Kisses from Katie

I have been reading Katie Davis' book about her life in Uganda.  Having been there I know some of what she is writing about.  Yesterday I was reading about the very poor that she has helped and as I read my heart was stirred both in pity and in anger.  In pity for the poor helpless children who have to suffer and anger for the world that ignores them.  I wanted to do something about their suffering and my class does some by helping a young man in Uganda with the expenses for his home for street boys.

As I walked out of my house I looked across at my neighbours and suddenly I felt rebuked.  The children in Uganda may only suffer for 10 or 20 or 50 years but if my neighbours do not come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour then they will suffer far worse and for much longer.  That does not mean that I should ignore the first but it does mean that I cannot ignore the second.

Prayer Time Uganda Syle

While we were in Uganda we had a time of prayer in one of our worship services.  It was not what I expected where two or three would lead in prayer while others listened, agreed in prayer.  But this time everyone prayed aloud at the same time. To me it was confusion but to them it was a proper way of praying.  As an outsider I may have thought them to be crazy.  Just watch the video clip.

Patrick

I think it is about time I gave you an update on my friend Patrick from Uganda.  Our Adult Bible Class has been giving money to support the ministry of the Shepherd Centre. 

Patrick was involved in a car accident and the person who owned the car wanted him buy him a new car.  The cost would be around $7500.  Patrick doesn't have that kind of money so we tried to help out as did many of his friends in North America.  Patrick suffered injuries because of the accident.

Patrick found a five year old boy, named Blair living on the street.  He could not leave him but he wasn't set up to take in another boy, especially one has young as Blair.  Fortunately, a couple we met in Kampala were able to help out.

Just recently Patrick graduated from University.  Here is his graduation picture.



Don't forget to pray for Patrick and his ministry at the Shepherd Centre.

Watoto

My niece who is a fabulous photograther will be going to Uganda in about three weeks to phtograph children for Watoto.  Watch the video here about what they do in Uganda.  May her heart be moved by what she sees as I was when I was there last month.

Uganda: Some final thoughts

Though our trip to Uganda was difficult it is one that I will never forget.  We did have some tough times.  I got something in my eye that made my eyes hurt for a few days.  Curtis had a negative reaction to malaria medicine.  Our first night in Kabale was without electricity and our first few days in Mbarara were without water.  We seemed to eat a lot of matoke and beans and the roads were very rough.  However, ...
There are some great memories.  The scenery was spectacular.

The children were beautiful.

The people were great.

We had time to relax...

and a time to worship.

We met with kids who were no longer homeless...

and we got to know some very special people.

Was it worth it?  Absolutly!
Would I do it again!  Yes, I would.  However, not tomorrow.
Here is a final picture, how I always pictured Africa.

Thank you to all who supported us with gifts, money and prayers.  Yes, we left a part of our heart in Africa.

Abide

ABIDE - Amagara Bible Institute of Discipleship & Evangelism. ABIDE is a non-denominational Christian leadership training program of Juna Amagara Ministries in Uganda designed to enable youth who have graduated from secondary school to transition into sustainable adulthood on the foundation of Jesus Christ by forming them in Christian faith, character and leadership. The program invites students each year to participate in a six month residential discipleship & leadership training at two campuses. These new high school graduates join ABIDE to seek God, develop leadership skills and engage in service projects. It includes outdoor adventures, challenge course and team building activities, guidance counseling, vocational skills, spiritual formation, classroom study and supervised ministry outreach. After graduating, students are equipped to pursue further education and/or work with a passion for building Christ's Kingdom and impacting their community. Below is a picture of the ABIDE house in Mbarara.

Here are some pictures of the students in class.

Both Steve and I had an opportunity to teach.

They also teach them life skills such as computer skills and farming.

They are also constructing a new facility in Kabale.

Listen as Matt describes what is happening.

Patrick

One of the young men that we met that impressed me was Patrick. He first met us at the airport in Entebbe and drove us to Kampala then Mbarara and Kabale. Patrick is the man on the opposite end to Curtis.

Patrick grew up in the village of Kishange which is about an hour from Kabale. Below are pictures of the village.

When he was about 14 the Rowandan rebels invaded his village and his family had to flee to the jungles to survive. When they finally return to their village his mother died and he found it impossible to live with his father. He left the village and ended up on the streets of Kabale.

