Uganda

August Update

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Today, I want to share with you a story of Baby Blessing. A few months ago, the police called and notified me of newborn baby, born by a mother with mental sickness. After the mother had her, she took her and threw her in a 30 feet toilet hole. At this time, the baby had just been rescued with maggots coming from every hole of her body. Racheal, our social worker rushed to pick her, and we took her to the hospital where she stayed for 2 weeks. I want to thank God she survived and is now thriving at our babies home.
We have had several cases of abandoned babies that by God’s grace, we have managed to rescue, and every single time I visit the babies home, I can’t thank God enough for their lives.

A few weeks ago we witnessed Fatina’s Wedding. Fatina, is one of our girls who came from a Muslim family that could not afford to educate her, so we sponsored her. She gave her life to Jesus and is now working for a Non-Profit Organization as a secretary.

Sunday was Mercy Sunday at our main church, the Worship House. This is a day when our kids and staff lead church. The kids put in a lot of hours rehearsing to lead worship; they made a special presentation of our story and we showed videos of Mercy.  I challenged church members to adopt, and after church, we had over 30 families that are interested in adopting kids, this has been a big answer to prayer.

Please pray for these families as we are planning to meet them again on Sunday and that God would prepare them.

Mid September, we will host a team of surgeons from U.K. They will be joined by our doctors  and by surgeons from Nsambya Hospital, one of the referral hospitals in Uganda. We will be hosting a Hernia camp at our Medical Center. We are looking at giving free Hernia surgery to over 100 patients, and we have already registered over 50 patients. U.K. Surgeons will use this opportunity to share their knowledge with our Surgeons and doctors.

Please remember to pray for patients attending this camp.

Kids are now on school break. For the kids we sponsor that have extended family, they have gone to visit their extended family.  Pray for our kids that their light will shine.

Birthday Run Update

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Last week on Tuesday, I went with my whole family to meet Jajja Rille and the team visiting from Laurenglen Bible Church in Bukwo, Eastern Uganda. We drove for 8 hours to Kapchorwa where we had to leave the car and take a motor cycle(boda boda.) We took it for 4 hours climbing Mount Elgon on the worst roads I have ever experienced.

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I sat on a boda with baby Rille and Graham, and it fell on our way back. Thankfully,  no one was hurt because it was riding very slow on the bad roads. The ride was worth it, meeting jaja Rille and the LBC team, and the kids thought the boda ride was adventurous. Bukwo is where our gold medal runners come from, and it is 6,000 feet above sea level on the slopes of mount Elgon. I trained on the same road they did and kids kept calling me Kipsiro (one of our goal medalists.) The amazing views are spectacular there.

On the way home, we passed by Palisa which is a little town .  Last year, we spent a month teaching Evangelism, and one of our church members went back to his village and shared the gospel; around 20 people came to know the Lord. In his village, there wasn’t a church nearby, so they started a Mercy Church plant praying under a tree. I was able to see them and talk with them, they had over 50 people there. They made up a structure out of corn husks and they were excited for it. I shared the story to Mercy Church on Sunday, and they are excited about going there and encouraging our brothers and sisters.

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This past Wednesday, was my birthday and my run. That morning I started out scared, I had never run 33 kilometers and friends were waiting and some sponsored me to run. I feared disappointing them, but I was confident in the fact that I had trained enough. I was joined with over 50 friends, and we started off by praying. Some of those who attended were non believers but they just loved running. Most of my friends ran 10k, and 20k with me. The speaker of our sub-county joined the run, along with Pastor Wilson, Vena and even my boys who joined in the last 5 kilometers. We had a dance work out class for about a hour and a half hours after running. I ran through a 10 k loop 3 times and on the first time we had to take a different root to make up for the 3 extra kilometers. My biggest encouragement was meeting my friends walking and running along side the while share funny stories with them.

 

 


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I am thankful to God I finally made it to the finished line.

