NOTE: *Trigger Warning*
I wanted to pass on some letters I received this morning from a ministry that works in Uganda, Africa. They were sent as one email, but they are two separate letters. The first one talks about the current situation that has been happening in Uganda. The second letter is from a former street kid who is now a part of the ministry after having been helped by it; the letter is part of his background story. Here they are (And note, I'm not trying to raise money. I just wanted people to see some of the rest of the world):
--
(Letter 1, From the ministry leader)
Hi Everyone,
We have been in Uganda since Saturday, and I am seeing a real problem in food costs for our projects. All of the Projects are now out of food all at the same time even though I go to great lengths to stagger this. It is the spikes in prices that have caused this to happen. What was enough for 4 weeks is now enough for 3 weeks.
There are protests going on in Kampala over this as food prices affects everyone. The street kids are most challenged as nothing is being thrown away. I hate to see them suffer more than others. It is so unjust.
If you can help us with extra funds until we get this thing manageable, we will be so grateful. Every project (reaching a total of 400 children) is out of food ! Our visit which should be a pleasure, is horrifying. I have no other resources other than to ask for your help.
Yesterday Speter took us (Jane, Emily, Kelsey) to visit the Street Kids of Jinja pastored by Nick. It was so beautiful as they sang and worshipped. When I went to preach to the kids about the two ways of living, a piglet ran through them with a stolen piece of roasted corn in its mouth and chased by a woman who was out to make it drop that corn. We all laughed at the spectacle of the piglet in trouble over its’ stolen food. It caused me to think of street kids trying every day to steal food and not get chased just like that pig. What a demonstration of the result of food shortage. Even piglet had to steal prized roasted maize as there was nothing else for her. You can read Nick’s personal story at the end of this letter.
Emily and Kelsey visited Alfred’s Beads Project in the Banda slums. The paper beads are a community effort of displaced Acholi women. Our Paska oversees Alfred’s production. The community is built on a stone quarry where they used to labor all day hitting rock with hammer into smaller and smaller pieces. They made little money. Now there are so many paper beads projects going on that it is a delight to see how a single business has transformed a community.
You can purchase these beads or give a bead party or sell them in your church etc. by contacting Nancy Morgan or Gail Chapman in my absence. They benefit the orphans of Alfred Okeny with 100% of the money going directly to the orphans. It is a way you can be actively involved.
On Saturday Alfred moved our new x child-soldiers from Kampala to Kitgum and they are with their transformation pastors Emma Otim and Lawrence Okumu. We need to build some large huts for them quickly, at a cost of $200 each. Please consider if you could help with that. The Kitgum food bill is now running $500/month. They also need medical care after coming out of the bush. Many of them are so happy as they are finding the remains of their families who thought they were long dead. It makes this work a satisfying one. I will send you some of their stories after I reach there and spend time with them.
Please find someone to help us financially and pray for us as well. We need YOU and we LOVE you. All the children and send their greetings and love. Jane
--
(Letter 2, From the former street kid)
i am Walyamboka Nicholas a man of 19 years old…. I am a total orphan and former street kid. I lost parents in 2000 when I was 9 years old and the clan members took all the properties of my parents and they chased me and my young sister out of home..
I had to join street life coz I had nowhere to live and I had nothing to eat and I couldn’t do any job because I was young. But street life is not a joke because this is where we had to carry heavy luggage in order to get something to eat. On the streets we could smoke, steal and do many other bad things to earn a living,
The worst part for me was that my young sister was raped by strong men when I had gone to look for something to eat and when I came back I got the men doing it. I tried fighting them but they beat me up seriously and they left me when I had fainted and when I woke up I saw my sister crying. In the morning I thought she had serious malaria, and I carried her to the toilets where we slept and then I went to look for food at the garbage so she could eat something and coming back I saw the person I left talking, had ended her breathing. Can you imagine loosing the only person I had in life ,, I said God why me of all the people and I remained alone to struggle with life in the world and when I recall of the past I shed tears .
