Lawrence, who once was so shy he was considered a “cry baby,” now bursts with confidence at Makerere University Business School in Uganda.

The first day he went to the university, with support from our Leadership Development Program, he could not believe it. He marveled at the expanse of the campus, gaped at the beautiful buildings and thanked God for this opportunity of a lifetime. He was determined to achieve his dreams — among them a passion for leadership.

Lawrence had grown up a very shy boy. In fact, many times he was a victim of false accusations but he never defended himself. He simply cried. He grew up with his parents and three brothers. They struggled through life. His father, a fisherman and sole earner in the home, contracted cancer and painfully passed away when Lawrence was 10.

Life was tough. Lawrence’s mother did not have a job but depended on peasant farming. The family had little food. They skipped breakfast, had a cup of porridge for lunch, and usually ate posho (mingled maize flour) with avocado or greens for supper. On a good day they would eat beans and posho.

This was their routine. The boys grew thinner each day and often fell sick.

“Whenever we fell sick, Mum bathed us with herbs and told us to sleep and cover ourselves till we were warm. She could not afford medication.”

When Lawrence joined the Lugazi Child Development Center, it was a great relief for his family. The first thing he did was seek treatment for a terrible toothache that had bothered him for more than seven months because of lack of medication.

He received lots of love at the child development center and anticipated going back every Saturday.

At the center, children were given milk, eggs, bread and bananas for breakfast. At lunch they received rice and meat or matooke (plantain), beans and peas. Sometimes they enjoyed sodas. It was like he was experiencing a whole new life.

“Our director, staff and volunteers at the center loved me very much. The director treated me like his own child.

When I was in primary grade 2, they taught us about Jesus and the things He did when He was our age. I liked Jesus very much and I gave my life to Him.”

With support and love from our staff, Lawrence discovered his God-given potential and self worth. Little by little he gained confidence in himself and stopped being so shy. He joined the school choir and always stood in front.

Lawrence also learned at an early age to take on leadership positions and to always act with integrity. Later, when he joined the university, he believed he was the leader the students needed. Today he perceives himself as a leader of integrity who adds value to his followers.

In his first year at the university Lawrence became the representative for Baganda Nkobaza Mbogo Student Association. In his second year he was elected as the speaker; now in his third year he is the chairman and leads more than 500 students in the association.

The Baganda Nkobaza Mbogo Student Association is a national association aimed at preserving the culture of the Baganda, a people group living in central Uganda.

It is not an easy thing to balance culture and the teachings of Jesus Christ. And not many people understood how Lawrence could say he was chairman of this association and yet confess Christ as his Lord and Savior.

“I believe that as Christians we should take up all positions. Perhaps if someone who is deeply rooted in the culture was chairman, many evil practices would be encouraged. But I bring change and I can influence fellow students. They see my walk in Christ and I believe I influence them a lot.”

Lawrence is also the chairperson for the Family of Christ Ministry, where he leads 53 students. On top of that, he leads the Leadership Development Program fellowship at his university and is the treasurer of the gents ministry called Men of the Original Image.

He is grateful to all of his sponsors and to his church because, without this support, it would have been hard for him to make it in life. Lawrence is excited at what God is doing and once he is out of university he hopes to start his own businesses in coffee and dairy.

He also aspires to join national politics. His initial target is the seat for Member of Parliament for his home area, Buikwe West, in 2016.

Lawrence is grateful to Compassion and to his church for loving him.

“I have seen Compassion International struggle to see that I reach where I am today. They have given me so much support and so many things. From the time I joined the ministry, I felt like there was an invisible hand holding me up. I was so happy!

I am in the Leadership Development Program and I feel you are really investing in me. You want me to be the best leader, the best future parent, and an honest and compassionate person.

The Leadership Development Program has shaped me well and I am very grateful. Now I feel ready to face the world and contribute to it.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Anne was one of those children at Bugolobi Child Development Center who gave their lives to Jesus Christ every day after the altar call at the center. She had done this for the three years she was part of our Child Sponsorship Program.

