Duncan and I say it is our second home and everyone we meet there seems to agree, it was therefore great to take 2 others with us to share in the love we are so blessed to receive.
Geoff, on his first visit to Africa, had wondered how he would fit in not having experienced the culture before, no need to worry he said he felt he slotted in just like a piece in a jigsaw. Thank you, Lord! We were all able to use our different and varying gifts, sharing together to work as a team to do our best for all those we met. I can’t possibly mention everything that we did, there was so much, but here is a taster. We all had a morning to lead Devotions which followed amazing singing. Bruce a retired vicar, spent time talking to all the staff, took bible studies and preached; Duncan and Geoff held a workshop for the Micro Finance clients and others interested in setting up small businesses; Geoff helped with the painting of the church, Duncan worked alongside Geoffrey and Alfred.

I held 4 workshops for the older girls and ladies, starting with making hand sewn lavender bags. I taught about their body’s development through puberty, menstruation and menopause, sadly this is not information that anyone receives so there were very many questions. Everyone then made reusable sanitary pads by hand and each were given new underwear. We all went to various parts of the hospital, taking Babygro’s and lovely hand knitted jackets for the new borns in maternity and neonatal; a walking stick, incontinence pads, toothbrushes & toothpaste and lady’s catheters to surgical and medical. All so well received as they have so little. It was a privilege to pray with many, although quite heartbreaking at times, babies dying, horrendous injuries but the Lord gave us the right words as His Peace was evident.
The 3 men went to the Men’s Prison while I visited the Ladies. We all took pens, notebooks, underwear, toothbrushes & toothpaste and soap, life is incredibly basic inside with many on remand and who have been awaiting trial for 2 years. The praise and worship in both the Men’s and Ladies side was wonderful, sharing the Word when you could hear a pin drop and faces are fixed on every word that is said was heartwarming. The most exhausting but truly uplifting time was on Saturday afternoon when we held a Children’s Fun Time. It was hot and very noisy, over 200 children having such fun, such a joy to hear the laughter which sadly is so rare for many. We played team games with Frisby’s, parachutes and balls, I read a story about the Rainbow Fish (with an interpreter as my Lou is not quite up to scratch!!) and then they all made their own fish decorating them with coloured tissue paper - there were bits of tissue paper everywhere!!!
They loved it and were proud to take home their beautiful paper plate fish. Then bananas and a quiet time to round up before they headed home collecting some sweets as they left. How blessed are we to have been part of God’s plan and been a small part to His Blessings, Rosalind

2 new soakaways are being dug on either side of the church to help improve drainage and reduce the risk of flash flooding during heavy rain.

Leaking gutters and more than 20 years of use and exposure to the harsh equatorial weather have taken their toll on the fabric of TEAMS church and administrative offices (built in 2002) so action was urgently needed before the decaying brickwork caused structural issues.

Whilst on site earlier this year, TEAMS chairman, Duncan Watt met with local builders and agreed a specification of works which, when completed should give the church complex a new lease of life.

New gutters, partial replacement of failing roof sheets, new drainage and soakaways, brickwork repairs and a new 1 m high external render around the base of the church together with a complete external redecoration will transform what had become a very tired building. Whilst these works are being undertaken, new access and landscaping to the front of the church will be provided. This follows the loss of the site frontage and several smaller buildings when the new national road was built in front of TEAMS site last year.

This is a major programme of works for TEAMS and is costing a lot of money. However, the “silver lining” arising from the loss of 10% of our site to the new road is that 75% of the costs of these works will be met from the residue of compensation received from the Roads Authority. The compensation we received for our loss has already been partly spent building a substantial new boundary wall, gates, guard house and cycle store, together, more recently, with a new kitchen and store.

TEAMS church is proud to stand at the centre of the Layibi community and will continue to preach the Word of God and serve those in need.

