Today has been a fine day,
First let me say something from yesterday which I forgot to write. We were able to pass details of the recording studio where Paddy and I done the radio interview to the Fire Chief. The boss at the studio was very willing to help the Fire Service produce fire safety ads for the radio. This would be a great service to the people of Uganda as this is something that needs to be developed and one which I think the Fire Chief will explore.
Today started with Opio, our F&RS driver picking us up to take us to Fire HQ. When we arrived the station got two calls in a row and Paddy and I were wondering if we were going to get the opportunity to speak with them. When the crews were out, we got the opportunity to speak with some off-duty firefighters one of which is also a Pastor. It was good to speak with him and encourage him as he encouraged us.
The crews arrived back and we went upstairs to the lecture room where Paddy and I got the chance to share with about 14 firefighters. Paddy presented a short powerpoint on the ministry of firefighters for Christ and gave testimony to what God had done in his life. I then spoke on Psalm 91 for a short time regarding "God our Protector" and the firefighters received FFC bibles as a gift. In the closing prayer 5 people responded to the invitation of knowing Christ.
Having spent a little more time talking with the firefighters, Opio and George came for late lunch with us and it was great to share this time before we returned to our guest-house.
The time has flown whilst we have been here. We go home tomorrow feeling very privileged to have been here. We have been so encouraged to meet the personnel of Uganda Police Fire Brigade. They as were all the people we met so gracious and friendly towards us. They are a very special people. This is an exciting time for UPFB as they see investment and some new kit is arriving daily from China as they try to expand to meet the needs of a developing nation. Simon is a great Fire Chief with extraordinary focus on what he wants to achieve. I think that with his will and the continued investment and maybe a little help from ourselves they will get there.
Let us pray for Simon and the Ugandan Police Fire Brigade and off course God's new children.
Bye for now and please pray for a safe journey for Paddy and I as we travel home. We have a very quick changeover in Amsterdam on Friday morning so please pray we make our connection to Dublin. We will spend some time with Paul at his children's home before we leave.
We were picked up by Opio, our Fire Service driver this morning and taken to headquarters to see the Chief for our final Information Retrieval session. It was good to speak to Opio as he told us he loved the Lord and worshiped him.
Our meeting with Simon lasted about 2 1/2 hours and we finally crossed all the t's and dotted the i's and are starting to get an idea of what might be required here. Whilst at HQ today Paddy and I got to chat with some of the FF's for the first time which was great as they are starting to relax a little with us. Before leaving HQ the Fire Chief promised us two hours with the fire crews tomorrow to present FFC. This is from 1100-1300 with probably about 9 or 10 present. Paddy will do a little testimony and a presentation on FFC and I will give a short word to encourage them. Please pray for this. Also, Paul today was able to get a full Bible for our guard and Paddy and I signed this for him and he spent the whole afternoon studying it. Please pray for him. His name is Robert.
As I write this it is absolutely pouring with thunder and lightning. I know that the locals will be grateful for this as they could do with the water but it feels very like home for Paddy and me.
Paddy and I have had another great day here in Kampala. We spent most of the day with another Simon who is a missionary based here in Uganda. He provides programs for Alpha Radio. We meet him nearby were we are staying and he took us to his home where he has a studio, wife, six kids, three house workers and three dogs. We met them all. He was an English man but has been here in Uganda for 12 years. Before that he was in Japan for 11 years where he met his wife.
When we were at his house he interviewed Paddy and I for about an hour about our lives in NIFRS and the ministry of FFC throughout the world. We talked a little about our work with Uganda F&RS and managed to get some fire safety in as you would expect. We shared some testimony and of course the gospel message. This will be broadcast to many many people so let's pray it will impact the lives of those who hear it.
After the recording we had lunch with Simon and his family and chatted to them about the fire service. The kids were asking lots of questions.
Another great thing happened today. One of the guards on the site we are staying gave us a letter asking for a bible to study. His desire is to learn the scriptures so we gave him a FFC New Testament and are making arrangements to get him a full bible before we leave. The people here seem to be so hungry for the things of God. Many people have Christian signs in their cars and are very open about their beliefs. We were in a shop today and the girl was praising God when she saw our FFC t-shirts. There seems to be many Christians in this place. We are so blessed for knowing them.
Please pray as we meet the Fire Chief again tomorrow at 10:30 to finish our discussions. We need to finish our fact finding and then inquire about some practical issues should we return.
Also it would be great to meet and talk with some of the Firefighters as well over the next couple of days. This trip has not worked out quite as we planned but on reflection we see God's hand in it. Our schedule has been planned for us by God and we have met some wonderful people and have been blessed as Firefighters. As Christian's we could learn loads from these people. Just the passion that they have for Christ and the amount of believers with very real faith is astounding. They have less than us materially but yet are so so happy.
We have attached some photos from today for you including one with the guard receiving his bible.
There has been no trouble post election so please continue to pray that this will continue.
