Just Missing!

Yesterday my two little big boys went to school.  They are Goma Victor Hines and Israel Mayatsa Hines (they took the last name on their own!).  They are wonderful young boys of 13 years of age, soon to be 14.  They have been growing together since they were babies.  Goma was the youngest I ever took in to stay in my home.  He was 10 1/2 months old when he started staying with me and 1 1/2 years old when he started to live with me.  Yes, I potty trained and all - though his young mother did help a lot with some of this before she left.

Israel was always there but came to live with us when he was three years old.  He was attached to Goma so much and they are still like real brothers.  They both accepted Christ when they were nine years of age and having been growing in the Lord ever since that time.  They read their Bibles that I bought them for Christmas one year.  All of my kids have a Bible, it is an important gift to all (God's Word).  Goma and Israel love football and games.  They enjoy bringing the other children together with them in the village at the orphanage compound and playing football and do this often during their holidays.  They are always visiting with me, mom, and enjoy spending time with me and I enjoy spending time with them too. 

On the left is a picture of very many of my kids, though they were not all there in this picture.  In the front is on the floor with me from left to right - Susan, Ssemu (in front) Norah, around me is Sabrina, Peace (in front) and Mary, and in front again is young David, then next to me is Momma Phyllis with Edith in red and in pink next to her is Annette.  The behind row is Sylvia, Rachel, Sarah, Irene, Christine, Israel, Goma, Elvis and big Ssemu.
Missing are Charles, big Mary, big David, the two Violets, Katie, Alpha, Benjamin, Henry and Kepher.

The two boys are to the right at the Source of the Nile in Jinja, Uganda.  They enjoy a boat ride on the Nile.  Most of the kids that are in the ministry have visited the Source at one time or another, as it is on our list for special rewards for AWANA Clubs.  We do not have the pins, and etc. to give, so we do field trips as a gift to a class for those who do well on scripture memory, etc.

The school is coming along and the building is set to open up on the 19th of May, we hope this weekend to move in the furniture.  The painting is almost finished, and the toilets are being tiled as I write this blog.

Genesis is going to give all the kids in the ministry a good foundation, as spoken of earlier, and all our newly sponsored kids will go there.  We are still trying to raise another $8,000 to finish the school for things that have not been covered, mostly the electricity, insulation of the roofing, etc. Otherwise, water is there, a temporary kitchen is still in process of being built but more funds are needed included in the $8,000.  All the praise and glory and honor goes back to the Lord.  God bless you, Katherine

 

Much has happened since I last had a chance to blog.  Some good and some not so good.  I buried my father in Belleville, Illinois.  He was 87 years of age.

We started in August the building of the primary school for Genesis Nursery/Primary School.  With the Lord's help we will start with little ones and raise them up with a good foundation in the Lord and the Word of God.

 This is the first building of six for the classrooms.  There is also a toilet building going up with flush toilets!!  We are excited and thankful to our partners who have done so much to see that this is happening (Orphans Heart).  The school currently has 108 students.  We are currently having a middle class (nursery), a top class (nursery), first grade, second grade and third grade.  The curriculum we got from another organization that has been a great help to us, Rafiki Foundation.  This curriculum has the word of God all through it from the time they are little to the time they get through the 7th grade.  All primary schools in Uganda go through the third grade when they are a complete primary school.  We hope to register our school this year with the government so that by the 7th grade all students are able to take the Uganda National Education exam that is required before they can go to high school.  Pray for the school to be one of the best for the glory of God.

I want to tell you about a little girl in our ministry named Desire Mercy.  She is a very sweet little girl that has grown in a home that is so difficult.  Her mother has left her father very many times because he was continuing in witchcraft for so long and doing horrible things. 

Desire Mercy has been coming to the AWANA Clubs since she could walk with her half brother, Zebaloni.  She is a good student at Genesis Primary School.  She went home when she was three years old and told her father that he needed to get saved.  That he needed to stop all this evil stuff he does or he won't go to Heaven.  That he needed to ask Jesus into his heart. 
I went to her home many times and shared with her father and he told me this story in tears as he said that he feared that he would be killed by the demons if he gave his life to Christ.  I told him he had to believe and to know that our Lord is mightier than any of the demons or Satan himself.  He had a hard time believing this.  Last year he gave his life to Christ and had a big bonfire to burn all the evil stuff that he used in his witchcraft.  Now he is growing mangos and trying to make a living.
Desire is here with a doll that one of her sponsors made for her for Christmas as a gift.

Continue praying for the children, especially those in situations like Desire was in.  God bless you so much. 

TIA

Africa is often known as the "dark continent."  Not because of the color of the people, but because of the problems they face.  I can only speak for Uganda, however, as I am not familiar with the other countries.

When I think of the word "Dark," I think of night, I think of evil, I think of the Devil, I think of all wrongdoing.  Everyone has their own ideas of the what dark is.  At night there are many things that go on that do not go on in the day, things that are just evil. 

Witchcraft is a real problem all over the world, but particularly in Uganda and Africa.  Evil things are done.  I have really come to hate what the witchdoctors do.  Most of them have AIDS, as they often take sex as payment for what they do.  Performing evil deeds, that is what they do, in the name of Satan.  I do not fear them, as I know God is with me and protects me.  I often go to their homes to share the gospel and pray for them.  I have seen a few of them give their lives to Christ, and it is not easy for them, as the demons always come back to taunt them and ridicule them. 
_______________________________________________________________________
I like to think that the ministry is a light in all this darkness.  Serving the children and people of the community of Kamonkoli to the glory of God.  Raising up the children to be healthy, strong Christian adults that make a difference for their community and country to the glory of God.  This is why we started a primary school.  We call it Genesis Nursery/Primary School, because it is their beginning and the foundation in their lives.  I know that the children get a lot of influence from their homes as they sleep there, etc., but to really influence them you need more than just AWANA Club and Sunday School.  More than youth Bible studies that come later in their lives.  In school they spend a lot of time - five days a week - eight hours a day.  This is where they can be influenced.  The Muslims have been doing this for a long time, why not the Christians.  We have a curriculum that puts God in everything and builds a strong foundation in Christ from the time they are little.

