February 2026 Newsletter
What’s happening?
We successfully got 46 boys back to school, as of Friday, and still have 2 more to go. One of the 2 remaining cannot even apply for Nursing School intake until July, because of needing his official score card, which the government hasn’t released. But, he qualifies to apply based on his test results that we got back a couple of weeks ago, so we are just waiting for the day he gets his card and we can apply. The other one is still awaiting his results, which won’t come out until mid-late March, and then he should be able to start University in August, when they have new student intake. After the 3 major candidate class tests, it’s a hurry up and wait process before finding out the next steps.
Dominic has now been learning carpentry for a month and we made an agreement with his teacher this week to also include some welding and fabricating lessons. Jackson, my carpenter friend, makes amazing, custom pieces and often makes pieces that include both metal work and wood. So, in order for Dominic to make the same beautiful and sturdy pieces, we want him to learn all he can from Jackson. He comes home every day so excited to talk about what he learned, and has truly had such a drastic transformation in his life. We are blessed to have connections to God-fearing people like Jackson who not only teach our boys skills for the future, but also disciple them while doing so!
A couple of weeks ago I had a group from another organization reach out to me asking if they could come to our organization and do a presentation for a school project. They are in their gap year between secondary school and University and have community projects and education projects to complete during their time of waiting. They told me they needed to talk to youth groups or schools about the topic of mental health and ways to cope. They had different hopes and expectations before coming, and didn’t totally grasp the warnings and advice I was trying to give them about the crowd they’d be working with before they entered our gates, but they quickly realized they needed to readjust their thinking and overall it went really well. We went out early that morning announcing our event so boys came in droves. We had over 200 come, be apart of the program, eat a delicious and nutritious meal, and then some even stayed around to get their hair trimmed after. The students who came to talk were terrified, unsure, uneasy, and super hesitant at first but after about 30 minutes they warmed up to the crowd and did well trying to engage them. One of the student speakers told me that when he walked up and I was personally, thoroughly, searching a whole gang of big boys outside the gate ,one by one, and removing tons of drugs from them, all while laughing with them and engaging with them he didn’t know whether to be more scared of me or of them! I told him that was the ultimate compliment I’ve earned my street cred/respect here for sure, but never take that for granted! This event was also really good for the students who put it on. All of them sat with me for a while after everyone was gone and told me that they’ve always been too scared to even greet street kids, much less spend a whole day with them. They all left with a new outlook and realization that everyone has a story, and everyone has a past, but it doesn’t have to define our future. That one simple act of kindness goes a long way, especially when you’re the most hated people group in the country. We had a great discussion about Jesus’ ministry and how he often went to the outcasts and biggest sinners first and simply met them where they were. Loving them, teaching them, showing them. They left with their heads held high and I think they learned just as much, if not more, than some of our boys did. And sometimes that’s the greatest ministry around here. Being able to show a fellow Ugandan that these guys are worthy of love too.
Not everything has been so beautiful this month though. Before the rainbows comes the rain. And we’ve had a lot of that, both literally and figuratively. On Feb 5th, just after starting our Thursday Bible study, part of our concrete slab ceiling collapsed, directly falling onto several of our little guys. One boy, Emma, sustained a skull fracture and had a terrible concussion, as he took the hardest blow, with the biggest piece of concrete, direct to his head. After 12 hours he had significant neurological changes which led me to take him for a repeat CT scan. Praise the Lord, he still never had a brain bleed, just a major concussion that required regular neuro checks by me, and a few days at the project house for close monitoring. Another boy, Sunday, sustained a wrist fracture, which I casted after X-ray confirmation, and earned a few days of monitoring at the house also. 2 other young men sustained some small cuts and abrasions but nothing serious. We are forever grateful it wasn’t worse than it was, and continue to praise the Lord that no one sustained worse injuries from the accident. The landlord had never experienced “mama bear” before this day and probably wishes he never did. By the grace of God and a lot of fighting I was able to get the landlord to “fix” the ceiling (I’m using that term loosely because it’s a patch job and still seemingly not the safest), reimburse me for the medical bills, and also compensate for my medical supplies and fuel I had to use in the meantime. Let me just tell you this is extremely unheard of here and I did have to get police involved, but my boys also got to witness first hand a “good” police officer, and someone fighting for them first hand out of love. Good enough the officer who came had heard of me and heard that I would fight for justice and also wouldn’t pay a bribe for any reason, and he still did the right thing...also unheard of. I try really to hard to teach my boys that you can stand up for what you believe in and for what’s right without paying bribes and doing shady business to get where you want. So, for them to witness it firsthand kept them talking for days. Overall, everyone is doing well now. Sunday will get another xray this week and hopefully get his cast off soon, all of the abrasions on the others are healed, and Emma has had no further complications and is loving school this year. Praise God for his grace and mercy in this whole situation.
