Bush drum Number 13 December 2013 Fill the gap Intl. Picture: Evelyn Pichler, Österreich
Blessing G od open up our hearts that they are ready to receive your love. Open up our hearts that we can meet those who don t know you yet. t. (From Africa) Dear friends, S ome years ago a young lady from Iran asked me if I could explain to her what Christmas is about. I looked at her with surprise and then she told me that she did cosmetics and many of her customers who come in December complain: Christmas time is so stressful. There are so many expectations. She often heard: I wish it would be over. So when this young lady asked carefully if this festival was so stressful can t it just be left out, the answer was: Oh no, that is just impossible. Then this young lady, who was muslin, asked why this was not possible and what Christmas was about none of her customers could answer her question. So I had quite unexpectedly the chance to tell her the Good News. And I used it! The young lady was surprised and excited about the Message of Christmas. Half a year later she gave her life to Jesus. Nowadays I sometimes walk up to people to ask them: Do you know why we celebrate Christmas and why it is called the festival of love? Many people don t know (any more) and then I tell them that it was God s great idea to give his only son to us the greatest gift on earth that everybody who believe in him will not be lost but will have eternal life. So deep is God s love for us! My wish for Christmas was that God would open our hearts that we can receive His great love more and more and that we take the courage to pass on His love. Page 2
A lot has happened in the second year of our ministry through which we want to fill the gaps mainly in Uganda but also in people s hearts in Europe. Bush drum 4 / 2013 December 2013 Looking back Thanks to a lot of spiritual and financial support we could not only preach the gospel but also fulfill the following tasks Different bible courses in the men s and women s prison with exam and graduation Supporting a function at the world Aid s day Supporting as well as leading services in the men s prison and remand prison in Kampala Support for the big Christmas Carol at Upper Prison and at the children reception center Leadership training for the inmates in the men s Upper Prison Regular medical support especially for chronically sick inmates with spe- Training in conflict management in cial nourishment and if possible with Upper Prison medicine Counseling in all prison including in- Support through a team of dentists in tervention in crisis and the danger of August 2013 in all prisons we care suicide for Support of larger events like func- Financial support for treatments and tions after examinations, service for operations in Mulago Hospital for in- the new archbishop of the Anglican mates Church and others Preparing as well as leading the examinations for the hairdressers at women s prison graduation will be on 17 January Financial support for sports activities like buying balls, tricots and sports shoes Special support of elderly inmates of men s and women s prison with su- Page 3
gar, tea, fruit and toilette paper Bush drum 4 / 2013 December 2013 get any visitors or can t be supported Special food for babies and small by their families children in the women s prison as well as the breastfeeding mothers Purchase of blankets, mats, items for cleaning like buckets, brushes, Regular deliveries of rice to the child- brooms ren s reception center and cabbage to Purchase of plastic cups and plates, all the other of our prison thermos and bathing slippers From time to time we also delivered Small Christmas presents for the pri- fruit and bread son officers and other people who we Providence of underwear and hygienic work with articles for the Sponsoring of women and the 15 sponsor children girls in the child- 13 girls and 2 boys at ren s remand pri- the age of 3 to 20 son years, 2 of them are Providence of hygienic articles li- handicapped and 10 (highly) traumatized ke soap, tooth Sponsoring of 3 paste, toothbrus- inmates of men s Up- hes and washing per Prison powder to all our prisons. Support of two events in Germany you can find Support of the different kinds of edu- more in the last bush drum cation through buying books, exercise books, pens, rulers, calculators, chalk ect. Financing workshops to learn the traditional crafts Organizing, financing and leading a painting class Special support of inmates who don t The institutions we cared for in 2013 are Upper Prison in Kampala which is the main prison with about 3500 male inmates and 280 inmates in the condemned section The Kampala Remand Prison with about 1200 male inmates Page 4
