Melissa Graham august

What I wanted to say when I couldn't

August 2012
Mixing Animal Work With Bible Work
 I can't believe it is August! Where has the year gone?! I only have 4.5 months left here in Karamoja Uganda. Since my last post about the neem oil production, we have gotten over sicknesses.

 I have spent time running chicken and goat trainings for the KACHEP recipient women (5 women who each recieved 10 chickens and 3 lots of 10 women who each recieved a goat) which were more reflections/feedback on how they found the projects rather than actual trainings and were very insightful as to the way forward for these projects. All of the chicken recipient women appreciated the income generating aspect (selling eggs) for buying food for their families and helping to cover costs of school fees, or for some even just being able to send their children to school, where otherwise they wouldn't have been able to do.

Goat Training song time

They glowed over the success of the project and were eager to hear our decision to start another chicken project in October because of its success!
On these training days Summer told the story of Lydia in the 1st century church (Acts 16), a women who opened her house to Paul and the gospel and became a place people could come to, to worship and pray together. We encouraged these women that they, as women of influence in their communities, could also be women like Lydia in their own homes and villages. Through this we have begun 4 bible studies in 4 different villages, with 4 of the 5 chicken recipient women leading & hosting them. It has been really great to see, but much prayer is needed for them to continue as it really needs to be something they take on and continue for themselves, even when life happens and they are distracted by other things, e.g. sorghum harvest or working in the gardens. We want to encourage them to make time for God in their lives if He is to be their Lord while understanding the pressures of life in Karamoja.

Tick Spraying Day

On Mondays we travel about an hour to a village called Okutoot that we have a relationship with through tick spraying their animals. Anna Moru is the woman in charge of this group and is learning the bible stories from us orally and then is sharing them with her community. Along with prayer and the story, there are three questions that help us learn more from each story; what does this passage teach us of God (1), of people (2) and if we believe this story and its teachings to be true, what can we learn from this passage to put into practise and obey in our lives? Every week we aim to go and share a different story with her and her family, for her then to pass the story and 3 questions with other families in her village.
On Tuesdays we go to a village about half an hours drive away (or 2 hours walk) called Kassiapus, whom again we have a friendship with through the cattle spraying as well as the chicken project, and we have storied and prayed with them for a long time already. Now that they are interested in going deeper with the Bible we have started this same group there, the main woman leading is Toto Joyce.



The third is of course our own with KACHEP at our house and the fourth is in a more local village (within easy walking distance) with a woman called Anna Aisu who is a strong believer herself. We hope to kick start them off this month and then see what God does with them when they have the tools to continue it themselves, in a 'pay it forward' kind of philosophy :)
Hugs Melissa
"God wants to bless us where we are." Joel Osteen