Please continue to hold TEAMS in your prayers. The challenges we face are growing as the needs in this troubled part of Central Africa get greater. The rich are getting richer, but for the vast majority who live in extreme poverty, life is extremely difficult.

Our Lord blessed us with a wonderful sunny afternoon (after a particularly drizzly week) and holidaymakers and locals turned out in great numbers and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon sitting in the churchyard looking down the valley to a glistening sea!

Volunteers baked scones – fruit, plain, gluten-free and cheese. A popular alternative, Chudleighs, was also offered. A large selection of Ugandan crafts was available to purchase, most of which had been made by the sewing ladies who trained in our school. These ladies will be pleased to receive a profit share following these sales. Overall, a grand total of £945 was raised for the work of TEAMS beating last years amazing total by almost £200!

On behalf of TEAMS, we express our grateful thanks to all who supported this venture including local Waitrose and Co-op stores who kindly donated some clotted cream, jam, milk and butter.

Charles had been TEAMS resident Pastor for almost 5 years and was much loved by his family, congregation and colleagues. He was invited to become a member of TEAMS Ugandan board at the age of 30 and married Susan, a year later. He leaves 2 small boys, Isiah and Bruce. At the end of 2022 he became unwell and initially was diagnosed with a severely ulcerated Colon, but as the months passed and he did not get better, he went for further tests and just 6 weeks before his death was found to have stage 4 cancer and kidney failure. This was devastating news and so unusual for such a young man. He was admitted to St Francis Hospital in Kampala for further tests and treatment and started Chemotherapy just 2 weeks before his death which was on 27th May.
TEAMS trustees thank all of you who, like us, have been praying earnestly for Charles’s recovery and also have been generously donating towards Charles’s medical bills which were enormous (there is no NHS in Uganda!). In the end, our Heavenly Father had other plans for this talented young man and we must Trust in Him to provide the next chapter in TEAMS spiritual well-being. Charles’s funeral and service of celebration of his life is to take place at TEAMS church and grounds on Friday and Saturday 9th-10th June when 2,000 people are expected to attend. TEAMS will be making a large contribution towards this event and should you feel willing and able to contribute to this, please go to our giving page and make a payment into our UK bank account using the details provided. The reference for donations on this occasion is “4 Pastor Charles”

Thank you

May Pastor Charles rest in peace and rise in glory.

Please also pray for our assistant Pastor Joel who unexpectedly finds himself taking on responsibilities of temporary leadership of TEAMS church. Joel is coping well, but has only been with TEAMS for 5 months and with no mentoring from Pastor Charles for almost the entire time he has been with us, has been dropped in the deep end!

We don’t just need financial donations. Charles and his family need your prayers too. Below are some prayer points we invite you to pray over. • Miracle healing for Charles…Make his tumour vanish; remove all secondary cancer (in Charles’s lungs); re-awaken his kidneys and reduce his very high blood pressure. • Prayers for Charles’s family. Wife Susan – by his hospital bedside 400 miles from home; 2 sons Isaiah (5) and Bruce (2) being looked after by extended family in Gulu; his 2 brothers Solomon and Ogen and his Uncle Martin who is also by his bedside. • Prayers for TEAMS other staff who are all shocked by this sudden and unexpected health scare. They have all been supporting Charles and voluntarily funded a visit last weekend of 2 staff members and Charles’s youngest brother Ogen to Kampala. • Prayers for Assistant Pastor Joel – only appointed last November, but for more than 3 months has been running TEAMS church and its associated programmes. • Prayers that donations flood in for Charles – TEAMS does not want to have to make the decision that further medical treatment cannot be afforded. The TEAMS board both in the UK and Uganda thank you in advance for your concern and compassion.

On behalf of TEAMS and Pastor Charles, THANKYOU.__

During this time, we have spread the word of God to countless people, helped teach hundreds to read and write English; taught many a Skill-for-life in our vocational training centre; supported more than 30 orphans through their education until adulthood; Ministered in many prisons and hospitals and built and continue to run a community borehole. These successes and many other beneficial programmes have only been possible due to the generosity and loyal support of you, our willing supporters.

