Since the beginning our mission has been to teach the people of Uganda to take care of themselves. At the heart of that mission is Jesus Christ who is the only One who can dispel darkness with light and hopelessness with hope.
And that is what we are seeing in Bulike.
People who had given up all hope now have aspirations for the future. Young teenage girls are no longer being married off because they are going to school. Women are learning skills that provide an income for them and their families. The transformation in Bulike over these four short years are nothing short of stunning.
What’s equally amazing is that the people are starting to support themselves in many different ways.
For example, in a culture where laziness and entitlement are dominant, the people have started to make bricks for the school and some of their own houses. Before, they expected UCSS to provide these bricks for them.
When a well that we had built broke, they expected us to fix the wells. We encouraged the people to mobilize, raise the resources from the community and fix the wells themselves. That is now happening as well.
We have started charging a nominal fee for the medical care we provide to teach the people that the services they enjoy are not free.
Parents have been donating food for their children to eat during school (normally the children don’t eat in school).
All of the years of agricultural investment and training is paying off. The people have begun to plant crops on their own land by implementing what they have learned from UCSS. The UCSS fields have started to produce their first high-yield harvest of pineapples, coffee, bananas, and mangos that can be sold at the local market. The proceeds of these activities are offsetting the costs of some of our other ministries.
And finally, we hope to sign a memoranda of understanding with the government to take over the operation of the school and medical clinic sometime during the latter part of 2016. The government is allowing us to maintain our Christian values and continue to teach the love of Jesus Christ in both of these important ministries.
As a result of the increasing self-sufficiency of this community, we are projecting a reduction in spending by 90% in 3 years.
This means our monetary investment in Bulike will be negligible by the end of 2018.
According to our mission of “transforming Uganda one village a time”, we will begin our ministry in a neighboring community called “Buluya”.
Buluya is about a 30-minute car ride from Bulike and is also a community of about 50,000 people.
Buluya already has a government-run school (1st through 7th grade). The biggest educational need there is a high school. That provide a home for our graduating 7th graders as well as those from Buluya.
We will slowly start our investment in Buluya by focusing on fresh water wells and medical care, like we did in Bulike.
We are all very excited that the “one village at a time” model is beginning to work. And while we are doing the best we can, all glory and honor is due our God. There are things happening here so quickly and permanently that we are all amazed at what God is doing here.
I want you to know that you are part of a mission in Uganda that is working. Our mission is big, worthwhile and achievable. There is no doubt in my mind that God is already transforming lives in Uganda for his kingdom forever.
If God is moving you to support this ministry, there are three things you can do now:
- Make a donation
- Request to have me speak to your church or group
- Ask how you can get involved.
Thank you for all of your support, and may God bless you.
Blessings,