Category: Missionary Partners

May update from the Drapers

Hello everyone! It is Saturday afternoon here in a very hot and humid Kampala…

April update from the Drapers

Good morning friends, thank you for your prayers. Lexi has recovered well from her cold.

March update from the Drapers

I can’t quite believe it’s almost April! The girls have just started the 4th quarter at school and it looks to be a busy last few months of the academic year.

January update from the Drapers

We hope you all had a great Christmas and a good start to the new year! We enjoyed seeing some of the pictures that friends and family sent us of Christmas time back in the UK, especially the snow that some of you had!

November update on the Drapers

It’s been an exciting few weeks here in Uganda, after months of preparation and waiting we finally welcomed our new Cessna Caravan Amphibian to Kajjansi on the 7th of October.

September update on the Drapers

Hello everyone!

How is it almost October already! Time flies!

We had a wonderful school break with both sets of parents visiting. It was such a blessing that they could visit.

Mark also travelled to Chad to support the team there for a few weeks. He has also started a new temporary role as quality manager. He will explain more in the next newsletter.

The girls have had a good start back to the school year.

Evelyn is playing in the school football team again and the friend we thought may leave didn’t which we’re very thankful for!

I am stepping into 3 new responsibilities, president of the parent council, leading the weekly school Parents in prayer group and I was nominated and voted into church leadership in May. Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Steph

Prayer points

Please pray for:

• good friendships for the girls
• a positive start to the school year
• peace in Uganda as the Presidential nominations start this week with lots of traffic disruption around the city. Pray for peace, unity and God’s will to be done in the elections in January
• wisdom for Steph as she leads in new roles
• health as Lexi is sick with a bad cold.

Give thanks for:

• Mark’s UK licence with Type rates was approved this week!

August update on the Drapers

Hello everyone!

We trust you’re all keeping well!
 
As I write this newsletter to you, I’m sitting in the MAF hangar office looking out at a very quiet hangar floor. For the first time in months, we only have one aircraft in for maintenance; so while a couple of the engineers work on that, the rest of us have a chance to catch up on admin and all the other things that tend to pile up when you’re busy working!

I have just come back from a trip to N’Djamena in Chad where I went for two weeks to help with a maintenance check on their C208 Caravan. It was really interesting to experience another African culture and see how MAF works in another place. I enjoyed using some of my high school French to try and communicate with the local staff and trying some local food, including Camel (which tastes like slightly chewy beef, but very tasty)!

We would appreciate your prayers for the Chad program, they are having a tough time at the moment as they don’t have an onsite engineer, which makes keeping the aircraft flying difficult. Also, because the USA have stopped issuing visas to Chadians, the Chad government has also now stopped issuing visas to Americans. This means that because lots of the missionaries that are working in Chad come from the USA, they are having to return to the US when their visas run out. This has a knock-on effect to the amount of flying MAF are doing, as the need for people to travel is reducing. Please pray that Chad would start to renew missionary’s visas and the people of Chad would continue to receive the help they need.

At home we have also enjoyed having both Steph’s and my parents visiting us over the summer. We have been able to spend some quality time catching up with them and also taking some trips out to see new parts of Uganda, which has been great.

On one of the trips, we went to see a very rare bird that lives in the swamps around Lake Victoria called a Shoebill Stork. This pre-historic looking bird is difficult to find, but we were very lucky to get close to one using some small boats!

Lastly, as I have mentioned in previous emails, we are waiting for our new amphibious float plane to arrive in Uganda. We recently received this photo of the aircraft which has now been painted in MAF colours and will soon finish its final maintenance check before it makes the long flight from the USA to Uganda via Europe.

Thank you once again for all your continued support!

Mark & Steph

Prayer points

Please pray that:

• God would provide MAF Chad with a new Chief Engineer that would allow them to continue to support their partners across the country.

• That the Chadian government would allow US missionary’s to remain in the country and provide the much needed support that they provide the isolated people across Chad.

Give thanks for:

• A safe and productive trip to Chad for Mark.

• Quality time with family over this summer holiday.

June update on the Drapers

Hello Friends and Family,

We are now on the last week of school 🙌🏻 thank you for all your prayers.

The girls worked so hard during their exams and we are very proud of them. Reports will be out later this week!

This week Lexi and Evelyn have project based learning. Lexi will being doing survival Skills at the School lakeside campus (site of the new school when it’s built) with an overnight stay Wednesday and Evelyn will be doing Arts and Crafts.

Raya has step up day today and will meet her new G3 teacher. We are thankful for the friendships she has built this last year.

Prayer points

1. For healing, Raya and Evelyn have colds/coughs.
   
2. For our hearts as dear friends leave, 3 MAF families and other friends and especially for Evelyn as 2 possibly 3 of her closest friends will leave in a few weeks.

May update on the Drapers

Hello, thank you all so much for your prayers. It’s been another busy time. Lots to be thankful for.

Some highlights have been celebrating Marks 40th birthday in early March. Sports day, Lexi won her grade 7 girls’ 200 metre race and the girls’ house, Michelangelo, won the cup 🏆 or golden boot!

The girls enjoyed dressing up for book character day, Raya as Lucy Pevensie, Lexi as Sophie and Evelyn as Biana from book series Keeper of the Lost Cities, the new favourite!

Easter was a much needed break with lots of relaxing and hanging out with friends. Late April Lexi and Evelyn performed in the drama club performance of Hitchhikers guide to a zombie apocalypse! An unusual choice but a fun experience! In May Lexi and Evelyn attended the middle school dance, they designed their dresses on an AI program and a local Christian tailoring ministry made them! They both look amazing.

Raya celebrated her 8th birthday with a few friends at a chocolate making workshop! They enjoyed the interactive session and eating lots of chocolate!

Prayer points

1. Lexi and Evelyn have finals this week (end of year exams) please pray for good sleep, peace that they’ve studied enough, energy and health.
   
2. For strength and energy to finish the school year well. School break starts on 6th June.
   
3. Mark has submitted his application for his first type rating to be added to his UK license, necessary for him to convert his UK license to an Ugandan license. Please pray it’s processed quickly.
   
4. For a restful school break and fun with visitors.