(Continued from Page 5)
to light the fuse are Joseph Kony of the LRA and Kizza
Besigye, who is involved in the People’s Redemption
Army, which headquarters itself in the Congo and moves
back and forth across the border into Uganda. Recently
Besigye was arrested on charges of rape, torture and mur-
der. He was in jail for one hour.
We must try to find a way to make God the leader of
this Army, and we need to do this by giving these or-
phans something concrete, not lip service. Hungry bel-
lies make angry soldiers. If we do not respond as a people
to a whole generation of orphaned children, we have ig-
nored God’s commandment to minister to the sick, wid-
owed and orphaned of the world. These are our brothers
and sisters as surely as if we were raised in the same
house. When I talked with my mother about this, she
gave me a very good insight: “We can determine by our
actions how the world is going to judge Americans,
whether they will love or hate
us.” Quite simple, really. If we
show them love, they will love
us back. If we ignore their situ-
ation, the opposite will be true.
I have often heard people say
of other cultures, “They hate us
for our freedom.” I believe
they hate us because we live in
a land of excess and ignore the
suffering of others.
We can be the leaders of
at least a small Army, with
God’s help. By your love for
the widows and orphans, you are planting seeds of
love. From your sacrifice, many are learning that
Americans do care, as do countless others from around
the globe.
I am happy to tell you that in this past two weeks, two
more widows’ families have been sponsored. The first
was Jane Kakayi, the grandmother of eight featured in last
month’s issue. The woman who sponsored her said, “Jane
is my age. When I considered her trying to care for eight
small children after losing two of her own, I felt as if God
had tapped me on the shoulder. I could not ignore His
touch.” By the way, Jane’s new sponsor shares her name
as well! Next came Louisa Janet Wokooli, a young mother
of six children aged three to sixteen. When Pastor
Mukhooli visited her home, he found them without food
or bedding and one of the children ill from Malaria. All
were very weak. None of the children were attending
school. He left them with grain for survival, and has been
going back to try to assist them twice a month. Imagine the
joy of both Jane and Janet when he brought them the news
of a family in America “adopting” them and their precious
children. Yet another family is under consideration by a
long-time sponsor of two children at Hope Center.
We also learned that one of our sponsored widows,
Hilda Bagalana, has had surgery on her eyes. She was los-
ing her sight, and with three children to care for, was very
worried about her future. We will find out soon if her con-
dition was improved by the procedure and give you an up-
date in the next issue. She had been getting drops in her
eyes, but they continued to get worse.
For any who are interested in sending letters or pack-
ages to either Kampala or Mbale, we ask that you contact
Michelle Bozenski, Esther or Vicki. Fred Musungu in-
formed us of the following, which is certainly good news:
“I went to the post office to find out how they handle pack-
ages and their charges, I was told that commodities such as
clothes they charge $ 0.45 Uganda shillings 1,000 per ki-
logram. But I told them that
these things are being sent by
church believers to the orphans
and widows and I was told that
for that, seek above 15 kilo-
grams only. [A kilogram is 2.2
pounds, and 45 USH is equiva-
lent to less than a dollar in
American currency.] It is very
interesting that they charge such
a small amount, while Kenya
charges nearly 2/3 the value of
the package and postage com-
bined.
We would like to introduce another family for your
consideration. Oliva Khakasa was born in 1969. Her hus-
band died leaving her with five children, ages one to eigh-
teen years. When Pastor Mukhooli visited this family in
their tiny house, he found them lacking food, bedding and
the most basic needs. The two older children are in school,
but don’t have uniforms. Please open your hearts to Oliva
and her children. What a wonderful gift you can give
yourself, that of knowing you have saved the lives of this
young mother and her babies.
We also have many orphans whom we are hoping to
sponsor as individuals. Although we do not have an of-
ficial orphanage in Uganda yet, we are trying to make
sure these children are able to receive an education and
have adequate food and shelter as they live at the mercy
of others.
These are “soldiers” we want in God’s Army, and it is
within our power to “enlist” them.
?
-8-
Oliva Khakasa and three of her children standing in
front of their small home.