As a Child Development Officer at the center then, I did not know whether Anne and the other children took salvation seriously or, better still, whether they understood what salvation was. It was not until Anne turned 10 that I understood that God honors a child’s commitment to Christ, and He gives such a child His Spirit, too.

I remember that it was an ordinary Saturday. Because Anne was 10 years old, her mother, a police constable, deemed Anne old enough to come to the center and return home on her own.

After attending the center program with a host of other children on that Saturday, Anne boarded a 14-seat commuter taxi that evening for Kitintale, the suburb where she lived with her mother.

My colleagues and I were stunned when at dusk Anne’s mother appeared at the center premises concerned that her daughter had not returned. We immediately reported the matter to the Bugolobi police.

We put announcements on radio describing the little girl and asking if anyone knew her whereabouts. We did not get any response from the public.

After five days, Anne’s mother called the center informing us that Anne was at the Jinja police station. The kidnappers had abandoned her in Bujagali. Bujagali is located about 100 kilometers (80 miles) east of Kampala near Jinja town; it is a lonely spot famous for the whitewater rapids of the River Nile.

Eventually we did meet the little princess and she narrated her ordeal. Anne said that when she entered the taxi, she assumed that the two women were passengers going home after a busy day.

“They were friendly. They gave me a book with pictures to read.”

Anne did not remember what happened next except that it was morning and there was a loud sound of gushing water coming from the neighborhood. She saw a big river that she recognized. We had once taken all the children at the center to see the Bujagali rapids.

Anne continued to share with us in tears, wiping her eyes all through,

“I was taken to a small hut. The man inside the hut saw me and told the women that his spirits did not like the Holy Spirit inside me. He said that the women should go and bring another child to sacrifice.”

The two women ushered her out of the witch doctor’s shrine and ordered her to walk ahead of them. That was the last Anne saw of the women; they disappeared into the bushes lining the footpath.

In Uganda, most footpaths reconnect to the main road. Anne trekked until she reached the Kampala Highway. It was the most tormenting journey of her tender life!

At the highway, she asked for the nearest police station. A Good Samaritan took her to Jinja police station whereupon the police made connection with the Bugolobi police.

When we got Anne back, we took her for trauma counseling. She found strength to testify before fellow children at the center. Her testimony moved the one hundred and fifty plus children in attendance that Saturday to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and ask God to give them His Spirit.

Anne reiterated to the fellow children that when children give their lives to Jesus, God gives them His Spirit!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald Kateu served as a child development officer with the Bugolobi Child Development Center for seven years before joining our Uganda field office as Sponsor and Donor Services Associate in July 2008.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

When Akite first joined the Child Sponsorship Program, her family did not know that they too would benefit. Akite’s father, Awany, was grateful to God for helping him with one of his four children.

We gave Akite school fees, medical care, a mosquito net, clothes, shoes, a blanket and a mattress. Awany knew he would have to continue struggling to provide for the other three children and his wife, but he underestimated how much the Child Sponsorship Program would help his entire family.

Awany has since received so much more than he had ever imagined. Today he looks back with a smile. It is hard for him to believe how far he has come. Even his community has benefited.

When the Adwari Child Development Center first opened, a 20-year insurgency in the northern part of Uganda had just ended. Everyone was still in fear.

Many had been tortured. They witnessed their loved ones die. Others were forced by the rebels to kill their loved ones. Property and crops were destroyed and the people were destitute.

The best thing that could have happened to this land was the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet Pastor Joseph, overseer of Corner Adwari Victory Outreach Church tells us that some people would not receive the gospel because they were too hurt. Some of them felt that if God really loved them, he would have rescued them and their loved ones. They were hopeless.

When we began a partnership with Corner Adwari Victory Outreach Church, most of the people were homeless and had no food. Many died from starvation.

Most of the survivors were still living in camps at the church and feared going back to their homes. Awany, who narrowly survived death, remembers that during this tough time there was a famine and our ministry distributed food to all the families of the registered children.

Awany received 45 kgs of beans and 50 kgs of maize flour each month for two months. He also received supplemental foods like eggs and milk for Akite, who was 4 years old at the time. Akite and her 2-year-old sister escaped death because of this intervention. Even as he received this food, Awany shared some of it with his starving neighbors.

