Need a weekend away? Need time to relax? Want to spend some time with God? Then come and join us for a weekend of friendship and fellowship. It promises to be a time of refreshing both physically and spiritually with great speakers and a wonderful location!

Bookings are now open and you can book using the form below. All you need is a £20 deposit to secure your place. Places are limited so please book early to ensure you have a place confirmed.

Caer Llan is a large country house set in 25 acres of garden, field and woodland in the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty around the lower Wye Valley. Whilst the location enjoys fresh, silent air, the amazing scenery is enhanced by the breath-taking views over Monmouthshire and the Vale of Usk.

Bedrooms are situated in the main house and in the adjoining award winnning extension. Rooms are comfortable with ensuite bathrooms.The inhouse catering team provides delicious and plentiful home-cooked food. Communal spaces have a lovely atmoshere with huge log burning fires perfect for November evenings. Come, enjoy and relax!

We are privileged to have Ruth Hill as our main speaker this year and she will be speaking in each of the main meetings. We are really excited about hearing her bring the word of God. She will be speaking on the topic…’We are His workmanship’ from Ephesians 2 verse 10.

Ruth is married to Larry Hill who has been a main speaker at the last two Passion for God weekends. She is a busy mum and grandmother and together with Larry helps to lead their local church in Ireland.

Ruth is currently studying at the the Irish Bible Institute doing a degree course in Applied Theology.  Ruth is involved in running a ladies Bible study and works with the group Teen challenge. She love cooking, interior decorating, craft making and shopping! Her favourite movie currently is Julie and Julia.  But her all time favourite film is Chariots of Fire.

This year’s seminars will be based around the theme of being a ‘Women of God’. The four seminars will run on Saturday morning as follows:

The Home – Abigail Marshall
The Workplace – Wendy Hitchen
The Church – Chandrika Meeten
Mission & Evangelism – Kat Hardingham

Abigail has been happily married to Scott for nearly 9 years. Abigail is a full-time mum, looking after her three children; William (5), Elliot (4), and Isabella (2).  They are part of Epsom Christain Fellowship. Abigail helps run the church toddler group and now helps teach in the christian school which her children attend.

Kat Hardingham is a Youth Pastor. Together with her husband Josh they work for New Life Church in Worthing. She is involved with running, young womens groups, school outreach and preaches regularly in the church. She also leads a Creative Dance team.

Chandrika Meeten is 37 years old, originally from America now living in West Kirby, Wirral with her husband Dave. CHandrika works as a play therapist in Cheshire and Merseyside and attends her local church Longcroft Christian Fellowship where she has been a member for 17 years.’

Other activities:

- Fireside chat with hot chocolate and muffins
- Film and fondue night
- Country walks in the Forest of Dean
- Shopping in Monmouth

The cost of the weekend is £85 which consists of £20 deposit upon booking and £65 which is due by mid- October. The cost includes all meals. You can book online at: passionforgod.org.uk/women and pay using credit or debit card.

If paying by cheque make cheques payable to Passion for God and send to : Helen Williamson, The Old Barn, 2 Leatherbarrow Lane, Maghull, Liverpool L

A number of rooms are available for mums with babies, please contact us if you would like more information. A small creche will be provided.

Check in time will be from 7pm. Places are limited so book early!

I believe our generations (18-30s) really need to stand on our own two feet and accept that we are men and women and we need to find God for ourselves. We have known great men of God and heard of the amazing things God did in their day. But it is our day now.

It is a great opportunity for youth leaders and praise leaders etc to put down the burden leading for a weekend and cry out to God with all their hearts. I believe God is able to save our countrymen and our country itself if we will humble ourselves and pray. We usually do four sessions one fri night and 3 on Saturday. Stop for lunch, dinner etc. Food and accomodation are provided. The cost is – Free, No charge!

Terry Watson was the pastor of Eltham Green Community Centre for 20 years, he is now working as a itinerant preacher and pastor all over the world. PFG asked Terry to write as an article for our website and he kindly obliged. This is an excellent article on the call of God.