I started pushing life alone, and I struggled with life and I was once arrested even, just because I had a gang where we could steal to get food, and one day when we stole, all my friends ran and I was arrested.
I reached to jail and spent a week there and their DPC saw that no-one was coming to check on me, so what he did was to send the guards to pick me and bring me to him. And when I was brought to him he told me, “ I am leaving you to go, but please be careful with life.” And can you imagine he could help me at a time when I needed his help?. And I stayed on the streets until 2006.
After living on the streets for six years, I met one man of God who met me and he told me, “young boy come to me” and he asked me why am I on the streets? After I explained it to him he really felt sorry for me, and he told me God has sent me to help you. He took me to a place named Living Hope College where a man called Paul Osilon introduced himself to me as “uncle” and he told me his work
is to help orphans and street kids/x-child soldiers. He welcomed me and told me you are now home, don’t worry.
The man who took me there said, “God needs you.” and he prayed for me and I got saved. But I thank God that at the end, Nick the street kid afterwards became a man of God who preached the gospel. And everyone liked me.
I lived for around 7months there and mom Jane and her group came in and we welcomed them, She left and returned again in 2007. Mom felt sorry for the way Paul was treating us and she brought us to Mbale and got us where to stay and paid for us in a very good school. And we started up our ABU church where I pastored. And mom, thanks for having such a wonderful merciful heart. I will never forget what you have done in my life.
Of recent we started a ministry of ABU street kids, and I am living in Jinja as their pastor, taking care of street kids who are really in need of help. I take them as my family. There are very many suffering people in a town named Kumuli and I am exploring this city for ministry. They suffer from Jiggers which causes a long painful death.
I thank everyone whose praying for us, and mom may God bless you. NICK
- - - - - -
If for any reason you wanted to check out the ministry's website to learn more about what is going on over there or what the ministry has been doing, you are welcome to. It's website addy is: Active Blessing
I wanted to pass on some letters I received this morning from a ministry that works in Uganda, Africa. They were sent as one email, but they are two separate letters. The first one talks about the current situation that has been happening in Uganda. The second letter is from a former street kid who is now a part of the ministry after having been helped by it; the letter is part of his background story. Here they are (And note, I'm not trying to raise money. I just wanted people to see some of the rest of the world):
--
(Letter 1, From the ministry leader)
Hi Everyone,
We have been in Uganda since Saturday, and I am seeing a real problem in food costs for our projects. All of the Projects are now out of food all at the same time even though I go to great lengths to stagger this. It is the spikes in prices that have caused this to happen. What was enough for 4 weeks is now enough for 3 weeks.
There are protests going on in Kampala over this as food prices affects everyone. The street kids are most challenged as nothing is being thrown away. I hate to see them suffer more than others. It is so unjust.
If you can help us with extra funds until we get this thing manageable, we will be so grateful. Every project (reaching a total of 400 children) is out of food ! Our visit which should be a pleasure, is horrifying. I have no other resources other than to ask for your help.
Yesterday Speter took us (Jane, Emily, Kelsey) to visit the Street Kids of Jinja pastored by Nick. It was so beautiful as they sang and worshipped. When I went to preach to the kids about the two ways of living, a piglet ran through them with a stolen piece of roasted corn in its mouth and chased by a woman who was out to make it drop that corn. We all laughed at the spectacle of the piglet in trouble over its’ stolen food. It caused me to think of street kids trying every day to steal food and not get chased just like that pig. What a demonstration of the result of food shortage. Even piglet had to steal prized roasted maize as there was nothing else for her. You can read Nick’s personal story at the end of this letter.
Emily and Kelsey visited Alfred’s Beads Project in the Banda slums. The paper beads are a community effort of displaced Acholi women. Our Paska oversees Alfred’s production. The community is built on a stone quarry where they used to labor all day hitting rock with hammer into smaller and smaller pieces. They made little money. Now there are so many paper beads projects going on that it is a delight to see how a single business has transformed a community.
