The shipping container arrives to be loaded.
(Photo courtesy of ECM via Facebook)
Uganda (MNN) — A 40-foot shipping container is on its way to Uganda to demonstrate “Afayo.” Afayo means “He cares” in Lusoga and is the focus of missionaries with Every Child Ministries (ECM) serving among the Naigobya community.
The Afayo Project uses village schools as an avenue for reaching out to communities with the love of Jesus. Through the school, missionaries reach out not only to the teachers and students, but also to the church, the parents, the orphans, village leadership, and ultimately the entire community.
“We’re pretty excited about getting that stuff in the Naigobya community,” shares ECM’s Mark Luckey, as he helped load the container with supplies.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff for our orphan project: school supplies, books, clothing, toys; stuff for the vocational program; medical supplies.”
Team Effort
The Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan, is helping ECM gather and ship the supplies. Each group had tried unsuccessfully for years to send school supplies to the Afayo Project.
Helpers take inventory as boxes are prepared for shipping.
(Photo courtesy ECM via Facebook)
“We had a brainstorm one day that if we put our heads together, partnered together, we could do this thing,” Luckey notes.
A Hudsonville school also helped by donating its old furniture to Hillcrest and the Afayo Project.
“We’ve got school desks and school tables, chairs, and things like that; a lot of books to start a library,” says Luckey, adding that they’re also working with SonSet Solutions (formerly the HCJB Global Technology Center).
ECM and Hillcrest are adding a solar-powered SonSet Radio to their shipping container, which will be set up next to clean water wells in the Naigobya community. Every time women and children come to fetch water at the well–a process which often lasts at least 30 minutes, they can learn about Living Water.
“You can play Christian radio, you can play Christian music; you can play sermons,” Luckey explains.
Common Goals
ECM, Hillcrest CRC, and SonSet Solutions are teaming up to achieve one common goal: reaching the Naigobya community for Christ.
“To bring a container-load of school supplies is a nice thing to do and can be helpful in the community, but it really is empty in the long run,” explains Luckey.
“Really it’s about bringing the whole Gospel of Jesus.”
(Photo courtesy of the Afayo Project via Facebook)
As ECM missionaries meet basic needs of the Naigobya through the Afayo Project, they gain an opportunity to share Christ.
“We can say, ‘Hey, this is good, but we’ve got something even better for you,'” says Luckey.
Help meet more community needs through the Afayo Project here.
“We’re providing hope for today–meeting needs, helping kids get an education–but also bringing them the understanding that Jesus loves them, God loves them; there is hope for eternity for them,” Luckey states.
Pray that the container arrives safely in Uganda, and that the Gospel is clearly communicated through the Afayo Project and ECM’s multitude of ministries.
While half of the container is filled with supplies for the Afayo Project, the other half is filled with resources destined for ECM’s work throughout Uganda. As you can see here, Every Child Ministriesis is sharing Christ’s love with the lost in several ways: albinism ministry; child slavery rescue and rehabilitation; child sponsorship; the list goes on and on.
Pray that each of these ministries and its workers can demonstrate God’s love in tangible ways.