He cannot imagine what he would have done without this assistance. At that time no one really planted crops because people thought that the rebels would come back any time.

Awany lost 84 heads of cattle to raiders and when he went back to his home, he found a shattered house. Awany had little comfort because he also lost three brothers to the war. He had to start from scratch.

A miracle happened when Akite got a sponsor. Akite’s sponsor sent her family a cash gift and Awany invested it in goats. Eventually these goats multiplied and he was able to provide for his family. One of his children often fell sick and he used the money he got from the business to treat her.

Many children in this area still go without clothes, but Awany was able to buy clothes for his children and also pay for their school fees. He was thankful for Akite’s sponsor.

Sometimes Akite’s sponsor sends personalized gifts for her, but many times she sends the entire family a gift. For each gift and letter that is sent by his daughter’s sponsor, Awany has ceremoniously recorded it in a book.

Perhaps the greatest gift they have received is the money Awany used to construct a new small brick house for the family. The house is almost complete and recently Awany bought 18 iron sheets to complete it. He is overjoyed. Awany and his family are blessed indeed; most of the people in their village live in grass-thatched huts of mud and wattle.

All parents of registered children receive different training at the child development center. One training that changed Awany’s life was that of sanitation and hygiene.

Awany confesses that before this training, he did not think that having a toilet was important. When his family needed to make toilet calls, they would simply do it in the bush or dig up small holes, use them, and later cover them with soil.

Most people in the village did the same. But when he received training on sanitation and hygiene, Awany resolved to build a toilet for his family.

Many people were affected with HIV/AIDS during the Lord’s Resistance Army war. Awany has benefited from the voluntary counseling and testing that the child development center arranged for all caregivers. He was found free of the virus and benefited from training on how to stay free from HIV/AIDS. Awany and his wife have also received training on nutrition and now their children are living a healthy life.

Awany also received seeds from the Compassion center to plant trees and they have since grown. He hopes to sell the wood some day and continue to generate income from the trees.

His wife, Amongi, planted a garden of ground nuts from the seeds they received from the child development center. They are grateful because now they do not have to worry about food. Their garden has since flourished.

The larger community has also benefited from the presence of our Child Sponsorship Program in Adwari. The center received Complimentary Interventions funds for water and they built a borehole in the community.

Now the people in this area enjoy fresh and clean water. Before this borehole was constructed some families had to walk many miles to fetch water from ponds.

Awany is grateful to our ministry and the church, which have been a great support to him, his family and his village. The practical help that we offer to the caregivers has also gone a long way in helping people in this area receive the gospel of Christ.

Pastor Joseph says that since the Child Sponsorship Program started more people have joined his church and our presence is a blessing to all the families of registered children and to the community.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Eva was fondly called “everybody’s friend.” At 10 years of age, she was young and tender. The most striking feature about her countenance was the long, delicate, silken hair that framed her beautiful face.

It was often said of her at Bugolobi Child Development Center, where I worked as a child development officer, that Eva would not need to go to a salon because “the salon in heaven did a good job.”

Eva always had a smile for everyone, including strangers, but behind her radiant smile raged a monstrous battle. Opportunistic diseases attacked her daily.

One day, Eva would be bedridden with malaria; another day, it would be a severe cough.

We just did not know what to expect. As such, her Saturdays, when the development center expected her, were often pre-empted by trips to the local hospital. Eva had acquired HIV at birth from her late mother.

One day as I was reviewing the attendance register, it occurred to me that Eva had not attended the center programs for nearly a month.

She had not written a letter to her sponsor, nor had she been available for her child-update photograph. Neither Eva nor her father had given any reason for her lengthy absence.

Nicholas, the center director, and I walked to the shack where Eva’s father lived and asked him about his daughter. He said he had sent her to visit her family in Kawolo, the family’s ancestral village in the far-away district of Lugazi. Her father assured us she would return soon.

After a month, Eva had not returned. Her father avoided Nicholas and me, leaving his shack early in the morning under the guise of going to work and returning late at night after Nicholas and I had closed the office.