You can purchase these beads or give a bead party or sell them in your church etc. by contacting Nancy Morgan or Gail Chapman in my absence. They benefit the orphans of Alfred Okeny with 100% of the money going directly to the orphans. It is a way you can be actively involved.
On Saturday Alfred moved our new x child-soldiers from Kampala to Kitgum and they are with their transformation pastors Emma Otim and Lawrence Okumu. We need to build some large huts for them quickly, at a cost of $200 each. Please consider if you could help with that. The Kitgum food bill is now running $500/month. They also need medical care after coming out of the bush. Many of them are so happy as they are finding the remains of their families who thought they were long dead. It makes this work a satisfying one. I will send you some of their stories after I reach there and spend time with them.
Please find someone to help us financially and pray for us as well. We need YOU and we LOVE you. All the children and send their greetings and love. Jane
--
(Letter 2, From the former street kid)
i am Walyamboka Nicholas a man of 19 years old…. I am a total orphan and former street kid. I lost parents in 2000 when I was 9 years old and the clan members took all the properties of my parents and they chased me and my young sister out of home..
I had to join street life coz I had nowhere to live and I had nothing to eat and I couldn’t do any job because I was young. But street life is not a joke because this is where we had to carry heavy luggage in order to get something to eat. On the streets we could smoke, steal and do many other bad things to earn a living,
The worst part for me was that my young sister was raped by strong men when I had gone to look for something to eat and when I came back I got the men doing it. I tried fighting them but they beat me up seriously and they left me when I had fainted and when I woke up I saw my sister crying. In the morning I thought she had serious malaria, and I carried her to the toilets where we slept and then I went to look for food at the garbage so she could eat something and coming back I saw the person I left talking, had ended her breathing. Can you imagine loosing the only person I had in life ,, I said God why me of all the people and I remained alone to struggle with life in the world and when I recall of the past I shed tears .
I started pushing life alone, and I struggled with life and I was once arrested even, just because I had a gang where we could steal to get food, and one day when we stole, all my friends ran and I was arrested.
I reached to jail and spent a week there and their DPC saw that no-one was coming to check on me, so what he did was to send the guards to pick me and bring me to him. And when I was brought to him he told me, “ I am leaving you to go, but please be careful with life.” And can you imagine he could help me at a time when I needed his help?. And I stayed on the streets until 2006.
After living on the streets for six years, I met one man of God who met me and he told me, “young boy come to me” and he asked me why am I on the streets? After I explained it to him he really felt sorry for me, and he told me God has sent me to help you. He took me to a place named Living Hope College where a man called Paul Osilon introduced himself to me as “uncle” and he told me his work
is to help orphans and street kids/x-child soldiers. He welcomed me and told me you are now home, don’t worry.
The man who took me there said, “God needs you.” and he prayed for me and I got saved. But I thank God that at the end, Nick the street kid afterwards became a man of God who preached the gospel. And everyone liked me.
I lived for around 7months there and mom Jane and her group came in and we welcomed them, She left and returned again in 2007. Mom felt sorry for the way Paul was treating us and she brought us to Mbale and got us where to stay and paid for us in a very good school. And we started up our ABU church where I pastored. And mom, thanks for having such a wonderful merciful heart. I will never forget what you have done in my life.
Of recent we started a ministry of ABU street kids, and I am living in Jinja as their pastor, taking care of street kids who are really in need of help. I take them as my family. There are very many suffering people in a town named Kumuli and I am exploring this city for ministry. They suffer from Jiggers which causes a long painful death.
I thank everyone whose praying for us, and mom may God bless you. NICK
- - - - - -
If for any reason you wanted to check out the ministry's website to learn more about what is going on over there or what the ministry has been doing, you are welcome to. It's website addy is: Active Blessing
