O
n Friday 11th November, St. Hilary’s hosted members of the local community for an service of remembrance. Present were representatives from Weatherhead High School, Mosslands School, Oldershaw Academy and St. Georges School, as well as local councillors representing Wirral Borough Council.
The area around St. Hilary’s fell silent at as the church clock chimed 11am in respect and remembrance of all who have died in the cause of justice freedom and peace. Following the silence and laying of wreaths Rev’d Alan Ward, Rector of St. Hilary’s rededicated the War Memorial, following renovation work, praying that it would be a symbol of hope, peace and reconciliation for all who see it.
During the afternoon of Sunday 13th November, Alan held a special presentation evening to give feedback on his recent sabbatical. Dressed in bright African colours, he shared how he had spend July studying around the topic of discipleship, September with friends and family and August working with Tearfund in Uganda.
Below are some extracts from his time in Uganda.
“As part of my sabbatical leave in 2016 I was able to join a small team of volunteers in Uganda, East Africa. This was made possible through Tearfund, who link people to their partners in other countries
for short term volunteer visits. Their project in south west Uganda is called WATSAN (Water & Sanitation) and their partner organisation which runs this is North Kigezi Diocese. I travelled with three other people from UK & Ireland who, like me, are also Tearfund supporters.”
Thursday 4th August
“A long journey today in what will become our familiar transport: the diocesan Mothers’ Union minibus, driven by Isaac. We stop on the road at the Equator monument for a few photos, and later for a lunch of goat meat and matooke (steamed mashed banana) – which will also become very familiar! The evening sees us meeting the whole WATSAN team at a welcome dinner in our hotel – including our regular driver, Arosias, and our guide and interpreter, Salaam (Eric’s daughter), a law student. These two will be our constant companions over the next fortnight.”
Sunday 14th August
“Emmanuel Cathedral, Kinyasano has two Sunday morning services: one in English, where I preach on the living water that Jesus gives us, and one in the local language. The first is attended by many from the boys’ church school and a small number of adults; the second is packed with locals and a large number of children. We’ve been told that there will be around 30-40 children in Sunday School and we’ve prepared for that number, so we’re now worried that we’ve vastly underestimated. It turns out
that we have over 100 children and they have to share one craft activity between 6 instead of 2 … and we don’t have enough glue-sticks! But the kids are great and they really get into the telling of David & Goliath using puppets. And we again teach “Great Big God” with actions and they think it’s wonderful. In the evening we return to Kinyasano girls’ school, this time to play football. Some of the girls are really talented, even playing barefoot. Again we leave a couple of new footballs for them.
Bishop Patrick joins us for our dinner at the hotel and this time we get a p
hoto with him!”
Wednesday 31st August
“As I finish writing this diary, the question on my mind is: “I’ve been to Uganda – so what?” The hospitality we’ve received has been remarkable; the Ugandan people are an example of gentleness and humility; and the way their faith is integrated with every part of their life is striking.”
The full diary can be downloaded using the link below.
uganda-report-colour – Alan’s Full Uganda Diary