Uganda team set to go!
A team of girls and staff from Menzieshill High School in Dundee will be travelling to Gabba in Uganda on 28th September for three weeks. There the team will serve in local schools, support orphan children and get involved in project work in support of ARM (Africa Renewal Ministries) For most this will be their first time in Africa and so the excitement is rising. They have raised a considerable amount of money for their trip including over £700 at a recent quiz night attended by friends, parents and family members as well as staff and pupils from the school.
Newsletters link:
Mission International sends out regular email updates and newsletters some of which you will find here, however if you
would like to be added to our regular mailing list then please email us on mail@mission-international.org and we will make sure you are kept up to date as things happen. A Ghana 2010 newsletter has also been added recently to those stored on this site.
Recruiting for 2011 Mission teams NOW!
If you would like to serve God in the developing world and see new people and culture as you share God's Word and your skills then please consider becoming part of a Mission International team. We are now recruiting for summer 2011 so please visit our www.Mission-Teams.org pages where you will find more information and be able to download an application form.
News from Burundi team 2010:
We have been here a week and our heads are spinning with a range of reactions and emotions from what we have seen, heard and smelt! All of the group of nine are well. It is very hot and dusty. Forget about air-conditioning. There are cuts in electricity and water evey day; that is part of life here. This is the first time many of us have slept under mosquito nets. Charles and Val Carr (who supervised building of Hope Centre orphanage in 2008-2009) are very good team leaders and we get along very well as a team with great fellowship and prayer times.
The children at Hope Centre are very glad to see us. Most are outgoing and playful (the younger chldren). Pastor Leonard is very happy to see the enjoyment the children get from holding our hands and playing games with us. The older children are keen to discuss with us in our limited French or their limited English. Not got to grips with Kirundi, the local language yet! We have done some maintenance tasks and painting in the nearly completed house 4 with the older children helping and doing tasks themselves after we show them how to. It is evident in the culture and education system here that doing basic maintenance and improving things above basic subsistence does not come naturally. Some of us visited a secondary school near Hope Centre where it was thought we could help by doing painting. But the state of the buildings, desks and blackboards was so poor that painting is irrelevant. Where to start?
We had a good time with Rema Ministries people talking about options for improving the future prospects for Hope Centre in conjunction with Mission International. Rema support Pastor Leonard with advice and financial management in his task of operating the orphanage. They work with different churches to promote reconciliation, evengelism and building capacity for Burundians to improve their lot. We have learned a lot about the culture here, the legacy of the genocides in the 1970s and 1990s, the poor education system and the endemic corruption that shape what and how progress can be made. Tomorrow we head upcountry with Rema people for two days to see a couple of projects they run. On Sunday we will attend the church that Pastor Leonard is pastor of that is two hours' drive away from the orphanage. He has asked us to share with singing and testimonies. We guess it will be a three hours service, very usual here.
Burundi is a beautiful country and the people are beautiful. Many NGOs are working here. Progress is painfully slow. But life is much better for the 41 orphans from 4 to 25 years of age at Hope Centre though we ask what does their future hold. How do they need to be equipped to lead responsible and productive lives?
Thanks for your prayers for Ita and myself and the rest of the team of nine - Ian and Anne Forsyth, Charles and Val Carr, David Wells, and Philip and Norma Carr. We are due back in Scotland on 1st September.
God bless,
Mervyn Currie
The children at Hope Centre are very glad to see us. Most are outgoing and playful (the younger chldren). Pastor Leonard is very happy to see the enjoyment the children get from holding our hands and playing games with us. The older children are keen to discuss with us in our limited French or their limited English. Not got to grips with Kirundi, the local language yet! We have done some maintenance tasks and painting in the nearly completed house 4 with the older children helping and doing tasks themselves after we show them how to. It is evident in the culture and education system here that doing basic maintenance and improving things above basic subsistence does not come naturally. Some of us visited a secondary school near Hope Centre where it was thought we could help by doing painting. But the state of the buildings, desks and blackboards was so poor that painting is irrelevant. Where to start?
We had a good time with Rema Ministries people talking about options for improving the future prospects for Hope Centre in conjunction with Mission International. Rema support Pastor Leonard with advice and financial management in his task of operating the orphanage. They work with different churches to promote reconciliation, evengelism and building capacity for Burundians to improve their lot. We have learned a lot about the culture here, the legacy of the genocides in the 1970s and 1990s, the poor education system and the endemic corruption that shape what and how progress can be made. Tomorrow we head upcountry with Rema people for two days to see a couple of projects they run. On Sunday we will attend the church that Pastor Leonard is pastor of that is two hours' drive away from the orphanage. He has asked us to share with singing and testimonies. We guess it will be a three hours service, very usual here.
Burundi is a beautiful country and the people are beautiful. Many NGOs are working here. Progress is painfully slow. But life is much better for the 41 orphans from 4 to 25 years of age at Hope Centre though we ask what does their future hold. How do they need to be equipped to lead responsible and productive lives?
Thanks for your prayers for Ita and myself and the rest of the team of nine - Ian and Anne Forsyth, Charles and Val Carr, David Wells, and Philip and Norma Carr. We are due back in Scotland on 1st September.
God bless,
Mervyn Currie
Burundi team 2010 sets out from Aberdeen airport:
Olooltoto gets water:
This years team to Kenya has recently returned to the UK, however during their time in Kenya they were able to complete a water project in the village of Olooltoto in Kenya's Maasai Mara. Previously villagers had to carry water long distances from polluted water sources used by cattle and wild animals too. The villagers were extremely happy and expressed their thanks by singing and dancing for the team. More photos and details will be available on out Mission Teams pages.
Kenya Team 2010 video:
Fund-raiser raises £1000
Click on image to enlarge.
Musical fund-raiser for Kenya team 2010:
Rheagan Donaldson will be having a birthday bash in the form of a music fundraiser for the Kenya Team 2010. Rheagan, a Kenya Team 2010 member, is aranging the event to raise funds for her time on the team as well as celebrate her birthday. The music event will take place in the Port Seton Community Centre and starts at 6:30 (doors open at 6:15pm) on 25th of June 2010. Burundi drums, Bagpipes, bands, dancing, singing, violin duets, African style music, Scottish pop and rock music, food and drinks, stall, and an hour long sponsored drum solo at the end.
The picture shows Rheagan preparing some of the props for the event.
Edinburgh Marathon raises funds for the Hope Centre, Burundi:
Peter Crawley from Westhill in Aberdeenshire heard that friends of his were planning to be part of a Mission International team which would visit the Hope Centre in Burundi during August 2010. Peter decided to raise funds for the Hope Centre by running the Edinburgh Marathon. Peter used Just Giving as the focal point of his fundraising efforts. You can see Peter's Just Giving pages here. Thanks Peter for your efforts, we really appreciate what you have achieved, as do the large family of children in the Hope Centre.
Three Peaks event a great success!
Four colleagues from Law at Work in Edinburgh agreed to climb Britian's three highest peaks, Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis to raise funds for Mission International's Kenya Team 2010 project. The project plans to provide water for a remote Maasai community near Narok in Kenya's Maasai Mara and has an estimated cost of around £5000. Richard Woods, one of the climbers and a Kenya Team 2010 member too used the Just Giving site to help people donate to the event easily and has provided a few more photos there as well as writing a blog on his experiences too. What an amazing effort guys, I was with you every step of the way (in my dreams zzzzzz)!
Haircutting Hilarity:
Jack Spillsbury, a member of the Kenya Team 2010 has raised funds for the project by getting his hair cut off. Jack had very long hair before the big day but decided it all had to go in support of the team's fundraising efforts.
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