A Gardener’s Work: Nurturing Young Hearts

Tony told us, "After my parents died, I didn't have any gardeners."

We smile at this ten-year-old's mixing up of English words. Surely he meant to say, "guardians," but in front of a handful of western visitors, as he tells how he came to TOUCH, "gardener" escapes his lips more readily.

He's searching for the words. How can he tell us what it was like when his parents died? Will we grasp all that is entailed when a child travels to Kampala from the village and lives on the streets? What was it like to be "picked" from the trenches?

Then we realized how right he is.

Uprooted, unprotected, exposed. With no one to nurture him, no one to feed him, no one to show him which way to grow. Without a "gardener," Tony lived in the filth that ran off from the streets near the soccer stadium - a mixture of plastic bags, sewage, and trash. He took his dinner from trash bins. For safety, he tried to go unnoticed - but then he was "picked."

In Uganda, people say "picked" when they mean "picked up" more than "chosen," as we would use the term. But again, Tony is right. He was "picked," like a flower from the refuse, and given a new life.

He was transplanted from the treacherous streets and day-to-day survival, to a community of children with hope for the future - a beautiful bouquet of potential.

A guardian is “a defender, a protector, or a keeper; in particular, someone who looks after and is legally responsible for another person who cannot manage his own affairs.”

Yes, Tony needs a guardian, but he also needs a gardener. A gardener, “tends or cultivates, promoting or improving growth by labor and attention.” A gardener nurtures, supports and encourages development.

Man was created in a garden, created to live in a garden, and nurtured by the Master Gardener Himself. Then, man fell in the garden, and was separated from his Protection, his Defender, the One who sustained growth.

Jesus taught His disciples in the garden. He prayed in a garden, and He was betrayed in a garden. Jesus was buried in a garden - and He rose in the garden.

For Christ on the cross, separation from the Gardener was heart-rending and excruciating. "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" He knows how an orphan feels.

Tony, and children like him, are finding hope at TOUCH (The Outreach to Unfortunate Children’s Hurts). With contributions made through Friends of TOUCH, "Mama Sara" pays their school fees and provides at least one meal a day.

Teachers take nurturing roles in the children's lives, seeking them out when they are absent from class, taking children to a local clinic when they fall ill, and tending to their overall development.

This is a community garden, where we all play a part.

Please pray and ask the Lord what He would have you do to nurture these young lives. Whether it is through giving, prayers, or encouragement - know that you are making a difference.
Tony, who once lived in the shadows by the soccer stadium, now plays on the TOUCH soccer team. He hopes to play professionally when he is grown, and if not, says he will be a bank manager.

Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all.
 - Jeremiah 31:12b

What do You Hope For? What do You Dream?

Remember when you were a child, and anything was possible? You had plans to fly to the moon, to score the winning goal, to travel far, to be heard.

Most of us did not go to the moon or score the winning goal, but we never feared that we would lack anything we really needed. Somehow we knew there would be food, shelter, and some way to make it through. But for many children in Uganda, this is not the case.

These children find shelter where they can, wonder where their next meal will come from, and hope desperately for school fees. The search for school fees is so intense that children sometimes put themselves at risk for them. They know an education is essential if they are to escape poverty.

The Outreach to Unfortunate Children’s Hurts (TOUCH) was founded to provide hope - in the form of food, education, love, and eventually, shelter as well. The children here receive a meal each day. They attend classes at the temporary facilities located at Calvary Temple Worship Centre in Kampala.

They have hopes and dreams - to be doctors, accountants, soccer stars, singers, pastors, teachers, artists, pilots, and even President of Uganda!
Who gave you the idea that you could do great things? Who encouraged you on the way? Who prayed for you?

Sara Sebyala and the teachers at TOUCH teach, feed, clothe and encourage these children daily. They pray with them and over them; but caring for nearly 400 children is no small task. Friends are needed to partner with Sara so the children’s needs can be met.

My dream is to see every TOUCH child sponsored. This means there will be food enough for three meals a day. There will be clothes and shoes. There will be teachers and books and pencils and paper. The children will know someone cares enough to see that they get the education they need. They will be encouraged and strengthened through your letters, financial support and prayers.

Will you be a Friend of TOUCH? 
Will you offer hope for a child to reach for his or her dream?

Learning to Move

I thought I'd share some moments from our trip to Uganda. This is one of our favorite - just an evening at the house with these wonderful young ladies teaching us how to move...

Several of the kids at TOUCH are involved in the church dance group. They practice all the time, and I love it - because they are using music that reaffirms God's love for them.

One of the greatest things about this trip was seeing the difference in these young lives. There is still a long way to go, but hope is now evident on nearly every face.

Show me your ways, O LORD,

teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are my God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

-- Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)