February 2025 Newsletter

Village of restoration

What started as an unplanned, spur of the moment home visit, ended with a village of 300+ worshiping Christ our King!

Nicholas (Nico) came to us in August, higher than a kite from huffing fuel, with a terrible wound, that in all reality should have killed him. Here's a little recap about him. I knew the only way that he would get proper, consistent care, was to stay at the project house supervised, so that’s what happened. He moved in that very moment so he could get daily medical care, 3 nutritious meals per day, rehabilitate from drugs, and have daily discipleship from the house managers who are both pastors now. Nico is now 6 months sober, Praise God! He loves preaching and counseling his brothers who also do drugs, praise God! He’s happy and healthy and alive, and we praise God! But that’s not all…

Nico came to us one Saturday that he finally remembered where his auntie who raised him, lives and he asked to go visit her. So, we loaded up in the car, drove over an hour on rough village roads and found the place. The whole way, Nico was just beaming with joy and so excited to see his family, most especially the Auntie! When we arrived, there were a few people around, but when they saw and recognized that Nico was with us, the village alarm (word of mouth) sounded and within minutes there were 50, then 100, then 200 people present to see Nico! Every single person that came said that last time they saw him he was drugged, lifeless, and dirty and they couldn’t believe this was the same young man they once knew. Many have never seen Nico sober, some only did when he was small. Nico stood up and said he wanted to preach. He preached for about 30 minutes and by the time he was done there were well over 300 villagers surrounding us, I lost count after a while. Nico’s aunt had a hard time forgiving him at first, but soon she did and Nico used that moment to encourage everyone. He told the village that if they didn’t claim Christ as their personal Lord and Savior they should surrender to Him and God could change them also. 15 people gave their life to Christ that day, because Christ changed Nico, and Nico can’t stand to not testify of the goodness of God! Praise God for that! Soon after, the village erupted in praise and worship songs to Christ our King. I felt like I was in Heaven on earth. It was the most beautiful and joyful noise I’ve ever heard. Thank you sweet Father for Nico and his transformation!

I can’t believe I GET to be a part of the lives and transformations of these precious young men!

Katonda Mulungi! (God is so so good!)

What’s happening?

As of this coming Sunday, March 2, we will have finally taken back all of our students for this first term of 2025 school! We are so excited to report that all of our candidates passed their tests ,that we were waiting on results for, and they have all been promoted to the next class to further their education. The new students who got to join school this year are also doing very well adjusting to boarding school, from the reports we’ve been given. We’re so thankful to those who have invested in the lives of these young men to allow them to continue their education! Many of them had given up hope on being able to go back to school, but we are so grateful that God wasn’t finished! It’s been a busy few weeks with all that goes into getting this many students into boarding school, but what a blessing it is to be a part of!

Thanks to a sweet friend, I was able to finally take a small respite/recharge trip to Prayer Mountain, earlier this month. What a beautiful and filling weekend it was. I left after work on a Thursday and headed over the Nile to my place of solitude for 2 nights. I had so much quiet time to reflect, pray, and sleep! By the time I returned to Jinja I felt like my batteries had been recharged and I was ready to take on the next phase of school prep. While there, I met many God filled people who prayed for me and encouraged me. There was a group of ladies from Germany who prayed over me and the organization and asked to come visit the following weekend. What a sweet blessing that was, as they prayed over our entire organization, my team, the house, the compound, the boys who were there, and every room they entered. Another sweet God connection for me!

I’ve been able to spend some time with a few other single ladies in the community this month as well, which has been another sweet blessing. We’ve shared meals together, watched movies, and just shared life and prayed over one another. Community has always been hard here, but I have a sweet one now.

We’ve also been able to complete 3 more home visits this month and see just how much God has transformed some of these young men, from such a young age. I really enjoy hearing about their past from the family’s perspective and then seeing the reaction on the family’s faces when they see the new creation sitting in front of them. The boys always end up sharing more of their story with us and sharing something from the bible with their families. Neighbors come from all over to see these guys with their own eyes as they can’t believe it’s the same young man they once knew. What a journey that some of these guys have walked to get where they are now. It’s only something God could do for sure.

