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December 20,2010
Hello from the Deep Freeze of NE
Washington!
Before going any farther reporting news of Hands Across Nations
in N. Uganda, I would like to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas
and a deep gratefulness for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus in
coming to dwell among his created people so that we could all
truly know Him. There is nothing more wonderful than that
gift of His life to give us true life, not just an existence.
May all of us recognize that gift, contemplate it during this
season, and thank God for it by living in a way that shows the
world He is alive and living in His people who have received
that gift deep into their hearts.
This has been a week of attempting to tie up loose ends of
projects, say difficult good byes, and return to the US.
In the final days in the Lira area, there were meetings with the
Hands Across Nations Tailoring School staff to draft a new
business plan working toward self-sufficiency. The
school has put out over 140 trained tailors in the past 2 years,
who have excellent skills with which to make a living.
We made more visits to students who graduated in the first
class, most of whom are now becoming successful in developing a
clientele and have made a reputation for themselves for doing
quality work. I have examples of their work which will be
displayed in our future presentations. It will be
increasingly important for the school to be financially sound
before expanding to instruction in other trades.
The Alito Community Center/Church project
to complete the concrete
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Page 2 December 20, 2010
floor for the sanctuary, the offices and
the store room was nearly complete at my final visit.
Ninety Percent of the floor had been poured with the top 2 smooth surface
to be poured over the top, and then the final more liquid
surface to be hand applied over that. There was a joyous
atmosphere in the church as everyone was pulling together to
complete the project the 11 women who had been carrying
water from the swamp to the church, about ½ km each day for
almost 2 weeks, the church elders who were ensuring things were
running smoothly, the 12 workers who were continuing to mix the
concrete with hoes, and moving it by wheelbarrows to dump it in
place, and the people smoothing the concrete and making sure
everything was level. Over 90 dumper loads of materials
had been moved over the roughest road imaginable.
Three times, it sank into the swamp or
other unstable ground and had to be extricated, with the load
having to be dumped out and then reloaded by shovel loads.
And there was no complaining.
On the last load, tragedy struck
when a young boy, the son of one of the volunteers, playfully jumped onto the
side of the dumper, and either jumped or fell off and was
accidently fatally injured. Please pray for all involved,
for comfort, support, and a peaceful outcome as it was
completely an accident.
The last 2 days was spent in Kampala, visiting the boarding
school
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Page 3 December 20, 2010
of one of our students,
completing payment of various school fees and projects and
saying final goodbyes to dear friends and family in Uganda.
It is always painful, but made less so by the promise of a
return in the not too distant future.
As I have said several times before, NOTHING ever goes according
to our plans! The trip home was unusual as it was a 60
hour marathon, beginning with the traffic jams of Kampala, and
some kind of security measure at the airport making passengers
carry their luggage a long distance to the building instead of
being dropped off at the entrance. In Amsterdam, we found
that we’d landed in a snow storm, and right after arriving, the
entire airport shut down stranding thousands of travelers and
the airport personnel as well. Nothing was moving no
busses, trains, cars, or planes for over 24 hours. Most of
us slept on the floor as best we could. Some of us were
blessed to get on a flight the next day many were not so
fortunate as a second snow storm moved in that afternoon and
paralyzed flight travel all over Europe. Our flight was almost
canceled a second time as the walkway was frozen and couldn’t
extend to the plane. People were nearing rebellion when I
felt compelled by God’s spirit to stand up, whistle to get
people’s attention, thank everyone for remaining calm, and
suggest that we all pray for God to
fix that walkway. I led a prayer, and within a few minutes the walkway started
moving, we were able to board and take off! God is sooooo
good! Though we had a broken water pipe and the entire
back of the plane had a soaked carpet, the toilets were shut
down, and the entire entertainment system for the flight
malfunctioned, we arrived safely.
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Page 4 December 20, 2010
It is only by
God’s grace that any of us can live another moment. Each one is a
precious gift to be lived to the fullest.
So, Merry Christmas, to all of you. May you
experience the real joy of this season knowing God loved us enough to
send Jesus, and still lives with us today. Thank you for your
generous support, financially and prayerfully. Please
continue to pray for Uganda, for God’s mercy and care for the
people there as they continue to recover from the war and to struggle to
rise up out of the poverty they are continuing to experience.
May God bless you all.
Carolyn Kurowski
Sharing the love of Christ in practical ways through Hands Across
Nations
(Page 4 December 20, 2010)
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