“He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who’ve been thrown out with the trash and seats them among the honoured guests. A place of honour among the brightest and the best. He gives the barren woman a home, so that she becomes a happy mother.”  Psalm 113:7-9 The Message & NLT

God has placed on HumeRidge member’s hearts, the call to roll up our sleeves and assist the Watoto orphans. To date, 75 people ranging in age from primary school to seniors have said “count me in”.

What is Watoto?

Watoto Child Care Ministries is the child sponsorship program of Kampala Pentecostal Church started by Pastors Gary and Marilyn Skinner in 1992. The vision of Watoto Child Care Ministries is to disciple for Christ the next generation of Ugandan leaders. Watoto has long term goals of providing family life and shelter, education, medical care and most importantly, spiritual guidance to 10,000 Ugandan children left parentless as a result of war and disease.

Watoto Child Care Ministries welcomes every day people like us to visit Uganda and to help in constructing a building that makes up the Watoto Village. The range of buildings include homes or classrooms, clinics, teachers houses, kitchens and hostels. Each building team needs at least $38,000 AUD to build a home with access to water, power, sewage, paths, roads and community development opportunities around those buildings.

What does that mean for the HumeRidge Team?

We need to raise $100,000 this year so we can build two homes and a classroom.  As a result, a number of fundraisers will be run throughout the year. A Krispy Kreme donut drive and a Valentine’s Day Coffee and Cake Evening gave us a great start. There will also be a Tupperware night, a spring Theatre Restaurant, and we have placed Blessing Boxes at various locations in the church for any loose change you may have.

What can you do?

Support the various fundraising events throughout the year by either attending or lending some “elbow grease”.  Drop your spare change into the Blessing Boxes, but most importantly, PRAY!

Without God none of this is possible! Mother Teresa once said she couldn’t imagine going 10 minutes without seeking God’s help.

Important facts

• Uganda has endured the scourge of civil war and the deadly aids epidemic.
• 70% of the worlds 42 million HIV carriers live in Sub-Sahara Africa.
• 12% of all Ugandan children under the age of 15 are orphans.
• 1.7 million Ugandan children have been orphaned since the start of the aids pandemic.
• There are currently 940,000 orphans living in Uganda.
• There will be 50 million aids orphans by 2010.
• The UN defines orphans as children under the age of 15 whose mother, father or both have died. (Statistics sourced from UNaids)

For more information visit http://www.watoto.com

Photos courtesy of Rebecca Evans
(Mission trip to Watoto Village, September 2008)

 

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