The children in my home have devotions every night, short, but keeps them in the word at least once in a day and time to pray together before having dinner.  I have watched most of my children grow into the kind of adults that make one very happy and give God glory.  My daughter, Mary Nanyonga, recently finished her last year of high school and did very well.  We are praying that she will get a scholarship to Makerere University, which would allow us to use her sponsorship for her boarding and feeding, and other needs (books, etc.).  I ask you to pray with her. 

More than just finishing high school with good grades, she loves Jesus.  Mary has been working with us in the office and helping with many different things.  She is hard working and always willing to help out.  She is quiet and does not get involved in any gossip.  She desires to give God glory.  She is one of my little women of Africa.  Next week she turns 20 on the 18th of this month, April.  I give thanks to God for her each and every day.  I have put a picture of Mary from Christmas day in 2013.  It is wonderful to be bright and pretty at the same time. 
This year I taught her how to make cakes and read recipes.  She learns very fast and does an excellent job because she follows the recipes.
Mary came to live with me when she was 8 years of age.  She had gone through a lot.  She had two older brothers.  Her mother abandoned her when she was a baby and she did not remember her much.  Her father died and left her with her Grandfather and her two half brothers, whose mother and father are dead.
She was bitten by a dog when she was 7 years old that we thought had rabies, and she had to go through many injections for this.  She overcame her fear of dogs, even still!  We have two dogs and she does okay with them (Buster and Bella).  The house that she and her brothers was living in collapsed so they came to stay with me.  The Grandfather and the Uncles that lived in the home were brewing a liquor every day, kind of like what we call moonshine.  It was not a good place for a young girl to grow up.  I went to the courts and got a care order to keep her in the orphanage, as well as her two brothers.  In 2010, her brother, Bonafice, who was 21 at the time, died in a motorcycle accident.  It was really hard for Mary and Charles (the other brother).  Her brother, Charles, is studying to be a Dentist at Kampala International University and like Mary, is very bright and loves the Lord.

The picture here on the left shows all my girls in the orphanage.  The back row is my little women now and Mary is there, and the front row shows the young girls coming up.
I am proud and excited about all of my girls.  In the back row is Brenda Nakku, Violet Namisi, Mary Nanyonga, Alpha Namuyanja, Iryn Nagaga, Sarah Sabano, Catherine Amuroni.  In the front row is Sylvia Mugole, Annette Kayendeke, Norah Kaidu, Sabrina Musenero, Rachel Mudondo, Edith Biniki, Peace Namaja, and in the very front is Mary Naula and in the middle in front of Mary Nanyonga is Susan Nabirye.  Missing from the picture is Beatrice Namuzungu, who was not at home.  Below is a picture of some of my sons, they were not all around for the picture.

Not all the boys are pictures here and men.  From left to right is Israel Mayasa Hines, David Kirya Lunguba, Elvis Tenywa, Ssemu Innocent, Charles Ongabba, Ssemu Isabirye and Goma Victor Hines.  Missing from this picture is David Kisembo, Henry Olipotto, Benjamin Wytayabi, Keifer Tukkei, Julius Bumba and Nelson Duchu.

Elvis, Ssemu, Goma and Israel are all still in high school.  David Kisembo and Ssemu Innocent are in primary school,  David Kirya Lunguba finished at Makerere University in Information Systems and Computer Science and is currently looking for a job.   Charles mentioned above is studying to be a Dentist at Kampala International Unversity in Mbarara.  Henry is studying Project Management at Uganda Christian Unversity.  Benjamin is studying to be a doctor at Makerere University.  Keifer is studying to be a Lab Technician at Medicare Institute.  Julius finished in Business Administration from Nkumba Unversity and currently works with an organization that is affiliated with the UN out of Dubai.  Nelson finished with Business Administration from Makerere University and went on to do 1 1/2 years of Bible and is currently pastoring a church of around 75 members in Mbale, with plans to continue his Bible studies.
 

There are so many stories I can tell you about my years in Uganda.  The best ones are when the Lord used me to lead someone to the Lord.  Nothing makes me happier than to see someone accept Christ to live in their hearts and to make Him the Lord of their life.

This is what the work I do is all about with the children.  Watching them grow up and get educated, come to Jesus and really their whole lives changed, it is so exciting to see.  Nothing can compare to this other than the day when I actually get to be with Jesus face to face. 

We started a sponsorship for a three year old little boy named Trevor.  He is so cute with such big eyes and such a sweet manor about him.  He just comes up and wants to be hugged and feel loved.  He lives with his Grandparents and his mother.  His mother became pregnant and the father took off.  She was very young and could not manage to care for him hardly at all.  She has really tried, however, and I felt strong that this is a boy that we can make a difference through and in with the Spirit of our Lord.  Please pray for him as he grows to grow with Jesus.

Trevor had severe malnutrition as you can see in the picture below.  He has really suffered for someone so young.  Often going with no food at all, just as his mother does.  The Grandparents are old and do not work and have no income.  The gardens are their main source of food and they are small gardens.  This is often the case with the vulnerable children that we work with. 

 Trevor find things to play with but has not even one toy, as most of the kids in the village where I stay don't.  He had heard of Jesus through the Messianic Jew Church or Congregation that is in the area.  His mother found some work there helping out in their nursery school.  I sometimes wonder what goes through the minds of these little ones when they are sitting and staring as he is in this picture to the left.

