JOAC Gospel Outreach Harvests Souls

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Mathew 28:19-20)

Last weekend, Joy of a child ministry responded to this call by holding a two day open air evangelism in the hard to reach community of Nsikye, And surely the Lord saw them through the challenges that were set ahead of them.

On Saturday, the kids and staff armed with the word of God left the JOAC home in the afternoon, moving in a soldier like manner, carrying bibles, sound equipments, and instruments to Nsikye trading center. As they trekked through people`s homesteads and shops, curious faces were glued to them, probably asking themselves what the young kids got to do with the sophisticated equipment in their hands. With challenges such as lack of electric power to run the PA system, given Uncle David`s futile attempts to borrow a generator, the program took long to commence, not until someone offered to extend electricity from his house to the open air ground.

As the sound equipment was being set and Uncle David loudly calling upon the people to come hear the good news, the kids played games with their counterparts from the community. Shop managers, housewives, idlers, passerbies, had a reason to stop whatever they were doing to feed their curiosity, as they watched Aunt Ruth from Bushenyi, Uncle David, and the JOAC kids worship God through the loud speakers. More Young and old people drew to the grounds as the worship intensified and the JOAC dance force (Police) ministered through their modern upbeat dances sending the crowds into wild cheers. Some of the JOAC kids were once part of this community, and here they were, a mirror reflecting the new creation that God has changed, given Joy and hope, which they were now displaying through gospel music, dance, and skits.

Sunday was yet another day to remember. This time the open air began a little earlier than the previous day, given the earlier organization and presence of a generator to run through the day. The kids as usual began with playing games with their counterparts, the ‘Police’ did their dancing, but when Ruth and the kids began worship, there came a heavy down pour that lasted for almost two hours. Everyone dispersed the open air grounds and took shelter in the nearby shops. The rains stopped close to 7pm, but this didn’t stop the JOAC team from starting the worship and evangelism again.

At the end of the ‘Gospel weekend’, not only were the young and old amused by the games, worship, and dance display, but most of them saw joy, love, and hope brought into their community. The two day event was supplemented by the preaching from Bishop Elijah (Joy of a Child Uganda Chairperson), which saw 18 souls redeemed to Christ, because of what they had seen, touched, and heard.

Blog by Joseph Ochwo

JOAC GOSPEL OUTREACH PHOTO ALBUM

Today is day two into the gospel crusade being held at Nsikye trading centre here in Mbarara, the kids yesteday ministered in games, dance, skits, and worship. Four people gave their lives to Christ.

JOAC CELEBRATES CULTURE

                                        

According to the Uganda National Policy, culture is the total sum of the ways in which society preserves, identifies, sustains, and expresses itself.

There millions of cultures in the world. Every country has their own, every city has their own, every town has their own, and every center, road, street, house and even people have their own. This, of course does not apply everywhere however this is the case in many places. Culture defines people`s activities, food, language, songs, dress code, world views, and so much more.

In Africa though most of the culture is more less the same, there ethnicity, tribes, and clans that are different in their traditions such as food, language, songs, dances, and activities. Uganda is endowed with a rich and diverse cultural heritage, which includes sixty-five indigenous communities with unique characteristics.

Here at Joy of a Child, a bunch of kids come from different tribes and so have differences in their cultures.

As a result, the JOAC family has been celebrating culture since last week. The idea that came from Uncle David has already seen three cultures celebrated. Foods, riddles, songs, and dances have been celebrated each evening. First was the Bakiga culture. Bakiga inhabit Kabale, Kanungu and part of Rukungiri districts in South Western Uganda. Conrad one of the boys belongs to the Bakiga culture. He prepared the Bakiga staple food; Bitakuri (Sweet Potatoes), Ebihimba (beans), and Ebishooli (boiled maize/corn) for dinner. Later on, Kikiga songs were sung, coupled with the Kikiga dance which involves energetic jumping up and forth.

The Banyaruguru culture was represented by Joshua. He colored his face with millet flour and wrapped a cloth around his shoulder down his legs portraying his agricultural and fishing culture. He prepared Obundu (Millet bread) and fish. Much as most of the kids had tasted the ball like Obundu before, Joshua prepared it differently. He covered it with the whitish flour and placed it in a basket. As everyone was chewing the bread, Joshua would pick a ball of the Obundu with his right hand, make a hole in it using his finger and deep it in the fish soup before swallowing it. Noticing this, everyone was driven into laughter, but this is what identifies Joshua`s culture of eating Obundu. 

                      

Next was the Buganda culture. Baganda belong to the biggest tribe of Uganda, with over 4.1 million people. Buganda culture is overseen by a king under Buganda Kingdom. Aphusa and Arafat who belong to the Baganda prepared Matooke (Green bananas) and Ground nut paste sauce. They climaxed their celebration with the Kiganda dance which involves wiggling waists.

Other cultures will be celebrated in the course of this week including Danelle` American culture where she will also cook an American and displaying the American culture, this will also double as her farewell. The celebrations have changed the JOAC status quo of having meals from the dining table, as almost all the celebrated cultures involve having food from one plate or basket, and sitting in a circular manner on the ground.

