed an operation that couldn’t be done in Uganda.
When the family came back to the office after week in the hospital they looked traumatized because they had expected hope but did not find it. They stayed in their home for 2 weeks and we continued to pray over the family, for God’s wisdom and healing.

After the 2 weeks Lomokol James reported that Kokoi’s situation was progressively declining. KACHEP decided to transport Kokoi for the second time to another missionary Hospital called Matany in Moroto District. There the doctor diagnosed Kokoi with Tuberculosis (TB) in the spine. Kokoi was admitted for 2 months in this Missionary Hospital and given proper treatment. Every 3 weeks I would go to visit them, to check on their situation, and give them some financial support. After the two months Kokoi was discharged from hospital, she had healed and was walking normally! When they arrived home in Nabilatuk they reported to our office and everybody was happy and excited, we see God’s hand at work. God had restored their broken hope.
We want to thank all our supporters and prayer partners who have made it possible for us to share God’s hope with the people of Karamoja, especially to Lomokol, Margret and Kokoi. Please continue to pray for us and communities we serve.
God be with you all,
Mukisa Ayub
KACHEP
Contributions are solicited with the understanding that the donee organization has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.
KACHEP
PO Box 22
Moroto, Uganda

Thanksgiving

So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

Moru Anna

Here's Moru Anna with her collection of eggs from KACHEP community poultry project

Akol's 2 kids

Here's Akol's 2 kids
Newborn Ese, whom the team helped get to the delivery ward an hour away in Nabilatuk 2 months ago. And sleeping behind is brother Logir

It's early morning in Okotoot

from Jean on 22.11:

We arrived yesterday and found the village all ready and expectant for their Tuesday story night. Joshua led singing because Valentina was back home in her village with a sick child- the same one that had been in the cattle raid a few months ago. Tom and Joshua tag teamed the David and Goliath story and the shepherd boys loved it. I felt at home sitting under a glorious starry night around a small campfire hearing the mingling of my mother tongue with ngakarimojong filling me with peace and expectation of our real home, were every tongue and tribe will sing His glory.

The moon is tiny these days, roosters are busy greeting the still dark sky- while next to me and my cow skin bed mat; my roommate Akol is churning our morning yoghurt in a large gourd suspended from the hut rafters by leather straps. A new day in the life. 

We'll be busy this morning running cattle thru the chute, spraying against ticks. I'll spend time with Moru Anna and do some building of a new hen house.

Land

We have officially been handed over Lotim hill - known at Moru Loseperae. 70 community members , goverment officials, village chiefs and the local doctor all signed - most commonly a thumb as few read and write. One winkle in the plan - we have 20 new neighbors on western ridge overlooking the trading centre of Lotim. The Uganda army was called in after a couple of security incidents. The UPDF has occupied the western ridge before, with its commanding view of wide valleys north and south.....

Well done!!!!

Miriam is doing very well in her studies, we pray that she will finish the books with the very good marks she got till now.

Miriam update

Tuesday: no studies but preparing another presentation:
"the joy of faith" and "the calling of God". Two courses have their ending and I'm invited to testify about joy and calling in mission.... let's see. Again a totally new presentation. I might bring it as a movie to my blog....

Lotim

Pray for us as we meet with government officials today in Lotim.We've been offered land here in Northern Karamoja. Getting Land can be a long and sticky process in East Africa!

Calendar 2012.....

Thank you very much Jean for working on our calendars 2012.

Anyone who would wish to order please send an email to:
harmening_2000@yahoo.com with the Subject KKAB Calendar

bank account cleared out final part 4

Just a small update on the Bank issue.... _WE GOT THE MONEY BACK!!!!!!


Notice in the Ugandan Newspaper:

Customers of Stanbic Bank Uganda are the latest victims of one in many dirty tricks used by cybercriminals to falsely obtain money from bank customers’ accounts. Sources within the banking industry told Saturday Monitor that the fraudsters placed one camera at Stanbic’s IPS branch ATM and a second at its down town Kampala location. The cameras and skimmers have since been removed after the bank discovered them.

