22-Year Old is Foster Mom to 13 Ugandan Girls

Here is a great story from NPR about a young American woman who moved to Uganda to care for Ugandan orphans.  You can listen to the story or read the transcript here.

GRACE, MILLY, LUCY… CHILD SOLDIERS

Grace, Milly, Lucy, a new Canadian documentary about Ugandan women who were kidnapped as girls and forced to fight for the brutal Lord's Resistance Army, has just been released. (The LRA has kidnapped over 30,000 children over the last 20 years.)  A trailer of the documentary may be viewed here.

The NPR show, Talk of the Nation, recently interviewed one of the women featured in the documentary along with its director.  You may either read the transcript or listen to the interview here.

NPR also featured a profile on the Lord's Resistance Army in 2005, which may be found here.

To view a narrated photo essay entitled, Horror in Uganda, from the Los Angels Times click here.

Orlando Church supports group that helps Ugandan orphans

An Orlando Sentinel story by Jeff Kunerth-
March 15, 2010
The civil war that ravaged Uganda for a generation is over, but the consequences of that conflict remain: tortured land, economic ruin, displaced people, orphaned children.

It's those children — the thousands whose parents were killed by war and disease — that are both the burden and the hope of an African nation in the midst of rebuilding itself.

"Our children are having a lot of problems," said Norman Okot, 71, whose grandson is one of those who lost his parents to HIV/AIDS. "They are not able to go to school because nobody can look after them."

Okot was in Orlando Sunday at Discovery Church for the screening and discussion of a documentary about his grandson by the non-profit advocacy group Invisible Children. The film, Emmy, recounts how AIDS killed the boy's father when Emmy was five and his mother when he was 12.
He is now 17 and in high school on a scholarship from Invisible Children. The San Diego-based secular organization has raised enough money to send 600 Ugandan children to high school and another 200 to college.
It costs about $35 a month for a Ugandan child to attend high school — money that even children with both parents cannot afford, said Comfort Okello, a 25-year-old Ugandan woman who works in economic development for Invisible Children.
"We feel this is the only way we are going to rebuild the future," Okello said. "By putting them in school, we are giving them wealth that can nobody can take away. "
At Discovery Church, support of Invisible Children is part of the church's mission to work for long-term solutions to local and global problems, said Cole NeSmith, who heads a young people's ministry.

"Invisible Children wants to help these kids out with education and mentoring and maintaining a long-term perspective," NeSmith said. "Their long-term investment is really what we value in the lives of these kids."
A committed dedication to educating a generation of children whose lives have been filled with loss and suffering is the only way for a poor, agrarian country like Uganda to recover from the devastation of war and disease, Okello said.

"You see a kid who is homeless, a kid who has no parents, and the kid is praying for just to have an education. That is all he is asking for," she said. "We feel that by investing in these children's future, ten years from now we have a stable generation."

Spots are Available for HopeChest's September Vision Trip to Uganda

If you think your Church / Business / Organization might be interested in partnering with an orphan community in Uganda, why don't you invite them!

The purpose: Vision trips are designed for pastors, church or community leaders who are interested in the prospect of having their community sponsor an orphan community. This is a great way to get to know Uganda, HopeChest and the children / orphan communities available for sponsorship. We will be traveling from community to community to allow you to choose the community that best fits yours!

Details: September 8 (Tuesday) - September 17 (Thursday). They are in Uganda from Wednesday to Wednesday
Cost: $750 for ground fees, airfare is $1200-$1500
*Ground fees cover all food, transportation and lodging

If you think your pastor might be interested, this is a great way for him to catch the vision! We even have partial scholarships available on a need by need limited basis! Feel free to email me for more details. I'd love to talk to you about it.

brandi @ kidslake .org (remove spaces)

Brandi M. is Blogging from Uganda

Read Brandi's heart-breaking posts as she writes about her experiences with Uganda's children.
http://www.brandisthoughts.com/

A Couple that Didn't Let a Disability or Their Age Prevent Them From Ministry

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/buildingadultministries/2008/03/sometimes_words_are_needless.html

Sometimes Words Are Needless
Unique ministry opportunities are often available when you least expect it.

Mike and Marie Meaney of Bellevue, Washington, have a unique ministry in their retirement years.
After completing 40 years in their respective careers as caterer and teacher, they knew God wasn’t through with them. Sensing God’s direction, Marie, on her 60th birthday, flew to Lusaka, Zambia, Central Africa, to assess needs of teachers and students.
She returned home and began writing a curriculum for children at risk. She developed teacher training seminars and raised money for African schools.
Mike, a double amputee, found his heart touched by the many disabled people he saw in Africa, where disabled people are often perceived as having little value and are cast off with minimal help from the government. In response to the need they saw, Mike and Marie developed a non-profit ministry called Africa Village Classrooms. Their work grew to include evangelistic remote villages and the adopting of 50 orphans.
Mike is happy to say, “God took my feet and told me to go!” When he puts his arms around a little handicapped child, words are needless. He is in that moment the personification of Christ’s love.
Mike and Marie are currently working in conjunction with a local church in Wamala, Uganda, where two classrooms have been built with a church alongside.
Seventeen AIDS orphans reside there. The school has 65 students. It is beautifully equipped with a Christ-centered curriculum that is heuristic in its approach to learning (learning by discovery, invention, creative thinking, as in “Eureka, I found it!”).
Mike now serves on the National Council to the Disabled, a Ugandan government committee chartered with the task of improving the plight and status of disabled people.
Through the generosity of American Christians, wheelchairs, surgeries, and other helps are being provided. A school for the blind has been established in Wamala.
Mike and Marie joyfully watch God raise people up from the dirt to being able to walk or use a wheelchair.
For the future, they are planning a children’s village that will include a guest house and dining area for teams who come to assist in ministry. Small homes for orphans will be built with a widow as the “house mama.” A farm and vegetable garden, schools, and career development center will help the home become self-sustaining.
At age 67, the Meaney’s say they are still having the time of their life. Has it been difficult?
“Oh yes,” they say, “but every difficulty is far outweighed by blessing. We know the source of our strength and resources. It is Acts 1:8. ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses …’”

by Ward Tanneberg

Seeking Donations for Ugandian Children

Brandi M. of Westwood Church leaves for Uganda in a little over a week to minister to the children there. She is collecting pencils, pencil sharpeners, toothbrushes, toothpase paste, and underwear to take to them. She is also collecting money for other needs such as food for the child-headed households who are in the midst of a famine, mosquito nets, etc. .

You can easily donate via Paypal by visiting her site: http://www.brandisthoughts.com/.

Upcoming Vision Trip to Uganda

Hopechest is leading a Vision Trip to Uganda from April 28 - May 7 and there is room for you!! It costs approximately $2,500 which includes round-trip airfare and in-country transportation.

For more information: http://www.redletterscampaign.com/blog/2009/02/an-easy-way-to-make-a-difference-2/ and brandi@kidslake.org