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November 2002, Page 11.
Index of articles.
Missionaries:
index,
Jelley Baby,
African Time,
Shifting,
Short Break,
Copts in Egypt.
In this issue:
(November 2002)
Vicar's letter,
Wildfire,
Window,
small services,
bussing in USA,
Iraq,
Jelleys.
Chris and Sophie Jelley & Oscar are our Link Missionaries in Uganda Christian University. Extracts from their latest letter....
Short break from Uganda
Big apologies for not writing sooner! The last few weeks have been taken up with our temporary relocation. As mentioned in our last letter, Jelley Baby No. 2 is due in mid October, and we have returned to UK for the birth.
Catching up with family and friends has brought with it the realization that we often feel very isolated in Uganda, despite the warmth of some of the people there. We have left behind some dear friends in Uganda. Samuel, Florence and Joseph are looking after our house, and Betty (a great friend of Oscar) begins her final year as an education student this month.
The University Computer Department, still in its infancy, is expanding rapidly. An additional computer laboratory will open this semester, with 150 more computers arriving on campus so that every student should be able to access internet facilities (on payment of a computing fee). There was a successful “recess” course in July, which enabled non-UCU students to benefit from the new facilities.
Chris enjoyed a holiday for a few weeks, as work has been rewarding but very demanding over this past year. He is now concentrating on the UCU work he brought to UK with him, so our telephone line is often monopolized by Chris ... online! He is working on new developments for UCU, in particular the curriculum for the BSc in Information Technology, a new degree course which is due to begin next year.
Sophie is glad to be in a cooler climate for the last stage of pregnancy. She is grateful to bave been well throughout, but is also now beginning to feel a mixture of apprehension and panic at the thought of coping with two!
Oscar has coped well with the adjustments he has had to make: supermarkets are completely different from Mukono Market, and there are pavements instead of gravel paths everywhere. He loves really big buses and watching the Tweenies on TV, but doesn’t really like having to wear so many clothes in the British climate! He has started at a local nursery for a few mornings a week, and loves pretend cooking, train sets, and “glueing and sticking”. The staff say he never stops talking (mmm ... where does he get that from?)!
Please pray for us that we continue to find the courage and confidence to follow God wherever he leads.
Chris & Sophie Jelley
The above letter (which we abbreviated slightly to fit into the magazine) was written in early September, but production problems delayed its circulation and we didn't receive it until after the copy deadline for October's issue. Towards the end of October we received news of ...
The birth of Jelley Baby No. 2 - Dylan
"Labour was very quick at a record breaking three hours and we managed to get to the hospital at least 45 minutes before he was born. Photographs will follow later on today when my digital camera batteries have recharged (I'm afraid I went a little overboard!!). Mother and baby doing really well. He is a lovely boy and we give thanks and praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for his safe delivery. Hallelujah!! Later he also sent some photographs, which Natasha Thomas (CMS Representative for Bradford Diocese) kindly forwarded to us: one of them appears on the right. We sent our congratulations and best wishes to Chris and Sophie. |
Following Dylan's birth, Chris and Sophie decided not to return to long-term mission in Uganda but instead to look for other jobs in England. Chris returned briefly to complete some outstanding jobs for the University's Business Studies department, and to hand over the work to a successor, and applied for jobs in Information Technology in England, and Sophie looked for jobs where she could exercise a continuing ministry in the Church of England. She was eventually appointed to a post in the south of England where she has a "house for duty" - which means she doesn't get paid but they do get somewhere to live. Chris commutes to London, and Sophie manages a small parish, technically working for two days a week.
St Luke's decided in 2003 to support another missionary couple: Chris and Angela Chorlton, who are going to Egypt to work with St Mark's Coptic Church, Beni Suef.