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Kyananjula Update
To watch a video of Bethel's Christian Children's Home click on
What is Kyananjula? Kyananjula (pronounced chia-nan-jula) is a bush village south of Masaka in southern Uganda. It is literally half a world away. Following 20-22 hours of air travel, you need to take a several hour pickup truck ride ending up on a dirt rut road to get there. You have to cross the equator and 8 time zones to reach this land of contrasts.
In one respect it is full of life. It is set on a hill in the lush African bush. Any thing can grow there. The villagers are all subsistence farmers. Even the pastor of the 30 person Presbyterian Church farms. The village is a collection of homes surrounded by small farm plots centered around the Presbyterian Church and small struggling Christian school. The environment is full of life, but the town has been touched by death. Kyananjula is near ground zero for the AIDS pandemic. Virtually all parent aged, 18-45 year old, adults have died. The town is populated with aging grandparents caring for their orphaned grandchildren. The village has no electricity, or running water. All water has to be carried by hand from a well at the base of the hill. There is no health care in town, and the only “store” is a closet sized room of supplies the pastor has made available to the town folk. Even the Christian school is a lesson in contrasts. The school offers classes from preschool through high school in two buildings. But the grade school is little more than bamboo slats framed into classrooms. The handful of part time teachers were paid in produce raised by the pastor, since virtually none of the grandparents can afford to pay the meager tuition. The grandparents are aging, the children are their future means of support, but the orphaned children have limited education, food, and health care.
In this land of contrasts so full of life and death, is there hope for Kyananjula? Does anyone care? Will anyone notice such a remote village? These were the questions being asked 6 months ago. And in our hearts we knew the answer was yes. Kyananjula is the home of our Christian brothers and sisters, and God has given us the means and opportunity. We, through His power, can not only touch these lives, this church & Christian school; we can literally turn this town and region around for His glory. Bethel Christian Children’s Home is being formed thanks to the commitment of Bethel Christian Reformed Church. Through the Mission Committee we have committed ourselves to this church, school, and orphanage as their sister faith community.
And in the past 6 months much has happened. The orphanage is now open, hosting 15 (and expanding up to25) orphans, while and additional 35 orphans (expanding u p to 75) are being sponsored while living with caregivers in the community. Through the ministry of Bethel Christian Children’s Home meals, clothing, shelter, health care, and a Christian education is being provided to the children of Kyananjula. The school has been able to hire a full time paid staff of trained educators, a brick classroom building was completed, and all the children attending the school receive lunch through our support. Three hundred packets of school supplies put together by the Rock Climber (Bethel’s Sunday School) youth were distributed. And the small church of 30 people was bursting at the seams as approximately 250 children and 50 adults gathered in worship on June 10. People were walking from 10 kilometers away to attend the worship services.
God is making a difference through you. Thank you and to Him be all the glory.
Ugandan Orphanage Relief Fund: http://uorf.org
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