Please pray for our daughter Katie as she ministers in Kitgum, Uganda, July 15 to August 16. Katie is working with Rex and Melinda Gyunn a missionary couple with Missionary Ventures. She’s ministering to children through VBS ministry in Kitgum and in some nearby villages.
She’s also helping at an orphanage with 35 children, most who are under 3 years old. She’ll also be doing evangelism with youth from the local church and helping with the church choir.
If you would like to keep up with Katie’s mission to Africa go to:
She’s also helping at an orphanage with 35 children, most who are under 3 years old. She’ll also be doing evangelism with youth from the local church and helping with the church choir.
If you would like to keep up with Katie’s mission to Africa go to:
Katie Weller in Kitgum, Uganda
July 15 - Aug. 16, 2009
July 15 - Aug. 16, 2009
I have been helping out at an orphanage for the past 2 ½ weeks in Uganda. I ‘ve fallen in love with the children, 35 of them - most under the age of 3. Some of their older siblings also live at the orphanage. The orphanage is a 3 bedroom home with an office and storage. Out behind the house are 2 huts, one for cooking the meals and the other for a dining area (there is no furniture they sit on the ground and eat.) There are 5 house mothers , 3 work during the day, and 1 at night, They switch off night shifts for a week at a t ime each. The orphanage is about 3 years old and was started by a Ugandan doctor at the local hospital. Ugandan doctors don't make very much, maybe around $300.00 per month.
The children are beautiful and so so sweet and well behaved. Many of them are HIV positive (more then just the two that I thought) most lost their mothers to HIV or malaria or really both. (the malaria hits and the HIV person’s immune system is so weak it cannot handle it) Some of the children have aunts and uncles that already have so many children that they are not willing to take care of them. Some have absolutely no family. Many of the older kids struggle to pay school fees, which will leave them less likely to be able to provide for their younger siblings. after high school It is very hard for them.
I just had a discussion with a 15 year old boy today who has a younger brother George (the one sleeping on the floor in the picture). He was saying how he lost his father in 2002 and his mother in 2007, he says how many times he thinks of his mother and father and cries. He still misses them dearly, especially him- knowing what it is like to grow up in a real home with parents. He talked about how his father loved his family very much and only had one wife (a rarity). He had money and worked for an NGO and family always asked to borrow money and his father would help them. But now, they don't even he lp him pay his school fees or for any clothes for him or anything. (He has 2 shirts, one for school and one that has holes in it.) Its tough...
In a month or two the orphanage will move to a little bigger house. They need mattresses, so the kids won’t have to sleep on the floor. There is not room for more beds at the current location, but there is room for mattresses. So you can see the needs are BIG but I know that God is BIGGER. If God lays it on your heart we can get the mattresses they need. They are around $20.00 each with the plastic to line the top. If you would like to donate it will be a tax deductible donation and I can get them before I leave (hopefully) and post some photos of the finished work. If for some reason it can’t be done that quick Melinda and Rex will be sure to finish the project. So far we have donations for 10 mattresses and I would llike to buy another 20 or so.
Thanks so much for being a part of making this wish come true.
Love, Katie
UPDATE - 8-3-09
Katie went to purchase the mattresses and discovered that in order to get the mattresses in the Kitgum area they will cost more than originally estimated. Since they don't come with plastic covers on the mattresses, she is having a tailor make the covers for each bed. This jumps the price of the mattresses up to about $30. She has already ordered some but needs more funds to get enough for all the children in the orphanage.
The children are beautiful and so so sweet and well behaved. Many of them are HIV positive (more then just the two that I thought) most lost their mothers to HIV or malaria or really both. (the malaria hits and the HIV person’s immune system is so weak it cannot handle it) Some of the children have aunts and uncles that already have so many children that they are not willing to take care of them. Some have absolutely no family. Many of the older kids struggle to pay school fees, which will leave them less likely to be able to provide for their younger siblings. after high school It is very hard for them.
I just had a discussion with a 15 year old boy today who has a younger brother George (the one sleeping on the floor in the picture). He was saying how he lost his father in 2002 and his mother in 2007, he says how many times he thinks of his mother and father and cries. He still misses them dearly, especially him- knowing what it is like to grow up in a real home with parents. He talked about how his father loved his family very much and only had one wife (a rarity). He had money and worked for an NGO and family always asked to borrow money and his father would help them. But now, they don't even he lp him pay his school fees or for any clothes for him or anything. (He has 2 shirts, one for school and one that has holes in it.) Its tough...