I put his picture on the front of the brochure never knowing that someone would approach me and say that I want to sponsor this little one.  Is it a girl, I want a little girl and I want this one.  Well, he is a little boy but the woman said that she wanted to help him anyway even if he wasn't a little girl.  I was excited and went to work to get her the profile on him.

Trevor has now been sponsored for five months and already I can see a world of difference in his life.
He is now looking healthier and is beginning to show a lot more life in his face with a beautiful smile.  He is quite funny and very playful.  He likes Sunday school and church cause he has other kids to play with and often comes to me to sit on my lap.  He likes to learn the songs and sing them and clap his hands.

He still has some stomach from worm, but has been dewormed already twice and is beginning to look much better.  I believe he feels better too.

One of the things that children need as much as food is love.  They need the nurturing, love and care from a mother, and others around them.  Since the sponsorship program helps the child and the mother with food, and by paying for school, etc. (which he is not in school as yet), it takes a load off of the mother.  Not the responsibility, but a load.  She still has to look after him, raise him, watch him, etc.  It is good when the mother has an interest in knowing Jesus and make sit a lot easier to help a child. 

I want to tell you the story of another boy that we help that was much like Trevor when he was little.  His name was Sula.  Sula had a mother that was struggling.  The father had other wives and was not interested in her any longer or the child.  He had sent them to live in a mud hut and basically that was the end of it.  The boy had a lot of sickness because of the way they were living.  He kept having ear infections and actually lost part of his hearing.  The mother had no funds to take him to a doctor.  When we met Sula he was very sick and came to stay in my home for a month until he could get well.  We nourished him back with proper medicine and gave the mother a break for a month.  She had other children as well.  His ears, however, continued to give him problems for many years.  The mother totally left the father and went to live with her mother, Sula's Grandmother.  There she was able to take a little better care of Sula, but not much.  She said she could not have done it without the help of sponsorship in her life and Jesus.  Sula is now in his second year of high school at a good school (still sponsored) and one of the best students in the school.  He hears fine and is so thankful to God for the help he has had in his life.  He realizes that the Lord has been with him all the time, even when he was having such a hard and difficult time. 

God does make the difference, and he has given us the ability to do it.  We are his hands, we are his feet, we are the voice and we are the ones that must make the choice to make a difference in the life of a child - one child at a time.  It is the most wonderful and exciting thing to see as they grow up into loving, healthy, Christian leaders that I know are going to make a difference.

God bless you - Momma k

 

Scared

I remember the first time I came to Uganda and where I stayed.  There was a bat that lived in the ceiling and at night would come out and scare me half to death!  I had a small 3X6 bed and no net.  I had failed to find one when I was coming and ended up buying a small half size net that would at least cover my head!!  Then I heard stories about the witchdoctors and night dancers, and I had to go outside to use a bathroom and for bathing in an outhouse.  I would be afraid to go!  Not to mention the spiders in the outhouse that were always there!!!

Christine has always been like a young sister to me and she and I went to Kumi for an evangelistic crusade and hut to hut evangelizing.  We stayed in some kind of guest house with the Church of Uganda (Anglican) where again we had an outhouse - but it was far away.  At night we slept in a room with two small beds and no nets.  We had our half nets with us and covered our heads.  At night there were crickets all over the walls - plastered to the ceiling.  There was another couple in the room next to us (Bob & Sandy) who came from St. Louis and were working with us.  There were rats that would climb down our nets at night.  There were no screens or shutters on the windows and the door would not stay shut.  It was scarey.  One night Bob & Sandy came over and were scared half to death and asked Christine what it could be that was making the noise.  It turned out to be several rats and she was chasing them and throwing our shoes at them.  I told them we had them in our room too.  All of us did not sleep much that week!!  However, the Lord used us in spite of ourselves to witness to many people.

Another time when I was sleeping in my small room where I shared with a bat, there was strange noises outside.  I went to Christine's home and Harriet and Olive came to stay in the room with me.  They brought their mattresses over and stuff and slept there with me.  However, we did not sleep!  They began to tell me more stories about night dancers.  I had never in all my life heard of such things!  Then the noise I heard earlier came again and they both said it was night dancers.  That the witchdoctors and wizards were not happy to have me there cause I was sharing the gospel with everyone I met.  I did not stop and I prayed that night and then we all prayed together and the noise went away.  It scared me too much.

I feel strong that part of the mission God gave me here was to minister to the people, particularly the children, but even more, to give the gospel to all I meet.  So many people will say they are Christians when they have never accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Then there are those who have accepted Him as Savior but never allowed Him to be the Lord of their lives.  Pray with me as we continue to give the gospel to so many people.

The witchdoctor that I have written about so often in my newsletters that is near the property has given his life to Christ and this is a real praise!  He comes to church now, ask for special prayers and is trying to mend his marriage with the mother of his children.  He is finding it rough as he has to find work now to replace the funds he was getting as a witchdoctor.  However, now a new witchdoctor has moved in down the street.  Work is never done!  Pray with us that the Lord will continue to breakdown strongholds and reach these people as well. 

 

Another Year to Serve our Lord!

 It is always wonderful to have the chance to serve for another year.  It is also good that the Lord has brought me back to be with my children in the ministry.  I give thanks to Him for all that takes place, good or bad, for I truly believe that all things work to the good of those who trust in Him, according to His good purpose (Romans 8:28).

I am not sure I mentioned that we have brought another little girl into the orphanage in the last few weeks.  Her name is Mary and she is 3 1/2 years old.  She is a very sweet little girl with big brown eyes and very dark skin.  She is so shy and quiet right now.  She seems to be liking it already and often comes up to me or one of the older kids to sit on their lap.