There’s still more happening!
But wait...there’s more...the storm is just starting. 2 days later I got a call, pretty late in the evening, that Ivan, our house manager, was arrested, direct from the project gate. Long story short, one of our old boys from a few years ago had bought a stolen a phone and said Ivan knowingly gave him the contact of the seller. Well, in reality, all the boy had asked for was someone's number, not saying why he needed it, so Ivan had no idea it was to buy a stolen phone. Police held Ivan hostage until the “guilty” party was arrested. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that Ivan had nothing to do with the crime, and police only work off of bribes, which I don’t pay, so it meant that we had to search for the other young man and turn him over to police in return for Ivan’s freedom. This was on a Saturday night and Sunday I attended the local church that my boys attend, because it was youth Sunday and many had positions in worship and preaching. While sitting there I just felt the need to go outside the gates, to the roadside, and low and behold the boy we were looking for was standing there. I took him inside with me, so he couldn’t run, Ben called our new police friend (from the ceiling issue), and as soon as service was over I walked him out, arm in arm, direct to the hands of the police. However, still to this day he believes that the police just took him from me. It still took the rest of the day to get Ivan home, because by this point Police had taken him to another district, almost an hour away. But once again, God helped us out and connected us with the right people to get our boy back. Ivan was beyond grateful to be home that night but said while he was in jail he just continued to pray and sing worship songs to get him through. He said no one ever laid a hand on him (also unheard of with police and the “justice system” here). We praise God for how this situation turned out and how He continues to orchestrate and change lives.
We have had an influx of new kids recently. Little guys, at that. We ended up taking 10 back home one day, because they had just come to the street the day before. It’s a vicious cycle here. Kids running away from home, but parents not looking for them. Parents sending kids to streets “for a better life”, yet they’re as young as 6 years old. So many issues and so many more kids coming to the streets every day. Sometimes it seems overwhelming, but God continues to assure me that we are doing exactly what he’s called us to. Pray for us as we navigate the influx these days.
I purchased a big event tent to put in our driveway after the ceiling fell. We always rent them for big events because our house is too small, but after the ceiling collapse, some of our boys feared to sit inside. It’s actually been a huge blessing to have so far, though. Not only do we have the fresh air outside, having a tent up makes other, not so consistent, young men come to see what’s going on. Typically tent means event to them. A big meal, big gathering, etc. So over the last couple of weeks we have had so many more street kids coming to our weekly bible studies. It’s been a really beautiful homecoming for many and a safe place for all.
I’ve also had an influx of gnarley wounds coming through the doors lately. All unrelated, but all terribly infected and risky. The daily treatment has led to some really sweet conversations and a new fire in their eyes. We pray that this situation speaks volumes to them of the love of Christ.
We also got to go on another super sweet home visit for Dominic this past weekend. Dominic hasn’t seen his family in many years after he was chased away for stealing money from them. Dominic’s mother died while pregant with his younger brother, when Dominic was not even 2 years old. His Jaja (grandma) and Aunties raised him. Jaja told us that when he was around 6 years old he got involved in a group of bad friends who were much older than him. They convinced him to steal from his family, start dabbling in drugs, and run away from home. A few times Dominic would go back home and pretend to be changed, just to steal from the family again, and run away. By the time he was 10, the auntie told him he could never come back. Dominic tried to go see his family in 2022, but they chased him from the house as soon as they saw him by screaming “thief” to the community, who then wanted to beat him with their system of mob justice. Dominic escaped and this weekend was the first time he’s seen his family since then. After Dominic’s emergency surgery in November and his drastic transformation he’s been praying for his family non stop. Jaja was beyond excited to see him and she told us “he looks kind” now. Auntie is still struggling letting go of the past, and we don’t expect her to accept him overnight, but he was able to ask forgiveness and apologize for his past mistakes and tell her his transformation story. She commented that he “seems” different, but that she doesn’t trust him yet. So we continue to pray for her and for the relationship. Dominic also thought he was around 25/26 years old, and definitely looks the part due to his many years of drugs and street life, however Auntie confirmed that he will be 21 in May of this year because he’s 1 month younger than her oldest son. These home visits always bring so much joy to my heart. Even if someone doesn’t want to accept their child just yet, they see a change and we pray that over time they’ll also accept them again. Our goal isn’t for Dominic to go home and stay home, but our goal is to rehabilitate him and the family. Transformational change all around. Please pray with us for Dominic, his auntie, his Jaja and the whole family.
