“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭96‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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I’m so excited to share with you that we have a team of six traveling to Uganda from February 19 through March 1st. Our departure is only about 1 month away! This will be our first trip into the country since October of 2019. We cannot wait to see all the amazing things that God has done in the past 3+ years, and we’re so looking forward to meeting with and encouraging our hard working team in Kampala.

Our primary goals for the trip are:

1. Hug and encourage as many of our V127 kids as possible!
2. Spend time with our team “in the trenches” to brainstorm and discuss opportunities to improve and expand the ministry and it’s impact on the lives of so many.
3. Visit local families in their homes to deliver our rice and beans donations ourselves and deepen our connection with the community.
4. Visit as many of the schools as we can, to speak to the administrators and love on our kids at each school.
5. Spend time in our dormitories and review the ongoing construction of our Victory Primary School.
6. Bless our friends with much-needed supplies.
7. Share the love of Jesus with anyone and everyone that He puts in our path.

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We Need Your Help

You are all integral to the success of this journey. What do we need from you?

1. Pray, pray, pray. Pray for wisdom and safety and health and peace in every detail of the trip.
2. Write a letter for your child. We saw on past trips just how excited our kids were to hear from you. It will be so special to hand deliver your letter! You can give me your letter in person if you are local, or if you are not, you can mail it to Jan Crouthamel at 732 Covered Bridge Drive, Madison VA 22727. You can also email it to me and we will print it to bring with us!
3. Send a photo of you to include in the letter. Just one photo… Email it to me and we will print it and include it with your letter. This is a rare opportunity to give them an actual photograph, not a picture printed on paper. We need your letter and photo by Feb 12th! This will give us time to put them in bright colored envelopes, make sure we have one for each child, and pack them with our supplies.
4. We will be purchasing and collecting a lot of supplies before we go (including laptops for some of our higher education students), and then hoping to meet some immediate needs while we are there; so if you would like to help us with expenses for the trip, you can do so by donating to the General Fund. Just put “Uganda trip” in the message box. Thank you, thank you for all of your help!

Thank you most of all, for being our prayer warriors for this trip. God has brought together Kris, Carol, Chris, Jay, Tom, & Jan for his specific purposes and we are trusting him every step of the way.

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Finally, we have been receiving some sweet letters from our children recently. Here are a few excerpts, just to highlight the profound impact your letters have!

• “Thanks a lot for my letter. It’s really so good, I can not stop reading it. Thank you a lot for always praying for me. My health is good and I have not been sick this term. How is it that side? I miss you so much and I always pray for you every day before I go to bed and when I wake up.” Abdul
• “Thank you for the gift you sent for me. I am very thankful that of all the people, you chose me and only that keeps a smile on my face each and every time. I am very happy because you have managed to send a reply to me, and that shows me that you are with me in each and every kind of situation.” Caleb
• “You gave me courage to stand when I was hopeless and futureless, when people rejected me you accepted me to be a part of your life. I promise you to love Jesus as you love him and to study until I become that someone you dreamt of me to be.” Caroline
• “Sometimes in my free time, I sit down and get all the letters you have written to me ever since we met. They really do very well and edify me in terms of my spiritual life and my education life” Hawa
• “Hearing from you boost and raises my happiness and strength in everything I do, knowing that there is someone who is really proud of me and takes his or her time to think, and write to me. How lucky I am!” Jovia Nicoletur

Thank you for your prayers, your letter, your photo, and your faithful support. As we head out on this mission, we take all of you with us!

Much Love,

Jan

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season full of time with family and friends. Thanks to all of you, our Christmas Celebration in Uganda was a huge success! The Gospel was shared, food was distributed, and a big helping of HOPE was poured out on the entire community. Continue reading for an overview of the events and some precious photographs!

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Gifts & Letters

Our V127 children received personalized gifts and letters from each of you. This is such a highlight of the Christmas season for them, as you can clearly see on their faces!