Mr Daniel Nsibambi, Stanbic Bank’s spokesperson said they are not in position to comment on the ATM incidents. “For security reasons, we are unwilling to discuss specifics of the case,” Mr Nsibambi said in an interview this week. “The bank provides high-level security for customer funds through various internal systems and risk control measures. We encourage our customers to ensure that their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) are confidential and to frequently change them.”

More on :
Monitor

Honda 650

So, I just turned 51 a month ago. Against both better judgment and good advice, I've frequently made use of a "piki" for transportation. These are local motorcycle taxis, usually 100, or occasionally, 125 hp, so named because their early incarnations were so low-powered that their burbling motors sounded like "piki-piki-piki-piki-piki". In all my years, I've never been on a real motorcycle . at all . ever. Yesterday, I did - riding on the back of a Honda 650 driven by a Ugandan motocross champion, Arthur Blick (pronounced "Bleek," I theenk - just a little joke there). It was the end of a long day's training session (not for us, though we were privileged to observe) and Arthur was in a hurry to get home. Now, in all fairness, he didn't do anything I wouldn't have done and he DID apologize for "not exactly following all the laws," to which I courageously answered, "experts can do that". I would've given a version of Henry V's St. Crispin's Day speech, which I prepared long ago for just such an event, except it's hard to generate the proper levels of emotional intensity through clenched teeth; also, I was trying to control my bladder and not scream (. too much). I must also add that he never came close to the actual performance capabilities of the machine, though he seriously taxed his passenger's abilities to remain affixed to the seat behind him.
- Now, I never for a moment doubted for Arthur's safety. And I believed (then, as now, when blood flow and heart rates have all returned to normal) the chances were good that I would also live. I also believed, however, that the chances for my death or dismemberment remained greater than desirable (ever . ever . ever). God DOES answer prayer, and we arrived safely, though it took me a bit longer than expected to pry my benumbed claws from the seat handles and "deplane".
- "Why?" you ask, "does a middle-aged, wanna-be academic place himself in such a position?" Mid-life crisis? (No. I have waaaaay too many real crises to waste time on such penny-ante stuff.) A life-time of thrill-seeking and risk-taking? (Nope. Remember, this was my first time on a motorcycle and the bungee-jumping rig in Jinja will ALWAYS be safe from me for EVER.) Purely dollars and cents. Not only am I a long-standing and notorious tight-wad (even if only in my own mind), but I am a penurious missionary to boot. And I drive an aging (if rugged and much loved) Toyota Landcruiser. Jean and I bought a couple of Yamaha 225 off-road bikes from Arthur (and he had NOT been paid at the time of "the ride"). She has a license and I rode a bicycle once. So, training is important. We expect to use the Yamahas for moving around in our ministry area and reserve "the bull" for team and long-range journeys. This will diminish our "big-rich-NGO" footprint, preserve the truck and reduce its operational costs. Too, motorcycles can go a lot of places that a truck can't. So, it just makes sense to risk your life in order to save a few bucks on truck maintenance - ha! Plus, it's waaay cool
- now, I must say a word about Arthur: he's a great guy; mild-mannered and soft-spoken; a good instructor who came with a high recommendation from an MK (who is also a former, East Africa, rally-car-champion driver). But, take my word for it, it's MUCH better to be the driver than the passenger, no matter who's driving.

PI Uganda Retreat - Kingfisher, Jinja - Nov 2011

This weekend we are in Kingfisher for our Pioneers Uganda, missing Miriam on this.....

bank account cleared out part 3

 Our  Bank has let us take 2.5 million uganda schillings .... with the hopes for more. Meanwhile, our account says minus 2.4 million...... ah Uganda

Miriam Studies

Since Miriam has to catch up with her It Studies, she extended the German stay for 8 weeks to get the time to study, we wish her all the best