We have been blessed this summer with a handful of visitors. Lydia, Mia, Eden, Sombre and Rediet are here for a short time this summer. They arrived a few weeks ago and we are already enjoying them immensely. They are doing everything from watching children, cooking meals, doing dishes, going to Bible Studies in the village, painting rooms, shadowing health lessons in the village, and weighing babies at clinical outreaches. Most of their mornings are spent at our numerous locations under Karamoja Education Outreach (KEO).
There are presently one school house, three village sites and two primary (elementary) schools that the KEO staff teach at on a regular basis. The main location, Moru a Grace, is located right next door to our clinic. It is composed of two rooms. One room is used for story time, while the other larger room is divided up into corners for learning numbers and letters, counting and reading. The village sites are located at Moru Asia, Kopetatum and Nakaale. They are all within a short walk of the mission. When teachers go to these sites they bring most everything with them: tarps, letters, story book, chalkboards, chalk, toys, pictures for the Bible story. The primary schools we visit are located at Alamacar and Nakaale. In Uganda, the government curriculum includes teaching the Bible. We’ve stepped in to help the students learn the Bible through the curriculum guidelines, while ensuring that they are also hearing the gospel.
Our visitors have been going along with the teachers to these various locations. They begin the morning by having a devotional with the teachers. Then everyone is sent out to their locations to mobilize (call the children to school). The visitors are sitting with the children helping them to write and count, reading a literature story in English, encouraging the local Karimjong teachers, teaching new songs and games and thrilling everyone with the excitement of bubbles! Our KEO teachers love having visitors, too! You can see their faces light up as they teach them words in Karimojong or chat along the walk.
The ministry is not only for the children! KEO employs twenty local Karimojong men and women who would otherwise be without any cash based income. Their education ranges from only a few years of primary school up to completing secondary (high) school. They have also learned a lot; many were learning to read themselves at the beginning of KEO in 2013. They have also learned about different interactive teaching methods, and everyday they hear the gospel. We hope that through this ministry children and adults alike are being inundated with the good news.
We praise the Lord for this opportunity! Please pray with us, that our visitors will be able to engage in meaningful ways returning back to the US encouraged and challenged, for the students that they would learn and grow in knowledge and Christ, for the teachers that their ears and hearts would be open to Christ’s work for them, for the mission that we would find the necessary resources, staff and monetary, to keep this ministry going! May His name be magnified!