Someone took an interest in him and sponsored him to go to school. While he was in his final year of school he felt deeply burdened by the invisible children in the refuge camps in the north. Joseph Koni had killed the parents and kept the children with very little food and clothing and nothing else. Patrick and his friends felt the Lord was leading them to collect supplies and take them to the refuge camp. The story of how he got the materials and how they finally got a bus and enough money for gasoline to take the trip is amazing and he has written about it in a little booklet.

When they drove north to the refuge camps they had no idea if Joseph Koni and the rebels would kill them but they felt God's leading upon their lives. Their trip was successful and they were able to give those children hope as well as food, clothing and school supplies. Upon return to Kabale he was able to complete university and then enrolled in the Abide program (I will write about that next). Upon completion he felt lead by the Lord to help street kids such as he had been. Patrick rented a place and has 16 boys staying at the Shepherd Centre. You can read about the Shepherd Centre in earlier blog entries.

Patrick was extremely generous with his time and what he had. It is my desire to support him and his ministry. He is like a modern day George Mueller running his centre by faith. We learned that before we left he ended up in the hospital with Malaria. Below are some pictures of Patrick and me.

Here is Patrick in a suit that we brought from BFM Chatham. Thank you for your support.

Here is a couple of pictures of Patrick. Please pray for this remarkable young man. He is now 29 years old and is taking care of 16 homeless boys. You can tell that they love him and they know that they are loved by him. His burden is to have more room so that he can help more boys.

The Shepherd Centre Part 2

I do believe that I must tell a bit more about the Shepherd Centre. Patrick is concerned that his boys have a proper attitude about getting. It just is not enough that they are given a place to live, to sleep, food to eat, schooling, church but they also need to learn to give. What can boys who have nothing give? They can give of their time so Patrick has them volunteering. Here are some pictures of their volunteer work:

Finally, here is Patrick. I have great respect and admiration for this young man who is making a difference in his world. He truly lives out the Gospel. Tomorrow I want to tell his story.

Shepherd's Centre

One of the high points of our time in Kabale was to visit the Shepherd's Centre. The Shepherd's Centre is a home for street boys run by a former street boy who has a heart to reach boys like himself. He gives them a place to live, to sleep, to eat, to go to school, to church and to learn about the Gospel. He currently has sixteen boys from about 10 to 17 years of age. Here is Patrick who runs the Shepherd's Centre with Steve.

I was able to bring soccer shirts for the boys.

They had prepared a song for us.

One thing that they get every day is a hot meal. Patrick doesn't know where the money will come from to keep feeding them but as long as he has the money he will pay the rent and buy them food. Here they are lining up for lunch before they go to school.

You wonder how any one could let a boy like this live on the streets.

Curtis brought them a guitar, I brought them shirts and a DVD player, Steve had Bibles and tooth paste.

We played games with them, I taught them chess.

Curtis had brought little Canada pins which he gave to the boys.

Some had a unique way of wearing them.

Finally it was time for school. Education is public but it is not free so many children cannot go to school because they don't have enough money for food let alone school supplies. Patrick does make it possible for them to attend school.

This is one place I think we can do something. If everyone in my class was to give up one Tim Horton's coffee a month we could feed these boys for a week. It is my desire that we make such a "sacrifice". Canada has been placed in a unique position to help spread the Gospel. Let us not just think of ourselves but by sacrifice reach out to those who have need.

Kishanje

On Wednesday morning we got up early and headed into the mountains near the Rwonda border. We were going to visit one of the orphanages run by Juna Amagara and especially to visit Steve's sponsor child. Below are a couple of pictures of the village of Kishanje.

The scenery was magnificant.

We arrived at the orphanage where Steve met his sponsor child.

We then drove across the valley to a place where we could leave our vehicle and hiked up the mountain to the sponsor child's home.

Here is his sister Grace.

Grace with Curtis.

and Steve with the family.

Then back down the mountain.

One of the things that we discovered while we were there is that it is hard to know true family connections. What they may refer to as parents may only be their guardians as was the case with this family. Other times they refer to their daughter which may or may not be the daughter. As Christians it is important to know that we are the children of God. We are not children in name only but we have been adopted into the family.