This year during my yearly mission trip for my own non-profit organization in Uganda E. Africa, I took a little detour to visit with Hope Ministries Uganda: USA! Actually, since 2016, this was my second visit to the orphanage and ministry. – Within this year, I was drawn to a Facebook post by a mission friend, Sonya Schweighardt, Co-founder of Hope Ministries Uganda: USA and her post of the Batwa orphans. After looking at the many little faces feeding through the post and knowing first-hand the needs of the children on the ground, the team working there and believing in Sonya’s vision and hard work, my husband and I decided to sponsor one of the many children who had been individually posted.

This child was one of the many children… a little Batwa girl named Miria, age 11! So, for nearly one year I held her photo and then at last I was able to greet her in person and her mother this past January 2017. It was one of those moments in life that is really difficult to put into words. The joy of meeting this child was just overwhelming and to see her thriving in all the challenges there.

When I was visiting the children I was able to witness them receiving their lunch and it was another great joy to see them receiving food from a kitchen near the orphanage, a structure that had most recently been built to support the children’s needs. Also, during this visit I met with Pastor Gerald Tugume and his team on the ground. It was a very colorful and exciting visit with the children singing and dancing upon my arrival, the joy was overwhelming in my heart to be there once again.

I attended a church service where the children performed many dances and they were truly brilliant performers. In my opinion, they should be dancing for weddings and other functions throughout Africa and touring the USA. They have enormous strength and talent to share with the world. And as I watched this talent, I could only think of how they are performing on little food and many with health conditions that need to be addressed. I can only imagine what they could do if they had all their basics needs met each day to sustain them and sadly most do not.

For me, it is one of the greatest blessings in life when we can see first-hand the work that is being done through God’s grace in such places as Kisoro for a displaced and lost tribe… who once lived with pride and dignity on their own in the Rain Forest, which now is no longer their tribal home and never will be again. So this ministry is bringing much needed solutions to the needs of the Batwa tribe and they are bringing them the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ.

The Batwa people touch my heart and so do all the people faithfully working so hard in this ministry to bring this displaced people hope through the love of Christ and all the graces of God. Sonya and her co- founder, Pastor Gerald, are a wonderful team; together they have the passion, talents and love for these people to see this project to fruition. “Go therefore and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19

Most Sincerely,

Judy