We had every reason to end Eva’s sponsorship because she was no longer benefiting from the center programs. An integrity issue was at stake, for Eva’s sponsor was remitting money to the center every month.

It took a group of children in Bugolobi’s Middle East slum to inform us that Eva’s father had abandoned her in Kawolo.

Earlier, when our child development center conducted HIV testing for all the children in the sponsorship program, Eva had tested HIV-positive. Her father received the information but refused to take the test himself.

When Eva’s condition worsened into full-blown AIDS that was visible to onlookers, he no longer wanted to be associated with her. He was afraid his friends and colleagues would think that since his daughter was HIV-positive, then he, too, was HIV-positive.

Eva’s father decided to bundle up the little angel and take her to Kawolo village to “save his face.” When we finally were able to approach him, he showed remorse for his actions.

We hired an ambulance and paramedics and drove to Kawolo village in Lugazi district. We arrived in the heat of the noonday African sun. Beautiful Eva lay shivering, as though it were winter, on a bare mat in a derelict thatched hut.

She had thinned so much that her skeleton protruded beneath her skin. Her lovely hair had fallen out. Eva’s lips had transformed into a wound so big that she was unable to eat. I could not tell how long it had been since she had last eaten.

Eva could not move any part of her body except for her frightened eyes. She saw me and tried to say something but was unable to form words.

The paramedics immediately put her on an intravenous drip and carried her to the ambulance. I rode in the front of the ambulance, worried that Eva would die before we could get her to the Joint Clinical Research Center, the leading hospital in Uganda for HIV/AIDS research.

At the hospital Eva received a clean, warm bed and the best medical care Uganda could offer. Slowly she began to improve and gain weight. She started to smile again, but she had lost her ability to speak.

I visited her in the hospital every day and prayed with her. I delivered flowers and get-well cards from her friends and staff at the child development center and from concerned parents. Eva’s recovery was remarkable.

With Christmas festivities approaching, Eva greatly missed her family in Kawolo. She had been in-hospital for three months, and the medical personnel decided that it was now safe to discharge her so she could join her family for Christmas.

It was a joy for Nicholas, the medical personnel and me to watch Eva step out of the hospital. We placed her in a taxicab and bid her farewell to reunite with her family. Then we, too, went to be with our families for Christmas.

On Boxing Day, I received a phone call that Eva had died.

I froze. I asked God, “Why? How?” It felt as though a part of my being had been severed. I traveled for the burial. The entire village came to mourn Eva.

A scuffle erupted as to what mode the burial should take. Some of Eva’s family were Muslim and others were Seventh Day Adventist. Each wanted to bury Eva in accordance with their religion.

Finally, a tough-speaking man rose up from among the mourners and rebuked the two warring factions.

He told them that when Eva was alive and suffering, none of them cared for her. The only people who cared for her were from Compassion International.

He told them that Eva did not die a Muslim or a Seventh Day Adventist. She died having confessed Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.

At that moment, the mourners burst into tears and sang Uganda’s famous revival song, “Tukutendereza Yesu.” Translation: “Praise Jesus.”

I was given opportunity to speak as the Compassion International representative; I gave an altar call. Several people – including Eva’s father – gave their lives to Christ and we joyfully laid Eva to rest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald Kateu served as a child development officer with Bugolobi Child Development Center for seven years before joining our Uganda field office as sponsor and donor services associate in July 2008.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

There are a couple of things you should know about me.

Number one, I am a dreamer and an idealist. I literally dream about an ideal world.

I am super-sentimental and hypersensitive about everything. I cry in every sappy movie, every father-son moment, every Hallmark commercial, every touching sermon, etc.

If feelings are involved, good or bad, I will probably cry. It’s a little ridiculous, honestly.

When I was little, I listened to my dad’s old Bob Dylan, ELO and James Taylor LPs and cried. It’s actually quite embarrassing to admit all of this.

What I felt about the music was something that transcended the real world. I could close my eyes and be overwhelmed by the song. The mixture of the sounds and lyrics would pour over me and make me feel things I had never felt before. It’s a place deep in my heart that I can still go to when I listen to good music. I wish it was a real place.

