"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
And that is exactly what the Discipleship Training School outreach team from Lausanne, Switzerland has been doing while they've been on outreach with us here in Arua.
First, they headed down to a big soccer field (football pitch), donned their trendy yellow gloves, and got to work picking up trash. This field is at a main intersection right in Arua town, and soon enough, the presence of this team there picking up rubbish drew some interested on-lookers.
This woman came from a nearby sub-county called Maracha, and just happened to be visiting Arua that day. As she passed the soccer field and saw the Swiss team picking up rubbish, she also felt compelled to join them. So they gave her a pair of gloves, and she became part of their rubbish picking team.
The team was officially welcomed and appreciated by the town mayor, Mr. Charles Asiki, who thanked the team members for their heart to serve the community, and provided members of the Municipal Council representing the Department of Health and Hygiene to assist the team. The Municipal Council provided the gloves and bags for collecting the rubbish, and one member joined the team in the work. They also took responsibility to transport the rubbish to the dump.
Journalists from Voice of Life, a local Christian radio station, came to the field to interview the team members and try to find out what they were doing and why. It was a great opportunity to share the love of Christ in action and encourage others to look after God's creation.
Still eager to serve, the team continued loving in action by solving a drainage problem out at Giligil Prison. We have been working in this prison for several years now, running Alpha Courses and teaching the Word of God, but as we said earlier, we knew God wanted us to do something practical, as well. So when we heard that the prison had a problem draining the water run-off from the bathing areas, we went to have a look.
We found that the water from the guys' baths was collecting in a pool just outside the prison walls, and stagnating into a smelly b
og. Mosquitos were happily breeding in the stagnant water and causing a high rate of malaria among the prisoners.
So the Swiss team and some of our Arua YWAMers got to work with some pipes, bricks and cement to redirect the flow of water and channel it away from the prison.
Some of the prisoners joined the work, and were grateful that something was being done that would reduce their chances of getting sick.
They worked all day, enduring the smell, the grime and a rain shower, but they got it done!
Dirty, wet and tired....yet they STILL have smiles on their faces! Now THAT'S an outreach team, for ya!
Well done, friends! You guys rock!
First, they headed down to a big soccer field (football pitch), donned their trendy yellow gloves, and got to work picking up trash. This field is at a main intersection right in Arua town, and soon enough, the presence of this team there picking up rubbish drew some interested on-lookers.
This woman came from a nearby sub-county called Maracha, and just happened to be visiting Arua that day. As she passed the soccer field and saw the Swiss team picking up rubbish, she also felt compelled to join them. So they gave her a pair of gloves, and she became part of their rubbish picking team.
The team was officially welcomed and appreciated by the town mayor, Mr. Charles Asiki, who thanked the team members for their heart to serve the community, and provided members of the Municipal Council representing the Department of Health and Hygiene to assist the team. The Municipal Council provided the gloves and bags for collecting the rubbish, and one member joined the team in the work. They also took responsibility to transport the rubbish to the dump.
Journalists from Voice of Life, a local Christian radio station, came to the field to interview the team members and try to find out what they were doing and why. It was a great opportunity to share the love of Christ in action and encourage others to look after God's creation.
Still eager to serve, the team continued loving in action by solving a drainage problem out at Giligil Prison. We have been working in this prison for several years now, running Alpha Courses and teaching the Word of God, but as we said earlier, we knew God wanted us to do something practical, as well. So when we heard that the prison had a problem draining the water run-off from the bathing areas, we went to have a look.
We found that the water from the guys' baths was collecting in a pool just outside the prison walls, and stagnating into a smelly b
og. Mosquitos were happily breeding in the stagnant water and causing a high rate of malaria among the prisoners.So the Swiss team and some of our Arua YWAMers got to work with some pipes, bricks and cement to redirect the flow of water and channel it away from the prison.
Some of the prisoners joined the work, and were grateful that something was being done that would reduce their chances of getting sick.
They worked all day, enduring the smell, the grime and a rain shower, but they got it done!
Dirty, wet and tired....yet they STILL have smiles on their faces! Now THAT'S an outreach team, for ya!
Well done, friends! You guys rock!
1 comment:
yay for the trash-pickers! I remember doing that in Kaya; people thought we were crazy! Too bad I've missed meeting all these teams coming through!
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