Sudanese Students and Schedules

Nelson (a friend), James & Rebecca
We also wanted to introduce to you two of our friends, Elnai James and Hawa Rebecca. Last week was visitation day for Ushindi Secondary School. Secondary is the Ugandan equivalent to high school and the boarding schools only have one visitation per term. So we found ourselves out at Ushindi, a beautiful campus near Arua town nestled among the mango trees.
Our one friend, James is a Sudanese refugee who we met through a Bible translator working in Arua. He is a warm hearted kid with an older brother who occasionally helps us out when we need a substitute watchman. Rebecca is the daughter of Bismark, an Episcopal bishop for a district in Southern Sudan. A close friend of ours was a class mate of his in Nairobi and because he had worked in Arua before, we began email correspondence. We discovered he had a daughter schooling in Arua so we went to meet her and had a terrific time getting to know her as well as a better feel for Ugandan education. While at times seemingly random, we thank Jesus for these opportunities to love the people either He brings to us or whom we can reach out to.

(The picture is Christopher's enormous welcoming home of Joanna when we first arrived. Our hearts are hurting with him.)

You all do so much for us but we also want to request special prayer for our watchman, Christopher. He suffered a stroke now three weeks ago and his right arm and hand are still paralyzed and causing him great pain. We visited him yesterday and he was in quite sad spirits which is just hard. We were wondering if there would be several people who would be willing to join with us this week in asking Jesus to touch him and heal his arm. Asante Sana (Thank you very much)!

We also wanted to give you a calendar to be praying over:
Tuesday 17th - Joanna's Birthday (Hooray!) and we go to Kampala for field meetings
Thursday 19th - Jeannie and Erica meet with Susan to explore several ministry opportunities
Friday 20th - We fly to Kenya for a leadership conference
Friday - May 4th - We return to Kampala
Tuesday May 8th - We return to Arua
Wednesday May 9th - A team of IWU college students arrives

Thank you for caring about our schedule. We don't know what email/blog access will be like over the next couple of weeks but know we are so grateful for your loving Jesus and us! Please also pray for our team as they carry on with opening opportunities here in Arua and then preparation for the college team. Hallelujah! Praise God Forever!

Billy & Joanna Coppedge