January 9, 2012
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Last visit
So Friday, January 6, was the last time I ever plan on going to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Immigration office in Uganda. I left the premises with one work permit, two student passes, and three dependent passes. I have never been so excited to see 6 stickers in my life! It is a crowning achievement knowing that we did not pay one bribe. Pretty impressive and encouraging if you ask me!
Unfortunately, last Monday was not as encouraging. We had our January WWCS Uganda board meeting. We were supposed to discuss how we plan to manage the Palissa project and the clinic construction. Instead, we were witnesses of evil tackling a man of God. Our director, Rev. Paul Ssemwanga, had a mental breakdown. He is struggling with grasping reality versus very negative things that his mind is creating. We are now working on how best to help him and get our leader back. The only effective measure that we can have is prayer. So I am asking all of you to pray for this man. He needs spiritual encouragement and strength. In the meantime, we are trying to continue our efforts, but it is not easy without him. His recovery is very important to our ministry.
Our vehicle, the Pajero, had an overhaul last week also. We have been menaced with poor mechanics that take and take and take. So now we are back pedaling to resolve the issues caused by them. We had to put a new transmission (aka gearbox, in Uganda) in it. I spent two straight days in the sun supervising a team of mechanics working on our vehicle. Thankfully, it was fruitful and we can now get out of second gear! Unfortunately, we realized that not all of our problems were because of the transmission. We also noticed that the rear differential is heavily damaged. I am convinced that one of our earlier mechanics towed a 15 car train with our Pajero. So the drive train was annihilated. So now, we will eventually have to put another small Ugandan fortune into the vehicle when the rear axle binds and leaves us stranded somewhere. Yeah! But for now, the car is definitely running better! I had high hopes for the repairs, and some of my expectations were met. I cannot complain about that.
Lately, things have been going like a roller coaster. There are highs, there are lows, but with faith we can appreciate God's grace in both. I can imagine that Jesus was overjoyed when making miracles (highs). I can also imagine that there was extreme personal conflict dealing with the persecutors and attacks by Satan (lows). So we appreciate that we get to experience the same journey as Jesus, in a distant, less extreme way. I have been certain of few things in my life, but I am certain that I will be a different person because of this experience. My children will have a different father. My wife will have a better husband. My work will be better.
We have a few things lately that are in the works, or could be... the block making machine is soon to be purchased. WWCS USA is trying to raise funds to cover the shipping expense. WWCS Uganda is trying to figure out where the machine will be planted and how we can fund the purchase or lease of property for its home. We have a couple of small projects that we would like to see happen: a classroom in Kasawo (home of 430 students and no actual classrooms constructed, $3,000 per classroom), a two classroom block in Kalasa (school of 150 with great academics and supreme potential, $5,500). These are just some things that have been impressed on us lately. For some reason, I have a feeling in my heart that we can accomplish these. I am not sure why, but I know that there is some way that these things will be accomplished. Please pray for these endeavors.
Ok, this was supposed to be a short blog entry. I have spiritual ADD! Everytime I get on here, I just have things that pop into my head. I think I am the first person to thank God for Attention Deficit Disorder! Thank you Jesus!
Chad Neeley
Volunteer Construction Coordinator - WWCS Uganda/USA