We received the rest of the funds for the girl's home to be completed in the next month and a half and we are so excited about this.  The six big girls in my home will live there.  One of them is Sarah and she is finished with her degree and working for HUM as a Social Worker.  She will be the in-charge of the home.  They are all wonderful girls.  We also have three older girls from Momma Phyllis home (The Platte Chanyon/Am Yeshua House).  The new homes has a name called the Orphan's House of Compassion.  All nine of the girls to live there are wonderful young ladies who love the Lord as their Savior and Lord.  Each of them is a good witness to others.  My little women that I always write about are the ones to live there. 

We also received funds from Orphan's Heart to build four classroons.  This is exciting and so promising to seeing God's plans come together.  We have dug a borehole now and are waiting for the man to come back and hook up the electric pump and begin pumping water into the houses.  Most of the time we do not have running water (about 95% of the time).  This was given to us by a church in Colorado and we have waited a long time for the man to come and dig the borehole.  He is also working on the second one for the school and offices on the other side of the property, and will serve the future medical clinic as well.  All the buildings we have right now are rented and temporary.

It seems that the Lord put the same vision in many of us to do almost the same plans - for the orphans in Uganda and all over Africa.  Knowing that he started this work is knowing that he is faithful and just to complete what he begins.

I am so excited that the witchdoctor near my home has finally come to Christ and has had a big bond fire to burn all the demonic things that were at his home for practicing witchcraft.  We give praise to the Lord for this.  Pray for him.  His name is Stephen.

God bless you all in the New Year and thank you for all that you do.

 

Home At Last!

I am always grateful and happy to come back to Uganda and be with my children, I miss them terribly when I am away from them.  I have such wonderful children from the youngest, Sabrina, to the oldest Sarah.



 Sabrina came to my home about two years ago.  She was living with her Aunt who is very sick with AIDS and TB, and I feared for Sabrina.  I did not want her to get TB.  Her mother also has TB and AIDS and abandoned her to the Aunt.  Neither one is really able to take care of her, so I felt strong I should her in.  She has blossomed so much in the few years.  She is now seven years old and so much fun.  She loves Tinkerbell movies and playing with dolls and her favorite color is pink.
In the picture here is is on my lap.  Not all my kids are in the picture, as some were gone to University.  In the back row is Violet, Mary, Christine (their Auntie), Katie, Sarah and in the front from left to right is Irene, Susan, Goma, Norah, Me and Sabrina, Ssemu, Israel and David.  The ones missing are Beatrice, Brenda, Charles, Henry, David, Kepher, Benjamin and Bumba.  Raising up the children for the Lord is very important to me and with lots of love and compassion that comes from Him.  I am thankful to be able to serve our Lord in such a wonderful way.
 

Mary Mary She is not contrary!

I have another little woman in my home named Mary.  She is such a beautiful young girl, and so full of life for the Lord, Jesus.  She loves to share the gospel with others and cares about everyone.

Mary came to live in the orphanage with me when she was 8 years old.  She had a very rough life as a young child.  She lost her father when she was four years old.  Her mother had left when she was very young for another man.  She did not see her again until she was older. 

She was growing in a home with her two older brothers.  They lived in a home that was made from sticks and mud and it was caving in from two sides.  The Grandfather and Uncles that live there brew liquor on a daily basis and sit around and drink it from long straws until they are totally drunk.  One time there was a two year old that they gave alchohol to until he fell over dead.  They were too drunk to realize what they were doing.

I knew this was no place for a child to grow up, especially a young girl with no mother or father around.  When the house was caving, I took her in with her two brothers.  Mary was very shy at first.  She was always happy to help out, however, in the kitchen or any where.  She likes making sugar cookies at Christmas time and enjoys learning to make new things.

Mary is a very bright young lady and has come to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior over the years.  She depends on Him for help in her life, and I believe she will be successful in God's eyes because of her love for Him and her fear of the Lord in a right way.  She often teaches the little ones in the orphanage.

Mary is in her 5th year of high school and actually about to finish it.  I believe she will one day work in a job where she can make a difference for the Lord.  She is only one of the many youth that we have seen changed through sponsorship, love, and most of all - the love of Christ.  Thank God for my beautiful little women of Africa.

 

Esther

We had a little girl in the ministry who was sponsored for several years.  She first got a sponsor when she was six years old.  Her parents were both dead and she lived with her Grandmother.  Her Grandmother was sickly and very poor but did the best she could.

The little girl was called Esther.  She had big beautiful eyes but they always looked sad to me.  She often got sick, usually malaria.  She was small for her age.  By the time she was seven we realized something was wrong to make her sick so much.  We had her tested first for AIDS, but she was okay, then many other things.  After months of trying to find out what was wrong, something we did not even suspect was wrong.  She had syphillis. 

We  began to wonder how she at the age of seven could possible have such a disease.  Was she the victim of sexual abuse from someone in the family?  It turned out that someone she shared a basin for bathing with was a carrier and this is how she got it. 

Esther always seemed to be trying her best to survive.  She got a bad case of malaria and was not strong enough to fight it.  She had to walk like a mile to get to the clinic for her injections and often would not go, even though it was on her way home from school.  She was afraid of injections so much.  The Grandmother was too sick to go with her.  Then the medical officer came and told us that she was not coming regularly for her injections, so we went to find out why and we found out she had passed away trying to walk home from the clinic.

It was a sad moment and to this day when we visit the Grandmother and other children in the home, I go to Esther's grave and cry.  I realize that she was very young and she seemed to love the Lord, Jesus, and believe that she is in a better place.

It is often that kids get sick and have to walk to the clinic, or even continue going to school.  They do not get a chance to rest in their culture.  We do not have a vehicle for the clinic to go and get them or to take them any where.   When there is an emergency then we are called and take them to Mbale town.

The next time your child gets sick, I pray you will pray for the children in Uganda who suffer so much, even in just getting to a clinic.  God bless you.
 

Read It and Laugh or Weep!