The Call of God

‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My
name before Gentiles, kings, and the
children of Israel.’ (Acts 9:15)

The Call

There is nothing haphazard about the ministry of God. From the moment of our new birth God has ordained a life and ministry for us: ‘But to each one of us was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ (Eph. 4:7,8,11-13)

What a privilege it is to hear God’s call. Fishermen working for their father’s business were called to be “fishers of men.” (Matt. 4:19) A tax collector sitting at the receipt of custom heard the call of the Lord: ‘“Follow Me.” And He arose and followed Him.’ (Matt. 9:9) Saul of Tarsus met the living Christ, on the road to Damascus, after rampaging through the streets, so zealous in his determination to stamp out this new sect called Christianity that many died at his hand. Ananias, the one chosen by the Lord to minister to this seeking man, was told: “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (Acts 9:15) It is important to note that if we are not called of God, we may be in danger of destroying the work of God rather than building up men and women. I know of many who have assumed that because they live in a certain place where there is no clear testimony of the Lord and the need seems great, that this constitutes the call, but have found that the work came to an end after perhaps five or ten frustrating and fruitless years.

The Place of God’s Call

Every flock must have its own shepherd. God places men in the ministry as it pleases Him, and for as many years as He chooses.

The pastor must be prepared to stay for fifty years, attend every meeting and not be tempted to be drawn away by what may be seen as an itinerant ministry. Many churches have been destroyed by the shepherd’s desertion that has left the flock open to hirelings. In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s distress over the Ephesian church was revealed when he warned them that, “after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:29-30) I have sadly experienced this crisis first hand, and believe it to be the worst situation that can ever happen to a pastor and his flock.

God sets the members ‘each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.’ (1 Cor. 12:18) People can be very difficult. There may be some who do not like you, or even hate you. There will be those who are spiritually blind, deaf, and lame; but God has added them to His church. There will be those who regularly sin, needing many times to be led back into the fold.

The Preparations of the Call

God’s preparations in our lives take two forms. The first is the preparation before our call when He is dealing with us prior to our new birth. We cannot be able ministers of God if we have not finished with the roots of sin and self. How many thriving churches have come to nothing, overseen by men who, although trained in ministry, still have their roots in sin. I remember visiting a church that gathered over two hundred worshipping people. They had asked a young man to be the pastor, but over a period of ten years I saw the church whittle away to a handful. Deep in this man’s heart was unrepentant sin. He had been involved in a homosexual relationship, and this had reared itself again in contact with a young lad in the church.

Many in the church had felt uneasy and had eventually moved to another place. For those left, the respect for men ordained in the ministry had prevailed over their thoughts and they had been reluctant to face such serious issues, preferring to leave it to others in the church that were elders. Sadly though, the elders’ view was that God forgives, and so they allowed the pastor to continue his ministry, but the sin remained. Eventually, due to the testimony of the lad, now a young man in his early twenties, the sin was recognised and the pastor accepted the necessity to withdraw from the ministry. Those for whom he had prayed would not have received that pure clear ministry of the Holy Spirit: ‘Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.’ (1 Tim. 5:22)

In the Scriptures we have remarkable illustrations of how the lives of God’s people are influenced by the sin of others. In the story of Achan we see how such a seemingly small and insignificant sin, by just one person out of all that great multitude, brought the whole blessing of God to a dramatic halt: ‘And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.’ (Jos. 7:3-4) Again, through David’s sin in numbering the people, he saw seventy thousand of them struck down by a deadly plague. ‘So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. And when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”’ (2 Sam. 24:15-17)

Let every minister know that he must be free from sin, so that he may minister the gospel to those he cares for. God must deal with our sin if we are to be able to help those who are in sin. The natural life and the outworking of self is another area that needs the dealings of God. It can create pressure for the minister of God; “I cannot cope”, “I need a holiday”, “It’s all too much”. If we look back into the days before the commencement of our ministry, we will know whether we are qualified for such a precious responsibility. If we were unable to handle our everyday work, how shall we handle the work of God?