The other thing you should know about me is that I’m a passionate person.

When something interests me, I become extremely passionate about it, even if it is for a short time.

Something will catch my eye and I will learn as much as I can about it, dream about it, immerse myself in it … and then, move on to something else.

This has been true my entire life.

However, there are a few things that I am passionate about that I will never move away from.

• My relationship with God and my family (including my two dogs, Peabody and Wonder)
• Music
• The plight of children in poverty

If you come to one of my concerts you will hear me talk a lot about my journey with Compassion.

I have been sponsoring little Junior in Uganda for several years now, and it has truly changed my life.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Tanzania and see the work Compassion is doing firsthand. A group of us went to build classrooms for one of the child development centers in rural Tanzania, just outside of Arusha.

While we were there I went with my mom to meet her sponsored child, Baraka, and his family.

He was a shy little guy with a big bashful grin that he hid with his hands. He, his parents and his siblings all lived in a tiny house that is about the size of my living room.

Me and my mom, a translator and Baraka’s family all crammed into the house for a bit and I sat in the corner, all curled up, and we listened to the story of Baraka’s life.

I heard how Compassion was able to get him food when he was hungry, medical care when he was sick, and an education when there was no way his family could afford it.

His life is completely different than it was before Compassion came along. He has an opportunity in his life that, without Compassion, he would not have had.

After we heard about that, Baraka’s mother went and opened a drawer in a little dresser she had tucked in the back of the room. She pulled out a ziplock bag and carried it over to a table in the middle of the room.

As she carried the bag, I could tell that whatever was in it was very special to her. She opened the bag and, with a big smile on her beautiful face, she poured out the contents onto the table in the middle of the room for all to see. A whole bunch of papers.

At first, no one was sure what the papers were, but when she started to open them for us we realized that they were all the letters my mom had written to Baraka since she started her sponsorship.

As I choked back tears, I understood just how precious my mom’s sponsorship is to not only Baraka, but that his entire family has benefited from the sponsorship.

They were so happy, even with the little they had in a place of poverty, disease and great need, because they had God and they had a sponsor.

Compassion is such a different organization because they work through the local church, equipping them to do ministry among the people in their communities. It’s not just a handout.

When I dream of that place deep in my heart, where my passions overwhelm me, I think of the beautiful people in Africa whom I have met through Compassion. I see their big smiles and I hear their captivating songs.

My soul wells up and I envision a world where poverty doesn’t exist. Where children are able to grow to their full potential because hunger, disease and lack of education and clean water don’t exist.

I believe God has called each of us to do what we can to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. One way to do that is by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one child.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aaron Hale is a worship leader and artist/songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri (though he’s originally from Texas, and is still a Texan at heart). Aaron has been sponsoring with Compassion for almost 10 years now and has been a Compassion artist for nearly two years.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

It’s all over the news, the Web and social media. The images are showing up everywhere. The statistics are unbelievable, but they’re real and that’s why we keep hearing about it.

I’m talking about the drought in East Africa.

East Africa is currently facing its worst drought in 60 years; high food prices and failed crops have left millions of people at risk.

Dozens of relief organizations have rushed to the scene. They’re hard at work calculating the need, raising funds and bringing in lifesaving aid.

You’ve watched as this crisis has unfolded, you’ve been praying and now you’re ready to respond.

But wait — we have some questions from the audience:

“Where is Compassion?”

“What is Compassion doing amid this crisis?”

“How can I give to Compassion concerning the drought in East Africa?”

Inserting a donation link to our disaster relief fund and asking you to give, right now, is a timely thing to do. But before you click on the link, let me explain how this crisis is affecting our programs.

Our child development centers operate in five countries near the areas affected by the drought:

• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Rwanda
• Tanzania
• Uganda

We do not work in Somalia, the hardest-hit country. But where we do work, our local church partners are seeing higher food prices due to poor crop yields caused by the drought. And our church partners are experiencing an influx of refugees into the areas they serve.

Because we are a holistic child development organization working through the local church our program model often protects our beneficiaries against the potentially crippling impact of famine and drought.

