Guess Who Turned 80?
Happy 80th Birthday Pastor Kefa Sempangi
There was a huge celebration at the Summer Terrace Gardens in Mukono City on October 11th. The city honored through marching bands, school children singing and dancing, and dignitaries acknowledging the Reverend, Doctor Kefa Sempangi for the philanthropic work he has been doing in Uganda for decades. And BTW, turning 80 years old. He is truly ageless.
We are very grateful as a ministry that God has allowed the partnership between the local Presbyterian Church, their leaders and Word InDeed Ministries over many, many years. Even our founder, Stephen DeMoss was a young college school student when he first went to Uganda and was being introduced to the Pearl of Africa. The inspiration for ministry began running through his veins so many years ago.
Pastor Kefa has been instrumental in so many things relative to progress in Uganda following the Idi Amin brutality. The most well know is Pastor Kefa’s leadership and mentoring so many homeless, fatherless children when he started the Africa Foundation and is still today called “Daddy” by thousands of adults in Uganda.
As someone who helped establish the First Presbyterian Church of Uganda, an articulate pastor, author, and father too many orphans, I am thankful for the local church partnerships we have with Pastor Kefa at the helm.
It was through reading his inspiring book, A Distant Grief, that I developed a keen interest in traveling to Uganda and made the trip in 2012 on my first medical mission trip. Fast forward 8-years later, I’m looking forward to returning again and feel extremely blessed to call Pastor Kefa and his wife Olivia “good friendsâ€.
We wish you a very Happy Birthday Pastor Kefa! May God continue to use you and keep you healthy to continue to mentor and preach the Good News in Uganda!
LOTS OF EXCITING THINGS TO SHARE
As the year 2019 is soon coming to an end, now is a good time to update all our friends and supporters of the great projects and progress which is going on through God’s blessings and Word inDeed Ministries.
This little girl was with her family at one of our clinic’s this past May, 2019. She reminded me of the James 1:27 scripture and how we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, wherever we go. PLEASE PRAY for our ministry and mission to live out James 1:27.
THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
We continue to have a total of 64 students in our program and what started with just 2 schools, has now expanded into seven village schools as the children grow older and transfer to high school and vocational training. We have two university students currently being sponsored through WID. Edward K. is pursuing his Bachelors of Entrepreneurship and Project Planning at the Mukono Christian University, with the intention of learning ways to help the local church benefit from projects and expand the gospel at the same time. Another young man, Jonathan B. is seeking a degree in Clinical Medicine and Community Health in Kampala. We have a young man, Deo K. also attending Westminster Seminary in Kampala and he hopes to graduate with his degree in 2020. Should God continue to bless the support of his pursuit of a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies (we are seeking more scholarship funds for Deo), he hopes to be planted in a village church when God opens that door. In the past year we have had two young students graduate from hairdressing courses, and they are now working in their field. There are also two young men who are doing vocational training in welding, working as interns and hoping to be self-sustaining in their future careers.
This picture above of Frank was sent to his sponsor, Christina, who has been sponsoring this young student for 7 years. Christina had the opportunity to meet Frank during one of our medical mission trips and has supported him in special ways, like writing a letter of encouragement to him as he’s struggling right now in high school. Our counselor, Jovelet, makes regular contact with our students to ensure they are attending school, hearing about their progress, and letting us know when there are special needs or attention required. Like in Frank’s case, we were able to let him know that there are people caring enough about him and that he needs to continue to work toward his school graduation. WID is thankful for the many sponsors we have who continue to provide the financial resources so these kids stay in school.
WID is in the process of fundraising for the Ntenjeru Covenant Junior School to be properly wired for electricity and light fixtures. Currently the adjacent church has basic wiring, but when the school is fully ‘electrified’ the potential for growth in teaching tools, electronics like laptops to introduce the children to modern technology, and even the possibility of using the school for evening outreach and vocational studies will open many doors for the students and the community.
The school headmaster, Micheal Kaggwa who also helps manage projects for WID, has taken on a huge gardening project on property owned by WID. This property sits across a valley from the school and church, so thankfully it’s not too far away! In an effort to have resources to help feed the numerous children that live on campus in the boarding section and those who attend day school, fruit trees, cabbage and other vegetables have been planted with the hopes of providing valuable, nutritious foods for the children. Our ultimate goal is there will be additional fruits and vegetables to sell and provide income to cover the costs of running the school.
Last year the campus was expanded with a large chicken house. There were a few challenges along the way with the baby chicks and loosing some to a virus, but today the house is full of layer chickens and providing food for the children who attend the school.
Micheal told me once that ‘he cannot turn away a child just because they don’t have money to pay school fees’. All this to say that even though he only has 24 students in Ntenjeru school which are receiving a scholarship through WID out of the over 300 attending, there are still many children who are abandoned or without parents to help provide financial support for the school tuition. Many children have come to find the school campus a place to call “home†because they are getting food everyday, a place to sleep, and an education, not to mention the loving care of the staff and leaders like Micheal and his wife Miriam.
Resource Center Project
With the new gardening project in the works to help out the school, one resource which is dearly needed is WATER to keep the new plants and trees alive. A borehole was dug on the property a few years back and capped so that it could be available as soon as funds allowed for the pump house and holding tanks to be established.
WID need’s approximately $8,000 to complete this project. Because the borehole sits low on the valley side of the property, the pump house is needed to build and store the solar powered system because there is no electricity on the land. The pipeline needs to be constructed to bring the water from the borehole up to the top of the property where the managers house is, and where the holding tank will sit. We are praying this project can be commenced before the dry season starts and finished so that the property can continue to be a growing, garden resource, and for the immediate community surrounding the land so they can also have access to cleaner water.
Medical Clinics – May, 2020
WID is truly so grateful for the partnership with the Palm Beach Atlantic University, Gregory School of Pharmacy. Next May we will embark on our 8th year of doing medical missions in the Mukono District of Uganda. God has richly blessed this partnership as we have had the opportunity to provide quality medical and dental care to the people in these remote villages. Also, with the partnerships over these years with other NGO’s, like Hope Smiles (https://www.hopesmiles.org), Sole Hope (https://solehope.org) and Wings for Women (https://www.wings4women.org), our capacity to facilitate such a variety of needs is only because God continues to bless these endeavors.
In a follow-up outreach event in September, Wings for Women sponsored and empowered the local Uganda female leaders. These were women who helped in May’s clinical outreach to return to the four villages we visit to reeducate and reaffirm the support for the women through medical services. This is an inspiring thing to see happening.
We are also forever indebted to the numerous individuals that make sacrificial giving toward these medical mission trips. Part of our outreach and evangelism allows for educating young girls and boys in best practices to keep themselves safe and healthy because the statistics of HIV and Aids is still very oppressive in Uganda. We consistently have the opportunity to share the Gospel through handing out Bibles in the native Lugandan language. We provided 500 pairs of shoes to school children made by Sole Hope. AfriPads were given to school girls to help them stay in class, and 500 mosquito nets were handed out to families in need. I can also say from first-hand experience since 2012, these medical clinic’s have saved lives. There are young children today that are thriving and attending school because they got medical attention they needed during these clinics, where otherwise they would not have survived. God has ordained these by healing, changing and transforming many lives.
Your support both financially and prayerfully is sincerely appreciated. We cannot do what we do without both, so thank you for taking the time to read our update.
Blessings,
Lisa Sorensen
Word inDeed Ministries.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Project Updates, Top News, Uganda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.