News from Fr Short

February 2007

PIGS, PYTHONS, AND OTHER PEOPLE

The last three months have been a busy but productive time! It is normal after the Christmas holidays for things to slow down a bit – but not this year. Instead, the pace is accelerating, as several major changes have occurred.

DEPARTURE OF MY BOSS
My former boss and colleague, Godfrey Mugisa, has resigned to take a position in Masindi funded by the British government. We are very happy for him, but his departure has really increased my duties. Among other things, I must now draft the
Five Year Plan for the diocese, and have something ready by June (which is when I’m supposed to be taking the first two classes at Trinity School for Ministry in Pittsburgh). The drafting of the diocesan constitution is going along, with many interruptions. Philista and I met with the diocesan lawyer last week for three hours, a very profitable time. George Maiteki is the managing partner in the law firm of Edward Ssekandi, who is the Speaker of Parliament, the number three position in the Ugandan government. Before taking this position, Mr. Maiteki was the youngest member to serve in Parliament. It is very helpful to have gained access to such a well-placed fellow, for there are many challenges before us as a new diocese which need the hands of a skilled attorney.

VISITORS AND MISSIONARIES
We have had many visitors, which is a real blessing. Bill and Heidi Sullivan of St. James, Monterey, came to survey the situation at Buliisa Hospital (near Lake Albert), with the plan of leading a short term medical mission/ hospital renovation sometime in the next year. Heidi is a registered nurse, and Bill is a builder and expert in many fields. This is a substantial project which the Sullivans have undertaken! I must do the groundwork here, while they tell the story at home and recruit a team to help. If such a short term mission interests you, please contact them at wildbillsullivan@yahoo.com.

Fr. John Macdonald and his team from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry came, and taught the clergy. Rev. Deb Carr stayed with us briefly, and worked on various options for children’s ministries, as well as helping me with some of my work. She has done exciting work with children in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and I hope we can work out a short term program with our Youth/Children’s worker, the Rev. Jackson Kauya (pictured at Kikwanana Church last Sunday, where he translated for me and led the service). He is small, but mighty, a very skilled priest, former principal of a bible college, and a great pastor. It is a pleasure to work with him.

Janine LeGrand also stayed with us for some time, and became a good friend. She is a SAMS missionary candidate who will be coming back to serve in Masindi-Kitara as soon as she can make preparations from her home in Hawaii. She is a teacher, medical assistant, and wonderful cook, among other talents. You can see her in the picture of the Christians at Kiryandongo Church (the archdeacon is on the left, blue shirt, and Janine is on the right). We look forward to her return.

A team of short term missionaries from Canada, who had worked with Philista from her CRWRC days, came to visit us briefly. They really wanted to see her again! But they also wanted to meet her husband and to hear a bit about the work in Masindi. I really hope that our paths will cross again.

TAILORING SCHOOL
The school is now full, and we are pleased with the general level of the students. In fact, we have had to defer a whole group of students until May, when we hope to start a second shift in the afternoon. The school would not function were it not for Philista’s continual presence and oversight. She goes to devotions, deals with student problems, makes sure that the materials and supplies are there, and ensures that everything is stable and happy. We did not intend for her to fall into this role, and our hope is to find someone to take her place, so that she is freed to concentrate on her garment business and her other interests. But a successor has not appeared as yet, and this is a subject for real prayer. We want the program to stand on its own feet without our intervention. When this happens, we know that our work will have been successful.

We now have our second Moslem in the program, a young student. She and her teacher, Amina, are both happy to join us in the daily devotions and bible study, and they have even led prayers! What a wonderful opportunity the Lord has given us here, to share good news in a safe learning environment. As I think of this God-given opportunity, I am reminded of those words attributed to St. Francis – preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. This is a time when a loving example can work wonders.

CATECHIST SCHOOL
The diocesan “big men” decided that Masindi-Kitara needed to have its own school to train catechists (the lay readers at each local church who are the true pastors week in and week out). The school was announced on the local radio, and fifty students showed up! The teaching is to be handled by diocesan staff, (“no money” to pay teachers). I asked to be excused, citing my already insane work load – but to no avail. Starting in March, I will be teaching biblical studies and development studies.