On behalf of TEAMS boards both here in the UK and in Uganda we THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.

From inception, TEAMS vision was to be the catalyst in its quest to spread the word and love of God to people in East Africa. Gradually our local Trustees and managers have been encouraged to take more and more responsibility for running TEAMS and now, after 21 years of leading, encouraging and nurturing, our Ugandan staff are ready to take over all management control leaving the UK supporters with just the financial control. Uganda has made great steps in starting to raise funds locally, but it has to be recognised that it will not be financially self sufficient for some time yet.

To implement our vision of passing more responsibility to Uganda, The UK Board has decided that some legal restructuring is necessary. The first step of this is to establish a new, not-for-profit limited liability company in Uganda. This company will have no shareholders so the company itself is the entity which will own all of TEAMS’s assets in Uganda. We are pleased to announce that at the end of July, this stage was completed with the registration of The East African Missionary Society Uganda Ltd. The next phase is to transfer our land titles, Ugandan bank accounts and all other assets to this company.

In setting up this new company, we are pleased to have secured Pastor Morish Okello as an additional board member making 4 Ugandan members and 2 UK ones. This ensures that all management decisions will have a Ugandan majority, although the UK will still exercise full financial control.

Please pray for a smooth and successful transfer during this restructuring process and also for all of our Ugandan Board members.

In Uganda, where TEAMS operate, there is virtually no social service support for the needy and thus, if you have no job or are unable to produce your own food, the situation is desperate. The worldwide Pandemic has severely impacted Uganda, especially the poorest, leaving many hungry and often starving.

Although TEAMS continues to struggle financially, we trust in our Lord to provide so the board has decided to do something to help those members of TEAMS church congregation who are either finding it very difficult to put food on the table, or through old age or poor health, can no longer support themselves.

Pastor Charles and the Ugandan management board have come up with the idea that monthly food parcels would be delivered to those whom the church elders consider to be most in need. 4 people have initially been identified and have already received several kilos of beans, posho (maize flour), some salt and soap. The photographs above show recipients being presented with their food parcels outside the Pastor’s office at The Sanctuary Church after the first Sunday service in August.

Sadly, one of the recipients died a week ago and TEAMS supported her family by contributing to the funeral expenses. Another member of TEAMS congregation is being selected from the long list of those needing help.

If you are able to help us in this humanitarian outreach, please visit our website giving page. A donation of just £10 will enable us to support a needy family for a month.

We have just received the results for the last set of DIT examinations. These were sat under extremely challenging circumstance due to very tight Covid restrictions and with very short notification. Unfortunately, not all students could return as many families had returned to far off villages due to the Pandemic, but those who remained locally were keen to try despite not having done any lessons for 18 months. The Board are truly delighted to report that everyone passed their Practical exams with flying colours, many achieving an A+ which is wonderful. The highest number ever also passed the Theory exams too, so congratulations and very well done to students and teacher alike!!

I, and the board have really enjoyed working with Adrian. His helpful advice and experience, particularly on the financial side of things has been a great benefit to TEAMS. Thankfully, he has agreed to participate and continue to advise as a “friend of TEAMS” for the foreseeable future, something for which we are most grateful. He will also continue as one of our “prayer partners”.

We wish Adrian every success in his new role and express our heartfelt thanks for all that he has done during the past 2 years.

