Dear Friends,
I am so excited to tell you that we just received a new group of 7 children! It is a great day when we welcome new children into our V127 family. I know deep in my heart that when we match them with a sponsor, the trajectory of their life is about to change. They are no longer drifting on their own, but God is scooping them up and surrounding them with His love and His provision through all of you.
The stories of these 7 are all heart wrenching.
- Joram’s father abandoned the family & later died, leaving his wife with four children and no way to support them.
- Diana’s father burned himself to death in a pit latrine because of the desperation of his extreme poverty. Her mother left Diana with Joram’s mother, who is a relative, because it was all too much for her.
- Daniel’s father disappeared when he was in kindergarten, then his little brother passed away a short time later. He and his mother are struggling to survive, and there hasn’t been anything left for school fees.
- Jeremiah & Cyrus’s mother and father found out they were both HIV positive. They separated, and then left the boys with a grandfather, who took them to stay with an Aunt. They also have a brother who is HIV positive.
- Innocent & Daniel’s father was murdered last summer and discovered laying in a trench. Their mother has no income and no way to send the boys to school.
None of these children has a father, but I was thinking of them while reading this morning in Psalm 68:4-6 “Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds-his name is the Lord- and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun scorched land.”
Pray with me that God will provide the right sponsors to invest in the lives of each of these children. It’s always exciting to get new people involved in the ministry. The stories of these children are a stark reminder of why this ministry exists, and gives us renewed energy to work on their behalf.
I shared with you in a prior email that we completed construction on the 3rd & 4th floors of Victory Covenant Primary School a few months ago. We are happy to share with you today a tour of the school, conducted by some of our student leaders (also called prefects). Each of the students in this video are V127 children! (To give you some context, we have 240 kids in our school this term, and around 80 are V127 children.**) You will see Faith Namataka, Issac Lucky, Davis Kabanda, Desire Najinda, Zaitun Nambulirwa, Derrick Akampulira, Alpha Ainebyona, and Maria Aliru. It’s so great to see our kiddos working hard, studying, growing, and developing into amazing young adults! You will also have a chance in this video to see our dining pavilion under construction. That is our current building project! If you have given to our construction fund or prayed for provision, thank you so much. I hope you will enjoy seeing the fruit of your labor!
You had a chance in the video to see our Teacher James…he is a favorite among the students as several of them have told me that math didn’t make sense until Teacher James arrived! He is just one of our hardworking teachers and we are so grateful for all of them and the sacrifices they make for our kids. I shared with you a few months ago that all teachers in Uganda are required to have a 4 year degree in education within the next 5 years in order to continue teaching. Most of our teachers have a 2 year certificate in education, so we have set up our Teacher Education fund to help them go back to school. Teacher James is one of 6 that we are currently helping to continue their education. If you would like to help provide scholarships for our teachers, you can do so here.
I know many of you are going through some tough times. Life can be difficult and it’s easy to get discouraged. Today, may we all fix our eyes on Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, and trust Him to meet every need we have. He is so faithful!
“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22
Much Love,
Jan
**Further information on the student numbers above: We currently have students in 34 different schools in the area; primary, secondary, vocational school & college.This is because of the difficulties of travel. There are no school buses, the roads are challenging at best and the traffic is mayhem. The children must be able to walk to school or take some form of public transportation.