Trip 38 to Uganda and Back

We have returned home from a great trip to the Child Redeemed Mission Home, Promise Primary School, and Rock View Primary School. I’ll post more in the near future about bringing forth healthy abundant water from the ground, pushing back the darkness with power, funding projects beyond the reach of whole communities, enabled many small business to start and grow, encouraged and empowered a church and evangelism teams, and showed a lot of discarded and vulnerable children and people that they are valued. My personal prayer requests were mercifully filled and we were all blessed.

Here are a few photos of the best things that happened….Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Next Trip…#38, to Uganda, May 11

There is a lot going on at our served ministries, particularly at Promise Primary. We finished enclosing the compound in a fence for security, drilled a water well last month, currently constructing two Dormitory Buildings and a large water tank stand. Power will be wired into PPS for the first time after wiring over 1 km from town (in Uganda, you need to pay for the poles and wires). We will work to organize and complete these projects and leave the school with more class and dorm space, power, lights, and running treated water. The community will also have clean water access. There are a number of other projects at Child Redeemed Mission Home as well as just enjoying visiting those little Humans. As an engineer working in missions….this is really fun! Imagine the switch flip that ends darkness at night, and the valve turn that ends hours of work for dirty water. We will be the lucky ones to see that but give thanks to all who have supported MSM and praise to God!

Please pray for our provisions (these projects are costly) and for good weather (too much rain will be a problem).

Here are some current status photos…. Girls and Boys Dorms under construction.

Water well and tank stand with chlorinator under construction.

Power being installed at PPS…

Trip 37. Update 2…Bridge for School Kids

There was record flooding in the region around the Lord’s Servants Home (LSH) in Kenya in 2022. Two of the three bridges used to cross a creek and ravine from one side of the community to the other were made of wood and washed away. The 3rd bridge was constructed of steel and concrete in a joint project between Mission Servants Ministry (MSM) and the community in 2020 and had some repairable damage but survived well.

The community requested of the Mission Team and MSM to join in a project to build a durable steel and concrete bridge again to replace the ones washed away and allow school kids to safely reach the Bridgeway Hope Academy (BHA) on the grounds of LSH as well as general travel within the community. Meetings with the community leaders yielded a bridge design, budget, and commitment from dozens of people to participate in the construction. They attacked it with a passion and quickly completed the bridge which benefits all. Helping others help themselves is good help. Community projects that grow out of mission work is a great way to show more people the Love of Jesus Christ in a practical way. People will want to get to know that Jesus Christ as a start to a relationship.

MSM provided funding for all the materials. Pastor Ken provided the construction experience and leadership. The community provided the labor and food for those working.

The best projects start with a prayer!….

Sharing-work Needs many Hearts…

A few years ago when I was changing careers from Business Owner to focusing as a Volunteer Director of Mission Servants Ministry, I chose as my centering Bible verse, Hebrews 13:15-16 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Best move ever.

MSM has been blessed since 2007 to do that (Sharing) with orphans, widows, sick, disaster struck, and poor as well as schools and medical operations. I’ve realized that “Share with others” doesn’t only mean blessings of funds and services to the needy, but also “Share with others” the opportunity to be a blessing. I’m going to do that now with a list of projects and needs on the current plate of MSM that will make a loving impact to the needy children and people we serve in Uganda and Kenya in the next several months. These are all the same sort of things that we have been doing for the last 15 years and funded purely by donations from individuals lead to “Share”. If any of these projects touches your heart and you would love to “Share with us” please follow the links or methods to donate at the end. Money is an incredible tool that we know how to use efficiently. 100% of donations will go to these efforts directly. Thank you for praying about this and to those that have joined with us to date.

Current MSM Projects and Needs

Requirements, fees, clothing, bedding, etc…to bring 6 new vulnerable kids from the Kamuli district into the Child Redeemed Mission (CRM) Home in January.

Expanding work with our older sponsored children from the CRM home in Uganda and Lord’s Servants Home (LSH) in Kenya to assist them to obtain higher education, skill training, or start small businesses so they can be productive adults.