NB: Updates:

Danelle leaves for the US on 18^th August.

Ruth had her primary six entry interviews today.

Blog by Joseph Ochwo  

JOAC Develops New Holiday Program

Proverbs 19:15, Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.

The Joy of a Child kids will be having their  one month’s school break on Wednesday, they have had a few days of sitting for their end of term exams, and Wednesday will not only be their holiday but also a day of providing accountability of their term`s work through their school reports. Referring to the above scripture, we wish to avoid the many atrocities that laziness brings by when the kids get on holiday. In Uganda many parents have faced trouble as most of their kids concentrate on watching television, and being idol in the community. As a result kids have turned out to be hooligans, young boys have embraced abusing drugs, theft and violence, and many young girls have gotten pregnant. Most of these programs cost money and so through your prayer and support we are going to engage the kids in the following programs that will cover their holidays. These programs are not only for this holiday but also other future annual holidays.

Open air Evangelism:

We are planning open air evangelism this weekend at Nsikye trading centre, just a few minutes’ walk from the JOAC home. Nsikye has a stronghold of Islam, poverty and prostitution. Parents send their Daughters into prostitution in order to secure bread for their homes. The kids yesterday started practicing dances for the event. After church, they spent most of the afternoon and evening passionately practicing to reach out to this community. More dance, worship leading, and program leading rehearsals will go on in the course of the week.  Most of the open air will be led by the kids, some will preach, others lead worship, and most of them will give testimonies of how God saved them from the traumas of living without their parents, some being tortured by their own parents, and being harassed by the harsh conditions of this world. We shall use a hired PA system to amplify our sound. Please pray with us for a big harvest. We believe God for a great harvest and a change of lives as we obey the great commission in Mathew 28:16-20.

Refugee camp ministry:

We are also planning an outreach to Nakivaale refugee camp. Nakivaale is about an hours` drive from Mbarara where JOAC ministry is base. The camp is comprised of shanty houses with over 4000 Somalis that have fled their war troubled country along with other refugees from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi. People in the camp suffer from complex diseases like Malaria, water borne diseases, HIV/AIDs among other diseases. They have heartbreaking stories of what they go through every day, like lack of food, women going through rap, and other attrocities. A team of 3 JOAC staff members and 12 kids are being prepared for a two days` ministry at Nakivaale refugee camp. The purpose of the ministry is to bring a message of hope and reconciliation to the refugees through an interactive football tournament, hygiene sensitization, women`s ministry that will involve counseling to address the issue of sexual abuse, and the JOAC girls will teach them how to make sanitary pads which skill some of them can use to start up small sanitary pad making businesses. As all these programs go on, the message of Christ will be paramount. We are in need of funds to address this ministry of which dates we are yet to set. The estimated budget for this includes the following:

·       Budget: 15 people

Food: 2 lunches, 1 dinners, 1 breakfast, water – 265,000

Transportation: 400,000

Accommodation: 375,000

Sound System: 200,000

Interpreters: 40,000

Generator: 120,000

6 soccer balls: 210,000

Total: 1,610,000 shs (644 US Dollars)

New Hope Summer Camp (Musaana Camp):

The kids also need a time to relax and have a fun family vacation off to some where they have never been before. Most of them have never been past Mbarara, and to them Kampala City is only a mystery, they have never seen sky scrapers or even traffic lights; they always ask about these curiously. The suggested place of their vacation during their December holiday is Musaana Camp. Musana Camp is located on beautiful Lake Victoria approximately 90 km from the capital city of Kampala.  The site includes a white sand beach, equatorial forest, spring-fed stream, and grassy hilltops speckled with trees… plenty of room to run, play, and marvel at the beautiful creation that God has laid out. The kids will not only have a chance of visiting Kampala for the very first time but also have activities such as–swimming in Lake Victoria, volleyball, ladder ball, hikes and sharing the word of God with other children. Camping costs will be 15,000 shs (6 US Dollars) per kid; transport will be about 1,000,000 shs (400 US Dollars). You should please start praying towards this and a donation towards this is highly welcome even before December.

Football tournament:

JOAC has in the past hosted a football tournament with the kids from around the community; this has in turn drawn some kids to Christ. The Nyamitanga Kids Club team, in which most of the JOAC boys belong, hosts a bunch of other football teams from around the community to play matches. This is aimed at giving the kids training on the importance of how international football can be used in ministry. After the tournament, the kids will have praise and worship after the tournament.

Kids` camp:

The kids will also have a bible camp, in which they will team up with kids from other churches to have a five day full of fun, games such as net ball and football, praise and worship, door to door evangelism, and most importantly the word of God. The camp is aimed at getting the kids to know God better and building an intimate relationship with him.  The camp will involve responsible and godly young people from the local participating churches to act as leaders and overseers of the children. The camp is estimated to host 200 kids plus staff and leaders. The estimated budget is 3,000,000 shs (1,200 US Dollars), roughly 14,900 shillings for each child for food, lodging and transport for five entire days.

Please pray with us and if you feel led by God to donate towards our holiday programs, you are welcome to do so.