Today was church and we got to go three times. It was amazing. Paddy and I got to share about FFC in two churches. The people were very grateful for our attendance. Our third service was very special. The service had started at 7am with us arriving after 12. We left at about 2:30 and it was still going strong. That particular service goes on all day I believe. We traveled some distance to it after our first two services. It was on a hill that used to be occupied by Which Doctors and snakes until the current church started praying there. They prayed for days and then the snakes disappeared followed by the which doctors. On that site now a 1000 orphans are fed everyday and the church now has a clinic and school beside it. While we were there we met a little girl who had been raised from the dead after two days. Her injuries were horrific with multiple fractures after a serious accident. She had been wrapped up in plastic ready for burial when someone noticed the plastic moving after two days and she was alive with no injuries what-so-ever. She was on stage today as a perfect little girl. We also heard 4 little orphans speak who were healed from being deaf and dumb. Wow. What can you say about that other than "my God is able".
We have returned to the guest-house now where we are preparing for our recorded interview tomorrow for Alpha Radio with potential listening of up to 15 million people. We will be sharing about our trip, FFC and what we are trying to do with the F&R service.
Pray for continued guidance, protection and our families back home.
Pray for continued peace after the announcement of the presidential election today. There are those who would be trying to cause trouble but their is a massive police/ army presence.
Another great day at Paul's children's home. It was great. When we arrived the children performed a concert for us. They are so happy and want to praise the Lord all the time. Paul showed us around and then we had a great BBQ before joining the children for bedtime prayers. The prayer/ praise time was amazing with 38 children involved. A very wonderful experience.
Tomorrow we will be sharing at two church services about the ministry of FFC and seeing another children's project.
Today was another busy day. Paddy and I were met by Paul this morning and taken to Police Fire Headquarters. The roads were a lot quieter due to the presidential elections and their seemed to be a lot of military police around with riot gear to keep things calm. They are not sure what will happen over the next couple of days but have a serious amount of police in place to stop any trouble. As a result we will not be seeing Simon again until Tuesday. We thought it might be Monday but he is very busy on Monday.
Today for about three hours we questioned Simon about Ugandan Fire Service current resources and it became very obvious to us that the scale of this project is so immense. They have have to do so much with the few resources they have spread over the entire country. Future training opprotunities will need to be figured out to best meet their needs with what they have.
We gave Simon electronic copies of NIFRS training notes and powerpoints and all of our recent fire safety documentation which he was very grateful for. He has asked for NIFRS SOP's which I am sure I will be able to sort for him when we get back home. These will help as he develops the organization. After our questioning we got another opportunity to see around the station and take some photos. We got the opportunity to give some advice on foam production.
To be honest we are not sure of exactly what to do next. We are meeting Simon again on Tuesday to complete our fact finding mission. We have offered our services to him if he has a training need that we could help with now but he is not sure as everyone is very busy at election time. He says he will let us know on Tuesday.
Another thing we have asked, is to be able to speak with the crews to inform them as to the ministry of FFC and what we are about. Again I am not sure if this will happen either but something to pray about. We are disappointed that we have not had any great opportunity to speak with the crews on the station but hopefully we will have an opprotunity in the future.
Tomorrow we go the the children's home and I think that will be a great experience.
All well in Uganda apart from the crazy driving. It is a case of closing your eyes and praying. We have just arrived in Shalom Guest-house which looks pretty good. Our flights went great with a very short delay on each but nothing to be concerned about. All luggage is accounted for and here in good nick.
Paul is meeting us in the morning at 10:00 to arrange itinerary for the next few days. We are going to bed now for a well earned rest.
Uganda is a country of two halves. Some very wealthy and some poor. The people are very polite, friendly and seem glad to see us. We met Paul this morning who took us to get some money exchanged into Ugandan Shillings. We got a great rate (UgS 3740 to £1) We feel like millionaires here. Paul took us to a phone shop were we bought a phone and sim for UgS 35000. It sounds a lot but that was only £9 ($15) all in. Amazing. The phone can be use for future trips as required. We had two very detailed meetings with Simon the Fire Chief today. We questioned him about many areas of the UG FRS, he requires help in probably most. He has already started the process of rapid expansion with 20 stations expected to open this year with the prospect of only receiving the fire appliances, hoses and branches for these. You can see the need already.
Full detail will follow when we meet back home.
Paddy and myself are relaxing this evening and reading through Uganda F&RS Standard Operating Procedures, this will be used for some of the discussion with Simon tomorrow. We are going to be with Simon again tomorrow in Fire HQ continuing where we left off today. It will be great there tomorrow as it is election day and a lot of different agencies are standing by in that location. This will give us the opportunity to meet lots of different people and share the gospel.
On Saturday we are going to spend the day with Paul at his children's home which will give us the opportunity to see the plight of people here. On Sunday we will be sharing in a church service and on Radio.
Please use the above information for prayer points. Please continue to pray for our families at home.