The Murchison Bay Prison with about 1000 male inmates The Luzira Women s Prison, the main prison for women, with about 300 inmates and about 40 babies and young children Nakasongola Prison with about 600 male and about 45 female inmates Children s Remand Prison Naguru with about 200 inmates, 12 15 are girls The children s Reception Center with about 160 left and/ or maltreated children or children who were born in prison and can t be with the mother s any longer Dear friends, we really thank God, our Lord, who enabled us to do all this work. He has brought this ministry into existence and he will go on leading it with his Spirit. But we also thank all of you who have supported us! We are only a small team, at the moment only three paid members of staff in Uganda, 5 volunteers in Germany and Erika, also a volunteer who does her work in Uganda but also in Germany. That is the reason why we still can keep our expenses for administration low. That is why I also want to give a special thanks to all volunteers. May the Lord reward you! Moreover we, the team of Fill the Gap Intl., want to thank everybody who has been praying, encouraging and visiting us or came to volunteer as well as our sponsors and donors. You are great! May the Lord bless you and reward you! M any of you followed the initiative to give a bible to every inmate who took part in the bible course. So we should be able to give each of them a bible for Looking ahead Christmas. We are very touched and thrilled and thank you so much. At the moment we don t know how we will be able to go on. The plans so far: Erika Page 5
will be touring through Germany and Austria in March and April 2014. She is bringing the latest information in her lively and evangelistic way or she will speak about forgiveness, God s calling, the love of God but you will always hear about Uganda. She will be accompanied by Edda who coordinates the whole tour. To contact call 0049 (0) 511/228 4444 or write an e-mail to Edda Loenneker: info@fillthegapintl.org Josef and Stefan are working hard on the internet site which will be ready soon. At last T hose who want to support our activities and our work are most welcome. The people we care for always need it and appreciate it. As we are a registered ministry you can claim the donations from the tax with the receipt which we will send to you at the beginning of the year. If we don t have your address, please send it as soon as possible to info@fillthegapintl.org You are also welcome for sponsorship, especially for our inmates. A sponsorship can be taken at any time but also be canceled at any time without giving any reasons. For Pictures: Erika Ströer Page 6
more information about sponsorship write to info@fillthegap-intl.org and soon you will find it on our website. We thank all sponsors for giving a future to the children and people we care for. They send you greetings a wish you a Merry Christmas. If you don t want to receive the bush drum any more let us know through above mentioned e-mail address. But if you don t get it and want to get it, also contact the same e-mail address. The bush drum appears 4 5 times a year. Something to laugh about S omething to laugh about In the time when George W. Bush was president of the United States he came to visit Uganda. One evening he was sitting with President Museveni on the balcony of the State House. He realized that it was dark in most parts of Kampala and said jokingly that obviously the Ugandan President wasn t able to supply enough electricity to his country. Yoweri Museveni was smiling but inwardly he was annoyed. Some months later President Museveni visited the United States of America. One evening both men were sitting on the balcony of the White House. Suddenly Museveni saw a dark spot in the city. Triumphantly he turned to Bush: Look, George, even you can t provide enough electricity for the town. Bush was stunned and didn t know what to say. So he called one of his close advisers and asked him why there wasn t any electricity in this small spot of the town. The adviser whispered into his ear and Bush started laughing. He just couldn t stop to laugh, he was even rolling o- ver on the floor.museveni was very irritated by this and asked what it was that made Bush behave like this. Bush gasped, stood up and pointed to the dark spot in the city and answered laughingly: This dark spot there, my dear friend, is the Ugandan Embassy! Dear friends, I can just add to this anecdote: Blessed Page 7 Pictures: Erika Ströer
are those who can laugh about themselves, they will have a lot of fun in life! I wish that all of you had an enlightened and happy Christmas and I wish you a peaceful and blessed New Year 2014. Greetings from Erika and the whole team in Germany and Uganda I can just add to this anecdote: Blessed are those who can laugh about themselves, they will have a lot of fun in life! I wish that all of you had an enlightened and happy Christmas and I wish you a peaceful and blessed New Year 2014. Greetings from Erika and the whole team in Germany and Uganda with psalm 27,1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear. The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid of? Ihr Lieben, Copyright: Die Buschtrommel unterliegt mit allen Texten, Fotos und Zeichnungen dem Urheberrecht. Sie darf ausschließlich zu dem Zweck, über unseren Dienst Fuelle die Luecke e.v./fill The Gap Intl. zu informieren, nur in komplettem, vollständigen Zustand kopiert, weitergegeben und auch ausgelegt werden. Wenn Sie nur Auszüge veröffentlichen möchten, müssen sie sich vorher eine Genehmigung des Vereins einholen. Kontaktdaten: Fülle die Lücke/fill the gap intl. e. V. Am Lindenhofe 36 30519 Hannover e-mail: info@fillthegap-intl.org Page 8