Joseph was seventeen years of age when God revealed to him his future. His boastful disclosure of this to his family caused the hatred in his brothers that eventually set him on course for thirteen years of suffering in slavery and imprisonment. In the end he was to become the saviour of his family: “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” (Gen. 45:5)

Preparations During the Ministry

The preparation of Elisha under the hand of Elijah his predecessor, began well before any obvious signs of ministry were recognised in the simple response to the direction of the one making the call. ‘So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and served him.’ (1 Kings 19:19-21)

Elisha was to become prophet after the departing of Elijah. Although this was not revealed to him at the time, his obedience in staying close to Elijah and following him, proved Elisha’s ministerial qualifications and eventually he received the double portion that he had desired. So we see that ‘all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28)

God fashions men as they proceed with the work that he has given them. Sometimes our experiences along the way seem as mistakes or failures but they are all part of the deepening work of God in our lives. One example in Scripture is the life of the apostle Paul: ‘For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! you are distinguished, but we are dishonoured! Even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labour, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things until now.’ (1 Cor. 4:9-13)

‘Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool – I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three time I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.’ (2 Cor. 11:23-28)

Terry Watson

This is an extract from “The Pastoral Ministry” first published in January 1997 and available by contacting www.thepastoralministry.co.uk

We’ll be posting regular updates on the blog so check back to keep up with the latest. You can also follow us on twitter.com/passionforgoduk for shorter updates. If you want to join in the conversation then leave a comment on the blog, login to post your own thoughts or use #newlife on your tweets.

We’re looking forward to a great week and whatever you’re doing or wherever you are we hope you have a great week too!

The psalmist starts by recognising ‘how lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!’ It starts from there, from recognising that the best place you could be is in God’s dwelling place. He is the LORD of hosts, the title used to remind his people that God commands the host of heaven and there are millions upon millions of angels who serve Him. The psalmist then turns to himself and says ‘my soul longs, yes faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.’ The next secret of strength is having that longing in your heart to be in God’s dwelling place, even just to be in the courts of the LORD for in those days no-one could enter the Holy of Holies. The psalmist’s desire to meet with God was so strong that if he didn’t he said he would faint. Our thirst and hunger and passion for God

is

our strength!

The psalmist understood that every creature has a home, even the sparrow in their humble nest. And our hearts cannot rest until they find their rest, their home, in God. We were made for Him and without Him there will always be that nagging doubt that we were made for more than this. And so he says ‘ Blessed are those who dwell in your house ever singing your praise! Blessed are those whose strength is in you’. To have our strength in God is to recognise that His dwelling place is the best place we could be and to be those who hunger and thirst to find our home in Him.

The next verse is interesting! ‘In whose heart are the highways to Zion.’ What does that mean? Every year the people of God would pilgrim up through the highways of Israel to the mountain of God for their festivals and songs and feasts. The psalmist is saying that those who are strong have the highways to God’s dwelling place in their hearts! When we need that strength we can look inside us and remember our times of pilgrimage and meeting with God. Maybe it was our very first experiences with God. Maybe it was a time of prayer and fasting in our lives when we really met with God. Maybe it was an experience of God’s faithfulness in the toughest of times or a word of prophecy that God spoke to us. Whatever it is we all have those ‘highways’ in our hearts and the time we need them is when we need strength from God.

‘As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.’ Those who have the highways in their hearts can pilgrim to God any time. You don’t need a conference or festival, or a great speaker or worship leader. You can pilgrim! And as you start to do that you will make the valleys a place of springs. You will start to know God’s presence and blessing where you need it most and the springs will turn into pools and you will go ‘from strength to strength’ until you appear before God in Zion. Your strength is found in your pilgrimage and knowing the destination of God’s presence that you are pilgriming to!

And that begins to put the psalmist in the place where he can pray ‘O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer!’ Before you jump straight in with your requests try a bit of pilgriming first!

‘For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.’ The only thing that is going to keep you from the tents of wickedness is the longing to be in the house and presence of God. To know that simply being a doorkeeper is better than anything else by far. Nothing and no-one compares to God. A day in his presence will see you through a thousand days elsewhere. An encounter with him will sustain you for years.