The slum area where many of our boys live, hang out, work, and have families has become a war zone. Gangs are killing the community and attacking police. The community is retaliating with mob justice, fighting the gangs and police who are sitting by idle. And, the police are coming in almost every night with raids and bullets. Many people have lost their lives over the last few weeks. We try to remove the boys from this area, but for many it’s all they know so they refuse. It’s “cheaper” or “I know the people”, etc. We pray for the police to do the right thing, the gangs to be removed, and the community to have peace. We pray for safety and wisdom for our boys and God’s protection over their lives. Some of the boys we work with, on an inconsistent basis are even in the gangs who are causing the chaos. We pray for God to touch them in a mighty way, however that may be, so they walk away from that life and into the arms of Jesus.

What’s to come?

We are excited to start working on starting up 5 small businesses, beginning next week! These young men have been patiently waiting and studying over the last few months and it’s finally their time. Some of the young men who come to us are older and never completed very much, if any, schooling. At that stage, the best option for them is start a small businesses or attend vocation school short courses that don’t require primary level education completion. While businesses have been hit or miss throughout the years, depending on motive, we’ve learned many lessons along the way and the last 2 groups are still very successful in their start up businesses, and we expect the same from this group. After the businesses are running for a short time period, the young men then begin paying their own rent and sustaining theirselves, while still coming for counseling and bible studies at the organization. This method fosters long term sustainability not just a quick fix and full support.

I was also connected with a Biblical trauma training course in Kampala that runs for 3 days in March. Joy and Ben will be traveling there and staying for those 3 days in Kampala while they go through this course together. Because of the nature of the young men we work with, we see this opportunity as a way to grow our organization and to be able to better serve the young men we work with. We are praying for a fruitful time of learning and growing.

March will also be the month we go back for a review of Kanyama’s leg and see if we can promote him to a walking boot and partial weight bearing, since his accident in November. Poor guy has been the best patient actually, but I know he’s tired of not walking. When the accident happened the orthopedic Dr told me that his bone was so soft from malnutrition and drugs that he could barely place the pins and plates without the bone just crumbling to pieces. We pray that his bones are stronger since he’s been off of fuel, eating nutritious meals every day, drinking plenty of water, and getting daily calcium and Vitamin D supplements.

Thank you

Thank you is only a small phrase that we can say to all of you who pray for us, support us, and help us to continue the work we do with these young men. We have many challenges every day, but God continues to give us wisdom and discernment to pour into the guys we work with. Sometimes we see failure and it’s easy to get discouraged, but then God always shows us a wink of success and renews the hope we have for these young men. While there are still many who are not ready to change, there are many who can’t turn back to their old ways. We count each successful transformation a great blessing from God. Thank you for standing with us in this gap as we serve those that God has called us to work with here in Uganda. May God bless you!

How can you help?

Prayer requests:

Continued prayers for my work permit to be processed with no more delays or problems. What was supposed to take 3 weeks has now been in process for 4 months, but no real reasons as to why. The most recent update is “it’s the bureau who’s delaying, be patient.”
Pray for our students as they are in school. That they make wise choices, stay healthy, and study hard.
Pray for all of our young men as they continue to grow and rehabilitate and my team as we navigate the many obstacles that we are daily surrounded with. From corrupt government to corrupt hospitals, we try to be the voice and the safe space for so many situations that I can’t even begin to describe.
Pray for the area where many of our boys and families stay. For safety, peace, and God to intervene in the violence.
Pray for the trauma training course Joy and Ben will be attending. For it to be frutiful for the organization and the young men we work with.
Pray for financial donors who can help partner with us to do the work that GOD has called us to. It’s only by HIS will that we are here doing what we are doing and we need financial partners to do this work. Tangible things such as a safe room, food, school fees, and medical care show these young men that they’re not given up on, like so many people here tell them.

How is God calling you to partner with us?

Through prayer? Through financial giving? We believe that even as just one of these young men changes, there’s many more ready to start a new life also, due to the testimony of the one. God calls some of us to go, some of us to stay, some of us to give and some of us to pray. Where do you fit in? Please consider joining us in bringing hope and healing to these precious young men! So many in their community have given up on them, but we know that God has called them to more!

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PO Box 913106
Sherman, TX 75091
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How to Connect

EMAIL: thens1213@gmail.com

Isaiah 1:17 (CSB)

“Learn to do what is good.

Pursue justice.

Correct the oppressor.

Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”