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Children’s Service

Our children worked hard to put together the Children’s Christmas service, with so many sharing their gifts and talents through song, dance, speaking and more. There was also a big Christmas lunch celebration after the service for all in attendance.

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Care for the Elderly

In a new outreach focus this year, around 70 elderly community members (many who are caring for their grandchildren) were each given a care package made up of bars of soap, 12 lbs of rice, 7 lbs of beef, 6 lbs of sugar, a bag of porridge, and a bottle of soda. (For those who could not travel to the church, our team made special home deliveries!)

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Care for Community Police

Our outreach from prior years to the severely overworked/underpaid police officers continued, with over 70 families receiving the same care packages as the elderly! As part of this outreach there was also a special service with extended prayer time for the officers.

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Blessings of Food

The members of Victory Covenant Church were once again asked to bring their friends and neighbors who would not have food for Christmas to the church on Christmas Eve. Over 700 families showed up and heard about the love of Jesus! They were each gifted 6 lbs of beef, 5 lbs of rice, 5 lbs of sugar, and enough porridge to last them a week! So many were overwhelmed with gratitude and greatly encouraged.

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Care for our Team

All of our teachers, staff and V127 families were also blessed with these gifts of food (another 120 families!)

We were able to purchase 8 large cows for the distribution of beef (the most economical method), and even had to hire some extra help to get it all ready!

All in all, it was a extremely blessed Christmas season for our brothers and sisters in Uganda thanks to the generosity of all of you. In total our team was able to provide gifts of food for around 1000 families! Wow! To God be the glory!

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Here are a few updates on other areas of the ministry!

• Letters and school reports are trickling in, so you should be hearing from me individually with those very soon. 🙂
• Our construction team is feverishly working on the 3rd and 4th floors of Victory Primary School. The roof has been completed and they are now working on ceilings, windows, and doors. They are hoping to get as much done as possible before the students return to school on Feb 6th. Continue to pray for God’s provision for our school!
• Finally, I’m excited to tell that we have a team of 6 headed to Uganda Feb 19-March 1st! This will be our first time back in the country since COVID-19 shut everything down, and we are very excited to be there in person to encourage our kids and our team, as well as look for new opportunities to improve and expand the ministry to reach more people in need. I will provide more details about the trip very soon, but in the meantime please pray for Tom, Chris, Carol, Jay, Kris, and Jan as we prepare for this journey!

As we begin this New Year, may we all make our relationship with the Lord the priority of our lives, so that His fruit will permeate everything we do…

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Gal 5:22-23

Much Love,

Jan

This month’s update comes to us straight from Uganda, where Pastor Herbert and others directly involved in our ministry speak about the impact of V127 in the lives of so many. Watch this short video to hear about some of the exciting works that God is doing, thanks in large part to the generosity of all of you! 

Here’s the latest news from our ministries in Uganda!

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Victory Primary School

Our Victory Primary School construction project has transitioned from completing Phase 3 to simultaneously working on Phases 3 and 4! For a primary school that has grades P1-P7 to be fully accredited in Uganda the school is required to have a large multipurpose room to administer the P7 national exams. As our team was diligently working on the third floor of the school (containing much needed additional classrooms and bathrooms) they realized that they should also begin work on the fourth floor while the students are on their month long break between their second and third terms. They are currently putting the walls up on the fourth floor, and our next big expense (approximately $10,000) will be putting a roof on the building. After the roof is completed our team will move on to the finish work for both the third and fourth floors. This fourth floor will consist of some administrative office space and a multipurpose room that will be used for exam administration, children’s church, and partitioned for classrooms while school is in normal session. Thank you for praying for wisdom and provision as our school continues to grow, both in students and in height! To financially contribute to the completion of this project, please select the Construction Fund on our give page. 

