Today was more emotional than I expected. Although well aware of some of what the day would entail, its amazing how unpredictable we can be. Today I met some very important people for the first time. I was meeting Chris Dobson, and family friend, who grew up in Uganda with my father, at the clergy conference, held at Uganda Christian University. 2,000 Anglican (Church of Uganda) ministers were booked in to the conference, and at the start of the week, over 4,000 arrived to attend the conference. Oh how we wish that was the case in the UK!
I am constantly encouraged when I attend events like these, where pastors and church leaders gather from across the country. It’s a fantastic reminder of the work God is doing all over the world. Here in the capital of Uganda thousands of men and women living lives in service to the King, worshipping, praying and eating together. Sharing stories of what God has been doing, and I have no doubt, visioning for what God is going to do in the future.
Chris was part of the Arch Bishop of Bristol’s party, Mike Hill, who was one of the guest speakers at the conference. I spend some time with Mike and one of the other guest speakers, Kanishka Raffel (Sydney Cathedral, Australia) drinking tea and discussing the church (well, I did more listening than talking).
That day I was also privileged to meet the Arch Bishop of Uganda, whose responsible for the Church of Uganda and was hosting the conference. I also almost got to meet he president, who was due to appear at the conference that afternoon. Sadly he wasn’t able to come in the end. Apparently scheduling him in is a little difficult – “You don’t tell the president when he’s going to come, the president tells you!”
But what was most important to me, most meaningful, was the opportunity to meet my grandfather. Canon Alan Galpin is buried in the grounds of Uganda Christian University, after he sadly passed away, during his time as serving Principle at, what was then Bishop Tucker’s Theological College. I never knew my grandfather, as he dies when my father was young, but his impact on my life hasn’t lessened.
You don’t have to be alive to have an impact, when the live you lead leaves an impact behind. I walk each day in the rich inheritance I have from my grandfather. My grandmother has been an amazing example to me, a source of consistent joy in my life. My parents, who have been my strong example throughout life. His impact, his fingerprint is left on each of them, and on me.
My grandfather was a well respected man and his name still bring joy to the faces of those knew him (some of who were at the conference this week). His name stands proudly above the door of the clinic, in the university grounds – the Allan Galpin Health Center II (apparently one L wasn’t enough, they just had to put two, and I’m not sure what happened to the Allan Galpin Health Center I…). His grave sits the in shadow of the original university building, now small in comparison to the surrounding buildings. The students still know his name and those that studied there talk of the impact he had during his time there.
But for me, the biggest privilege that day, was to sit and thank God, for the legacy that has been left, and the footsteps I now walk in.
