Watermark in Africa

As I mentioned yesterday, we sponsor kids in Uganda.  Of the 300 kids we sponsor today (growing to 600 early next year), about 190 are in Gulu.  In addition to paying for school fees, materials, uniforms, and other stuff, we also have mentors for the kids.  In Gulu, there are seven mentors for the 190 kids.  I got to spend about 60 minutes with six of them, while the other one was interviewed for a video we will share with the body in the future.

I would like to introduce you to the six I fellowshipped with and share some of what they had to say.  Their names are Jophe (male), Judy (female), Proscovia (female), Charles (male), Ricky (male), and Simon (male).  They are managed by Molly, ALARM’s Gulu office manager.

Judy is a Sunday school teacher at Deliverance Church, where some of the children attend.  I asked her why she decided to join us in our efforts with these children.  She told me she once received training from World Vision (note: an organization that is in a lot of towns in Northern Uganda doing good work), as well as from East Africa Ministries (not sure who they are).  She felt that since she had been given this training she had a responsibility to share it with others.  That so encouraged me and reminded me of Luke 12:48.  What has God provided you with where you have a responsibility to steward it to its maximum potential?

Judy also told us that she is grateful for our shared ministry with them in providing for school fees.  She gets to spend time with the kids at church on Sunday’s, but this new program allows her to spend time with their families and teachers, so she can better relate to the child.

Jophe is a pastor of a church.  He shared with us how his ministry has expanded through our sponsorship program.  He said it allows him to get into the families and reach/minister to all of them.

Proscovia was a sweet lady who smiled throughout the morning.  She is a Sunday school teacher and loves children.  She told me “I need training to care for these kids, and ALARM continues to provide me with the training I need to care for these kids.”  She then shared with us about the training ALARM provided last month.  The training addressed trauma healing and specific methods for effective communication with children of different ages.  They also defined success for her role, making it clear what ALARM expected of her.

Then Kyle Thompson asked, “How has God changed you through your role as a mentor?”  Charles said, “it called me to check my own life since I recognized these kids see me as their model for life.”  This reminded me of 1 Corinthians 11:1.  As you are a model for others, can you say “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ?”  Jophe, a father of five, said, “I used to only view my five kids as mu responsibility, but I now see all of them as my responsibility.”  Then Ricky shared.  Ricky used to be sponsored, but now he is a mentor!  He said, “Molly always prayed for me, and she mentored me.  Given what she taught me, I feel I now need to share this with others.”  This was a great picture of 2 Timothy 2:2.  In what ways are you reproducing?

How has the program impacted families more broadly?  Jophe shared a story about a family that was not Christian.  Their child was sponsored through the program which allowed Jophe to begin ministering to the entire family.  Since then, the parents have accepted Christ.  How cool is it that God chose to redeem these people through our efforts with ALARM!  Once again, I am humbled that our Lord chooses to use us as His means of grace.  They also shared about other families of non-Christians who have begun periodically attending church to learn more about these people who are serving their family.

Our last question was “what do you do with the kids?”  Ricky shared about his time with the older children in the program giving them career guidance and offering the kids a vision for their future.  HE also enjoys tutoring the kids, especially in math and English.  He said when the kids struggle academically it affects them more broadly, so he likes to help in this area.  Jophe spoke most about sharing the gospel and God’s word with the kids.  He also feels a real burden to give them a picture of God’s love for them.  Finally, Jophe tries to help the kids grow a vision for their future and the opportunities before them as ALARM sponsored kids.  Simon focuses on training the kids for upright living and ties into Proverbs.  His quote is “live longer and brighter.”  He teaches the kids that the only way to a straight life is to love and follow God.  He said most of the kids struggle greatly in their family life, so unless they know the Lord, they will never recover from the atrocities they have experienced in a war ravaged community.  Charles spoke of the three special Saturdays each year when the 190 kids meet at two locations for singing, soccer, and age-specific teaching.

Tomorrow – Visit with a child-headed home in need of help.

Picture of Molly (ALARM Gulu Field Office Manager) and me

Molly (front) with mentors. From left - Ricky, Jophe, Simon, Judy, Proscovia

Proscovia, one of the mentors in Gulu

Some of the kids we sponsor in Gulu

One of the boys we sponsor in Gulu

This is the first of many posts documenting the events of my recent trip to Uganda to spend time with ALARM visiting our ministry efforts with them.  They will be a bit “stream of conscious” and are intended to give you “personal examples” tied to the “overview” posts I did in October.

After spending our first day in Pader visiting our trade school and three of our water wells, we headed to Gulu.  Nelson Okello, ALARM’s Country Director in Uganda, used to be the pastor of Gulu Baptist Church, so his relationships run deep in this town.  We started the day at Gulu Baptist Church where we spent time with about 40 of the 190 kids we sponsor in Gulu.  We also met with all seven of our mentors in the area (more on them in a future post).

