Word in Deed Ministries

Ministry in Missions – Why We Do What We Do!

November, 2013

“Mzungu, Mzungu!” you hear them cry.  They are excited because you, the Americans, have arrived.  Children surround you, drums start playing, shouts of joy and exhilaration exude from their mouths as you walk towards a gathering of people.  The men and women come and greet you with songs, hugs, and best of all smiles.  You are welcomed!

You look at the people there and quickly see that many of them have worn their ‘Sunday best’, just to greet you, but you still see bare feet, tattered dresses, half-clothed children, pants a few sizes too small.  You see dirty feet.  You see bellies, which have not been filled and are distended with hunger.  They see a pot of watered-down porridge, which will be that day’s meal, no taste and lacking nutritional value, but it will fill the stomach, only to remind them a few hours later that it’s all they’re going to eat today.

As you arrive though, they see hope; they see a chance; they see love.  They see your smile.  All things bad go away.  When you spend time with them, they cherish it.  When you sing for them, they clap and cheer, no matter how badly you keep a tune.  When you pull out a soccer ball to play, they quickly throw aside the plastic bottle they had been kicking and patiently and joyfully wait their turn to show their skills with a round ball.  When you pull out a new t-shirt, or outfit, they dress quickly, anxiously waiting to view their new look. If you take a picture of them in their fashioned attire and show them, this is a sweet blessing of modern technology in a place where it is seldom seen.

When you paint their school classroom, they watch in amazement as the plain walls change into a new world, where brightness and vibrancy exists.  Their faces change, like the color of a chameleon, reflecting the new environment they now are in; they smile, and smile, and smile, quickly matching the effervescent color of the walls with their exuberant faces, filled with the joie de vivre (joy of life).

This is the difference that can be made.  Even if for only a short while, the joy of their hearts is lifted, their fears relieved, their problems gone and they have hope and peace.  The children cling to you and soak up all the love you can give them.  They want you to know they exist.  They live each day as you do, with the same sun rising over their heads and the same moon keeping watch over them at night.

Thank you for being a part of the adventure that the Lytle family and a great team from Word in Deed Ministries took, working in Uganda during the month of September 2013.

The delight that you could see on the children’s faces as they received soccer uniforms for the first time ever.  Shoes, socks, clothes, school supplies, balls, and most of all the love that came with each of these material gifts that was given was felt and received.  Know that you have changed the perspective of a child’s life, as they saw love in action.  They felt cared for because of your gifts.  They felt important.  They felt noticed.

To recap our stay, our first day was spent revitalizing the church and clinic grounds at Ntenjeru Presbyterian Church.  We painted the lower half of the 30-foot walls of the church with a beautiful deep green where handprints and dust had overtaken the light-colored paint, which had originally been applied.  We planted 50 trees, varieties of fruit and medicinal, all around the clinic.  In the years to come, this will serve the clinic and community as a resource for herbal medicine.  Some of the team also helped to plant corn, which will feed the pigs.  Later in our stay, a few helped plant beans at this site, as well.  These will be sold to help support one the local ministries of the church and the Elder-lead care for the orphans, widows, and seniors.  The clinic also got a facelift with a good cleaning and a new coat of paint on the lower half.  A bed was also purchased during our stay, so now there is a place for patients to actually lie down during an exam.

We spent the remaining part of our first week painting the Mpunge Covenant School, which is located in a small village further down the road, in a remote area bordering Lake Victoria.  This new school provides these local children (beyond the education they receive) with a place that is dry from the rain and allows their feet to stand on cement floors rather than the dirt and mud.  There are desks for them to sit at and blackboards on the wall.  There is a new dormitory that is almost completed, which eventually will be a place for children to live (both boarders and orphans).  We also installed two 10,000-liter water tanks for the rainwater collection system while we were there.  Soon, grass will be planted on a full soccer field, which has been cleared and prepared. This will be the site of many local games, with the hopes to also hosting events and exhibition with national soccer clubs; a community-gathering place that will be an evangelical tool to share the gospel also.

The school was given new basic supplies, allowing some kids to continue to go to school, as their parents will not have to struggle to find the money for these simple materials.  My son, Tucker, had fun every day making new friends, and playing soccer with the children during their recess.  He also spent many of the mornings helping in the outdoor kitchen, stoking the fire and stirring the porridge for the children’s daily meal.

The second week we went and reached out to a new village called Bunakijja, and enjoyed a time of singing and fellowship.  We provided some clothing for the children and played games like musical chairs and Frisbee.  A full lunch was served, which fed the 150 or so women, men and children that had joined us.  Here I played a game of soccer with the locals, who had an organized college-aged team.  A few of us Mzunga’s (Americans) joined, as well as some of our Ugandan friends, and we played against them.  They were surprised at how well a big American man like me could play defense!  It felt good to be out there and I look forward to now joining the adult league for UMSC someday, although I will need to work on my endurance for sure.

During the second week we also visited the Ugandan Baseball Little League Headquarters and Tucker (who is 9) was able to practice with the 12-year-old team after they finished school.  They practice every day for about 4 hours after school.  God willing, if we are living here in Uganda in the future, Tucker may have the opportunity to play on their team and I may have the occasion to volunteer at a coaching clinic which they offer every February.  The headquarters also have a soccer team at this school, which is specifically set up to assist the most athletic children of the country, providing them not only with the outlet of sports, but the opportunity of a good education.

We week finished with my wife, Kim, leading a time of teaching and having fun during Kid’s Camp, which included religious education, crafts, and songs.  On the final day we had a huge party of dancing and singing which the whole community participated. We had a loudspeaker system and played Ugandan karaoke.  We also provided two schools with Upper Moreland soccer uniforms, which they can use as their own.  These kids were ecstatic to don these new clothes and could not wait to have their next game where they could show them off.

Thank you again for the support you gave helping make this mission trip a success. But more importantly for the opportunity to help put smiles on these children’s faces, a joy in their heart, and a brief moment away from the depravity they live daily.

If you would like more information on how you can continue to help with these children and the communities we are serving in Uganda, please email me  (Peter Lytle) at –  plytle28@msn.com.

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