Rehema's Story

Hey Everyone,

My name is Rehema, and I live in the village of Kiberenge with my mom, jjajja (grandma), my aunt, 8 cousins, and 7 siblings. I am ten years old. I met everyone from Compassion in Action almost two years ago when they started a kids’ Bible club at my house. I have loved learning the Bible, singing songs, memorizing verses, playing games, and eating candy every Sunday afternoon. Last month after CIA had finished teaching us about God’s power over the Egyptians with Moses and the Red Sea, CIA asked my mom if I could go to school at Legacy Christian Academy at Sufficiency of Scripture Ministries in Kubamitwe, a village almost 5 miles away from where I live. The school that I was going to was a Muslim school funded by the government. Many kids in my school don’t even graduate from 7^th grade, because our school can’t afford good teachers, and without good teachers it is very difficult for us to pass the national exam that allows us to go to high school. When my mom said that I could go to Legacy, I couldn’t help but run up and hug each of the members of CIA, trying to express my gratitude for giving me a hopeful future. The next month, I went to Master Solomon Kavuma for an interview, and I was accepted!

           

Even though I have to go back to 1^st grade (I was previously in 3^rd), I don’t really care because I know that going back will help me in the long run. I am so excited to have this opportunity. God is truly taking care of me!

Gratefully,

Rehema

(Adapted from Rehema’s personal testimony)

Rehema

Rehema started her first day of school at Legacy, on February 2^nd, but we need your help to send her to school. Due to the distance and her inability to safely ride a bicycle, CIA is hiring a motorcycle taxi for her to come to and from school. If anyone would be willing to sponsor Rehema’s transportation ($50 per month), or even contribute to a portion of her transportation, please contact me at elisa@sosministries.com. Thanks!

Rehema (second to the left) and her sisters and cousins

Rehema's house where over 15 people live

Rehema's old school

Compassion in Action is for Jesus

Here in Kubamitwe, lots of compassion has been put into action! In August I returned from America where I was hanging out with Emma for a couple months. A few hours after I got back to Uganda, the Lakeside Bible Church and Believer’s Fellowship team arrived. The next week, the youth on the team and CIA Uganda (my brothers, Bekah and I) built two kitchens for two families. When we went to the second family’s house to start building, the lady was flat out drunk. She even asked us to take a picture of her and her pig… What? Anyway, it was quite an experience. It was particularly hard for me because I was shocked that instead of thanking us when we went to help her, she would greet us in a drunken stupor. Honestly, I got really angry with her. Then I had to remember why we build kitchens and serve our community. Is it so that we can help them? Is it so that they will know that we love them? Well, kind of. But those aren’t the main reasons. We do CIA projects because that’s what Jesus would do if He were in our place. He served regardless of whether or not the people came back and thanked him. He loved to the point of death. We love and serve our community because we want to be like Jesus. Jesus is our model, Lord and friend. Because we love him, we will keep loving and serving even if the people hate us. And maybe, through our love, they can come to love Jesus too.

Since then, just this last week we built a kitchen for our friends that live relatively close to us. They had to cook in a little hut without walls and basically no roof. The roof was made many years ago out of grass and at one point worked well, but over the years, has become primarily useless. I don’t think that we have ever built a kitchen for more thankful recipients.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Keep praying that God would draw people to himself through CIA’s love toward them, and that He would be glorified in it all.

The Old Kitchen Next to The New

Their Old  Kitchen

  

We're Back!

Hi everyone! Sorry that we haven’t written anything for a while. My brothers and I were on furlough with our mom and dad and just came back from the States in August.  While we were there, the children at Arcadia Bible Church donated enough money for the goat milk project for the baby whose mom has AIDS. Just this weekend, my brothers, Mrs. Deerberger, and I (with donations from Mrs. Augusta’s 5th Grade class) built a kitchen for a sweet old lady at our church, who is lame. We will post pictures soon!

In other news, our Bible study in Kibelenge (A Muslim village a few miles away from us) is going really well! The kids are super eager to learn and have memorized over ten verses of the Bible.  We are totally encouraged.  Within the next week we will be inviting a family from our village to our house to eat dinner with us, sponsored by another sweet donor. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. They are making a huge difference in our community. We will be sure to keep you updated!

-Elisa Hurley

Project Goat Milk!

What’s new with Compassion in Action?

Project Goat Milk!

Project Goat Milk?? What in the world is that?

Our sweet village friend, Sauda, (a single mom with Aids) has just had a precious baby boy. Because there is a risk of transferring HIV to the baby via the breast milk, we are supplying Sauda with goat milk.  However, the cost of buying goat milk and having it delivered is quite expensive and can even be unreliable at times. The other day, the milk that was supposed to be delivered was never sent and the baby was hungry throughout the night with nothing to drink but water.  Her last baby died of HIV at only 2 years of age and we don’t want this new little one to get infected.

Compassion in Action has funded one month’s supply of goat’s milk, but we are looking to raise money to buy Sauda a milking goat so she always has a supply of milk for her baby. We don’t have a store down the road to run and buy formula!

You can help save a baby’s life by donating to buy a goat for Sauda and her sweet baby boy. If you can help, comment on our blog and let us know you want to get involved in Project Goat Milk!

 Up and coming: This week Compassion in Action is having a family from the village over for dinner to love on them and build a relationship. Next week, we will be building a kitchen. The Hurley family will be on furlough this summer so this will be our last project for a few months.