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General Fund Field Trip

I shared with you in my last update that we took $1520 out of our general fund to send 80 of our Victory Primary School kids on a study site tour (a big field trip). So many of our students have written letters about how much that trip meant to them and the incredible things they learned! Most of them had not seen any African animals before, so they were very excited about the giraffes and lions and tigers and zebras! Our Gideon mentioned that he was so excited to see an “aeroplane” for the first time and he couldn’t believe that it was soooo big! Herbert shared that little Kate Miracle was one of the most excited children when she learned she would get to go on the trip. Here is her letter to her sweet sponsor Anna!

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Sponsorship Communications

I have been receiving some letters and school reports from your children and it’s so great to hear from them and see their progress in school. Please write back to them when you get a chance, it is a huge blessing to them! Many are struggling in some of their classes, but keep in mind that they are coming from incredibly difficult situations and face unimaginable obstacles all along the way. The Ugandan educational system is also very rigorous! Some of our secondary students have 12-14 classes at a time. Our job is to be their biggest supporters and encouragers, and your role in their lives is so important. Don’t forget to pray!

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Scholarship Fund

We’re so proud of all of our kids, but we are especially excited for those who are going on to vocational school or university. It’s amazing to be able to give them that opportunity when a very small percentage of Ugandan students ever go beyond secondary school. Just to give you an idea of the importance of our scholarship fund, we sent over $9000 in support for our scholarship recipients this term. We have 15 students who are studying medicine, agribusiness, civil engineering, electrical engineering, welding and fabrication, water engineering, fashion and design, catering and hotel management, construction management, accounting, agriculture and animal medicine, & journalism and media studies. Because of the love and support of all of you, their dreams are becoming reality!

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Prayer Request

Our civil engineer that oversees all of our construction projects, Julie, had her computer stolen a couple of weeks ago. This was a laptop that we had outfitted with all of the software she needed and hand delivered to Uganda on our 2019 trip. The computer was definitely targeted, as the thief stole that and nothing else while Julie was at church. Please pray that it will be recovered, and that God will give us wisdom in how best to help her.

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Opportunities to Share the Ministry

We were so excited to have a speaking opportunity at one of our supporting churches, David’s Community Church in Millersburg, PA this past weekend. Luke Crouthamel, one of our stewards, shared the ministry in depth during the Sunday school hour and also shared briefly during the morning worship service. He did a great job! It was so good for us to be able to talk and share with many friends and supporters there. We are very grateful for their support and look forward to a long partnership in the ministry. If you know of a church that would be interested in learning more about V127, please let us know!

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Finally, I want to leave you with an excerpt of a sweet letter from our Anisha to her sponsor Charity:

“I have written this letter to inform you that I really appreciate you for paying my school fees. I enjoy my studies because we got a new teacher for Mathematics this year. At first, math was too hard for me, but now its my best subject! 
Before I sleep, I first pray for you! May God Bless You.”

Before I sleep tonight, I am first praying for all of you, that you will “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:11-12

May God Bless You!

Much Love,
Jan

Here’s the latest news from our ministries in Uganda: 

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New Children

We’re so thankful that all of our new children have now been sponsored. Thank you for your prayers! We are incredibly grateful for our 162 children and all of you who are loving and investing in them. If you know someone who is interested in sponsorship, please send them to v127.org/sponsor. We love to have sponsors waiting for their children!

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Victory Primary School Phase 3

The building official that has been helping us navigate the demands and red tape of construction of Victory Primary School Phase 3 has been transferred to another office. (Probably not a coincidence) Herbert and Julie met with the new official last week, and after a heated debate, she has consented to allow us to continue construction, but with several conditions. One being that construction can only happen when the children are on holiday from school. (Three week sessions between terms) The second term ends Aug 5th, so we are praying for a very productive three weeks for our construction workers! They are also requiring a fence to be constructed around the property and a covering to be put up to catch any falling debris. These safety measures all sound good, but they will be costly and are requirements not mandated at other sites. All in all, we are grateful to be able to continue the work, but pray for God’s wisdom and provision as we face many obstacles. Thank you for praying and helping with this construction area of our ministry!

