Sam and Deborah's faces shone with such energy and excitement, it was hard to believe that just three days before they had travelled all the way from Uganda as guests of St. Cuthbert's, Hamilton, Ont. Somehow I had expected them to appear more careworn. Both were leaving behind heavy responsibilities – Rev. Sam Lwere is the minister of St. Stephen's Anglican in Mpererwe, Uganda, and Deborah Ssengendo is chair of the Good Samaritan Orphan Aid Project, which provides a stable environment for children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Yet here, at a party given in their honour, his face glowing, a compactly built Sam knelt on the floor, skillfully demonstrating to us an African game, while Deborah, dressed elegantly in a long fall-dappled gown, settled comfortably on the couch and chatted with our minister Cathy Stewart-Kroeker.
Sam and Deborah's visit was a peak event in the developing friendship between our two congregations. The original purpose of our relationship was for St. Cuthbert's to help support GSP financially in its plans to house and school the children. Yet from the beginning, we wanted to avoid the dangers of the donor-recipient model, and sought to find ways of nurturing much deeper relationships. In the past few years, several members of our congregation have experienced St. Stephen's wonderful hospitality in a number of ways. Members have gone over to learn about life in Uganda, to study, and to write dissertations on topics which may prove beneficial in setting future policies. The purpose of this visit to Canada was to assess the progress of our partnership and to renew it for another three years with a formal agreement. And of course, to enable members of St. Stephen's to get to know us in our natural setting, including the requisite visit to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and a shopping excursion.
At present, the Good Samaritan Project has placed 65 children within family units or with designated caregivers rather than in an orphanage. It supports these children by providing school fees, uniforms, and materials, as well as financial support to the caregivers for food and personal care products. St. Cuthbert's mission is to provide 35 per cent of GSP's funding. The congregation of St. Stephen's Anglican provides about 15 per cent, through givings and revenue-generating projects like craft-making, beading, gardening, and woodworking. Where would the remaining 50 per cent come from? In Sam and Deborah's words, “Somehow God will provide.”
At the signing of the renewal of the partnership between St. Stephen's and St. Cuthbert's, we exchanged banners. Their messages sum up the growing together of our two communities:
From St. Cuthbert's Sunday school, decorated by the multicoloured handprints of the children: “We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord”
From St. Stephen's, adorned by a branch: “May the partnership between Cuthbert's and the Good Samaritan Project of St. Stephen's COU, Mpererwe, bear fruits like a tree by the riverside.”
