Bowens 06 05

	Roger & Miranda Bowen EAB Matana DS 30, Bujumbura Burundi , Africa Email: bowbelles@btinternet.com BELATED EASTER GREETINGS !
We apologise for being out of touch but we have been away for a month on our holidays in the UK and before we went there was no electricity and the generator was sick! Thank you for the greetings for Easter, birthdays, anniversary, and even Christmas that we have received at home and abroad!		We had a very happy time in UK and were able to meet up with Pip and Judy (M’s brother and sister-in-law) at Stratford for a few days and get topped up with English Shakespearean culture! We were also able to spend time with Charlie and Ally (R’s brother and sister-in-law) and with other close family members.
One downside was the amount of time we spent having medical appointments! R had 2 sessions with his PD Consultant and also a second opinion. The outcome has been a change in medication to include levodopa and general encouragement, as well as help to manage the many losses that he is experiencing as a result of the PD. M also had to be treated for a heavy dose of bilharzia ( ? from 20 years ago) and underwent a couple of investigations for female problems, all of which were pronounced as normal.
The high spot of our time was the week we spent in a delightful rented house in Gower, South Wales . Kate returned from Afghanistan and we were able to spend a week together walking, talking, sleeping and relaxing together. Mark and Roger disconcerted the rest of us by their lemming-like tendencies whenever a cliff was in reach; Kate and Beth braved the sea; a party went to the very end of the Worm’s Head. We are thrilled that Beth was selected for a summer internship in New York with ‘Lawyers without Borders’!
	The Archdeaconry road shows which were completed after we left, went extremely well and were enormously appreciated by all the pastors and church teachers. The only cloud was the severe hip pain experienced by Pat Brooks, our Bible teacher. Eularie was unable to join us for the last few sessions and kept us on tenterhooks by giving birth to a healthy baby girl on the morning that we left for the UK ! Her name is UMUGISHA (blessing) Christa.
Please join us in thanking the Lord for: - A safe delivery for Eularie -Safety and blessing as we visited the Archdeaconries - A happy and fruitful time of rest and refreshment in the UK . . . and praying for -Continuing safety and wisdom for Archbishop Bernard, our spiritual leader and President Peter Nkurunziza, our national leader -A good use of our time and gifts in the coming year before we return to the UK in April 2007 -Better health and physical ease for Roger -Emotional health for Miranda - Mark, Claire and Paul living a normal life in London; for Beth doing exams at Uni; for Kate in Kandahar -The new term in Matana Institute! Roger and Miranda