Newsletter - May 2008

What's New at Our Primary School?

We are seeing a great change in our school and it seems God Himself is making all the changes through your prayers. He graciously provided the funds to expand the school which is currently under construction. The new building will have 4 classrooms and 2 teacher’s rooms. This will enable us to get the kids out of the huts (used as classrooms) and into a more conducive atmosphere for learning.

Many of the village children (over 130 0f them) who attend our school come from Muslim or animist family backgrounds. We have a huge opportunity to teach these kids about Jesus and God’s love for them. In fact, we have many of these same kids singing in our choir…praise and worship songs to our Lord! The fields are ripe here!
The mercy ministry is growing and we help our kids in the community by giving them free education, lunch, shoes, medical care and uniforms. We now have about 30+ kids in that program attending our school.

The teachers have been blessed to be trained by one of our short term volunteers, Lucretia Dijkstra from N.Z. The focus of the training has been on how to teach in groups and how to help the slower kids and special needs kids to catch up in a classroom setting.

The school has a lunchtime prayer twice a week and assembly 2 mornings every week. These are special times when we are able to share the word of God. The children are not only receiving a great education within their curriculum but we have been able to use the school to teach other subjects outside their curriculum. For instance we recently had another missionary come and do an afternoon seminar on the sanctity of life.

The Pre- school is being decorated in fancy bright colors and awaiting the return of our young scholars in three weeks as they are currently in school holidays. God is good! And we are blessed to see Him working in the lives of the children and even the teachers and you are as much part as we are of His Great work!

We praise the Lord for lives like Veronica’s which we have had the opportunity to impact. This is a testimony of God’s love not only to the community but also to Veronica when she reaches an age of understanding. This is Veronica when she was brought to the orphanage at the age of 10 months old. She came very ill and malnourished after her mom passed away, leaving her in the care of her father who lacks resources and ways to give Veronica the proper care and nurturing. After just few months of being at GSF, Veronica is growing and getting healthier. Cases like hers we are daily seeing around the villages near the orphanage. We are thankful that GSF can extend love to these children and welcome them to not only be nurtured physically but share the love of Jesus with them, raising them in His ways.

Back in 1994 the purpose and primary vision of Good Shepherd’s Fold was to evangelize the orphaned and destitute children of Uganda with the Good News of Jesus Christ, while also providing for their physical, educational and medical needs.

In 2008 the vision remains the same but how we carry out that vision on a day to day basis has changed in some ways. For instance, the war in the North has abated over the last couple of years and hopefully has stopped altogether. As a result, we are no longer seeing children coming to us from the north and are able to concentrate on the needs of the nearby communities. AIDS is still a big problem but with the use of drugs like ARV’s people are able to live longer. However, we do still take in children whose families have been impacted by AIDS and other diseases.

What we have seen is that there are several different ways to care for the children depending on their circumstances. Children, who have a good home, even if they are poor, should be with their family and not at a children’s home. So we have aided many of these children by helping with school fees, some even attend our own primary school but they live at home with their family.

Secondly, some children are brought to us with medical problems and malnutrition. We have started writing contracts with the families that states we will take the child for a period of time, get them well, and return them to their family and assist where we can.

Thirdly, the law of Uganda states that children must leave our home when they turn 18 years of age. By doing some investigating we have discovered that some children actually have families. Keeping them here until they reach 18 does them and their family a disservice. Families are extremely important in Uganda society. If connections are not made with siblings and/or parents, a child grows up with little or no interaction creating a fracture in the family unit and damages a future support network for that child. In fact each child’s case is supposed to be reviewed every three years. If we find that the situation at home has changed for the better we may reintroduce that child back into their family.

Lastly, the least of the least. Children, in general, are not nurtured very well in Uganda. If they have a physical or mental problem it is an additional burden on the family. Consequently these children seldom get the attention and care they need to survive. Whether they are disabled physically or mentally impaired, these are the “throw aways” of society. While we feel burdened for these children, we need trained people to help us. Physiotherapists, special needs teachers and loving attention is what we need to better help these kids. Please pray for us as we are challenged with decisions we know we are not adequate to make. We rely on God and His adequacy for His will to be done.

The Children, Staff and Missionaries at GSF thank you for your faithful support, prayers and encouragement.

Blessings