Except for my younger years as a child of missionaries to Austria, I spent most of my childhood at Deer Creek Christian Camp in Bailey, CO. My parents worked hard as camp directors and although they had opportunities to share their testimonies they were the "behind the scenes" people that kept things running and in tip top shape so that others could minister. I learned much from them and now do similar work keeping the wheels oiled for Hines Ugandan ministries to allow Katherine, Melanie and all of the national staff to minister to the sponsored children and their community. For the most part, I am the home office. But, I have begun to spend a month in Uganda each year to offer administrative support to Katherine and training to national staff. Most importantly, I have the opportunity to see God at work so that I can share what He is doing with all of you. However, with my work being so administrative I sometimes wonder what of my experience will be interesting to share. Yet somehow, God always shows up even in the administrative details. I had the privilege to work with Henry at our Kamonkoli Kraft Center as we develop this business. Here is his story.
Cindy
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Henry was 1 year old and his brother, Duchu, was 3 when their father died and their mother abandoned them to their grandmother. Soon she moved them away from the remaining clan to protect the boys. She soon died and an uncle came to live with them. He became involved in witchcraft and tried to bring the boys into this lifestyle as well. Fortunately, God had other plans for them and protected them from such a fate. The boys visited a local church that announced that Hines Ugandan Ministries was helping orphans in the community. They went to the ministry by themselves and received sponsors. Sponsorship provided for them to attend school for the first time. Henry knew how important an education would be and got up at 5 o'clock every morning to work the gardens as his uncle had demanded and make it to school by 7 am. This also meant missing meals at home. So, at age 9 Henry found a kind businessman at a local market who would pay him to pick up produce from people's homes each day after school to be sold at the market.
Henry attended HUM's AWANA club every week and grew in his faith in Jesus. Henry's uncle continued to pressure him to join in his witchcraft activities. When Henry was 14, Katherine invited him to live at the HUM property with several other older boys while he completed his high school education. He struggled academically but enjoyed learning and understood the value of an education. One of HUM's supporting churches saw Henry's faith and potential and offered to send him and another promising sponsored boy to a Bible school in Malawi upon their graduation from high school. They had both expressed an interest in ministry or missions work. Both boys spoke fluent French as would be needed in Northern African countries and a year in another country would be good practice for such a future. Henry says that this was such a blessing and it offered him the opportunity to grow his Biblical knowledge and faith in Jesus in spite of some hardships encountered during the year. He is now a spiritual leader in the community, serving with HUM and even preaching at church from time to time. He is an excellent example to the many sponsored children.
Henry returned to Uganda to attain a university degree that would serve him well should he become a tent-making missionary one day. This degree in Project Management was something he would never have chosen for himself, but he excelled in his studies as he had never before and enjoyed learning. We, at the ministry, saw the promise in Henry and hired him to run and grow our Komonkoli Kraft Center where uniforms are sewn for our Genesis and other local schools and crafts, mostly bags, are made for sale to our US supporters. The business is already growing successfully as Henry obtains uniform contracts with new schools and even with a local Coca Cola bottling company. He encourages, motivates and ministers to the seamstresses making for a quality work environment that we pray will grow to improve the economy of the community and even offer support to the ministry. Perhaps one day God will call Henry to a different mission field, but today we are blessed to have him serving with us and he feels blessed to do so.
This young man has actively moved to make a difference for himself, but mostly he has made himself available to go where God would lead. Henry says, "I didn't plan anything, all the good things I have in my life have come from God and I just follow." His sponsorship, his Bible school, choice of University degree and employment with HUM, all came to him. We are so proud of Henry and are excited to see how God continues to use him. He is a reminder to us of why we are here.
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| Graduates of Christian Childcare Program vocational school |
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P.O. Box 1402, Mbale, Uganda, East Africa
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| Carolyn was just sponsored |
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| You might be asking, "what's next if your sponsored child, now young adult, graduates?" Well, we have plenty more from where they came. We do offer graduates 3 more months of sponsorship while they secure employment. Since the beginning of the year I have been writing sponsors with fall graduates to offer new kids for them to consider. It was with great joy that I visited our new school building, which was not quite finished when I left last year, and heard teachers calling the names of children whom I recognized as the new sponsored children I had just had the privilege to assign, some still awaiting their new school uniforms. There they sat, these children whose lives had been changed forever, and we pray for eternity. They now had hope for a future, and most significantly, an opportunity to learn about and know Jesus as their personal savior. By the way, if you've received one of these letters please return it as it offers a variety of giving options and we want to get new children started as soon as possible. |
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We had many graduates from our program in the fall who have begun their lives as young adults, many in the fields they have studies and others having to gain "work experience" before they can enter their desired field of work. Unfortunately, with a 60% unemployment rate, some are still seeking employment, something that still has much more hope than they would have if they had not been sponsored all of these years. Please pray for these young men and women. It was an honor to attend the graduation of 7 more of our sponsored youth from a nearby vocational school. Two other graduates who participated in the ceremonies that day previously completed their courses in cooking and catering and have been working in the orphanage with Katherine cooking, cleaning and caring for the children.
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