On Tuesday, we drove to Kitgum as a team for the Vision Seminar of CHE – Community Health Empowerment. The Bishop of Kitgum invited all the clergy from all 40 parishes in the Diocese to attend. And they came! They came from all over, by public transport, trucks, motorbikes, and bicycles. In all, there were over 50 participants who came to learn about CHE and be part of the communal decision of whether to officially launch CHE in the Kitgum Diocese. We were overjoyed by the turnout. When we got to Kitgum, we were formally received by the Bishop and then taken to the guesthouse in town, where our accommodations had been arranged. The guesthouse was called “The HILLTON”. We remarked that perhaps the spelling error was not an error at all, lest by some very small chance Hilton wanted to open a hotel in Kitgum, and they be sued for taking the name! Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of the sign… It was a very nice guesthouse, with a lovely little inner courtyard. Our room even had its own bathroom, which was a treat. (The alternative is having to use a latrine behind the building and a shared area for washing.) The only drawbacks to it were that our room didn’t have a lock from the outside, which meant we had to leave our bags in another room during the day, and also that the guesthouse runs a sports bar and there was a very loud soccer match that went into the wee hours of the morning the first night we were there. The Vision Seminar was kicked off by a supper together on Tuesday night. We returned in the morning and started with a church service, complete with Holy Communion (our first since we’ve been in Uganda). After some opening words by the Bishop and the Country Directors of Emmanuel International, we started the sessions. Chris and Jane, the CHE Uganda Directors, facilitated a lesson on the Great Commandment which lays the biblical foundation for holistic community development. The participants were very keen and produced rich and detailed answers to the questions that were posed. We were very pleased! After a tea break we facilitated the second lesson, which leads the participants through a series of exercises to define “What is good health?” There was a PowerPoint presentation that explained what CHE is and how it works. Then it was time for the pastors to decide the way forward – is CHE something they support in their communities, and will they commit to it? In what geographic area will it start? How will it proceed? The pastors unanimously expressed their desire to launch CHE, and we joined hands and prayed together to officially launch the beginning of the ministry. It was a very exciting moment. The Vision Seminar ended the next morning, after some time of praise and worship, and some breakfast together. And we set our sights on what’s next, namely the first “Training of Trainers” week-long intensive training that will occur in Pader in 6 weeks. Here we go! Many thanks to all who prayed for a successful launch of CHE.
6 Comments
3/10/2012 08:32:14 am
Marianne & Mike -- I really enjoy reading these updates and looking at the photos!
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Charlotte Ng
3/10/2012 10:34:46 am
Marianne, I am so happy CHE has launched! Praise the Lord! So happy to see you and Mike serving the Lord is this wonderful ministry! I look forward to further updates. God bless!!!
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sajoy
3/10/2012 11:17:30 am
exciting to see people coming together with the same vision.
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Alan Graham
3/10/2012 02:33:30 pm
Great news! have posted to my FB page and will get it in the EIM website ASAP
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Xerma Kennedy
3/12/2012 10:33:05 am
Praised be The Lord! What a beautiful edition this one. Locals involvement, CHE has been launched, and you, Mike and Marianne, look so happy. Praised be The Lord.
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4/22/2012 03:10:40 pm
Sounds like you are getting off to a good start - PTL. I just got home from India about 3 weeks ago and saw many of the CHE principles being put into action there.
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