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We have so far raised about $2,5

00 in pledges and cash, and I am asking you to give towards this cause. Our goal is $20,000 to buy an X-ray and build a room on code that will keep radiations in. To give, you can use the link below.

https://www.childrentolove.org/give

Please feel free to share this blog to friends and encourage them to give.

Thank you for your support.

 

My Birthday Wish: Part 2

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Saturday morning, I started serious training for my birthday run on August 1st. It will be my first time to run 33 kilometers, and I am doing it so we can get an X-ray Machine at Mercy Medical Center. This X-ray would be the only one in our sub-county of 26,000 people.

I ran 24 kilometers through Mende sub-county and through the more rural places where we stay. It’s a great run through some nice forests and I get to see monkeys. As I run, in my heart, I pray for the community, and I meet good people and kids who cheer me up and run with me some miles.

Mende has only one public secondary school which means if you lived where I stay, and your parents can’t afford private school, you will have to walk 7 kilometers to the school and 7 back every day. Some of these kids join me in my run. While on my run, I come across many mosques and witch doctor shrines, and sometimes I find witchcraft stuff laid on the roads. This breaks me and I pray for the light of the gospel to continue to shine in this community and for more Mercy Church plants in these areas.

This past Sunday, was Mercy Sunday. Our sponsored kids and I shared about the work at Mercy, and we showed videos with the goal of challenging the church members to serve the least of these. It was a joy seeing these kids up on the stage serving God, and at the end, many people’s lives were blessed.

I am raising $20,000 to buy an X-ray machine and build an X-ray room at our medical center by running on my Birthday. For each kilometer, you can sponsor me by giving $10. You are also welcome to join me on my run. I will be setting off from Mercy Medical Center at 6:00 am on my birthday August 1.

There are two ways you can give:

1.) You can write a check to Children to Love, and in the memo write Mercy X-Ray.

Children to Love International

P.O. Box 9575

Bakersfield, CA 93389

2.) You can give online at this link: https://childrentolove.givingfuel.com/give-now

My Birthday Wish

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It has been a while since I last updated this blog. A lot has been going on, busy with ministry as usual. We hosted our dear friends from Austin and Los Angeles. We did a medical outreach, and we were able to see 120 patients and give them free medical care. We were also able to take our kids to a park where they were able to swim, have fun and also visit a nearby Zoo. The kids loved it, my highlight was William, one of our special needs kids enjoyed playing in water and it was hard to get him out.

My boys are now on school break, and Vena is spending a lot of time home with them. We are focusing on teaching them house chores this break, and we have also talked about sending them for Music school. We are looking at different Christian schools around as we plan to switch them to a new school next school term.

This afternoon, my heart broke for Ritah (real name reserved for privacy,) a young lady 20 years old. She grew up as an orphan, as her parents sent her into the city to find work. She stayed with a male family friend in the city, who at first offered free housing. Later on, the guy took advantage of her and she conceived. He became very abusive and would beat her every night. One day the guy came, he took everything that was in the rented house and abandoned her there with the pregnancy and went to an unknown place.

I met her about one month ago at the Worship house when she came for prayer stranded. She had complications with her pregnancy and needed care.

I am so thankful for all your support towards Mercy Medical Center. We were able to take her in, and she was able to get the required medical care. With a lot of complications and by the grace of God, she gave birth to a baby girl via C-Section two days ago at the medical center.

The baby was first managed, but was later referred to our national referral hospital for more care. Yesterday evening, I received the sad news that the baby passed away.

My heart breaks for the mother. I ask that you would be in prayer for this young lady as she is still at Mercy Medical Center recovering. She does not know about the sad news yet because of her health condition. Her blood pressure is not stable, and according to tradition the baby was buried yesterday.

I am thankful for the staff at Mercy Medical Center who did their best. If she had been in a normal center the chances of the mother also losing her life would be high. I thank every one that gave towards the operating room when I celebrated my 31st birthday.