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Study Site Tour

All of the schools are required to send their learners on a study site tour once a year to give them a real hands on experience relevant to things they are learning in school. Our Victory Primary School students are traveling to Entebbe this Friday to visit the Entebbe airport, a wildlife education center, and the Ugandan meteorological center. This is an awesome opportunity for kids to see a different part of the country and expand their visions for their future! The cost of the trip is $19 per child, and the reality is that for our kids, that is a lot of money. So we are sending $1520 out of our general fund to pay for the trip for all 80 of our Victory Primary School students. Thank you for your contributions to the general fund… it is being used in many different ways!

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Angel Nabukalu

I shared with you in the last update that our Angel Nabukalu had graduated with a two year diploma in Electricity from vocational school. Great news! She was just accepted to Kampala Polytechnic Institute for a two year program that will give her a degree in electrical engineering. She starts Aug 8th!  When we first met Angel she was a scared 10 year old who had just fled with her mother from an abusive Muslim father that had kidnapped her younger sister. When I look at her photo today, I have tears realizing I am looking at the goodness of God. Our faithful God is in the business of transforming hearts and lives both here and around the world. We are just privileged to see it up close in the lives of these kids. 

I know a lot of you are traveling through some difficult days. I hope you’ll be as encouraged as I am by this instruction from Paul in 2 Corinthians…

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18

Enjoy this new song by Steven Curtis Chapman and don’t lose heart!

Much Love, 
Jan

Here is the latest from our ministries in Uganda: 

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New Children

We were both surprised and excited to receive a new group of 8 children this month! Their stories are all incredibly sad, but when reading them and inputting their information into our systems my adrenaline starts flowing with the realization that their lives are about to change forever. The stability that an education brings and the opportunity that it affords is more than most of these kids could even dream of. On top of that, they will now have people who love them, are praying for them by name, and are investing in their hearts and minds.

We only had two sponsors waiting when the children arrived, but we watched God provide (as He always does) and sponsors starting appearing in my inbox one by one. If you are one of those new sponsors, thank you so much and welcome to the V127 family!

We are excited to welcome Elohim, Hebron, Ruth, Davis, Isaac, Judith, Sifa, and Favour to our V127 family! This brings us to 162 children. Praise God!

Judith (above) is the only one who still needs a sponsor, so if you have family or friends who are interested in getting involved, encourage them that now is a great time to take that step of faith and invest in a child in need. Judith is 15 years old. She was abandoned by her father when she was young, and she and her mother are living with her grandmother, with no reliable source of income. Herbert has already enrolled her in school, knowing by faith that God will provide!

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New Graduate

Angel Nabukalu was in our very first group of children in March 2013 when we launched Victory 127. She was 10 years old and from a Muslim family. Her mother came to know Jesus at Victory Covenant Church and fled with her girls, Angel and Mary, from an abusive situation with their father. Tom and I were excited to sponsor Angel and she has been a part of our family for the last 9 years. She has had many challenges, but we are incredibly proud of how hard she has worked to make the most of her educational opportunities. She has just received her two year diploma from Nakawa Institute in Electricity, and has been working alongside master electricians on many projects in the area. She even helped install the electricity on the third floor of Victory House! She is now applying to universities, where she could receive a bachelors degree in Electrical engineering with another two years of study. She is sweet, thoughtful, kind, and beautiful in every way and we are so proud of her!

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Prayer Requests & Praises

• The construction of Victory Primary School Phase 3 is ongoing… continue to pray for wisdom and provision. Whatever comes into the construction fund is sent monthly to continue the work! Thank you for joining us in this area of the ministry!
• More than 20 of our children have recently been sick with malaria, typhoid, cough and flu. Please pray for the health of all of our children. 
• If you have contributed to our general fund, you have paid medical expenses for many that have been sick, and have helped to provide new Bibles for all of our new children. Thank you so much!
• Our rice and beans fund continues to be so so important to many families, and our scholarship fund is allowing students like Angel to have incredible opportunities. Thank you to all of you who are investing in these ways.

