Things seem to be gathering speed at an alarming rate. Three days ago we had our final group meeting to go over a few last bits and practice our songs. We finished the meeting with another list of to add to our ever-increasing lists of 'to dos' & 'to packs'. In spite of having had the past two years to get everything ready, all of us could do with another month or so to do the final bits and pieces! We talked about managing sickness & diarrhoea - no matter how careful we are, the change of diet alone makes one or both of these a distinct possibility, and the hole-in-the-ground loos will add to the challenge.
And then today we had our commissioning services, one at each church (St John's & St Mark's are mother & daughter churches and it was important that both were involved). We each had to speak briefly, something I would never have been able to do at the start of this journey (that's a whole other storey!) & then we knelt to be commissioned for our visit to the Banyole people. Our worship songs included 'Lord I come to you' (my request), 'How Lovely on the Mountains' & 'I the Lord of Sea & Sky', all especially appropriate for the occassion. Gift and Kathryn Asiku from Wycliffe Bible Translators, who led our briefing day at Wycliffe UK headquarters, came to speak at the service. The second service, at St Mark's, was followed by a church family meal cooked by Julie - macaroni cheese with a baby-leaf salad & crusty French bread for we vegetarians, chicken with mushroom sauce for the meat eaters. It was an opportunity for people to ask questions of the Uganda team, although in reality much of the conversation centered around other things just as much as our visit. Still, it was a lovely time of sharing and being together as a church family, and the first time I was really aware of just how much support there is for our visit. One particular surprise was that some people gave us cards wishing us well for our trip and assuring us of their prayer support, with little prayer cards and a little prayer journal, although since everyone who did this was a Cursillista, it really shouldn't have been that great a surprise!
