The Moorpark team working with the Kobwin kids to fence the property.
Recently, a team from Moorpark, CA spent a week serving at our Kobwin Children’s Centre. The team worked alongside the kids to help fence the property. This helped in developing relationship. As our week at Kobwin progressed, I saw hearts open and real transformation happen. Each day that we were there, we covered a certain topic. Faith, Hope, Forgiveness and Love. In the mornings, small groups would assemble to pray and discuss how we see fruit from each of these issues. Then, in the evening, each of the men from the team would reflect on it with a story from the Bible and personal illustrations.
One night that really stand out to me was the night we spoke about forgiveness. Many of the kids, especially boys, came to a point where they faced the fact that they hadn’t forgiven someone for taking their childhood and forcing them into a war driven society.
Their stories and testimonies were heart-breaking, but in the end they were thankful the Lord brought them through those times. For without turmoil, they may never have turn to Him for strength!
-Mallari Page, Assistant Teams Coordiator
Thanksgiving marching!
Every moment is a moment to be thankful, but once a year, we are reminded of the blessings that surround us and celebrate the goodness of the Lord. No, we did not baste a turkey or mixup the months on the calendar. For this kind of Thanksgiving, the traditions are to walk around the compound with your family (I am a member of the Ebenezer family) waving flags or palm branches, followed by a church service that was filled with more excitement than I could describe. We sang in 15 different tribal languages from across Uganda, dancing and jumping, clapping and shouting. It really was a joyous event!
During the service, then, we had the chance to walk around the compound and actually see what everyone was thankful for this year. Each family and department constructed a booth, as an example of Leviticus 23 during the festival of booths. Some people, like me, are visual and to physically see a hut made out of branches and banana leaves that houses the thing we are thankful for brings life to testimonies. As for the Guesthouse/Teams staff, we placed under our booth the photo album of the teams and visitors that have come to be part of the New Hope family in the last few years. We are thankful for their time offered to be here, their skills and talents they share, but most importantly their love and support to create a worldwide family.
Even if its not the end of November, take some time to search your heart. What are you thankful for? Thank God for how He has blessed you and for His grace in your life.
-Mallari Page, Assistant Teams Coordinator
GLORY TO GOD!
Our God does the impossible and I want to share with everyone, the impossible thing that He has done in the life of my wife Sarah and I. We have been married nearly eight years and have now been part of NHU (overseeing Hope Family) for just over a year. We had been told quite some years ago that we could not have children, due to Sarah having a very early menopause. Sarah was told by various consultants that she should take HRT (Hormone Replacement Treatment) and get on with her life. We asked God to help us with this difficult news that we had received and to really trust Him with our hearts desire! Our Church, family and friends supported us and prayed for us and encouraged us as we moved forward into Gods plans and purposes.
Last year we came to Kasana and attended the Institute of Childcare and Family, which was an amazing time and just as we came to finish this course Sarah fell ill (or so we thought). The impossible happened and God by His amazing grace, chose to do the miraculous and make us pregnant. How we have rejoiced with so many over these past nine months both in Uganda and here in the U.K, for that is where we are right now. I am so pleased to announce that on 15th July 2011 Thomas Peter Dendy, the miracle, was born and it is all for the glory of God! Thomas is our constant reminder of the love of an all powerful God. THANK YOU LORD.
- Stu Dendy
By Sandi McMordie
Padraic came over to my table in the foyer of our church, just browsing around. I’d never met him before. I saw him looking at my list of Fundraiser
Ideas for the New Hope Uganda Hope Family House and asked him if he would like to grow a beard for the new baby house. He looked at his wife and she said, “No!” So, for a laugh I asked him if he would sit in a bath of baked beans? Again, he looked at his wife and this time she said, “Yes”! I asked why no to the beard and yes to the bath of baked beans and she said because he would love to grow a beard!