One of the little women in my life is very special and dear to my heart (they all are!).  However, I will not use her name since some of the kids in the ministry may read this and I want to protect her.  We will call her Lori.  When I first met Lori she was only five years old.  She was always dirty and running every where.  I am not sure in those days I ever saw her run!  She always smiled and no one could know what she was going through.

She always had jiggers in her feet, non stop digging out jiggers!  I always felt so sorry for her going through the digging out but it did not stop her from running and enjoying herself.  Lori always had torn clothes and it seemed that she only had about three outfits.  She didn't care either.  I always envied her attitude about life, and I never knew at that time what she was going through.

She came over to my house often just to get a bath.  She hated the first one I gave her but after that she started to make it a regular thing!!  I think she just liked being cared for!  I always hated putting the dirty clothes back on her after bathing.  Once I gave her some new clothes that I went and bought for her and she went home with them and I never saw her wear them again.  I asked her about it and she would just smile and not answer.  I then began to look into what was going on in her life.

She had lost her father to AIDS.  Her mother left her because she was so sick.  She stayed with the Grandmother on the father's side.  The Grandmother was always sick and she had a husband that was a step-grandfather to Lori.  The Grandmother made her work in the gardens, carry water, cook and do just about everything by herself.  Her Grandfather drank all the time.  He was most often drunk! 

When Lori got sick one time, and I could see the Grandmother was doing nothing to help her and she was going to die from malaria, I took her in and had her treated from my home.  She was happy to be in my home.  I made sure she got good meals, baths and clothes to wear.  She had a bed to sleep in too.  I really loved her so much, but then one day her Grandmother showed up to take her home.  This was after about one month.  She said she was old and sick and needed her at home.  I asked her if she was concerned about the young girl's welfare and life.  She just kept saying that she needed her to help at home. 

I later came to find out that the Grandfather was raping Lori nearly every night when he came back drunk.  She did not tell people anything or show it but she was going through hell on Earth.  I cried and cried wishing I had never allowed the Grandmother to take her back.  I finally got help from the government in getting her removed and put her in a foster home.  She was not raped there but still made to do a lot of work. 

Lori developed such a feeling of unworthiness and life is not worth living by the time she reached her teens.  One would never know she was the same child that ran every where and came for baths!  It took several years of help for Lori and alot of love to help her.  Most of all, however, it has taken the Holy Spirit to heal her.  When she came to Christ and gave her life to Him she changed so much.  She began to do well in school, have a little confidence in herself and not think bad of herself.

Today Lori is in University and I am excited to see how the Lord is working in her life.  I know she will be a real testimony to others who have gone through what she has.  God bless you my dear daughter and may our Lord lift you up even more and bless you so much, Mom K
 

Let the Little Children Come

I am in Tucson, Arizona right now with Momma Jan and we have been remembering so many wonderful stories and some not so wonderful stories of our time together in Uganda.  Momma Jan was with me for around three years in Uganda until she had to come back and take care of her mother. 

One of the times we remember so well was a boy I have already written about.  His name was Junior.  She remembers how we both sobbed at the funeral and how hard it was when he died.  My daughter, Violet, one of my little women of Africa, is Junior's sister.  She really cried and it was so hard for her to watch her younger brother die.  She had already watched her father and mother die, and now her brother.

Violet's Grandfather was involved in drumming for evil spirits in his youth and younger years!  He told me that he feared for us to move the graves that are on the HUM property because he had done terrible things there in worship to the demons and the Devil.  He said it would all come back on him if we disturbed any of this.  My mind races and wonders about what he did!

We were also remembering a witchdoctor that use to live near me and would do his things all night and then put up a flag to mark that this was a place open for business.  He would drum at night to call up the dead and evil spirits to help him do his bidding.  There are things that we both learned about the witchdoctors that just made us sick.  Sometimes when a person does not have money to pay for their services the witchdoctor will ask for the wife to sleep with, or daughter to have sex with and most of these witchdoctors that I know have AIDS. 

A few years ago I witnessed to a witchdoctor that lives near me and he broke down in tears and cried.  He said that he knows that what I am telling him is true but he is afraid of the demons.  He said that he had given his three children to the demons and they had given him nothing that they promised in return.  He really cried and asked God to forgive him.  He really changed for a while, but then went back to his witchcraft.  I asked him why he would go back to something so awful (like a dog returning to its vomit).  He told me the demons were threatening him and he had no means of making money to survive, no education and no one to help him.  I prayed with him but he still refused to really accept Christ in his heart.  His name is Stephen and I ask all those who read this blog to please pray for him.  He only remains with a few children now and one of them is sponsored and comes to AWANA and church all the time.  He is only nine years old and I know he is very disturbed by what goes on in his home.  His wife left him with the two little daughters and she is in church all the time.

Pray, these people need the Lord so much and they fear.  God bless you and thank you, K


 

Remembering Benard

I love Christmas time.  A time to remember that our Lord, Jesus Christ was born into this world to die for us and to take the punishment for our sins.  What a loving Lord He is and what an amazing love He has had for us and has for us.  He came into this world with nothing and left with nothing but love!  I cannot understand how anyone can deny Him their love.  He is the most wonderful person in my life and He is my everything.

I cannot say enough wonderful about my Lord, Jesus Christ and I hope that all of you are thinking of Him always too.  He cares about everyone.  He loves me, you and all people, young or old!

As I think of his love and realize that He is the one who put Uganda in my heart and He is the owner of the vision that I have for Uganda and the children there, it brings me to tears.  A country where children are not born with any dreams or hope, but when they learn about Him they have hope.

I remember one such little boy named Benard.  He was only three years old.  He was sponsored by a woman and her husband from Colorado.  Benard lived with his parents, who were extremely poverty stricken.  His father drank day and night and even brewed his own liquor.  He abused the mother on a regular basis, beating her until she would have to go to a clinic for help because of bruising.  He often would hit the little boy as well.