‘The LORD God is a sun and a shield; no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!’ The LORD blesses and protects, it is a double blessing! He is a sun and a shield. Walking uprightly is the way to know his blessing and provision. The last line sums it up, this is all about trusting in God and the one who does is blessed and finds their strength in Him.

Happy pilgriming!

Each song individually shows God’s love, mercy and faithfulness to us, and how even though lif’s not always how it seems, and there can be a different route from A to B, God cares for us and is with us, even when we don’t always feel his presence. The song that spoke to me the most when listening to this album was My God Cares, as it gives you a real assurance of God’s love through any hard time. The songs are upbeat, uplifting, and I would say, her best yet.

148 of those visits were unique visitors for the month rather than the same person visiting us 195 times! The most visitors on one day? On June 14th 30 people visited passionforgod.org.uk to read ‘How to be a tree’!

We hope you’re enjoying the new website and don’t forget you can leave comments on any of the articles or register yourself and write your own blog post for passionforgod.org.uk. Happy Reading!

My notes are not necessarily complete and are brief towards the end because he was short on time and spoke less on the latter points. If you want to read the arguments in more depth then wait for his new book ‘Politics according to the bible‘

Wrong View #1: The government should compel religion

• Matthew 22:15-22 shows us the legitimacy of paying taxes, also teaches us that not everything belongs to Caesar (e.g.: peoples religious beliefs). Here Jesus was teaching a clear distinction between church and government, a very new and challenging view for the Israelites for whom faith and government were intricately linked.
• Luke 9:52-55 Jesus refused to compel people to him by force of judgement, only instead by invitation. Imagine how many people would have come to him if he had let his disciples had commanded fire from heaven. He did not judge at that point in time. This shows us how there should always be freedom of religion, not suppress anything and everything that is anti-biblical. We should be confident that the bible has power to stand on it’s own in the public sphere.

Wrong View #2: We should exclude religion from government and the public square

• Rom 13:4 Civil authority is Gods servant, we should submit to it, we should also understand and teach good and evil in this context. There are many examples in scripture of godly men reproving Government because they did not do ‘good’ bringing the gospel into the political sphere:
• Luke 3:19 John the Baptist reproved Herod for not just one thing he had done but for ‘all the evils which Herod had done’
• Acts 24:25 Paul ‘reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgement to come (KJV)’ when in front of Felix the governor

Wrong View #3: All government is demonic and therefore Christians should not get involved

• Luke 4:6 versus John 8:44: Greg Boyd’s recent book “the myth of a christian nation” claims this exact point but is based on a misinterpretation of Luke 4:6. In this passage Satan tempts Jesus by ‘showing him all the kingdoms of the world’ and saying to him ‘all this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me’. Boyd’s premise is that Jesus did not deny Satan’s claim that he was the ruler the ‘kingdoms of the world’ because they were ‘delivered unto him’ and therefore they were all entirely his to give, Satan was in control of them, including government. However this is not the case as later Jesus says that everything Satan says is a lie: John 8:44 “because there is no truth in him”
• Rom 13:1-6: There is no authority except for Gods. We need the police force because you can’t stop drunk drivers with the gospel. Sometimes the Government achieves great good before the church, for example the Army under Lincoln overthrew the southern states to destroy slavery. This was Gods way of achieving his ‘good’ Wrong

View #4: We should do evangelism not politics because the government does not do any eternal good

• 1 John 3:8 Fully understood, the gospel should transform not just individual lives but also result in changed families, schools, businesses, even government. We should seek to influence politics because God left us on earth to do evangelism AND good works to all men.
• Mark 12:31 The greatest commandment also includes this command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. If we love our neighbour then we would want laws that protect their marriage, children and freedom to hear the gospel.
• Mat 5:16 So let your light shine before men, so that they might see your good works… In other words the good words evanglism is more than just preaching the gospel.
• Eph 2:8-9 & 10-11. Note how 10 and 11 follow on directly from 8&9! The great and classic passage on justification by faith carries on immediately to state that we are created for good work
• There are many examples in history of Christian Influence on government. For example the abolition of slavery (wWlberforce), the prohibition of the burning of widows on funeral pyres in India, prohibiting the binding of feet in china, banning of gladiatorial contests in the Roman empire, Martin Luther Kings fight for abolishing racial segregation.
• Matt 6:13 ‘Deliver us from evil’ in the Lords prayer show us how we are to pray for protection from evil
• 1 Tim 2:1-3 Paul write to Timothy that we’re to pray for rulers and those in authority that we might have a quiet and peaceful life that the gospel might prosper.