As I celebrate 33 years, I am challenging my self to run 33 kilometers. For $20,000 we can buy an X-ray machine and build an X-ray room at our hospital. This will be the only X-ray machine in our sub-county, Mende, with a population of 26,000. We are located along Hoima road, one of the major highways, and we receive so many accident cases. We have to drive them at least 5 kilometers away for an X-ray and bring them back which is painful for them. I am asking you to give a gift towards this cause. By the grace of God, we can put an end to this in our community.

There are two ways you can give:

1.) You can write a check to Children to Love, and in the memo write Mercy X-Ray.

Children to Love International

P.O. Box 9575

Bakersfield, CA 93389

2.) You can give online at this link: https://childrentolove.givingfuel.com/give-now

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Raising Special Needs Kids in Africa

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Welcome back from Easter holidays!! On Easter Sunday, we had the privilege of baptizing 8 new converts at Mercy Church. Please pray for them that they will grow in their faith and pursue God’s will for their life.

Since Good Friday, at our main Church, The Worship house, we have had a revival conference going on. We have invited the most respected men of God in our country to come and share. We are having over 3,000 people attend each day from 4 to 11 pm, and on some days, we have people outside in the overflow tents. Yesterday, we had the president’s daughter attend and share for a few minutes.

In African society, one of the benefits of having many kids is first for protection. The more kids you have, the safer you are. The second reason, is since most people don’t have a retirement program, when you grow older, your kids are expected to provide and take care of you in your old age. Having many kids, means you will not be lonely and destitute in your old age.

In such a society, when a parent gives birth to a child with special needs, they know that this child will not do any of the roles mentioned above and most see it as a huge disappointment. On top of that, most of these kids are born with health complications, and they need continuous treatment, therapy and assistive devices such as a wheel chair. Many of the families cannot afford these things since there is no government support available to help them. In society, there is also a stigma attached to having special needs children. People think that the mother or someone in the family did something wrong, and the gods are punishing them. As a child growing up, the way we knew that some families had a special needs child was when the child had died. Some people end up hiding their kids in the rooms.

One of the doctors told Vena that with the condition that led to the death of our daughter, birth asphyxia, that if she had been born, there was a high chance she would be with special needs. This changed how I see these kids because now I see my daughter in them. We try to make everything we do inclusive; we built ramps in the children’s village to allow easy access for special needs kids.

We now have over 20 special needs kids supported in our program. Six of them stay at our children’s village. For most of them, their fathers abandoned the homes for fear of being associated with a curse. These single mothers do the best to care for their kids. For some of them, their parents abandoned them, and we brought them to the village.

We are organizing a camp for children with special needs from April 9th to the 12th. We will be giving free Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy to children in our neighborhood that cannot afford these services. We are looking at serving around 50 children.

We are mobilizing volunteer therapists to donate their time.

For $20 you can sponsor a child for this camp.

Ways to Pray:

  • Pray for financial provision
  • Pray for the therapists as this is going to be a very busy and intense time for them.
  • Pray that more people are encouraged and come to the Lord through this revival meeting.

Happy Easter!!

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Our kids are having school break. For those who have extended family, we send them to visit and build an attachment as we work towards reuniting them. Those who don’t, we send them to families of church members to visit. The village now has a few kids around.

Mercy Church celebrated one year last week. I can’t believe it’s already been one year and how fast we have grown. We now have a permanent sanctuary built in the community where people have lived in fear of witchcraft. The building is a sign of assurance that the church is here to stay.

What excites me the most is story after story of lives that God has transformed by the power of the gospel this year. Ashlaf, a young man from a Muslim family, is a testimony of the gospel changing lives. It all started when his sister joined the church, and later on, when the rest of her family started attending. They joined a life group and started praying for their family and salvation of their brother. Before Christmas, last year, he gave his life to Christ at Church and is now a committed follower of Christ. I had the honor of baptizing him, and he is now serving in our sound department. He had dropped out of school because his mother could not afford to pay for him, but this year, through prayer, God provided. His uncle committed to pay for his school fees, and he is now back in school. His dream is to become a mechanic.