This threw me into a real dilemma – how on earth was I going to do this? I hadn’t a clue! but again God came to me rescue and I was amazed at the way the bath, the beans, the venue all came together. Totally, wonderful! Padraic sat in the bath for ages whilst the children spooned beans all over him and his little dog sat at the side of him licking the beans off his face. It was great fun! There are many more things on my list to raise money for the baby house and one or two really big challenges I will pray about. I feel as though, God is really stetching me and blessing me at the same time – so WAATCH THIS SPACE!
Note on UK Partners Raising Funds for the Hope Family House:
Just last week, we received a call that an abandoned baby had been found. As the only organization offering care for such infants in our District, we were happy to be able to offer a place for Jebez (as we have named him) to be cared for. Sadly, in recent months we have not always been able to say “Yes” as we simply have not had room. However, our new Hope Family House will change that. The house is now needing only $15,000 to complete. Sandi McMordie and others in the UK are doing everything they can to raise funds for the complete. So far the our UK friends have hosted a large “Tea Party” that raised £870 ($1400), an “Open Farm” event that raised over £1300 ($2100), and most recently the unique fundraiser described above!
Other Fundraisers for the Hope Family House
- Steve and Stella Spencer ran a half marathon in aid of Hope House.
- Neil and Judith Reynolds had a strawberry tea party with a jewellery and plant sale.
Sandi McMordie’s Testimony
My name is Sandi McMordie and I am 64 years old. I was born in Belfast, N. Ireland and lived in a protestant area of the City and was taken to be confirmed at the age of 13 but was a bit of a rebel and didn’t see why I should be confined just for the sake of it, surely it would have to mean something to me?
I left Belfast at the age of 17 married to my childhood sweetheart Eric, who had signed to play football in England for Middlesbrough in the North East. We lost our first child, Mark, who died at three months old. A couple of years later we had a daughter Tracy. when Tracy was small I went to college to learn shorthand and typing and got a job in the legal department of a big engineering company over here.
My life looked good on the outside but inside I was desperately seeking but didn’t know how to find that “something” that would fill the deep void inside of me. Then I was invited to church and I went knowing no one apart from the people I went with and as soon as I walked through those church doors, I felt this amazingly strong love directed at me!!! I could have just broke down and wept, but I didn’t. I thought maybe I was just in such a state inside that things might just be coming apart. There was a crusade on at that church and I went by myself every night and listened the following Sunday, alone in my kitchen, I asked Jesus into my life, that was in 1978 and I was baptised the following year, still weeping and weeping, but with a fantastic, grateful weeping, to think that this could happen to me!
God filled me up and I wanted another child and He blessed me with a second daughter, Lindsay.
I work from home doing the wages and paper work for our small supermarket and am kept busy with family and work. Life has not been easy and over the years there have been many trials, fears and worries and for a while I backslide in my faith but God has never left me, and I came back to Him in another very emotional way when my daughter, Lindsay, was caught up in the tsunami of 2004 and I didn’t’ have any news for more than 36 hours. I prayed and praised God for His wonderful gift of Lindsay into my life, I said “she is Yours to give and yours to take, please give me the strength to get through this” then as I stood up from that desperate prayer and within seconds, the phone rang and it was my daughter, she was injured but alive! Praise God!!!
Then, after my trip to New Hope in 2009 I asked god “what can I do?” and the answer God gave me was to fund raise and I have “had a go”! ever since and God has blessed me over and over and I feel privileged to do His work and to show my love for Him and for the people of New Hope especially the children, who I care for deeply.God is expanding my heart all the time and showing me, that one simple person, without any particular talents, who trusts in God and asked “what can I do”?
HE WILL ANSWER HE WILL USE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US of that I have no doubt.!
So whatever you are going through be confident in the Lord, hold fast to Him, Praise Him for He is Worthy, He loves you and will NEVER let you down!
In Christ
Sandi Mc
Matching Funds have been used to build the new Musana Camps Meeting Hall. It is unfinished here but the floor was just completed and is being used by campers during the current school break.