Finally, it is increasingly evident that this world is not our home. Peter calls us aliens and strangers in the world (1 Peter 2:11). We are just passing through on our way to our eternal heavenly home. But while we are here, we must throw off the sin that entangles us, and run our race with laser focus and with our eyes on our Savior. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

Your investment in these children matters. You matter. <3

Much Love,
Jan

V127 family, it has been a challenging month for our friends in Uganda, just as it has for many of you. There are so many that are hurting and in need, but in the midst of it all we are reminded that God is still good. Here are this month’s updates on the ministry, specific requests for prayer, and opportunities to support those who need it most. 

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One of our kids, Zaake Sserunjogi, was mugged by a group of teens when he was on his way to church one Sunday evening. (They thought he had a smartphone, but he only had a small button phone). They stole his phone and beat him up. Thankfully, he was able to get to the church where they rushed him to a nearby clinic for medical care. He will be okay, and is slowly healing, but as you can imagine, the physical and mental scars are significant. Zaake is 18 years old, and is in vocational school studying Building and Construction, with the hope of becoming a civil engineer. He says “My dream is to become a great engineer to transform my country with better quality building structures.” Please pray for Zaake and his physical and emotional healing.

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Victory Primary School

The city authorities came a few weeks ago to the site of our Victory Primary School where our team is hard at work on the third floor construction. They claimed that we could not continue construction without a title to the land (which we have never had, almost no one does in Uganda, and the authorities did not want to recognize the purchase agreement we do have.) According to Herbert this harassment is not unusual, but rooted in the corruption of the government authorities. They took two of our kids, Julie and Mathias (who was working on the project on his break from vocational school), and several of our construction workers to jail, demanding money for their release. Herbert was able to get them released from jail, but then spent a couple of weeks going from one official to another trying to find someone who would help with the problem of not being able to continue construction without a title. He finally found a city engineer who told him the best solution was to get the project under roof as soon as possible, before the other authorities returned in June. The engineer would do the inspections along the way himself and be able to vouch for them to the authorities.

Our typical construction process is to send funds as they come in and the team buys materials and progresses the project as far as the funds permit. With this event, we needed $15,000 immediately to buy materials and pay the laborers for the accelerated construction. We had no idea where that money would come from, but started praying diligently for God’s provision. MVC was God’s answer to our prayer, as the church decided to provide what was needed to get the building under roof. We are so grateful! Herbert has pulled all of his construction workers from other jobs to work day and night on this project. Please pray for our workers and for our team, as they labor and minister in a broken society with many, many challenges.

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Back to School

A few days before our students returned to school for their second term, our team got them together at the church for a back to school seminar. Here they talked about strategies for success in school and encouraged the kids to work hard and make the most of the opportunities they’ve been given. They served them lunch, prayed for them, and sent them off with encouraged and grateful hearts!

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Scholarship Fund

There are currently 30 recipients of the V127 Scholarship Fund! Of these, we have 16 students in secondary school who need extra funds to board and study at their high schools ($5400/yr). We also have 2 students at university that need an additional $1370/yr (above the large contribution already provided by their sponsors). Lastly, we have 12 students in vocational school ($8400/yr). All together, around $15,000 comes out of our scholarship fund each year to support our students in their higher education pursuits. If you, your church, or your company would like to help provide scholarships for our students, please reach out to me or simply donate to our scholarship fund. This fund is critically important as we are training the future leaders of Uganda!