Wrong View #5: We should do politics not evangelism

• Laws solve many problems but we know that laws don’t change hearts.

The right view: There should be significant Christian influence on government

• There are many examples through the bible of men and women who had significant impact on the political leadership of their time.
• Consider the life of Daniel or Esther.
• Consider Jeremiah who was told when he went into captivity that he should “seek the peace of the city that I have caused you to be carried away to as captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace.” (Jer 29:7) We should also so seek to influence politics to help bring about peace for our community, nation etc.
• Consider also Nehemiah the cup bearer to the King, a high office with access to the Kings ear and also Esther.
• It’s not for everyone, some are called into politics, others into business, others into other things but in each case bringing Christian influence into their environment.
• Consider 1 Peter 2:12-17 ‘submit your self to every authority’ and also ‘As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.’: Where we do gain significant influence we must not enforce religion and we must protect free speech not stopping or opposing in a hostile way literature or other critique of the Christian faith
• Last of all, pastors and teachers in church have a responsibility to teach the ‘whole counsel of God’ (Acts 20:26-27). Paul did not shrink from teaching on any topic simply because it was unpopular, and he considered himself blameless in this matter.

It was created using wordle.net which is pretty cool. Just out of interest here’s a couple created using the names of God. You can download any of these to use so have fun!

The camp will be held in Naluwerere, serving a school community where 80% of the school children are orphans.  On this site is most of what you need to know.  For more information, contact Matthew.

Would you like to come?  If you know Matthew, then please contact him to register your interest.  The dates are 18-28th August and the cost will be about £900. You can contact Matthew on 07765 348471 or child2child[a]googlemail.com. Matthew is an elder at Clifton Community Church and you can read more about him here.

To find out more about the camp visit Child2Child Camp. A

Outline

Dates Wednesday 18^th August – Saturday 28^th August 2010.

Flights to be booked and confirmed.  The flights will be centrally co-ordinated by Matthew and his travel agent.  Each volunteer to organise their own travel insurance.

Travelling to Entebbe, Uganda and then by mini bus, (called a taxi), to Bugiri, about 4 hours away.

Costs

The cost of the flight is £700.00  You will need a visa that costs £25.00 and can be obtained in advance from the Ugandan High commission in Trafalgar square in London.  It needs to include a special form that can be downloaded from their website, or I can provide one.  It needs to be sent by registered post there and back so the full cost is about £37.00.

Accommodation and food will be £100.00;  this will cover bed, mosquito net, water, power and all facilities at your home for the time.  This £100 needs to be paid to Matthew in advance.  Then you will need your own cash too for things like personal water and phone credit.

Finally any inoculations and medications needed may cost you. Please see your doctor for their advice.  For antimalarial tablets, please do not get Larium/Meflaquine as these are tablets have serious side effects.  I suggest doxicyline anti-biotic tablets.  These are the ones I have and find them ok. You take them two days before, everyday there, and finally for four weeks on your return.  You need a private prescription from your doctor for them.  I have a good supplier at 18p each tablet.  Then there are things like mosquito repellent and sun cream and anything you need medically.  I have a list of things you specifically need.  We will carry a first aid kit at the home and the school.

Living

Accommodation

The whole UK team will be staying at Sebastian and Lydia Juma’s home.  This is a fairly modern home.  We will be sharing bedrooms with one another.

Food

Most days we will be having breakfast and dinner at Sebastian’s, but lunch and breaks at the school. There are local foods that we will be encouraged to try.  If you have special dietary needs please make this known on the application form.  Dinner is normally quite late although I have asked to be fed at a uk type time.