Mukama Yebizibwe (Praise the Lord)! We are praising God for all of you who have contributed in prayer and gifts towards our NHU Staff Matching Fund and our Musana Camps (MC) Matching Fund. Over the last seven months, we have matched nearly 90% of the $60,000 SOL grant and over 80% of the $100,000 MC grant. We are hoping and praying that we can finish both of these matching funds by end of our fiscal year (September).
These funds are already making a big difference. The Staff funds are helping us raise the standard of living for staff. Intially, we were able to give our staff a 10% pay raise (the first in several years) this January. Though this is still far below the pay levels our Ugandan Board has directed us to work towards paying our staff it was a good step in that direction.
The Camp funds have been used to nearly complete a new Meeting Hall and a much needed Water Project. In addition, it helped finish off the raising of funds for a Tipper-truck and has helped pay for most of the final land payments (only 5% left to pay), and has raised funds for a clinic. The funds still to be raised will be used to build a house for our growing camp staff and to finish off the land purchase.
In addition to helping with salaries, we have begun to use the Staff funds are enabling us
to start on some long-awaited housing improvements. Over the next year, we will be able to fix gutters, cisterns, and roofing on staff houses. We may also be able to add solar lighting and running water to some of our houses. All of this will be a great encouragement to our staff.
Donate to NHU Staff Matching Funds
Donate to Musana Camps Matching Fund
By Ronald Mugabi, New Hope Son and Recent University Graduate
Emmanuel Youth Outreach, in short EYO, is a youth ministry at Kasana Community Church with the sole purpose of reaching out to the youths
in our community and Uganda at large (to be a blessing as we have been blessed). We believe that the young people are the future of our nation and if they are reached with the word of God and trained in the ways of God, Uganda has a bright future. We are a chosen generation to change the world and changing the world starts with reaching individuals who will not compromise with evil.
EYO ministry began in 2008 and has touched the lives of many youths both here at Kasana and across Uganda. These young people are reached out to in several ways which include youth camps, youth seminars, youth debates, discipleship and outreaches. In EYO we believe in being practical with the Gospel such that whatever is learnt is required to be put into practice. Therefore, opportunities are provided for these youths to be involved in building the Kingdom of God. After reaching out to the youth they are required to reach out to other people too. We normally have community outreaches where we go and weed people’s gardens, build houses for widows and orphans, share the word of God with other people and also share physical things such as clothes, shoes , soap etc with the needy.
We thank God that each time he has provided amazingly and we can gladly say we have never failed to reach out to people because we didn’t have provision. The youths here at Kasana have always worked hard to see to it that they raise money to support this ministry in several ways. One of them is the EYO bazaar. The EYO Bazaar is more like a market that is held at Kasana once every year. In order to have this bazaar, different people give things from their homes that they may not need but yet are still usable. As time has gone on, people no longer give only what they do not need but out of a heart that is filled with love toward the needy, they now even give their valuable things.
When we have finished collecting this stuff, we then buy some more and top it up in order to satisfy our customers and then we sell all of it at the bazaar. We invite all people from Kasana and those who are interested from the community around Kasana. When the bazaar is over, we evaluate how much profit we have made and all of is used to fund our annual outreach to the poor, lowly and those who have not yet been reached with the good news of the gospel.
This year, we held the bazaar on the 16th of July 2011 at Kasana. We invested Shs 1.5million and made a profit of Shs 2.2 million. This was a very big improvement in comparison to the past years and we thank God for that improvement.
The money we made from this bazaar will be used for funding an outreach which is going to be carried out in Masaka. We will be preaching the good news of the gospel and doing community work helping the poor and the needy in this place. This will run from the 21st to 26th of August.
Mugabi Ronald speaking at a Kasana celebration of his recent graduation.
