Home

Daily Routines

In most of the cases we see, the children join the choir and they are used to having one meal a day. When they wake up in the mornings the first thing on their agenda is chores. Some even worked as house servants (child labor). Others work in the gardens the whole day and then they come home to their one meal for the day, if they are lucky. We have seen children that never attended school, all the way up to the age of 10.

Once the children join the choir they are provided with three meals a day. They are also immediately put into private school to receive the education they deserve. When the children are in school, the school prepares lunch for them. (Most of these children come with a mentality of eating fast. When they spend their whole lives having one meal a day and usually sharing scarce food with a hungry family, they learn that if they eat slow, they don’t eat as much. In a lot of cases we have to talk to them and explain that it is okay to eat slow and enjoy the meals.)

Most of the Orphans that come to us have either never been to school and we enroll them in school.

Many of the Kids have to learn new hygiene habits when they join the choir. Some of them have never even owned a toothbrush. We go through a process of teaching them to brush their teeth, washing their hands, etc

PIICTURE

Situations

The children of Uganda that arrive in the choir have several different reasons. We have some that are completely abandoned, no adult figure in their lives, and no one that ever follows up on them. Many of these children show up dirty, hungry and they have nowhere to go; we call these, “total orphans”. There are some that have lost both parents but have a distant relative that is also in desperate need and cannot take care of them. Others have lost one parent but in these cases it is just a matter of time before their other birth parent dies because of AIDS. Sometimes the children have both parents but due to financial stress the parents cannot support their children. In other cases some children come because their father deserts the family and in some of these cases the mums have no skills at all to take a job so they cannot help themselves.

Family

The home that we have for them are better than good when in comparison to where the orphans have been living. Most of them lived in mud-built houses or one-roomed house that was over-crowded. Many never owned their own bed, so coming to the home is a huge plus!

When we tell children that they have beds now, they always express that they have never owned one before. Many had never owned a mattress or even a blanket.

When the kids first come and are handed their belongings, we have to encourage them to leave them in the house. They are not used to having these things and are afraid if they set them down, they will go away. i.e. instead of using the blanket, they clutch it to their chest and hold on tight.

pICTURE

Disease

Just like many third world countries Uganda does not have a history of being very big on prevention when it comes to disease. Many times a kid’s first visit to the doctors’ office is when they are very sick. When kids first come to the orphan home, they come with many sicknesses especially sores on their entire body. Many of the diseases are curable and after awhile with the great care of our medical teams, they are soon happy and healthy.

Every year would like to invite a team of medical doctors to come and check the children and bring medications. It is amazing how healthy the kids get after being at the home for awhile. We do medical checkups on them, identify those with diseases and help them right away.

pICTURE

Extra information

HIV/AIDS continues to be a significant challenge. Since the epidemic began, some 1 million Ugandans have died. There are an estimated 2.3 million orphans, mostly due to the disease. The country’s health indicators are also among the lowest in sub-Saharan African. Preventable diseases - including prenatal and maternal illnesses, malaria and diarrhea — take a major toll. Close to 18 percent of school-aged children are not enrolled in school and the dropout rate averages 66 percent. Food security is also a major concern. Many families do not have enough food to last through the "hungry season" between harvests, and more than one in four children under age 5 is stunted. In the north, the search for peace continues amidst poverty, the lack of protection for children, scant food and dismal humanitarian conditions

PICTURE

Twiter updates-Twists will follow down wards

HOPE SONG:
Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Psalm: 130 (Because of Calvary).

He Makes All Things New

The orphans that we have at Success Africa Children’s Choir have not had normal lives, a lot of them have gone through ups and downs, and never really having anything consistent. The Lord promises us that we are a new creation:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

These children have become new creations in Christ and they no longer will ever be alone again. To see the faith these children have despite their past is so inspiring to all who they meet, which is why we are excited that we able to show them by example that the Lord makes everything new.
We are beginning several projects that will help these children experience new things. The tour we are praying for will give them a different worldview and exposure to different cultures, beads project giving them skill, Getting into one home by January 2012 will improve their spiritual life ,give them better reading and revision environment, enough time for our music, more out reaches ,better living environment make them more responsible, groom talent, The Children’s village that will contain schools, a mult purpose hall for church, community events, Dining room, the homes in African setting as they leave the slums they currently stay in with poor drainage, Agriculture (Animal and Crop husbandry will help the children see how well the Lord provides. They will be able to physically see the Lord at work. What an example this is to help them strengthen and mature their walk with Christ.
As we teach these children the truths of the Lord, they are taking it all in. We hope that these children realize that the Lord loves them despite anything that has happened before. They are a new creation and we believe they will be the leaders of tomorrow.

As we take these steps to begin all these new projects we pray that the Lord will lead us not only with the current projects but with ideas for future projects. We are looking forward to continuing to see life change in these children’s lives and to continue to see more people become a new creation in God.

As most of you know, new things do not last long, but our new creation in Christ never gets old. What God has done here in Uganda has been such an eye opener for our Ministry. He has made several big “waves” in the community through our ministry and we have no doubt that He will continue. We want the Lord to never be something that is something of the past to people. We want to teach and show people that God’s love is everlasting.
We here at Success Africa Children’s Choir, are so blessed to have so many new creations in our lives and we are excited to see what the future holds. We know that Lord has great plans for us and no matter what we can rejoice in the fact that we are new again!


“Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of
his power and love”
Isaiah 55:13

Do not Fear

I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. - Psalm 34:4

I want to encourage you with this word during this time of uncertainty. The question I want to address today is: We all face fear in our daily living, but how do we overcome it?


Fear is a weapon that Satan uses to keep us in the cage, making us feel that we are safe. If you’re given the choice of being either safe or brave, what would you choose?


Humanly, we all want to feel safe in everything we do; unfortunately, safety is guaranteed in the cage where you’re “sealed off.” In order to touch your world and live your dreams, you will need step out of the cage of safety and take bold, brave steps of trusting God.


It is very simple to make fear-based decisions (the fear of tomorrow, of what could happen). We sometimes have fear of whether our children will grow to serve the Lord, fear of dying young, and fear of taking bold steps to do the uncomfortable though it is God’s will for us.


One wise man said if you want to overcome fear, you simply do what you fear and fear runs away. Fear cannot be ignored or co-habit with you. Fear demoralizes, fear haunts, and fear screams at every effort we gather to do anything great.


Don’t let fear keep you in the boat where there’s safety, Jesus is stretching out his hand and calling you to come out of the boat and walk on water with Him. In the next few issues, I will share with you a few steps you can take to overcome fear.


My dear partner, my prayer for you is that fear will be defeated in your life so you can enjoy the thrill of living by faith in Christ Jesus.


Because of Calvary

Ronald Kezimbira Kyobe