Benard would get up early in the morning to go to the gardens with his mother.  He had a goat from his sponsor and he would take the goat with him.  As his mother worked, he worked side by side with her and tied his goat up near by.  He would often eat something like a raw sweet potatoe for breakfast.  He was a very shy and quiet little boy and very afraid of men.  He was not in good shape at all, he had malnutrition and a big belly full of worms that were eating his food.  He slept in a mud hut with his mother and would get bites all night long from mosquitos and ants.  He had no dreams with such a life.

One morning when he and his mother were out working in the gardens, he felt something disturbing his goat so he went to see what it was.  He saw a big snake and was scared but went over and untied his goat and got a big bite on the ankle.  His mother did not know what to do and she told him to get to the clinic fast.  She sent him on foot while she followed.  She did not know that walking there was the worst thing for him.  He fell on the way and died before he ever reached the clinic.  This snake was a cobra.

We buried him the next day.  His sponsorship money bought him a sheet to be wrapped in, a coffin, and a hole dug with bricks and cement put around the area where his coffin would lay.  I cried so hard and the mother could not stop crying.  She kept saying my little boy, my little Benard.  Wow, even though this was nearly ten years ago I will never forget little Benard and how quickly his little life was ended in the village of Kamonkoli.

Please pray for his mother, she is still struggling with the husband and now resorts to a witchdoctor to help her.  She lost heart and cannot believe that there is a God who loves her so much and cares about her as Jesus does.

 

Memories!

There are so many things that I can remember to write about.  However, when I sit down to write I get this writer's block!  Where do we begin.

When I first went to Uganda the thing that really tugged at my heart was the children, their conditions for living and physical health, the lack of education, the lack of love they receive and care.  I wish I had time to go and hug and give love to every little kid there is and even the big ones!!!

I spent a lot of time giving baths to little kids when I first got there.  I bought this big plastic tub called a basin and would fill it with the big yellow jerry cans and give them baths.  It seemed to me that none of them ever bathed!  There were little critters to deal with also!  Critters like body lice and jiggers.  Jiggers are little bity red critters that dig under the skin - mainly on the feet around the toes.  They have to be dug out very carefully so that you do not break them and cause a bunch more little ones to spread.  They are a lot like ticks.  After they dig into the skin they swell up from sucking blood and they itch and hurt at the same time.

Then there was shaving off hair that was unkept.  The children seemede to really love the care and attention that they never seemed to get.  Even little kids go and get their own water and have to carry it.  Then when they get done bathing they go back and play in the dirt and unfortunately most of them have to sleep in the dirt.  If you consider that the homes or huts they live in are made of sticks and mud with grass roofs and the floors are dirt.  The floors are smeared with cow dung and left to dry to make it hard, but this seems very unhealthy to me.   The kitchens are made of the same and have three stones with fire wood in the middle of the stones for cooking on.

I feel for the children in Uganda and I know that they need more care and more love and I ask for your prayers as I continue to love on them and help them and reach out with them with the love that our God gives to them.

 Every day children die from malnutrition or malaria from lack of care or someone to look after them.  Help Hines Ugandan Ministries to make a difference - checkout our website www.hineskids.

"Religion that God considers pure and perfect is this - one that looks after orphans and widows in their distress and keeps oneself pure before the world."  James 1:27

"Whoever welcomes even one of these little ones in my name welcomes me."  Matthew 18:5
 

Another Little Woman of Africa

This week I want to write about my Violet.  Violet Namisi came to live with me when she was four years old.  She was so cute.  She was scared to death and her mother was still alive but was very sick from the AIDS virus and had developed tuberculosis.  She expected to die about six months before she did.  Her mother's name was Esther.  Esther came to know the Lord before she died and I had actually spent over a year with her in discipleship.  She shared the gospel with many people and God used her to bring her mother to the Lord.

Esther wanted Violet to stay with me when she found out she had tuberculosis because it is so contagious.  The third day that Violet was staying with me she broke a glass by accident.  Instead of telling me she ran off and hid and I spent a whole day into the evening looking for her, together with other staff and her mom.  We finally found her hiding in bushes.  She was afraid that I would beat her for breaking a glass, and I explained to her that I would never do that.  I guess her mother would discipline her for such things by beating her with a stick, which is typical in Uganda still.  She felt much better when she learned that I would not do that.

She came back to the house to live and was now happy.  She began to grow close to David as a brother like and settled in with us as a family.  She loved to climb the mango tree and get mango's for eating.   When she got her first doll to play with she really loved it and carried it around a lot. 

Violet was always shy and quiet, but could giggle like nothing you ever heard before and it would delight me so much every time she began to laugh.  She could easily get excited or tickled.  David to this day teases her like a real sister and it turned out they were cousins.

Today Violet is still shy and giggles when she gets teased about anything.  She loves to play games like rummy cube or card games.  She attends St. Lawrence Secondary School and is in her fourth year at the Crown Campus.  She likes Zac Efron and any boy who looks like him!!!  She enjoys comedies and music a lot.  She does not talk a lot but when you get her engaged she is fun to chat with and enjoy.  She always surprises mom!  Violet is good at playing the drums and has a wonderful singing voice but is too shy to sing in front of a crowd.

She is very pretty and has had it very hard.  When she was nine years old her younger brother Junior, who was seven years old, died from the AIDS virus as well.  She still has one older brother and one younger brother.  The older brother is a sponsored kid and is in a vocational training school at this time.  Her younger brother is in high school his first year and has struggled to be able to go to school.

It was hard on her to have lost both of her parents by the time she was four years old and then to loose her brother too.  We tried to help Junior but he was already too far gone to be helped by anyone but the Lord and the Lord took him home.  I really cried when he died.  Violet cried as well, and still does at times at the mentioning of his name.

