In 1995, things with New Hope Uganda were very different. Email was still non existent in Uganda, electricity was a rare visitor, sponsorship and all accounting was handled out of a volunteer’s living room in the U.S., and yet God was using people to bring the fatherhood of God to the fatherless.
This was when we first began our sponsorship relationship with the then young organization. My wife, Mary, began sponsoring a girl after seeing the needs in the community first-hand. Her time serving with New Hope in 1994 was deeply impacting, and when we married in 1997, I was brought into the relationship. I remember sending our child a wedding picture announcing my entrance into this long-distance relationship. I wish I knew where that young girl is today, she ended up dropping out of the program in 1999 due to morality issues.
We were sad to hear the news when the letter came in the mail, but that did not deter us, and we requested to be assigned another child that we could support and do our small part in bringing the fatherhood of God to other fatherless children. I am happy to say that we know exactly where the new child assigned to us is today.
Fast forward to 2006
When we made our first visit to Uganda as potential staff members, we were excited to see New Hope, the work that was happening, and meet the girl we had been sponsoring for the past six years. We had read her letters, seen her picture, but now we were going to meet the real person. It was quite exciting to meet Nabukeera and being able to experience the world that she lived in. Not only did we meet her, but we were able to meet her grandmother, siblings, and visited her home.
That visit was a part of God solidifying the trajectory that he had for our family. When we moved to Uganda six months later, God joined us at a deeper level to Nabukeera’s family and actually made them our family. As we got to know them better we became more involved in their lives, joining our two families to be one.
That little girl brought us her family, and in one way or another we ended up sponsoring each one through various stages of life over the next twenty years. We had the pleasure of the youngest moving into our home and living with us for seven years. We were able to take part in the education of her older sister as she because a licensed educator. We were invited into the grieving process when their grandmother passed away and the birth of the next generation of the family. And a big one, we had to joy of celebrating with Nabukeera when she graduated university.
2026 TODAY
Who would have thought that something as simple as sponsoring a child through New Hope Uganda could have impacted our lives so much. But that is exactly what happened. So, 30 years after entering the New Hope Uganda family as sponsors, my prayer is that more people experience the joy of investing in a life, or three lives, through the sponsorship journey.
Geoffrey Britton
President – New Hope Uganda Ministries
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