Hope

Merry Christmas!!!

wilfredrugumba1 Comment

Greetings from Uganda.

On Tuesday this week, our youngest baby Lilly, turned 1, and Rille (our second youngest) is turning 5 on Christmas.

We were able to go for a short family vacation at Musana camps, a Christian campsite on lake Victoria with the kids. We were joined by Pastor Freddie and Sandra and their baby Irma. It was a relaxing time and a joy to be with family.

Our school year ended in November, and all kids that have extended family, were sent to them to spend time with family. Some church members have also taken some kids to their homes for Christmas break. We have only 22 people at the village, including the staff helping out.

We are using this time to do remodeling at the school. We are laying tiles in classrooms, painting, clearing the compound and laying pavers.

According to the police crime report of 2021, 17,000 sex abuse cases were reported and of these, 14,000 of them were aggravated defilement cases. (Childen under 13 years sexually abused by an adult.) 1 out of 3 girls have been sexually abused in Uganda, according to the US embassy in Kampala.

This year, we have been able to rescue 23 girls who were victims. Recently, we launched a community action team. We are working in partnership with the local district, police, state prosecutors and other stake holders to ensure that children are safe and that these offenders are taken away from society. We are also raising awareness about the whole issue of sexual abuse.

We launched the campaign last week and we hosted many of the local district officials and local press.

Your prayers will be appreciated as we continue to reach these girls.

Meet our newest kids at Mercy.

Namakula (English name not yet known) is 7 years old. She is extremely malnourished to the point where she cannot stand, she only squats. Maria, who is 3 years, can stand.

Namakula
Maria

We rescued them this week; the mother is a mentally sick person who has been living in a shack.

The mother would take food from the oldest and feed the youngest. They were referred by the district social worker who was informed by the community.

They don’t have any known relatives, but we will begin to search for them as we rehabilitate them. Your prayers are appreciated.

Like the kids above, we have 46 kids that are not yet sponsored but are already in our care.

We spend $40 to care for a non-residential child and $100 for a residential child or child with special needs.

You can make a one time gift or signup to become a child sponsor. You can also make a gift towards the ongoing construction and renovations. Your gift goes a long way.

https://childrentolove.givingfuel.com/sponsor-a-child

Merry Christmas!!

November Update

wilfredrugumbaLeave a comment

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

With your support, we were recently able to distribute food to 300 families in the Karamoja region. We identified a local church there that we have partnered with to process the food distribution. We sent one of our church elders and some church members to represent us.

So far, we have made two food distribution rounds to people in Karamoja. It has been a joy seeing the smiles on their faces, as this has been an answer to their prayers.

Recently, Vena and I recently had the privilege to visit Manchester, United Kingdom for a 10 day visit. We had a wonderful time there. I spoke at several churches, and we had 8 children that were sponsored. Thank you, God. It was also a good time for us to be away and reflect on why we do what we do.

Upon coming back, we found our daughter Rille sick with Malaria. She is now on medication and is getting better, but she has lost a lot of weight. Your prayers are appreciated.

Around 16 years ago. We rescued this little girl Hope and her brother who were living on the streets of Kampala. After years of rehabilitation, she was able to find a job and started life as a decorator.

Last week, we had the privilege of hosting her introduction ceremony (this is the African wedding) at our place as we were her parents. Her husband is a pastor; they have been doing ministry together, leading a church of Ugandans in Dubai. They’ll be wed soon, we continue to pray for them.

Over the years, we have reached over 700 children. Some of them were invited for her function. It was a good reunion, and it is always a joy to see these kids grown up, as good citizens, making a difference for Jesus.

This past month, we had the privilege of visiting with the Minister of Gender Labor and Social Development as we picked up our home approval renewal certificate. Homes that do not meet standards are de-registered, but we thank God for His continued favor. Our home ranked best in the last assessments.

After 3 years of hard-work and inspections, our primary school was finally registered with the Ministry of Education and Sports. We are continuing to finish the school and create more rooms for the boys housing area. Our goal is to grow the school capacity to 500 children by end of next year.