About the author: Mugabi Ronald one of the EYO founders is a son at New Hope Uganda. He joined the Kasana family in 1991 and has been at Kasana for 20 years. He has just graduated from Uganda Christian University Mukono with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. His passion is to reach out to the youth and the needy with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
New Hope Uganda is looking for a person to serve in coordinating sponsorship and public relations.
Any applicant should have an active relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ with a clear history of salvation and church involvement. The applicant should also have strong communication, organizational, writing and computer skills. The Sponsorship/PR Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the sponsorship of nearly 400 children and 90 staff at our Kasana Children’s Centre and Kobwin Children’s Centre. The Sponsorship/PR Coordinator will also play a significant role in writing and/or overseeing the New Hope print and digital newsletters and website communication (blogs entries etc).
Any applicant would need to make a minimum of a tw0 and half year commitment. If the applicant is not from Ugaanda, he/she need to raise his/her own support.
For more information, please contact us through our website.
HEROES OF FAITH 30th May
I would first of all love to thank God for the great freedom of worship we have in Uganda today, I am so glad and proud to be a citizen of this nation. In most cases when there is freedom or peace we don’t realize that there are Christians in other parts of Africa who are being persecuted for their faith. My heart and soul begin to worship when I meditate on the fact that I am free to worship.
Recently we at Kasana celebrated the great Ugandan heroes of faith. A HERO in my perspective is someone who is admired for having done something difficult or good. I was very much blessed by the two heroes of faith who came here at Kasana and shared with us their testimonies how the gospel came about in Uganda and how they were persecuted for their faith here in Uganda during the days of Idi Amin.
One of the heroes Byaruhanga by name blessed my heart. As he shared about the tragedies and pains they went through, something significant stood out to me and this was how he and his friends never gave up their faith even when they were locked up in a cell. Instead they praised and worshiped God, but how many of us have freedom and even we don’t worship like we should? This can show you the grace God has for his people, he never let’s go of us even when we seem so far away from him.
The other hero who blessed me was Pastor Sozi Peterson who challenged our generation to say no to homosexuality, I was so much blessed when he testified to how God is using him, Martin Sempa and others in parliament to oppose this bill legalizing homosexuality. It’s not in their strength that God is using them to bring light in the darkness. But I believe God wants to raise a generation of young people in Uganda who will stand for righteousness and live by faith for the good of our land.
On the other hand as Pastor Peterson shared his life history of faith, I was blessed by knowing how much grace our Heavenly Father has on us if we trust in him even when it seems dark, he is right there beside us to offer rescue.
My challenge today is how I am going to live by faith even unto death. But the question is will I do it in my own strength or I will just have to nestle in my Heavenly Father’s arms to find the truth?
By Kugonza Joel, IY Student
(Click here to find out more about Investment Year)
By Shawn Zimmerman, Enterprise Farm Project Manager
This wonderful gift is, in large, due to the prayers and support of many of you. Several months have gone by since we first welcomed our new tractor, and we at Enterprise Farm are still celebrating! Already, the tractor has prepared the soil and planted seeds for over 45 acres of land (25 acres of that was not cleared/planted last season!). Our farm is filled with maize, groundnuts, cassava, potatoes, soybeans, and bush beans. We are using our tractor to weed these growing crops. Please know we value this gift and have already taken significant steps to make sure it is kept in the best condition possible!
The tractor will enable us to focus more of our time and energy on clearing Enterprise Farm’s remaining 80 acres of land. Our goal: To have every single acre of the farm cleared and ready by the first planting season of 2013. That gives us two years. Is it possible? We think so. But the big “thing” that stands between us and the completion of this goal is—you guessed it—finances. It costs us $250 to clear and prepare an acre of land for planting. Already, because of the tractor, we will receive at least $5,000 of additional income this season—some of that money will be designated for clearing land (and some will help fund New Hope). This will move us further along toward the goal, but still we cannot reach it alone. We need God’s favor and His help through you!