What’s to come?
The end of March brings visitation days at school, as it’ll be almost ½ way through first term. It’s crazy to think it’ll be already mid-term, but because of election delays, this term is much shorter this time. I can’t wait to see all of our boys, especially our new students, to see how they’re doing. We keep in regular contact with the headmasters and directors of the schools we attend, but to hear from our boys firsthand, is always so sweet! So far we are getting all good reports, even from Edwin, our sweet little guy with special needs, who started a new school better suited for him, this year. Adjustments seem to be going well.
We are also looking forward to getting results for our remaining candidate student and figuring out his way forward. It’s the last results we are waiting on, but he can’t start back to university or technical school until August anyway. We are enjoying having him around a little longer anyway! He’s a super humble young man and loves to help out with all of these little guys we’ve been having drop in.
We are actively looking for land, but there’s nothing available in town, where we have to be, currently. However, we are also now even more urgently looking for a new rental space for the time being. We found out 2 weeks ago that the current place we rent has been sold to another landlord. Ben met with him this past Friday and the guy told him that his goal is to tear down the place and build a flat. That being said, he wouldn’t give Ben a date or even a month of when this is going to happen, only that he’ll let us know when it’s time. Our rent is paid through the end of March, currently, but we are afraid it will be a last minute communication that we have to vacate the property, because that’s typically how things work around here, with not much notice. While we’ve been looking for safer housing for a while, amidst other issues with the former landlord, this has also become an urgent prayer request. Specifics are as follows: a gated/walled secure compound, within central Jinja town, safe structure, minimum of 2 rooms and a living room space. Otherwise, we are very flexible. We don’t need fancy, we just need safe, secure, and convenient to the young men we work with and the bodas who drop them at our gate in emergent situations.
Thank you
Thank YOU! Thank you for praying for us and with us! Thank you for donating, so that we can provide the great needs to these young men, that otherwise aren’t available to them.
Thank you to the seed sowers who have donated to help us purchase land soon, and we would be ever so grateful if others feel led to also give toward this great need so that we can purchase outright and not have a loan to pay. Prices have drastically increased over the last couple of years, but we know our time is near.
Thank you to those who donate to help us keep our boys in school, and add new students every year. Something that the students and families have given up on because of the great expense, but something so important to better increase sustainability in the community and lives of these young men..
Thank you to those who give faithfully to help us continue to do daily bible studies and feeding projects, keep boys housed, and provide both basic and life saving medical care for each and every street connected child/young adult we encounter.
These seemingly simple acts of love are life changing for the guys we work with. They now have a hope and a future in Jesus and in life in general, and for that we are grateful.
School holiday- bracelet making!
They have the same smile!
This photo in “live” mode on my phone is the most precious! She’s squealing with excitement and so so happy to be reunited!
Jaja tells us she’s over 100 years old!
Jaja and her grandsons.
Ceiling collapse
Back to school
Otai preaching!
House boys washing Ivan’s feet after he came back from jail
New tent going up!
Overloaded much?
Dominic hard at work!
First family meal under the new tent!
Oh Uganda red dirt!
How can you help?
Prayer requests:
URGENT NEED: Safe, secure, convenient project house, as soon as possible!
Prayers for wisdom with all of the new influx of children we are encountering on the streets and at the project, daily.
Pray for God to continue to give us wisdom and resources to help the many many medical cases we continue to have dropped at our gate. For both physical and spiritual healing for the boys and strength to not go back to the streets
Prayers that God puts the best fit of land/housing for the best price in our path, with no legal issues along the way so we can have our permanent ministry home.
Pray for all of our students for health and wisdom as they are all back at school, and for them to make wise choices to keep their opportunities.
Pray for more seed sowers 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. Education and Medical are typically our biggest expenses and both are life changing for these young men.
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!
TAX DEDUCTIBLE CHECKS mailed to:
GoSendMe Global
PO Box 913106
Sherman, TX 75091
(Make checks out to “GoSendMe Global” and include a note with the check- but not written directly on the check- that it is for me, Tara Henson, Uganda)
VENMO: @Tara-Henson-1
PAYPAL: @TaraHenson
ZELLE: thens1213@gmail.com
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.”