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Finally, a friend reached out to me recently to say that she had just discovered the movie “Queen of Katwe”, and was profoundly affected. This movie came out in 2016 and is a very accurate depiction of life in Uganda. It was actually filmed in Katwe, a suburb of Kampala, which is only a few miles from Namungoona where our ministry is located. Our kids would be considered the “slum kids” in the movie. If you haven’t seen it, please find some time to watch it. It’s an inspirational story, but more than that, it will help you understand the challenges of life in Uganda, and give you a better idea of how to pray for your child. The level of need is overwhelming, but we are making a difference, one child at a time. 

Be encouraged, my friends. We live in a world where evil runs rampant and sin is celebrated, but this world is not our home. We are promised a glorious eternity and a forever home in heaven with our Lord and Savior. But what are we to do while we are still on this earth? 

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph 5:1-2

We have the opportunity to shine our light, to point people to Jesus, and to love all of those who God puts in our path. Don’t forget that light shines brightest in the darkness.

“In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16

Thank you for loving, investing, praying. You are making a difference.

Much Love,
Jan

Friends, here is the latest news from our ministries in Uganda!

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First Term & School Reports

Our students just completed their first term of school and school reports are trickling in. (I will send yours as soon as I receive it!) Most of them so far have done really well, but some are definitely struggling. Remember that these kids face unimaginable obstacles, and many of them have been in and out of school their entire lives. Your sponsorship is bringing them the stability that they desperately need. Our job is to be their biggest encouragers and supporters. Take a few minutes and write a note to your child in response to their report. Tell them you are proud of them and to keep working hard. The Educational system in Uganda is very challenging, so your encouragement means the world to them!

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V127 Scholarship Fund

Here is an update on two of our scholarship fund recipients! We are so excited that Shumayiya just started her first semester of her last year in medical school! A small church in WV has been paying her way through university and we know that the dividends of their investment in her will be many. Also, Judith just began her second semester of college studying civil engineering. If you would like to help support Judith and our other students in higher education, you can do so by donating to our scholarship fund here. 

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Realities of Life in Uganda

When we are hungry we walk a few steps to the refrigerator or the pantry. When we are thirsty we turn on the faucet and quickly fill a glass with drinkable water. Life is very different for our kids in Uganda. Most of our families must search every day to find food to feed their children. Our rice and beans fund is so critically important in fulfilling this basic need, providing nourishment to those that would otherwise often go without. They do not have running water in their homes, so they have to go to a community water source (up to 2 miles away) and carry the water back home in jugs that range from 8-48 lbs. This trip to the spring to gather water is an important part of every day life, and even that water must be boiled before it is able to be used. Here is a short video that Herbert sent of some members of our team going to get water with three of our children, Araphat, Zaituni, and Aaron, for their families. This video provides a glimpse into the area, the terrain, and the challenges of every day life in Uganda.

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Victory Primary School Phase 3

The third floor of Victory Primary School is taking shape! I thought you would enjoy this sweet video of our construction workers transporting the blocks they made to the third floor. What a workout! This phase will include additional classroom space and bathrooms. You can help us with Phase 3 of Victory Primary School here! Thank you so much for your continued support as we grow the capacity of our school!

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Dormitory Life

We were recently informed that we were required to put fire extinguishers and security cameras in our dormitories to pass safety inspections. We were able to send $1800 from our construction fund to purchase them, thanks to all that have donated!

This excerpt from a letter written by Catherine Ganyira gives us a picture of life in the girls dormitory. She writes, “Yes, I am doing well and I am living in the dormitory with my friends and our mentor is so lovely, caring, and wonderful. Living there is working out for me because I get more time to be busy with my books. I am hoping to do my end of term 1 exams next week. I thank God for the protection, love, and care He has given you and my family. I am learning new songs and trying to write my own songs. Singing and praising God is part of my life and I love doing it so much.”

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Finally, I leave you with a glimpse of one of our classrooms with our kiddos working hard, grateful for the opportunity they’ve been given, because of the love and investment of all of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Much Love,
Jan

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. 
Ephesians 4:28