Our Child Survival, Child Sponsorship, and Leadership Development Programs are each designed to help meet the ongoing needs of the families, children and students we serve. The programs help our beneficiaries become self-sufficient and better able to weather disasters, such as droughts.

However, when a crisis does arise, the local churches where our child development centers are located identify the immediate and specific needs of the children, families and students we serve.

The churches have access, through our programs, to critical assistance, such as disaster relief, clean water, medical assistance, etc.

Our ministry focus is on long-term development of children from their time in the womb until an age where they’re self-sufficient. While we focus on prevention and responding to the needs of our program beneficiaries, we applaud other organizations that do widespread disaster relief.

One of these organizations is the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), one of our partners in 58:.
In addition to its major drought-response projects already underway in Kenya and Ethiopia, CRWRC is expanding its aid to Somalia.

You can learn more about CRWRC, how they are responding to the drought, and ways you can help at crcna.org.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My first exposure to the issue of food security in Africa was during an extreme drought in 1985. The stories were heartbreaking and people died in both Ethiopia and Somalia that year.

You’ve heard in the news that the current drought is much worse in Somalia than anything in the past 60 years. I can’t imagine.

I have spent the past week traveling with our very capable Ugandan staff, following up on our Complementary Interventions food security activities implemented in 2009 to see if those investments are now allowing caregivers of our registered children to weather the storm of low food availability and high food prices.

The answer is that our Complementary Interventions food security programs work!

Food security is always a complex situation. Drought is not the only factor. Typically, harvests are sold at low prices because farmers have limited ability to safely store their harvest and because other family needs require cash.

It is not uncommon for a family to sell their grain at harvest time at a low price, knowing they will need to find a way to buy some back in a few months.

This year the United Nations put additional pressure on the market price by purchasing large amounts of maize for relief programs in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, families in Uganda are shocked to find prices through the roof now that the time has come to buy back some grain.

There are definitely areas of Uganda where people are suffering greatly, but the situation is nothing like those across the borders in Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Compassion Uganda office is planning a response to the present drought crisis, but it will be a very targeted one.

My joy this week has come from interviewing families who participated in our 2009 food security programs. Those families have now built up adequate reserves to survive two or three years of poor harvest.

The difference between these families and the ones we plan to help in the coming months lies not so much in how severe the current drought is or how high the prices are, but rather in how prepared the families are. If our 2009 program could have included other parts of the country, those families also would be better equipped to manage the situation without outside assistance.

One example of our food security program is in the community of Tubur, near the town of Soroti. Gloria is a sponsored child at the Tubur Child Development Center.

Gloria’s mother is still using the seed from the maize she received in 2009.

She also received orange seedlings at that time and they are now blooming. She will soon have her first orange harvest! And she is on the third round of replanting the cassava cuttings she received.

Each season, the harvest increases. She is currently eating cassava and awaiting next month’s maize harvest.

Gloria’s mother filled two basins with beans from her first harvest after seed distribution. Her most recent harvest filled two very large bags with beans.

Very excited about her current living conditions, she was not satisfied with showing us just one field. She insisted we come with her to see more. While others might be saying,

“Give me more!”

Gloria’s mother was saying,

“Let me show you more!”

An additional component of the 2009 Compassion Uganda food security sustainability plan was that the families who received seeds and cassava cuttings would share some of their harvest with their neighbors and also store food for hard times. Gloria’s mother and many others we met in Tubur have done this.

Another community where the Complementary Interventions food security activities made a significant difference was Ngora, near Kumi town. In one home, the small amount of green gram and cowpeas received has now become more than 45 pounds of beans stored for family consumption.

Another sponsored child, Martin, lives with his widowed mother and his six siblings and attends the Ngora Child Development Center. His mother said that she is very secure with food now and can survive a drought.

In the past, she used to work in other people’s gardens for income to purchase food. Since receiving the cassava cuttings, peas, and other seeds, she no longer needs to work for others. And she has even given cuttings away to her neighbors.

The current high food prices and low food availability is a highly talked-about issue in Uganda at the moment.

