Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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This month we have been living with Pastors Joseph and Freida Kakande, and (when we weren't recovering from malaria) we've been preaching at their churchand helping to teach at the primary (elementary) school they started on their church grounds.


our mama and daddy for the month 🙂
 

At 5:45 every Monday-Friday morning, Joseph is in his van (a 16-passenger van that should've been taken off the roads 10 years ago probably) heading out of his driveway and onto the bumpy, dusty dirt roads of Seeta, Mukono, Uganda.

While it's still dark, he navigates every bump, twist, and turn as he picks up 3 different van-loads (of 15-25 children) and takes them to school.

On his way, he picks up the sister of one of his students and drops her off at her school – just to be sure no little girl is walking to school alone, if he can help it, even if it's not his student. 


Joseph walking one of his many, many kids across the street.
 

We (my team and I) have been taking turns in shifts of 2 and going on that crazy school bus ride with Joseph, once we're finished taking the kids to school it's time for breakfast, and then we head out to teach at the school for a few hours.


 

Which is funny, since I have no idea how to teach primary students at all – much less primary students in Africa. I have made entire lessons out of "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" …more than once.
 
but anyway… 
 
Joseph and Freida's commitment to these kids is extraordinary. There are the 3 van-loads of students, about 20 students who board on the school property, plus all the children who can walk to school.

The school provides two snacks and lunch for each of the students, regardless of whether or not the students' families (if they have families) can pay…and usually they can't.

That's where our hearts start to break.

This is Faith.
Her father was a witchdoctor, he sacrificed one of her brothers in hopes of attaining great wealth (chew on that for a second) and then died a few years later. Her family has been ostracized by their community because of what her father did, and her mother found it impossible to care for Faith and her 3 remaining siblings, so Joseph and Freida have taken them in and they live at the school where they receive steady meals, an education, and a family in the body of Christ.


 
This is Angel.
Her mother left her and brother, Arnold, and their father a few years ago. Indifferences in their marriage tore these two kids apart. Last year, a woman came to help at the school for a while and Angel said to her one day, "auntie, you should come and live with us and be our mother. We need a mother." thinking she was joking, the teacher laughed and continued on with her day…until Angel's father arrived to pick them up from school Angel took him over to where he could see the teacher, pointed at her, and said, "daddy, she needs to come home with us to be our mother. we need a mother."

Angel's father eventually found it too difficult to care for his children, and they now board at the school as well.

Every time I show up at the school, Angel comes running and wraps her arms around me and just stays there. She sits beside me during church services and holds my hand, she'll stand in front of me while I'm having conversations with other church members, my arms wrapped around her.

Her need for maternal affection breaks my heart, but her physical needs are being met by the grace of God and the obedience of this church family.

These are just two of many, many beautiful kids here; each with his or her own heart-wrenching story behind the innocent grins and delightfully enchanting giggles I've been seeing and listening to all month. 
 
Joseph once said that his school is beautiful even though the students have had hard lives. He had just finished telling us a few of their stories and then he said,

"but, you know, they are all just children. All of them have these stories, but none of them know the other's story, they just know they are sisters and brothers, they're just like any other children in a big, big family."

 
Praise the Lord for children who are cared for, children who the Lord calls "A city not deserted" and "beloved," for Joseph and Freida, for a congregation coming together offering everything they are able to offer in order to make sure these kids are fed, educated, and that – most importantly – they know the Lord and they know how to LAUGH!


 
Some of these children do need to be sponsored in order to continue in their education, and the Lord provides just enough to allow the church and the school to slide by, but they are always in need of financial support for these sweet babies. You can sponsor a child for approximately $25/month for an entire school year. If you feel like that's something you're called to do, please send me an email ([email protected]) and I will send you much, much more information and get you in contact with Joseph and Freida. 

*Photos by the incredible (and beautiful) AJ LeVan (love you, woman!)