We had a huge celebration for our one year, and we had over 1,000 people in attendance. We rented 700 more chairs on top of our 450 chairs, and the church was packed. We invited people in the neighborhood and our sister church, the Worship House. Pastor Wilson preached and several musicians and choirs gave special music.

We organized a medical outreach to people in the community. We were able to treat 100 people for free at our medical center in 6 hours.

Pray for us tomorrow as we will be having baptisms. We have also invited many non-believers to come to church.

Pray for safety for our kids as they are out for school break.

Happy Easter!!

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People

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Having spent close to 3 weeks in the USA, Vena and I just came back home last Friday. I went on the weighing scale and I had added on about 8 pounds (around 4 kg), which is common. Every one is giving me compliments on how fat I look, which in Uganda, is not an insult but a compliment, especially from an elderly person.

Monday, I resumed my normal work out schedule, and late on Tuesday night, Vena and I were returning home from the gym, when we came across the scene of an accident. Six people had already died on the spot. It was a head on collision of a truck that had hit a boda boda motorcycle and a small school van loaded with kids. Police had not yet arrived and dead bodies were laid in the middle of the road by people who tried to cut out and save those that were still living. Large crowds surrounded and some were busy looting things from the truck.

We met a lady who stopped to see what had taken place like us, but only to find that the van carried her two youngest daughters. She saw her 7 year old’s dead body and was moving around in the road helplessly and lost consciousness. Vena and I got her in our car and took her to her home, as others helped contact her family to come and help her. Having spent a few minutes at the home, she could not settle and wanted to know where her youngest was. We had heard reports that some were rushed to a nearby hospital, and we drove there with her, only to find that her daughter was not there. We also heard reports that she had been found dead and that the body was being brought to the police on a police truck.

At this hospital, we met another child that was being referred to a bigger hospital and was in the same van. She was a daughter to the owner of the school that had lost 4 kids in the same accident. The daughter was in a comma, with little hope of making it, and we found a van to rush her to a bigger hospital. The driver’s leg was broken, and I sent for our truck to take him to our national referral hospital. We drove the mother to the police, where she saw her dead baby on a pickup truck and later took her back to her home.

It is hard for me to take all this in. On Sunday, I shared about the story of Job, and my message was about having courage amidst trials and temptations, just like Job. I tried to answer the question why do bad things happen to good, godly people. This message came alive to me when the mother at the end made the same statement in Job 1:20. The Lord gave me these kids, and He has taken them away.

I was encouraged by her faith and am thankful that we were able to help at least. I spent time and prayed with her teenage son who had survived and seen most of this. I can’t imagine what she is going through losing her 7 year old and 3 year old at the same time.

Please pray for her that she will know that God is with her in spite of this present situation, that God loves and cares for her, and has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Pray that her faith in God stays strong as I found out she is a believer. Pray that God sends people to her to encourage her.

Pray for the burial and funeral. Isaac has gone to help bring the bodies to their home from the mortuary.

Pray for me and Vena as I had a sleepless night trying to get this all in my head, and also pray that God will lead us on how to continue encouraging this family.

One Mile Wide, One Inch Deep Church

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In a few days, Mercy church will be celebrating 1 year of glory existence.

Vena and I are currently in United States to participate in a missions conference at one of our supporting churches here in Bakersfield. We will then visit LA, Oregon and Chicago and then go back; it is a total of 2.5 weeks. We had to cut this trip short because we left behind our 2 month old baby, Rille, that we are adopting.

I shared to church on the topic one mile wide, one inch deep church. This represents some of the elements of the church in Africa. It is important to note that there are several aspects where the African church is a mile deep in areas like prayer, Faith, worship and the world can learn from the church in Africa.The church in Africa over the years has experienced several revivals, and this has led to more conversions that the church has limited capacity to disciple.

Matthew 28:19-20 English Standard Version (ESV)-“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The church has put a lot of emphasis on conversions and little efforts on making disciples. This has led to a mile wide and inch deep when it comes to Discipleship.