Blog by Joseph Ochwo

Joy of a Child Ministry Report

God has been moving in all aspects of the Joy of a Child ministry. First and foremost, a miracle of running water just happened about two weeks ago after two months of shortage. It is hard to understand the magnitude of the problem unless you ever tried to fetch contaminated water in a far place away from home; this is what the kids would do a couple of times in the day, carrying 20 liter Jerry cans of water on their heads. This water would be used for cooking, laundry, bathing, and drinking after boiling, but it was not the best to use.

Another miracle of provision just happened, Ruth, one of the girls in the JOAC house will be going to school after years of lack of schooling because of the school fees problem. She will be having her primary six entry interviews in one and a half weeks, please pray that she excels and also pray for the other girls to have a miracle of joining school.

Daniel the youngest kid in the house and every one`s joy, finally began crawling after months of waiting. He had gone past the five months` crawling period common in most babies. But here he is, crawling to everywhere.

Double birthday celebrations:

It was their first time to celebrate a birthday. Asia and Moleen had never had their birthday celebrated until Danelle a US volunteer with JOAC threw them a birthday party. Both girls who share a hard story of their lives had a smile put on their faces as they had everyone share their big day. They were made sandwiches and taken to a swimming at a luxurious hotel along their friends, Shiba and Diana. They spent the whole day at the pool till evening when they got back to the house where Danelle made them cakes to climax their celebrations. After everyone taking a share of their birthday cakes, they were prayed for. This was a great moment for them to be shown much love and care.

Visitors

The ministry last Tuesday hosted a team of three ladies from Wisconsin, USA for three days. Colleen, Dianah, and Kate were joined by Amanda, Colleen`s friend who is now staying in Kisoro in South Western Uganda. Amanda stayed for two nights while his colleagues stayed for another day. She taught the girls how to make cheap and affordable sanitary pads. The excitement that filled the girls is unbelievable, they learned how to make sanitary pads for themselves and in future, they wish to go commercial, this will earn most of them a living.

The ladies were also a blessing to the kids, besides bringing them so many gifts of playing, reading, writing, and art material, the team also taught the kids games and songs. However, time was insufficient because their time here saw the kids go to school in the morning and come back in the evening. Every evening they had new games to teach and time to spend with the kids.

Queen Elizabeth vacation

Friday was their last day here; they left at 4:30 am for Queen Elizabeth National Park together with Joseph, David, Esther, and young Daniel whom they offered a vacation to the luxurious game park. The trip to the park seemed long but fulfilling as dawn unfolded. Before reaching their final destination, the team often ran into a frenzy of screams as they often got stopped by the early morning Buffaloes that were crossing the road. With its fascinating history, the Queen Elizabeth national Park was put in place in the first quarter of the 1990’s in 1925, with a department set up to stop the Elephants  from marauding villages and destroying cultivation- the overall aim being to keep the within certain boundaries, protecting both Elephants and people. As a result, a series of game reserves, sanctuaries and national parks were established over the years. At around 7:30 am, the team was at the park`s information center booking a tour vehicle and boat ride for their trip. At 9:00 am, the team set to the wild. They first saw Buffaloes, Antelopes, Kobs, many bird species, before everyone went into wild screams at the sight of the hard to find lion and lioness; these took almost an hour to find. After the lions, a hunt for Elephants began, a long trip was made to the south of the park, before the tour guide quickly whispered, “Keep quiet, there it is”, and the driver stopped as everyone had their glimpse of the giant animal. It came from the wild and shyly crossed the road to the other side of the jungle. Satisfied at the sight of the wild beast, the team went on to look for more elephants but with no success. A trip was made back to the information centre where bookings of accommodation and the evening`s boat trip were made. After a couple of hours of resting, the team made their way to the dock of two giant passenger boats. Many tourists were waiting as the two boats brought back a turn of tourists. After the first team of tourists had left the boat, the team along other tourists hurried to the boat, each taking their spacious seats and having their life jackets on. A lady guide made a few explanations before the two hour trip began. As the boat sailed to the horizons of Kazinga channel, Buffaloes came into vicinity sending many into wild cheers as cameras made their shot sounds to grab the moment. At one point Hippos were seen having a great time with the Buffaloes. A look at them clearly indicated an enjoyment of each other`s company; they always flapped their bodies in and out of the water in form of entertaining the tourists. A few crocodiles, birds of different species were also all over the place. At the set of the sun, the guide directed everyone`s gaze to two lions that were on the other side of the channel, they were playing around the bush. This scenario took several minutes before the boat was sailed back to the dock.

The team later had dinner before resting at the Mweya lodge where a traditional music band was playing live African traditional music. After the band`s performance, the JOAC team met an American Doctor who doubles as a musician. He grabbed his guitar while he and Joseph took turns to play some songs to the relaxed revelers. Early in the morning, the US team headed to Entebbe airport as David, Esther, Daniel, and Joseph went back to JOAC. On their way out of the park, they met a herd of elephants, some feeding in the bush and others crossing the road.

Blog by Joseph Ochwo