Why is it so important to have Enterprise Farm in full production? Why is this goal something New Hope friends should
be excited about? Our move toward commercial agriculture will improve food security measures by building up the rural agriculture infrastructure of the Nakaseke region and, ultimately, assist in poverty reduction. “Going commercial” is imperative to the sustainability of our farm; and as we recover our full costs, the excess income will go to supporting New Hope Uganda ministries. Because Uganda has two growing seasons, each acre we clear will pay for itself in less than a year. That makes recovering costs attainable in the near future.
The financial side is not the only reason to get excited about Enterprise Farm’s future. Just as important is the farm’s opportunity to encourage and inspire New Hope’s children. It is invaluable for our kids to see operations that reach beyond the usual subsistence farming methods that have carried on generation after generation. As they witness our methods—sustainable yet progressive—our kids will be inspired to run toward training in agriculture, rather than run from it.
One last exciting thing: We recently teamed up with the Dakota Project (for fundraising) and Applied Aquaponics (for technical advice) to set in motion an integrated aquaculture plan for our existing fishponds. Our plan is to breed, grow and sell over 20,000 fish annually. This intensive project is yet another step toward our goal of sustainability. Needless to say, God has brought together many pieces in the past year that have now enabled Enterprise Farm to move forward with hope into the future.
By Kate Tolhurst, Special Needs Coordinator
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God.” – 2Corinthians 4v7.
Special Needs staff and kids.
If you were to visit our new class at Kasana Children`s Centre for children with disabilities, perhaps initially you would be overwhelmed by the physical and mental ‘brokenness’ of the children who attend. However, if you were to allow yourself to stay for a while and interact with them, I can guarantee that you would soon become captivated by each one of these ‘treasures.’
We are almost coming to the end of our first term, and as a staff team, we have been delighted to have seen the potential in each child begin to emerge.
All but two of the eight children have been attending mainstream classes on a regular basis. Fifteen year old Isima impressed our P5 teacher with his ability to dig in the school garden; apparently he dug the largest area out of all the class! Eight-year-old Kakulu has made many friends in the pre-school and has been surprising everyone with his ability to recognize shapes and colors!
As a whole class, we have enjoyed many different activities including baking, various art and craft activities and getting out and about becoming familiar with where different people live and work.
Perhaps the most exciting transformation we have witnessed has been of an eight-year-old girl called Allen who was brought to us last December weighing just 5.5kg (12 lbs). She has gradually put on weight
Playing with bells.
and started eating solid food. She has also learned to sit up, to interact with others and to reach out and explore things placed in front of her. When we visited her home last month, we were pleased to see how her many brothers and sisters now play with her and to hear from her mother that her uncle and grandparents are no longer ashamed of her. They are now willing to let her mother bring her outside and allow her to be seen.
We also have much to praise God for concerning our work in the local community. Our monthly community outreach
Parents of special needs children attending the monthly discussion time.
sessions have become more and more popular and we now have a large group of regular attendees and a growing number of new children registering each month (six in April!). In March, a nurse from Kiwoko hospital came and spoke to the parents/carers about food and nutrition, and in April a member of staff here who has faced many trials as a Ugandan albino lead a discussion with them on the difficulties and discrimination they face as they bring up children with disabilities. They concluded this discussion by looking up verses in scripture about how precious their children are to our Father God.
Our prayer as we continue to minister to these children and their families, is that we would be challenging people,
Learning to use a spoon.
(including ourselves,) not to judge people according to their appearance or ability but to see each individual through God`s eyes and remember that every one of us is precious to him.
“ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view….” 2 Corinthians 5 v 16.
HOW U CAN HELP:
• Pray for us (for specific prayer requests, please sign up as suggested below!)
• Sign up for our regular news/prayer letters. Contact us through our website to do so.
• Sponsor one of the children in our class or the Special Needs Programme in general. If you are interested, contact our sponsorship office.
• Help fund our new Special Needs Program classroom. It will be added on to the Primary School. We hope to be able to use it in -2012. Estimated cost $20-25,000.
• Make a one-time donation to the programme;