In a month or two the orphanage will move to a little bigger house. They need mattresses, so the kids won’t have to sleep on the floor. There is not room for more beds at the current location, but there is room for mattresses. So you can see the needs are BIG but I know that God is BIGGER. If God lays it on your heart we can get the mattresses they need. They are around $20.00 each with the plastic to line the top. If you would like to donate it will be a tax deductible donation and I can get them before I leave (hopefully) and post some photos of the finished work. If for some reason it can’t be done that quick Melinda and Rex will be sure to finish the project. So far we have donations for 10 mattresses and I would llike to buy another 20 or so.
Thanks so much for being a part of making this wish come true.
Love, Katie
UPDATE - 8-3-09
Katie went to purchase the mattresses and discovered that in order to get the mattresses in the Kitgum area they will cost more than originally estimated. Since they don't come with plastic covers on the mattresses, she is having a tailor make the covers for each bed. This jumps the price of the mattresses up to about $30. She has already ordered some but needs more funds to get enough for all the children in the orphanage.
THE AMOUNT NEEDED FOR MATTRESSES HAS
NOW BEEN MET.
NOW BEEN MET.
Katie left for Uganda with the desire of making an eternal difference in the lives of the people there. She had no doubt God wanted her to GO and left on the long flight to Uganda with that in mind! During her 30 days there, she did lots of different things including leading Vacation Bible School outreaches with The Guynns in Kitgum and in the surrounding villages for many children. She visited and ministered to people in the local hospital. But what Katie seemed to love best was volunteering in the local orphanage which is presently home to 35 children. These children had lost their parents either through war or HIV. Many of the children had HIV but it didn’t matter to Katie as she still held them, played with them and loved them. She wanted them to know she loves them and that God loves them and values them too! I just keep thinking how God sent this one college student so far to show how much He loves those orphans. Please remember that one person can make a difference! You too are one person and God is using you to make a difference!
Katie’s mission trip to Kitgum, Uganda was all she hoped it would be and more! Special thanks to Missionary Ventures and to Rex and Melinda Guynn, MV Field Coordinators in Kitgum for taking our daughter into their home as a mission intern and for providing some awesome opportunities for her to minister there.
Special thanks to all on our newsletter list for your prayers and financial support for Katie and for your response in meeting the needs for mattresses for the Kitgum Orphans. Your response was amazing! Your gifts covered much of Katie’s travel expenses. And your designated donations for mattresses for the Kitgum orphans covered the costs of all the mattresses needed plus met other needs the orphans & the orphanage had.
Katie’s mission trip to Kitgum, Uganda was all she hoped it would be and more! Special thanks to Missionary Ventures and to Rex and Melinda Guynn, MV Field Coordinators in Kitgum for taking our daughter into their home as a mission intern and for providing some awesome opportunities for her to minister there.
Special thanks to all on our newsletter list for your prayers and financial support for Katie and for your response in meeting the needs for mattresses for the Kitgum Orphans. Your response was amazing! Your gifts covered much of Katie’s travel expenses. And your designated donations for mattresses for the Kitgum orphans covered the costs of all the mattresses needed plus met other needs the orphans & the orphanage had.
KATIE WELLER IN KITGUM, UGANDA! by Brian Weller
In a matter of 6 days over $1600 was donated for mattresses and for other needs for orphans! Isn't God an amazing God! I was able to deliver the mattresses to the children the Tuesday before I left Kitgum and I cannot express how blessed I was to be the one bringing the good news and blessings from above!
The children crowded around the gate when we drove up with New red mattresses piled high on top of the vehicle! As we set them in place the children quickly piled in the rooms sitting on their new beds and smiling broadly!! 14 beds in all covered the floor space in the rooms as Isaac, six, began to sing in his native tongue Luo, " Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, we are so blessed!" As he would sing each line the other children would repeat after him. Tears of joy were brought to my eyes seeing how something as simple as a mattress on the floor had made these 35 children ecstatic, knowing that they would no longer be sleeping on the cement floor. PRAISE BE TO GOD! The mattresses will be well put to use there!