There is a “syllabus” for both Old and New Testaments of one page – no outlines, no class notes, no objectives. Fortunately, I have taught bible studies several times over the last thirty years of ordained ministry. And the students are all seasoned church leaders who are really committed to learn. So it should be a positive experience, and a chance to help these catechists in many areas, such as preaching, storytelling, and devotional uses of the Bible. This is an opportunity to minister to the ministers, for which I thank the Lord. It will also help me with the development work in the field.

These courses are meant to be for catechists only. But it has been my experience that if the instruction is good, many pastors, lay people, and even bishops, will come. So please pray that our little efforts here will bear fruit.

CHURCH FARM PROJECTS
We began this experimental program very quietly with only two churches, but it has been REALLY successful. It’s a very simple program, and requires involvement by the church leaders, the Christians, and sometimes other members of the community. The report from the Archdeacon of Kiryandongo is attached to this newsletter, so that you can sense the level of excitement. Most of the work was done by volunteers who believe in the program, for example, the picture of the Christians who helped “archie” harvest the maize. We are now opening up another three acres for this church, and the general happiness is spreading to the other churches in Kiryandongo Archdeaconry, the poorest of the lot.

Perhaps the biggest confirmation of success is that seven other parishes have asked me to do the same thing for them. The only thing needed now is funding and time to cover all the bases. But it is clearly a self-sustaining program for strengthening the churches at the local level: and the expenses are low.

Our figures suggest that it costs around $100 to clear an acre of virgin land, and another $150 to plough it twice and buy the seed. Once this hard work has been done, the costs go down for the second growing season (Uganda has two seasons a year), which means the profits go up. And best of all, the profits stay with the local church, which means that the Christians are helping themselves.

You can see my former colleague, Godfrey Mugisa, and the pastor of Ntooma Parish standing in the middle of the maize field at Ntooma, and get some idea of the fertility of the soil.

PYTHONS AND PIGS
Our compound is home to many of God’s creatures – beautiful birds, bees, bats in the ceiling, roof rats, squirrels, and pythons. This snake was seen by one of our night watchmen under a security light, and he hit it on the head with a big stick (pretty brave of him). You can see it was quite long. A few days later, another snake was seen making its way onto our back verandah (as the diocesan cashier was sitting out in back drinking tea), and the cashier dashed up and beat it with another stick. Fortunately, when our house guests were around, the snakes were all asleep in their holes.

Phili has also taken up raising pigs, and a photo of Sonny and Cher is attached (named by the Sullivans). We hope to use our home compound for the next growing season as a demonstration plot of kitchen gardening and livestock husbandry. Raising pigs is a first for both of us, and the vet has been to see us twice already. But we know how to grow things, and it is really tasty when it’s fresh from your garden! My mother, the master gardener, has helped us with some seeds and “tech a nical” advice, as they say here. Too bad she can’t just come here and demonstrate in the field to our Christians! She would love all the birds in our compound! Uganda has more species of birds than any other country (for you birdwatchers), so for that reason alone, it’s worth making the long trip.

CONTAINER FROM THE EAST STOCKTON ROTARY
Fr. Mark Hall has sent me an impressive list of contents inside this container, which is now in transit. It has been a long two years or so since Fr. Mark and I dreamed up this project, but it is coming to fruition. There are medical and dental supplies for Kuluva Hospital, Arua, and hand tools, textbooks, bibles, clergy vestments, some furniture, a new generator and many other useful donations for Masindi. I can hardly wait! For one thing, Phili’s sewing machines, dress form, and materials are coming soon. And we have young people who want to work, who can take advantage of all these things. My thanks go to all of you who have helped with this project!

WEB SITE
Thanks to a wonderful friend from my Coalinga and Fresno days, Steve Richardson, we now have a web site! It’s father-jim.org. Please take a look at it, and give us your feedback. In the future, I hope it contains more pictures, perhaps video clips of singing and dancing in the village churches, and items related to our work here in Uganda. Steve is posting newsletter pictures on the site, for those of you who receive the email version, but not always the pictures. I’m sure you will find Steve’s work a blessing.

Philista and I send you our thanks for sharing with us in this fascinating and challenging ministry. We can process emails at our home now, even if slowly by Western standards, which saves a lot of time and aggravation of looking for an internet café with electricity running. So please, feel free to contact us that way. And letters are always appreciated. I am slow at answering them, but I do eventually respond, We wish you a blessed Lent, a time of renewal as we prepare for the Feast of the Resurrection.