Uganda is currently having an Ebola outbreak; four districts are under lockdown. We have not had any cases close to us, but please pray with us that this epidemic ends.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

Finally, Brian Returns Home

wilfredrugumbaLeave a comment

As you may or may not know, a few months ago, when the Covid pandemic had just hit, street children became more at risk to exposure of the virus. Since the nature of their lives made them more at risk, the government collected many of the kids and distributed them to different homes. We were gladly able to take in 11 boys when they asked us.

My first time to meet the boys at our village, I was able to quickly identify them from the kids that had been at Mercy for a long time. These boys were dressed in rags, they spoke vulgar language, and many were recovering from drugs.

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-10 at 4.01.44 PM

One kid that stood out to be the roughest, was Brian. As I observed him, I noticed that he fought with his friends on various occasions and that he had been on drugs. I was drawn to getting to know more about him and I was able to learn that he is a good chess player; we were able to play several games together.

Brian shared his story of how he got to the streets. He explained that after hearing stories of life in the city, he stole his brother’s phone and embarked on a journey to Kampala. When he got there, he was moved and impressed. For the first time in his life, he was able to see large buildings and many cars, as these are not common in the villages.

While in the city, Brian spent all of his money and didn’t have an idea of what to do next. He met street kids, and they oriented him to street life and taught him drugs; this became his new lifestyle.

While on the streets, he was approached by a Muslim cleric, who converted him to Islam. He loved the fact that on Fridays, he was able to get free food outside the Mosque.

When the government distributed the kids they collected, Brian was a part of the eleven that was brought to Mercy. While at Mercy, we have shared the gospel with him, and he gave his life to Jesus. The past few months have been life-transforming for him.

He has blessed me in a special way and we have developed a special bond. His dream is to become a farmer or mechanic, and I was able to take him to our farm. He became interested in taking care of pigs; we brought one pig home with us and he has been taking care of it. Later on, I bought 3 goats that he has also enjoyed taking care of each day.

On Friday, I was woken up by his voice saying, “it is me Brian, I have come to say goodbye!” Filled with emotion, I had to come and say farewell to him. Our social workers were able to locate his family, and they were going to reunite him.

I got him a little goat that he could go along with and some money, so he could buy a pig when he gets to the village to help carry on his farming dream.

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-10 at 4.01.45 PM (1)

Mercy will continue to support him like all of our non-residential kids. We are going to find him a nearby garage where he will apprentice and learn mechanics while also taking care of animals at the same. We will check on him regularly.

I can’t wait to visit him and see how God is going to use him to transform his community. Your prayers are needed; I miss him and so does the staff and friends who have been with him. He changed in a very short time and everyone liked him amazingly.

How you can be praying:

  • Pray that he finds a healthy church family that will help him grow in his faith and be a witness to his family.
  • Pray that he is able to adjust to life in the village.
  • Pray that our social workers are able to find the families of these kids and that they are able to start the reunification process.
  • Pray for our social workers and their safety as they have to travel long distances in their search, to find these kids’ families.

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-10 at 3.50.21 PM

Lessons for the World from Corona Crisis

wilfredrugumba4 Comments

The world has always trusted in Military Might; each day trying to invent a better weapon and testing nuclear weapons. The world has trusted in science, fame and money. Major sports games have been cancelled; bars locked down. This is a time when all these gods that our society has worshipped cannot help people. They cannot give people hope.

As believers,we have hope. In the midst of hard times, He is with us.

We know that God is above this situation and will get us through it.

The second lesson, we are learning is to live by faith. One day at a time. No one can tell what the future will be, but as believers we trust in a God that holds our future and we can trust in Him.

For parents, working at home, this has given us an opportunity to spend time with our kids. I enjoyed leading Sunday service with my family and preaching to them a message of hope.

This is a time for us to spend more time in prayer and the word, as we grow in the Lord.

I encourage you to limit the time you spend watching the news and spending time on social media; most information will create fear and anxiety in your heart, but rather listen to the Word of God and let God speak to you. The word of God gives us hope in the midst of storms of life. I slept listening to Psalms 91 on my phone, and I was encouraged.

God will protect and watch over us in this season.

Philippians 4:6-7 Tells us not to be anxious about anything but in every situation pray and give thanks.

Pray for the medical workers in Italy.

Pray for the hundreds of people that are dying, so that they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

WhatsApp Image 2020-03-25 at 11.44.57 PM