Washing

It is advised that you set up a washing line in your room and wash your underwear each evening.  Also consider washing your shirt/t-shirt daily.

To wash yourself, you will be given a plastic washing bowl full of water and expected to wash with this.  So you need a plastic cup that you can use to pour water over your body!  You will also need flip flops to wear when you are bathing.

Toilet

It could be that we will be using a pit latrine for out toilet.  We will definitely be using one at the school, so crouching down is the order of the day.  It is advisable not to have anything that can fall out of your pockets when going to the toilet.  At Sebastian’s, he could have the inside toilets done, but otherwise we will be using the latrine there too.

Phones

I buy a local sim to use in my phone.  This is definitely the cheapest way to phone or text home.  So put your numbers down and put them into the new sim when you get it.  Credit is called airtime and is easily available.  An sms to UK, (text to you and me), costs 220/- which is about 7½ p.  local sms is half that.  Airtime is available in 5,000/- lots.  The cost of a call home is about 3 mins for £1.00.

Internet

I tired the internet once in Bugiri.  It took 20 minutes not to load the gmail home page!  Just forget it.

Transport

Apart from the taxi that collects us form the airport and the day trip out on the first Saturday, we will be using boda boda.  This is a local motorbike service and is cheap and cheerful.  On the whole the riders are safe.  The cost of travelling to the school from the town centre is 500/- (about 15p) and the trip home to Sebastian’s is 1000/-.

On the Saturday we will be having a day trip to the source of the river nile and a tour of Jinja, the second biggest town in Uganda.  We will be travelling by 30 seater.  On the last day we will be coming back to Kampala in a taxi minibus, for the tourist bit, then on to the airport at Entebbe.

Electricity

Although electricity is there, when I was last there it was on about 40% of the time.  It is important to take a torch with you to the night time toilet incase the lights go when you are on the loo!

Camp

The camp is set 2kms from Bugiri in Naluwerere, at Elohim Nursery and Primary School.  This is the school that Sebastian has started.  There are up to 300 children in the school. We will have from P2 – P7 classes.  This will be 7-12’s approximately.  There will be about 170 of them plus 30 church children.  I have requested no children under 7 at all as this just leads to babies wetting their nappies in the middle of the walkway!  At the top of the age range, there could be some early teenagers as year 7 children could be older as they might have missed some school.  A majority of the children attending the camp will be fatherless or full orphans.

Fellow workers

We have a team of 30.  Of that 10 come from Uganda.  They are older young people who have been in the programme of Hope for Lugazi. A charity set up by Edward Nsimbi of Lugazi and John Ray of Worthing.  It is for orphaned young people who need to get their education.

The Kenyan 10 will be the boys, (young men), from the Child2Child programme in Nairobi along with probably 3 adults.

During the camp we will be subdividing and each activity group will consist of one from each team.

The Uganda and Kenya teams will be staying at the school for the week and eating all their meals there.  We will be joining them for some of our meals.

For the few days before the camp when we are there we will be doing some team building activities and doing the final preparation for the camp.

Arrangements

For the full timetable of the camp please see the timetable document.

A typical is:

7:30  up wash and breakfast

8:30 leave for Naluwerere

9:00  team devotions and final prep for the day

10:00         Children arrive

10:20 Christian meeting

11:20 break

11:40 activity #1

12:40 lunch

14:00         activity #2

15:00 break

15:20 activity #3

16:20 children go home

16:30 feedback session

17:00 preparation for next day

(for three of the days there will be a film in early evening)

UK workers part

The uk workers will generally be leading the activities, unless we find the others have better gifts than us!  We will be teaching a bit too so the others can learn things for themselves for the future.  There will be 25 children in an activity group so there will be three leaders plus other helpers in each activity group.

Activites

All activities will be pre-planned and all resources bought with us from UK or bought locally if possible.  They will be:

Sport (football and rounders), crazy games (parachute games, relays), craft with paper, Simple first aid training, music and drama (preparing a simple musical to perform), further craft with paint, and also letter writing to thank the UK children who have supported the camp.