Since more money than necessary for mattresses came in, we were blessed to be able to provide 40 bags of cement for the new orphanage building! In May, they’d received a letter stating they were to be out of their current building by August! The Kitgum orphanage founder, Terrance, has worked hard to build the new building that they will now own, but due to finances they’ve been unable to finish it. Thanks to your support we were able to buy the rest of the materials needed to finish and move into the new building by September! :) Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Another opportunity that presented itself was to sponsor a student in school! It’s complicated sometimes when doing this because there must be a commitment to continue with the sponsorship as the child or person continues school, year after year! Bosco, was made an orphan by the war and he’s not finished high school because of lack of funds. He lives in the village of Padibe about an hour drive from any town. He farms to provide for himself and=2 0his siblings! He has three years left of High School but has not been able to pay for it because this years crop season failed him. With some of the funds donated we will be able to provide for Bosco to finish secondary school for the next three years! :)
I also purchased cloth diapers to mail to the Kitgum orphanage, so they’ll be able to maintain a more sanitary environment! People there generally don’t use diapers and too often babies sit in the dirt bare bottomed going “potty” right where they sit. This is very unsanitary and is surely a cause of sickness and worms! Cloth diapers will be a big help with this problem and when they are mailed one of the women from the bakery will be delivering them and explaining in their native tongue exactly how to use them! Again thank you so much for all your prayer and support for this project that will continue to take place as time goes forward! These children have made an eternal impact in my life and I am SO grateful that God could provide for them through your giving! It surely has been a great blessing!
Katie Weller
The children crowded around the gate when we drove up with New red mattresses piled high on top of the vehicle! As we set them in place the children quickly piled in the rooms sitting on their new beds and smiling broadly!! 14 beds in all covered the floor space in the rooms as Isaac, six, began to sing in his native tongue Luo, " Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, we are so blessed!" As he would sing each line the other children would repeat after him. Tears of joy were brought to my eyes seeing how something as simple as a mattress on the floor had made these 35 children ecstatic, knowing that they would no longer be sleeping on the cement floor. PRAISE BE TO GOD! The mattresses will be well put to use there!
Since more money than necessary for mattresses came in, we were blessed to be able to provide 40 bags of cement for the new orphanage building! In May, they’d received a letter stating they were to be out of their current building by August! The Kitgum orphanage founder, Terrance, has worked hard to build the new building that they will now own, but due to finances they’ve been unable to finish it. Thanks to your support we were able to buy the rest of the materials needed to finish and move into the new building by September! :) Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Another opportunity that presented itself was to sponsor a student in school! It’s complicated sometimes when doing this because there must be a commitment to continue with the sponsorship as the child or person continues school, year after year! Bosco, was made an orphan by the war and he’s not finished high school because of lack of funds. He lives in the village of Padibe about an hour drive from any town. He farms to provide for himself and=2 0his siblings! He has three years left of High School but has not been able to pay for it because this years crop season failed him. With some of the funds donated we will be able to provide for Bosco to finish secondary school for the next three years! :)
I also purchased cloth diapers to mail to the Kitgum orphanage, so they’ll be able to maintain a more sanitary environment! People there generally don’t use diapers and too often babies sit in the dirt bare bottomed going “potty” right where they sit. This is very unsanitary and is surely a cause of sickness and worms! Cloth diapers will be a big help with this problem and when they are mailed one of the women from the bakery will be delivering them and explaining in their native tongue exactly how to use them! Again thank you so much for all your prayer and support for this project that will continue to take place as time goes forward! These children have made an eternal impact in my life and I am SO grateful that God could provide for them through your giving! It surely has been a great blessing!
Katie Weller
GOD’S PROVISION FOR THE ORPHANS by Katie Weller
BIBLE TEACHING ON THIS SITE
Message Ministries
& Missions Inc.
PO Box 7158
St. Petersburg, Florida
33734-7158
Phone & fax: 727-527-0595
messageministry@aol.com
& Missions Inc.
PO Box 7158
St. Petersburg, Florida
33734-7158
Phone & fax: 727-527-0595
messageministry@aol.com
BRIAN WELLER MUSIC & TEACHING