Violet loves Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and depends on Him for everything in her life.  She always tells me "Mom, I know that Jesus has always been with me and because of this I will always make it until He returns and then we will all live with Him  in Heaven."

My Little Women of Africa I

I talked about my daughters that have been growing up with me for so many years now here in Uganda.  I shared a bit about Sarah and Harriet.

Let me tell you about Katie (Catherine) Amuroni.  Katie was a sponsored child since she was six years old.  Her father died when she was four years of age and she never knew her mother, who had left when she was around two years old.  Katie had a step-mother named Pauline who died when Katie was five years old.  Her father and step-mother had died from the AIDS virus. 

Katie has grown over the years to love the Lord and is now in the 6th year of high school, or her advanced level.  Next year we pray she is able to go to University.  She is a lovely girl with a wonderful sweet personality.  She likes to sing and sings well, and she enjoys messing in the kitchen.  She also likes romantic comedies for movies, such as The Wedding Planner or Ella Enchanted. 

Katie was left on my doorstep when she was seven years old by her Grandmother.  It was New Years Eve and I had gone for a dinner at Dr. Mugondi's home with all the rest of the kids and Christine.  We were there until around 8:30 in the evening visiting.  When we came home we found Katie sitting on the doorstep with a small cavera of her clothes. 

Her Grandmother had spoken with me previously about helping Katie, cause Katie had severe malnutrition, and I had talked of taking her in for some time to nurish her back to health.  I guess the Grandmother was not waiting for me to give the time!!  I believe, however, it was God bringing Katie there.  She has been an encouragement to me and such a joy.  Mom loves you so much Katie, thank you for the joy that you bring to so many, and the love in your heart that comes from knowing our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

Living!

One of the first heart breaking experiences I had in Uganda was visiting in the homes of the people.  It is difficult for one to come from American and see how people are living in villages in Uganda.  Try to imagine if you can what it is like to actually live in a mud hut. . .

There are six kids in this home that I am telling you about.  Four boys and two girls and the parents.  The father has no education and he tries to earn some funds by digging in people’s gardens.  He makes around $1 to $2 a day.  Not enough to buy any food, but if he can save it long enough he may be able to get something.  He also has to work in his own gardens, so he sends the wife and kids to do this while he helps in other’s gardens. 

This morning they are eating raw sweet potatoes because there is no firewood or charcoal for cooking and no money to buy any.  The wife collected enough to boil some water, but it was not enough to cook the food too.  Three of the children have gone to get water for bathing with their 20 gallon jerry cans and it will take some time to go for the water cause the borehole well is very far away.  They will carry the jerry cans on their head to return.

Last night the sleeping was difficult because the mosquitoes were biting as well as the ants.  The floor to the mud hut is also made of mud.  The walls are made of mud as well and it was raining all night, so it was very cool.  This family does not have any blankets, mattresses or bedding of any kind.  In the night when they want to go to the bathroom they have to go out and find a bush that will work.  There is no bathroom or even an outhouse.   The roof is made from grass and often leaks when it rains.

The kids return from getting water and the first one goes to bath.  The shower is made near a tree with upside down dried out banana tree leaves.  These are the walls of the shower place, the floor is dirt and there is no door that closes just an opening.  The young boy steps in to bath with a plastic basin which is broken and begins to throw water on himself.  They do not have any soap as they cannot afford to buy any.  So he just uses water to and tries to scrub with his hands.

Last night the Dad did not sleep well wondering how he is going to raise the kids and send them to school.  He was never able to go to school himself, nor did his wife.  He teaches them everything he knows about gardening and surviving the way they have always had to. 

In this family no one knows Jesus Christ as Lord or Savior.  When someone shares with them they have a hard time believing as life has not shown any mercy to them.  Their dreams and hopes are crushed before they can really begin.  Who is this God that you say cares and where is he?  This is a common question.

One of the children is thinking about suicide but in this culture it is the worse thing a person can do.  They will not even bury the person but just crush everything around them down and burn it as it is a disgrace to commit suicide.  It is a sign of weakness.  Still, they think about it quietly to themselves.  There is no future – why do we exist? 

I believe that so many ministries use the word Hope in their name because they realize just how much the people in these countries need hope.  Everyone in the world needs hope, but unfortunately in countries where there is much there is false hope or hope in material instead of the living God.  HUM is a vision that God had, not Hines.  It is a vision that He put in my heart to share with the people in Uganda.  A vision of seeing children that have hope because they come to realize that they have a father in Heaven, that Jesus died for them and was raised from the dead.  A vision of children finding their father through Jesus and finding true hope that comes from His great love that knows no bounds.

Share this vision with me by helping the children in Uganda that I work with.  Let them see the hope that can be theirs for the asking and receiving through Jesus.  You can see how on our website www.hineskids.org  Help us to make a difference to the orphans and vulnerable children that God wants us to reach out to with His love.

 

The Graduates!

We are excited to say that we have more graduates from University this month.  Stephen Mudangha and Jesca Norah Kataike both graduated from Uganda Christian University.  Stephen majored with a Bachelor's in Agricultural Engineering and Entrepreneurship and Jesca graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Administration/Accounting.  We also have Sarah Sabano, who has been working with us as a Social Worker that went to school at night to get her Bachelor's in Social Work Administration from the same school and Harriet Acham, who graduated with her Bachelor's in Social Work Administration.  We have others coming up this year and are excited to see them finishing because of faithful sponsors.  God bless you all for helping these children to do something with their lives.  Harriet has a widowed mother who has really struggled and the same for Stephen and Jesca (who are brother and sister).  Sarah's parents have many children and have really struggled.  The we have Anton Otimongo, who is graduating with his Bachelors from Gulu University.