One of the main causes of this, is lack of education. It is common for some churches to start when a group of people convert and one steps up to become their leader. Many pastors have not received training; first formal training and also basic education. In the pastor’s fellowships where we meet as pastors of different churches, I have come across pastors who cannot read or write. According to UNESCO, 1 out of 3 African adults cannot read and write. For most of these adults, their parents could not provide for their schooling.

The only source a pastor has to study God’s word, is through hearing what other preachers preach and what is popular. This has led to a rise of heresies and false teachings, like the cheap grace and prosperity gospel, which is widely believed.

Throughout my sermons at Mercy church, I have always challenged members to read and study God’s word. Two weeks ago, a lady came to my office and her desire was to learn English so she can read the Bible. I was moved and asked church members who would like to learn how to read and over 40 people signed up. We have put together a team and next week we shall have our first language class.

I am excited that by next year our school will be open. This will give us an opportunity to provide education to more underprivileged children and to raise them to become tomorrow’s leaders or pastors who will change Uganda for God.

We still need money to pay off the school and start on renovations. You can make a financial contribution toward the school project by clicking on the link below and write Mercy school in the memo. https://childrentolove.givingfuel.com/give-now

Ways To Pray for Us:

  • Pray for us as we are hiring a new teacher on our staff to help with special needs kids school.
  • Pray for safe travels and good health on this trip.
  • Pray for open doors to share about the work in Uganda.
  • More child sponsors.
  • Money for our new school.

Fruits of Faithfulness

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Tuesday is a day of prayer and counseling. I drop the kids off at school early in the morning, and by 8:00am, I have started meeting with people, listening to their needs and praying with them. I must admit this is the hardest part of my job, seeing brokenness in families that I meet with; marriages are breaking and some are in desperate poverty. I am glad that I can introduce them to Christ, pray with each one and direct them to the help they need.

My high point was when I met a guy who walked into my office named Richard. He was a famous witch doctor, and after having had arguments with his fellow sorcerers, they tried to kill him twice through the mob justice. He survived with bruises, and after sharing the gospel with him, he decided to give his life to Jesus. Our missions leaders have started to help him by getting him a bible and teaching him more about Christ. Such stories keep me going an extra day.

Let me share with you another story that encourages me. A few years ago, I visited Katanga slums and met Florence, one of the leaders of our savings groups. She lived in a small room in the slums with 6 kids. One of her kids that touched my heart was Hasifah; Hasifah was born at a time when doctors at the main referral hospital were striking over low and delayed pays. She had a condition called birth asphyxia, (the same condition that killed our first daughter, Chosen.) No one could help with surgery, so she ended up giving birth to a child, Hasifah, with special needs.

Hasifah was 6 years old but could barely move. Mercy started sponsoring her, and in a few days, she was able to sit and now, with speech therapy, she smiles and tries to say mum.

Florence has been enrolled in our vocational skills empowerment program. This is a group of 12 ladies that Mercy supports to go and learn skills as a way of empowering them, so that in the future, they can be in a better position to care for their kids and families. Florence is now in her second term at school learning a certificate in hairdressing.

Through our Homes of Hope program, we built a decent, 3 bedroom house for her family next to Mercy Church, and they now no longer live in the slums.

This family is now thriving. Florence and her husband now serve as ushers at Mercy Church, and they recently acquired a cow from our Calf program.

What touched me the most, is that recently this family decided to adopt Dalton, one of our babies at Mercy that needed a family. Dalton moved to their house, and he is being loved by this family.

These success stories are happening because of God’s goodness and the fruit of your faithfulness. We are able to do all of this because of your prayers and support. God is changing lives, and I can’t thank you enough. These stories of success help me not to become burn out, but they encourage me to continue doing more for the Kingdom of God.

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Florence, her daughter, Mirembe, and Dalton with the cow they received through the Calf Program.
An overlook of Katanga, the slums where Hasifah and her family first lived.
Hasifah’s old home in Katanga, the slums.
The home Mercy built for Hasifah and her family.
Hasifah and Dalton with Florence and Her Husband