Assist the Kasolwe Medical Clinic (small village clinic) to obtain relatively basic equipment like microscope, and sterilization equipment, to serve the village as well as establish a service for the kids at the CRM Home.

Rebuild a community well in Liyavo district, Kenya and install a hand pump to provide a safe and sanitary source of water. There are several projects like this being requested of MSM. We funded 8 such projects in 2021 and 2022.

Footbridge construction to replace a wooden structure washed away in this years flooding. Three such projects have been completed since 2018.

Purchase 1.15 acres of land offered by a bordering neighbor of CRM Home to serve as garden and animal support property for the children to learn those skills.

Complete the gate, guard house, and fence around the Promise Primary School (PPS) property that was 90% completed in 2022.

Build a dorm building at PPS to house 75 boys and 75 girls which will open up two classrooms that are currently being used for dorms. PPS has rapidly grown to capacity of 550 children due to it’s superior performance and God’s grace.

A solar or grid power solution for PPS to allow the installation of security lights, building lights, and a water pump with a chlorination system. All for the goodwill and safety of the kids and staff.

Church partner projects to build and repair homes for widows or extremely needy families with young children. Six such projects have been completed since 2018.

Repair the fence at CRM Home and relocate the gate, guard house, and playground away from planned road construction access.

Many other smaller projects to maintain the facilities at the CRM and LSH homes as well as cover operating cost and raising of the resident children.

How to Help…

All of these projects can be started immediately and many are simply waiting for God’s provisions of funding. Donations can be made by Paypal, bank transfer, stock transfer, or least cost method by check mailed to Mission Servants Ministry, 4550 Lochfoot Dr., Charlotte, NC 28278. Please contact me with any questions at 704-576-4646 or bob@missionservants.org or learn more about MSM at http://www.missionservants.org or Mission Servants Ministry on Facebook.

Prayer Answered, Trip 36 Report

We found the facilities at Child Redeemed Mission (CRM) Home in good shape except for the Solar Power collection and distribution system. We had to leave it at 50% capacity after our February trip due to battery supply issues and an apparent possible lightning strike/wiring failure in May caused enough damage to disable the system until we arrived on this trip. We brought with us spare parts and upgrades and on our way to CRM, obtained the needed batteries to return the system to 100%.

Solar Power storage and distribution system at CRM
Replaced switch, wiring, and added fuse block

The staff, kids, and church adapted over the last few months to using the generator and solar flash lights but restored power was very welcome. One main area that was especially welcomed was the evening movies the kids enjoy a few times a week using a projector and DVD player. The projector was also broken and we brought a new one. We provided one to Promise Primary for education use and entertainment as well.

This is High Def in these parts.

OK, I’m getting to the “Answered Prayer”……We also repaired a number of failed switches and lights and realized that one of the 8 batteries was in a weakened condition. Our source was unable to find one additional battery and had tried all week long. We needed a 150 amp hour solar duty battery. On my last full day of the trip, becoming desperate to not leave CRM in a less than 100% state, I traveled to the larger town of Jinja to try and make it happen with our source. Finding out that he had given up on us, I did the American thing….Googled: 150 ah solar battery supplier Jinja. Well that was silly and useless! I was with my main helper, 12 year old Joram. I said to Joram, “all I can think to do now is pray for God to lead us to find a battery”. I told God that I had no idea where to go and only have a few minutes to spare to look before needing to begin the 1 1/2 hour trip back to CRM. I’m not sure what Joram thought of that but after the Amen, I drove a few blocks one way, a few another, and saw a small electronics store. Greg had asked me to find a couple battery clips for him and I thought I might as well get them there. After paying, I showed the woman store owner a photo of the battery I hoped to find. She promptly pointed at me. I showed her the photo again and she pointed again. I cought on that she meant for me to turn around. Across the street was a solar store, I parked almost in front of it. Jinja is a big place with a thousand small stores spread over several dozens of blocks. I expect God to answer prayers but this was dramatic….almost really so…the store was out of the battery but called someone and directed me just one block away to someone that had one. This all took 5 minutes total. God is good! I made sure Joram understood what just happened. We left CRM in great shape after installing that battery. Praise God….I love that feeling.

My main “Handyman Apprentice” Joram.