Previous Post from Sunday, 27 October 2013
Greetings from Give Hope Ministries here in Busia, Uganda! It is with great joy and pleasure that I update you here from the field as many exciting things have come to fruition since I last wrote to you.
We started constructing a new classroom block and we are done with its foundation, trusting God to begin building the walls soon. For now we can only envision the students God will bring to fill these classrooms with learning and with hope. You can keep up with the progress by visiting Give Hope Ministries’ facebook page.
Big news! I married the most beautiful woman, Autumn, on September 14th, here in Busia. This day was shared with around 500 of our family and friends where we laughed, danced, ate, and shared so many memories! The reception was held right here at Give Hope Ministries ground. It was truly an unforgettable day and I praise God as I enter into this new chapter of my life, with Autumn.
I am glad to share with you the generosity of the donated school supplies from two churches in Powell, Wyoming. These supplies were delivered here by Vicki who attends Light of Christ. We are forever grateful for the hearts and prayers of these two churches and a big thanks to Vicki for her time, talent, gifts, and love.
I want to share with you the current fundraising campaign for Give Hope Ministries. Autumn and her friend Christina set out to climb the tallest mountain in all of Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro found in Tanzania, in hopes to raise $7,000 for Give Hope Ministries. After six days they reached summit, Uhuru Peak, on September 30th finding themselves at almost 20,000 feet high. The task was arduous and they are still experiencing some frostbite but they believe the $3,357 they have raised, to date, is well worth it. We are grateful for Autumn & Christina and all the work they have put into this project, not to mention their strength and vigor and the people who have supported them to raise these funds! We know that the funds raised will prove to be a valuable asset here especially to these precious little ones at the orphanage school. This campaign closes in the next few days. If you would like to donate directly to this campaign please visit, www.igg.me/at/Kiliclimb.
Thursday, October 3rd, we held a board meeting via Skype keeping each other up to date and encouraging one another with good news.
This past Friday, October 4th, I had the privilege of getting the children out of the classroom and into the garden where we learned to plant vegetables. This will be a great learning experiment as we watch these vegetables grow and soon enjoy them! Here at Give Hope Ministries we believe in the importance of allowing the children to learn with their hands in all subjects.
Every Sunday we hold church service in one of the classrooms here at Give Hope Ministries. It’s a true joy to worship our Father with the children who attend school here as well as their caregivers. But yesterday’s church service here at Busia Community church was different! The praise and worship echoed far and wide as we all enjoyed the sound system and the new keyboard donated from our generous friends! Praise God! Today all the students and staff were blessed immensely as Pastor Stephen came and shared a message from the word of God. He shared from Daniel 1:3, 4 encouraging the students to excel and do well in school as their futures depend on it. Here we also believe in the value of sharing the gospel with these young ones.
You can see we have many exciting things happening here and I hope this letter has found you and yours well.
Blessings,
Willy Ouma