Hello and praise God so much to all the daughters, donors, board of trustees, well-wishers and the entire family of LI TIM-OI FOUNDATION. My name is Revd Meibo Nyangwen from Uganda.
It has been quite a long time ever since we, the daughters of LI TIM FOUNDATION in Uganda first met with Christina Rees in Uganda when she came to make a follow-up visit to us. That was about fifteen years ago. That was a very good and blessed opportunity to have met with one of our funders. By the time she came I had just completed my Theological studies and was doing pastoral work in preparation for ordination as a deacon. The decision by the Foundation to send her to meet with us was in itself an encouragement to us, and to me in particular. This made us know that we have a high expectation from our funders and therefore the communities in which we serve.
After Christina left that year in 2003, when the time came for me to be ordained, in January 2004, I found myself as the only woman amidst many men to be ordained a deacon. I became the center of attraction to everyone who attended the ordination ceremony and got everyone’s attention. That day in my life really proved that it takes one woman.
After having served as a deacon for one year in Busia parish, in 2005 I was priested and served as a priest in Kisoko parish. While I was serving in Kisoko then, I got an appointment to work with the Bible Society of Uganda as a translator. This work required translating the Bible from the original languages into our local language Dhopadhola. Having attained Biblical knowledge during my Theological studies, thanks to LI TIM FOUNDATION which sponsored me, I was able to carry on with this task. Again as a translator, I found myself as the only female translator then, working with the Bible Society of Uganda.
We started an inter-confessional translation of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This work took us eleven years to complete. One thing which makes me smile about this is that the Bible in the Dhopadhola language is coming out as a Dictionary for the local language. This is because at the time when we were about to complete the translation, the first ever published orthography for the language was approved by the National Curriculum Center and is being taught in schools. We quickly harmonized our translation with the orthography. This Bible will be launched this year in 2019 around April or May, God willing, because it is being printed now.
This work of translation was indeed a very rare opportunity to me, since it is work which will make many generations understand God and His word in a better way. This will result in their deeper understanding of, and relationship with, God.
During my work of translation, I got married and we have been married for ten years now. My husband too got the conviction to join the ordained ministry. And so I and my husband are both priests. Thanks to you.
In all this I must say that I am so very grateful to LI TIM FOUNDATION and I owe it to the entire group of people who make this possible. The name of the Lord be praised for granting me an opportunity to serve God in these capacities. Amen. May God bless every hand which labours to support the Foundation. Amen.
After those years of experience, it was quite another blessed opportunity to have met with Christina Rees in November 2018. She happened to have come for the Golden Jubilee Celebration for the Bible Society of Uganda. Her love and care for the Daughters of Li Tim-Oi made her to try to find out how we are doing. When I received her message, I braved an eight-hour journey on the bus to Kampala to meet with her. We had a good time together with Revd Suzan Ameso who is also a daughter of the foundation. The sharing we had together refreshed all of us and I did not feel the tiredness of the long journey. That was so kind of you Christina Rees to have shared your time with us and more so to care so much about how we are doing. This story has come as a result of my second meeting with you. God bless you so much.
I thank you all and pray God’s continued guidance, protection and providence as you continue to support this noble cause. Thanks again and blessings.
The Revd Meibo Nyangwen
15 January 2019
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