We spent about 45 minutes with one of the girls in the program.  Due to the graphic nature of her story, I will not share her name.  She is about 15 years old and one of nine siblings.  When she was 9, she was abducted by the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army), the group that has ravaged northern Uganda for over a decade.  Along with her, two of her brothers were abducted.  While a captive of the LRA, she was forced to be a “wife” to one of the leaders of the LRA where she was forced to have sex…nine years old!  In addition, on the typical day she had to walk for hours, as the group was constantly moving to avoid being captured by authorities.  If you were too tired to go on, you were killed.  When they needed to cross a river, they would avoid bridges, where authorities were more likely to capture them, so they crossed through the river holding onto a rope that was tied to trees on either side of the river.  Each person was forced to carry supplies and equipment, and if you dropped your equipment, you would be forced to “go down river” to capture the supplies…this often meant drowning.

She eventually escaped, as did one of her brothers.  Her other brother was killed while in captivity.  Since escaping, ALARM learned of her experiences and began to offer her trauma healing and provided funds to place her in school and reenter into society.  In addition, there is a mentor from ALARM assigned to meet with her at least twice per month and usually more often.

She shared with us her relationship with Christ, her hope in Christ.  She looks forward to her continuing education, and she desires to become a doctor.

As we spent time with her, I was reminded of how broken our world is.  Specifically, I remembered how deceitful and wicked I am (Jeremiah 17:9), that I need to recognize that I am capable of committing unspeakable crimes, especially apart from Christ.  I pray for those people who committed heinous crimes against this sweet girl and countless others, that they would know Christ and be transformed through a renewing of the spirit and mind.  I thank God that through His mercy and grace she is healing.  I am humbled that my God allows us and ALARM to be His means of grace in her life.  Please be praying for her, her family, the mentor who is discipling her, all of ALARM’s staff in Uganda, and for God to continue to provide for us financially in Dallas to be able to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Uganda (2 Corinthians 8:13-14).

We are looking forward to the opening of the trade school in Pader in early 2010.  One of the target audiences for the school is former child soldiers who are often too old to re-enter traditional schools.  Visiting with this sweet girl reminded me of how strategic this school will be to our ministry in Northern Uganda.

Oh, and one last random point related to 2 Corinthians 8:13-14.  After I met with this sweet girl, I spent about 15 minutes with Walter, ALARM’s part-time accountant in Uganda.  He came to me and said “Beau, thank you.  We know our friends at Watermark are sacrificing in Dallas to generate and save funds to send here to care for these children.”  I thanked him for the kind words, but I was really convicted.  Sacrifice?!?!  I chatted with the rest of our team about this.  I pray we would have a burden for our brothers and sisters in need, a burden that led to significant personal sacrifice by all of us as we advance the gospel throughout the world…like our brothers and sisters in Macedonia did nearly 2,000 years ago.

Tomorrow – Will introduce you to six of the people discipling the kids we sponsor.

Oh my goodness. What an unbelievable trip. We got to visit the trade school we are building and meet with people affected by it. We spent time with about 130 of the 300 kids we sponsor. We spent time with four widow groups we sponsor. We visited about 5 of the 8 water wells we drilled and met with recipients of the water. We visited former abducted children. We visited two child headed homes. Lots. Be on the lookout over the next two weeks for about ten posts where I will share their stories, how Watermark and ALARM are God’s means of grace, and some pics.

Six of us leave tomorrow to go visit our orphan care, microfinance, water well, and other projects in Uganda with ALARM.  A key objective is to come back with specific plans for allowing more members to directly participate in our water well and orphan care efforts.  We are on track to share specific ideas in December and early 2010.  Please be praying for our trip and preparations to share more with the body.

We have finalized teams for teaching trips to Burundi in February and Uganda in March.  Those teams have begun meeting and preparing this week.  Each country will include a men’s and women’s team.  Please be praying for these teams as they prepare and pray for the participants at the future conferences.

We are attempting to do our first “Shelter from the Storm” type trip to Goma, Congo in the first part of 2010.  The ladies have been working on a curriculum, and when our lawyer team was in Goma last month, they discussed the concept with ALARM and another potential partner, Heal Africa.  We hope to firm this up before  the end of the year.  Please be praying for all the cards to line up for this.

So those are the plans in our three key ALARM countries – Uganda, Burundi, and Congo.

The Young Adults leadership is planning out their return trips to Ethiopia this summer with e3.  Be praying for leadership as they vet potential participants.

Back in Dallas in a week.  Hope to post some great pictures and stories.