It warranted a large district-by-district map of current conditions in the newspaper this week and was the major topic of prayer in churches countrywide.

In spite of these realities, our ministry in Uganda should be encouraged by these Complementary Interventions efforts, because for those caregivers and their families the food situation this year is secure.

Praise God for the privilege we have of complementing the ongoing Child Survival, Child Sponsorship and Leadership Development programs in ways that make such significant long-term impact.

Complementary Interventions works!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Greg Keen works in our International Program Group as the Complementary Interventions Director.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Growing up in poor village in Uganda, Margaret Makhoha not only graduated from the child sponsorship program she was also selected for our Leadership Development Program and earned her degree from Makerere University.

Recently Margaret was elected to Parliament in Uganda and represents her home district of Namayingo.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Imagine finding yourself in East Africa, where thousands of children are being abducted and transformed into child soldiers. Families are separated, some killed horrifically.

The government forces you to relocate to an area of safety, and here you’re invited to pray with a small gathering of believers.

After a few weeks, more than 50 believers are gathering for prayer and worship.

Someone suggests the group should form a church and asks for a volunteer to pastor the group, and another volunteer to assist.

After six months, the fellowship has grown to 500 members. Land has been given, a church building is being erected, and it’s all being led by a willing, volunteer pastor — with no theological training.

But the picture is not yet complete. And it’s not uncommon.

This pastor knows that people in his congregation are facing many challenges, including the reality of HIV and its progression into AIDS, and potentially death.

He tells them “God can heal you,” so many church members stop taking their medications. Possibly a widower marries again, but doesn’t tell his new wife that he has AIDS because he thinks he is healed.

Still other families are desperate for food … work … training for jobs … money to start a small business, so they come to their volunteer pastor for relief.

If your family is in desperate need of money, whom do you go to? Do you go to your pastor?

In Africa, the answer is overwhelmingly “of course.” And this question leads one to discover some significant differences in how pastors are viewed in Uganda and here in the United States.

In all fairness, in the U.S. one might approach his or her pastor or at least the church’s benevolence committee about financial difficulties. But what about questions about hygiene? Problems selling a home? Learning how to budget?

The African pastor faces very real expectations, not only to provide resource and counsel in the spiritual realm, but also in the physical, social, economic and educational realms as well.

Another challenge faced by African pastors is that the majority must find work outside the church to support themselves and their families, which leads to a great personal need for the very training/equipping a pastor needs to present his congregation.

To say that the role of the African pastor is complex is an understatement.

Jackson Rujoga, a church partnership facilitator with Compassion Uganda says,

“The Bible says that David led God’s people with a heart of integrity and hands of skill; our pastors have the heart, but often lack the skill to deal with even simple issues that we might assume are common sense.”

When a pastor begins serving a church, he is open-hearted and willing to serve. Then a realization occurs; ministry requires much more than willingness and open-heartedness.

Soon, the pastor discovers that while money is coming in, more is going out, families are demanding, and he feels overwhelmed.

Not knowing the biblical foundation of how to handle the situations he faces, he makes decisions that compromise the very integrity that led him to be chosen as pastor.

Pastors Discipleship Network, founded by Richmond Wandera, a formerly sponsored child and Leadership Development Program graduate, is reaching out and empowering pastors to face this challenge.

If pastors are trained, empowered and equipped in biblical principles, then they can be further trained on how to identify and resolve challenges in these other areas, and how to nurture a mature church.

Then the entire community gets transformed.

Later this week, Pastors Discipleship Network is hosting approximately 500 pastors from the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda at its third annual pastors’ conference, organized to train pastors in the concept of “mastering the land” from a biblical perspective —“Rooted in the Word.”

“Think about it this way. Your view of God shapes your view of the world, of yourself — and of your neighbor. It shapes how you approach the “land” or, in other words, your decisions on relationships, finances, employment, politics etc. So the mindset and one’s heart are critical.

“Once someone is rooted in the Word, they’re able to face the different stones or challenges that come seasonally in the land.