Every Blessing,

Duncan Watt Chairman of Trustees

As indicated in our last update regarding TEAMS sewing school, our Year 2 students have just taken their DIT examinations. D I T stands for the Department of Industrial Training and is the vocational educational arm of the Ugandan Governments Ministry of Education. These exams would “normally” have been sat in February but due to the pandemic restrictions and schools remaining closed in Uganda for much of the past year, the exams were delayed. Both teachers and students have worked very hard to catch up to prepare for the exams and although fewer students managed to return to school than had originally been in the class, those who did were enthusiastic and studied well. The Theory paper was a challenge in parts with some rather unusual terminology (dare we say mistakes in the questions?) but we are hopeful that everyone will have managed most of the paper well. The practical for both the Formal Exam and the Modular went very well and everyone felt they had done a good job. Of course we have to await the official results which will not be out for a few months but we are hopeful that they will be good for everyone! Results are rarely issued within 6 months, but with no precedent for examinations being held at this time of year, who knows when we will officially receive the results. Please watch this space!

Some good news we’d like to share with you is that a generous supporter has offered to fund a Bursary to 1 student to cover fees and costs associated with attending our course.
A very deserving and enthusiastic student has been selected; one who without this help was going to have to leave because her family were no longer able to afford the fees. She was absolutely thrilled to be told that she wouldn’t have to pay fees for this year!

TEAMS already effectively sponsors this course because we only strive to break even. Our fees and charges are considerably lower than other schools in the area (by a factor of 3 or 4 times!) so we do reach out to those students who are less able to afford this important form of vocational training, we also feed them every day. If you would like to help fund this programme, please do visit our “Giving” page and make a donation to TEAMS bank account. It costs a student just over £100 per year to attend our school but all contributions, whether great or small, are always most welcome!.

Born on Sunday 7th March he and mum are doing well and both were back home within 12 hours! Dad was preaching in church at the time so Mum and son had to wait to be collected (by Charles on TEAMS motorbike!)

Charles and Susan have named him LUBANGATWERO, KETLINE, BRUCE, AJUM

LUBANGATWERO means God is Able in the local language

KETLINE is derived from an amalgamation of the names of 2 deceased family members, and

BRUCE is the name of the newest UK trustee, himself a retired vicar. What an honour!

AJUM is Pastor Charles’s family name.

We thank God for this new life and pray that he will grow to know our Lord and be a great man!

The exams are over 2 days and an invigilator is sent from Kampala to oversee the event. Day 1 is the Theory paper - 2 and a half hours, Day 2 is the 6 hour practical exam during which students have to make a garment, details of which are not announced until the start of the exam!

“Stitches” has achieved fame for achieving 100% success in the practical examination since it commenced entering students for the Department of Industrial Training (DIT)’s examination. Few schools have achieved this - so no pressure on this years students then!!

As the theory paper is set in English and our students come from less educated backgrounds and struggle to cope with reading in their own language, let alone English, we do not achieve such success with this section of the exam. Nevertheless, students do receive a certificate for passing each paper and it means a great deal to those less academically qualified to receive success in something.

This year it is particularly challenging as the school had to be closed for 8 months during 2020 and thus parts of the syllabus have not been covered in such detail as usual. The Government is trying hard to return to the normal school year programme and therefore has foreshortened the usual timescale. However for non-examination levels the whole academic year has been scraped.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR STUDENTS AS THEY PREPARE FOR AND SIT THESE EXAMINATIONS.

Pray for guidance and ability to understand the questions and answer accurately, both for the Theory papers and the Practical and that they all produce work to the best of their ability.
We ask for special prayers for Christine, the schools assistant teacher who has bravely requested to sit these examinations alongside her students. She was taken on to our staff in the full knowledge that she had no paper qualifications at this level, but her teaching abilities and general knowledge of sewing were recognised and she has proved to be a great asset and complimentary to the practical talent of our head teacher John Bosco.

Finally we give thanks for the fact that through the generosity of our supporters we have been able to continue with this important area of vocational training to some of the more needy people in the Gulu area.
In these difficult times our finances are in a fragile state, if you can support us in this and other work, please do visit our donation page and give what ever you can.

TEAMS UK is proud of the fact that almost 100% of all funds received are spent in Uganda through our sister organisation, TEAMS Uganda.

Please, please pray for peace and calm to return quickly.

Thank you for your generous support ladies! STAY SAFE!