Coming up soon we have Sosi Musana, Andrew Nkambo, Harriet Konga, Alice Nawere, Diana Nankoma and Julius Bumba (who we wrote about earlier in a post), Michael Wafula and Fred Gadala with their diplomas which are like Associate Degrees.  We also have Badiru Mukama, Peter Kolokolo, Andrew Muluga, Helen Gwenda, Henry Maleza and Julius Musene who finished in vocational studies.

Most of these young adults are God fearing people who want to make a difference and they will because of the sponsors that faithfully sponsored them through until the end.  Thank you to all of you who care and are a big part of this ministry.

Mudslides of Bududa

Recently I went and visited an area known as Bududa on the slopes of Mt. Elgon.  Mt. Elgon is an old volcanoe with some activity going on at this time.  It is 14,177 feet high.  Mbale sits in the foot hills of the mountain range that borders Uganda and Kenya.

I am always amazed by the disasters that happen.  There are six children who lost both parents in the mudslides so we were asked to check out the children and see how we can help.  The children's father was a Pastor of a Penecostal Church and he was working hard to get everyone to evacuate, but the mudslide turned almost 90 degrees and went over his home while he and his wife were having lunch.  The children were at school.  The youngest is 5 years old and the oldest is 14 years old.  Right now they are staying with their Uncle and his wife, who has eight children of his own.  They are all evacuated and living in a tent in the Bududa area.

The mountain has been splitting in many areas causing these mudslides or landslides.  The day it happened it was not even raining.  There are volcanic rocks all over still blue in color.  A landslide also occurred on the Kenyan side this month, killing over a hundred people.  There were eight killed that are known of in this mudslide.  The last one we visited left over 2,500 people living in tents for a long time and hundreds were killed.  Please pray for all of these people.

The government is trying to get the people to move, but they do not have any funds and they have no where to go, no land, etc.  The government is trying to relocate them and paying the expense but finding it hard as there is over a hundred thousand people living in the areas of the mountain.

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Above and below are a few pictures of the area we visited recently.  You can see the big machines digging and looking for bodies of people who were buried.  Another man lost his wife and one of his children.  Their bodies have not been found and he is left with a four year old at home.  He is beside himself and so upset that he does not think he can manage life.


My Little Women of Africa

I love the movie "Little Women" and often relate it to my home and the girls that I have raised here with the gracious help of Jesus.  I have so many and I loose count!

Let me see, we young Sarah, who is now the oldest and is going to be 25 years in August and she has graduated with her Bachelors Degree in Social Work Administration from Uganda Christian University and is currently working with HUM as a social worker.  She is so sweet and pretty and kind.  She loves helping the children and is so involved in their lives that it is such a blessing to have her on staff.  She knows what it is to grow up in extreme poverty, having lived in a mud hut with very many children.  Sarah came to know the Lord as a teenager in high school.  She had suffered a lot as a child with her father drinking and mother not caring.  Her father is now a Christian and we are thankful for that, and Sarah was blessed to be used to harvest him unto the Lord.

Then I have Harriet, who actually lives in Christine's home (our child sponsorship administrator - see picture left) and they eat and pray in our home.  Harriet is going to be 25 in November and is graduating soon from Kyambogo University with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics with a strong background in accounting.  She hopes to find a job soon with Crane Bank, but is not sure as yet, but is currently doing her final internship with Uganda Clays (brick making industry).  She came to know the Lord when she was young in Sunday School and she has a wonderful singing voice.  She loves to sing in the choir.  She lost her father when she was very very young and was raised by a widowed mother who did not have any income.  She came to stay with Christine because the mother could not manage to feed all and when she was in high school.

There are more and I will write about them as time goes on - I would love to write a book (pray for me to have time) on so many of the children that have grown up into success stories to the Glory of God.

From Left to right back row Brenda, Irene, Violet, Mary, Christine, Katie, Sarah, Violet 2 and in the front three are Beatrice, Sylvia and Alpha and we were missing Alice - and I have three little girls to be featured later!  Their names are Susan, Sabrina Joy and Norah.

We will not forget my boys either.  I have four little boys and nine older boys (some men actually now!).  the four little ones are Ssemu, David, Goma and Israel.  The nine older ones are Elvis, Ssemu 2, David 2, Tukkei, Henry, Benjamin, Duchu, Bumba and Charles.

These are the names of the children that God has graciously given me to me a mother to in Kamonkoli and have been growing in my home.

All the Little Children

There are so many children who have passed in and out of my life here in Uganda.  Everyone of them so special in different ways.  I am blessed to be a servant to our Lord and to have been chosen to serve the little children of Uganda.

When I first came here, life was very difficult, and still is at times.  I struggle with even going for a walk as the only white lady (muzungu) in the village.  Everyone wants to stare, especially the little children.  I am no longer known, however, as muzungu but Mummie Katherine.  However, the stares have not reduced!  I love the little children and when they come running up to me it is such a blessing to me.  I only pray that the Lord will use me to be such a blessing to them.

I remember a little girl named Esther Naula.  She came from the same home that David lived in when I got him.  She was a very quiet and shy little girl and very sweet.  She fell sick so often and I kept wondering why, even Christine, our child sponsorship administrator was wondering what was going on that she falls sick almost every other week.  We finally took her for extensive medical tests and checkup.  It was discovered that this little girl had syphilis and was suffering quite a bit.  She received treatment from the same doctor and got a lot better for a while.  Then one day she walked into our office crying that she felt really sick.  Checking her temperature we discovered that it was very high.  We took her to a doctor in town and she received treatment but was suppose to get an injection twice a day.  The clinic nearby was willing to take care of the responsibility of giving her the injections. 

That very week when she was walking to the clinic, Esther collasped on the roadside.  She was too weak.  She did not come that morning or evening before for her injection, but had told her Grandmother that she had.  She was very ill.  We took her to the clinic very quickly, as her cousin, Bumba Dison, had found her.  She died that evening.  We were all heartbroken to bury this little seven year old girl.