“For example, in Uganda we have seasons of peace, but also seasons of war and civil unrest. Very practically speaking, people need to know how to deal with anger, or how to respond when political leaders are being ill-treated. Do they join the demonstrations? How should they respond?

“The church is a place where people come in good times and in desperation, and the church is ready to listen.

“The people can be stripped of everything else, but they will still come to church — when they are in need, they need a pastor who is knowledgeable about many areas of life and who is living a Christ-like example to those who follow him.

“Even [the Ugandan] president — Museveni — goes to church. There is a pastor today who is speaking into his life … into the areas of family, politics, business, and relationships.”

Being “rooted in the Word” makes mature disciples who are able to go out and “master the land” — wherever God places them… in a hospital, a church or a business — or in a justice house.

“I believe every decision in life is seasoned by our view of God, found in the Bible. And as one of my professors at Moody used to say — ‘every view of fallen man is — crooked or skewed, but the Word of God can create change in one’s heart.’ That’s what Pastor’s Discipleship Network is trying to help pastors do — for their congregations and the greater community of East Africa — by God’s grace.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melissa Riehl joined Compassion in 2004 and is the Director of Donor Development. Originally from Houston, TX Melissa is Ugandan at heart and is a volunteer member of the Pastors Development Network’s leadership team.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

As a pastor in Uganda for more than 13 years, Peter Mugabi deeply understands the plight of the African pastor.

“Pastoring in Uganda is a big call that God puts on one’s life. It’s a tough calling because many of our churches have quite a number of challenges.

“The expectations for pastors in Uganda go far beyond the spiritual realm. Our people are very needy, and whether the needs are spiritual, economic, social or physical, the church is the place of refuge. People look to the pastor for help.”

When asked about the specific challenges faced by the members of his congregation, Mugabi said that people in his congregation have “big” needs ranging from economic empowerment, support for schooling for their children, food supplements and medical assistance.

“Many people are sick with malaria, tropical diseases, AIDS — and they fail to go anywhere because they lack the finances.”

Mugabi also says that social needs are abundant. Many people have families that are unstable — and out of the devastation come broken marriages and child abuse.

Though Mugabe has to work outside the church as a teacher and professional counselor to ease the financial burden of his church, he is quick to talk about the blessings he sees as a pastor in Uganda.

“The needs that we have also have been our blessings in a way, because we have learned to trust God in our poverty. We wait on God day by day because we are not sure of tomorrow.”

Mugabe says that in Uganda there is tremendous freedom in worship.

“Because of the great need in our community, as a pastor, I can knock on any door and be welcomed. Ugandans will welcome anyone bringing the gospel. They are very open, loving and sincere; people believe that the church has the answers.”

When asked about his involvement with Pastors Discipleship Network (PDN), Mugabe breaks into a huge smile. As the childhood pastor of Richmond Wandera, CEO of Pastors Discipleship Network, Mugabe was able to speak into the vision as Wandera first shared God’s call.

“There was a great need to impact pastors — to empower, equip and encourage them. Many pastors have been called but very few have any training.”

Mugabi says that the resources provided by the Pastors Discipleship Network have been invaluable.

“It’s like on-the-job training for various aspects of pastoring.”

The Quest Study Bible has been a precious resource for him, Mugabe says, both personally and as he prepares sermons and devotionals for his congregation. And the Network’s resource center has opened a world of information, helping him access sermons by Internet as well as numerous books on various aspects of pastoring.

Still, more training is needed.

“I’d like to see training incorporate three major challenges to our people: politics, economy and our culture.”

In addition, Mugabe says that management training is critical.

“We’re not only pastors, but leaders — and therefore, managers of God’s resources.

“The Pastors Discipleship Network has provided an invaluable network for us because, as pastors, there are tough seasons when we are worn – burned out. And as pastors we know that every counselor needs a counselor; we need other pastors to share our frustrations and dreams.

“I’d like to give a Macedonian call like Paul gave in the New Testament. The work here is great, and we pray that the Lord would provide for us. Our spirits are willing but, at times, our pockets are weak. Just as Paul said: ‘Come and help us!’”

Article courtesy of the Pastors Discipleship Network. Download the latest PDN e- newsletter.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates