Previous Post from Thursday, 08 May 2014
Hello Family and Friends,
It’s always a joy to write to you to keep you updated with what the Lord is doing here at Give Hope Ministries in Busia, Uganda. Thanks for taking this time to learn what is happening!
We have had a great increase in child enrollment in our program this academic term, which started in February of this year. At the end of last year we had 52 students; today that number has more than doubled to 109!
The children are at school from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm; they attend classes, have devotions (for teachers, too), play games, take naps (especially the young ones), and we provide breakfast and lunch for all student; dinner is provided for the children that reside at the school.
The blessings keep coming! We now have a school van that picks children up for school, and carries them home after school. What an unimaginable blessing this is, as some walked up to 4 miles to school and then another 4 to get back home. The van does have some mechanical troubles that can create challenges so we are trusting and believing in God for a bigger and more dependable ride. This week, our behind window screen got broken and we are using a polythin bag to avoid water entering the van since we are in the rain season now
We praise God for the current progress on the construction of our last class room block and our first 2 story building! The walls are finished and now we are waiting upon the Lord for the second floor.
We are glad to report to you about the beds that we acquired for the children. We have thirty beds ready for starting the program. We have not started on building the housing units for the orphans in the program yet, but we are still trusting God for that project to kick off.
God blessed us tremendously through one of our church partners, Grace Fellowship Church, USA; they supplied much needed clothing, shoes, pencils, pens, and books. The children and the caretakers were so glad to have these supplies. Thank you once again, Grace Fellowship Church for your generosity and love to these dear ones that we are serving together. We are overwhelmed and grateful for your generous donation and love.
We were so blessed to have our friend Joe here with us who shot a video at GHM. Keep a look out - the video is coming out soon! We would be happy to hear your feedback. If you would like a copy of the video, or if you would be interested in having someone speak with your congregation, please contact us. I will be traveling to the United States sometime in April to share the progress of Give Hope Ministries with family and friends. I’d be happy to meet you, as well!
We also had one of our donor and friend, visit with us here and this is the response we got from Renee after her visit with us here in Uganda,
Dear Willy,
It was so nice to visit you and meet your beautiful wife, Autumn. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the school, Proverbs Junior Academy. I enjoyed seeing each of the classrooms and learning a little about the teachers and students and what they were learning. I can tell that the kids are very
happy there. They were also very thrilled to see you. It is obvious that they feel very cared for and you make them feel very special by interacting with them, playing basketball with them, eating lunch with them and calling them by their names. After seeing the village and hearing about the community, I was even more grateful that the school now exists. I'm also happy to know that the
children are all getting breakfast at the school, as well as lunch each day.
I am hoping that as the funds are available you will be able to continue building and expanding so that you can meet even more needs. It will be nice to have the dormitory ready so that more of the children that need housing can stay at the school. Also, I will be happy to know that you have a way to get the water out of the well as opposed to pulling it up by hand; that was A LOT of work!!!
It is great that you are able to pick up the kids that need a ride to school. I'm sure that the children are more apt to learn if they are not worn out from a long walk TO school each morning. Also, since the school day is long and rigorous - I bet that the kids look forward to the fun ride home together in the van. It's so neat how things have come together and the school is operational and meeting the needs of the orphaned children in Busia. I know that the needs are great and although no one can do it all...your ministry has made great strides in helping the children that need it most. Keep up the great work. God bless you.
Sincerely,
Renee
As always, thank you for praying with us and supporting us. We genuinely appreciate you and wish you and yours all the best.
Will you partner with us today to educate, nurture and equip the next generation of children living here in Busia, Uganda?
Sincerely in Christ,
Willy Ouma