Sharing the pain & the joy

After moving to Lungujja last Saturday we havnt been able to get to the internet but dont imagine that means we have been sitting here enjoying the weather ! Following the loss of Teacher Gorretti we encouraged all the children and teachers to write about their happy memories of her and to draw a picture. The response was overwhelming - a encourmous pile of pictures, comments and thoughts, it was quite inspiring and very moving to see that this delightful young enthusiatic teacher had left such an impression on her young pupils. We spent an evening with the teachers, encouraging them to read what the children had written and to enjoy the things they had said. It started off as a slightly sombre time as they knew they were thinking about their departed collegue but ended up as an evening of fun and laughter as they shared the childrens stories and added many of their own. It was a real case of "tears at night but joy coming in the morning". It was a privilige to share with them and also to be allowed to share in their heartache and sadness about other losses they had suffered. We ended the evening thinking about the passage from Romans 8 where it says "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." amazing to realise that He knows everything that we are going through, the pain of loss, the despair, the turmoil of feelings and this was such a powerful reminder that in whatever circumstances we are and even in the face of death and the desparate sadness of the situation, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God.....