watoto newsletter - us
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Watoto Newsletter - June 2014TRANSCRIPT
WATOTO USA • PO BOX 1320 • LUTZ, FLORIDA • 33548-1320 (813) 948-4343 • [email protected]
ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GODThis June, Watoto held a big party to
celebrate 20 years of Watoto Child Care
Ministries. The occasion drew in thousands
of people including many of our global
friends who joined in on the anniversary
activities in Uganda. For the past 20 years,
Watoto has rescued and raised more than
4,000 children in Africa (3,000 in current
care). During the same week, Baby Watoto
rescued its 1,000th baby. We arful to God for
His never ending mercy.
The Watoto Children’s Choir opened up the
celebrations with an epic “Beautiful Africa“
performance, a song loved by many.
Restore Tour: Child Soldier No More, a
production that depicted the plight of
people in northern Uganda during the LRA
war and mainly consisted of former child
soldiers, left many in tears. The choir also
had the honor of performing alongside
Grammy Award-Winning artist Israel
Houghton, the guest artist of the night.
During the same week, several people were
able to visit Watoto’s Suubi Village and
other Watoto sustainability projects such
as the poultry and vegetable farms. During
the vision tour, founder Marilyn Skinner,
recognized Watoto mums who have served
for over 19 years, for their faithful service in
helping raise and nurture Watoto children.
We were honored that many of our partners,
friends and sponsors all over the world
managed to come to Uganda for the
celebrations. We give all the glory and honor
to the one amazing God who has brought us
this far.
Newsletter_June_USA.indd 1 6/27/14 5:15 PM
AN INSTRUMENT OF HEALINGSomething spectacular happened.
We went as a choir to a food place
to have lunch and as is our culture
in Watoto, we sang a thank you
to the people who had prepared
the food. After singing, a man
approached us and requested us
to sing a song for one of his friends
Pregnant with her fifth child,
Mercy joined the queue of
expectant mothers waiting to
sign up for prenatal treatment at
the busy maternity unit.
After three hours of waiting for
her HIV test results, she was led
into a small room where she was
told by a nurse that she was HIV
positive. A wave of emotions
broke over Mercy. She was
shocked, afraid and angry.
She was told by the nurse that
with treatment she would be
fine and transmission of HIV to
her child would be prevented.
Unfortunately, a year after their
son’s birth, her husband died and
Mercy’s health deteriorated. She
had to spend some time in the
hospital.
Her siblings, who looked after
her children while she was away,
said they would kick out her
children if she died. Mercy cried
as she realized that she was the
only person her children had
left. If anything happened to her,
there would be no one to care
for them. This ignited something
within her. She drew from inside
her the strength to carry on. Life
was hard but with her basic skills
in tailoring, she managed to keep
herself and her children alive.
The children had to drop out of
school and the family sometimes
could only afford one meal a day,
but she never gave up.
Mercy came to Living Hope in
2008. Here she improved her
tailoring skills and learned how
HOPE REGAINEDto save some of her earnings.
Today Mercy works as a trainer
in our Kampala workshop and
she is a great teacher. She is able
to send all her children to school
too. Her desire to build a home
for her children, to ensure that
they have a place that belongs to
them, a place from which no one
can chase them away, continues
to be her driving force. This year,
she opened her second bank
account. She is well on her way
to saving the money she needs
to buy a plot of land and build
her own home.
Thank you for partnering with us
and helping us empower women
like Mercy. Encourage your
friends to do the same.
www.watoto.com/livinghope
Watoto’s new gift pool policy
was introduced in October
2012. It replaced a policy where
beneficiaries directly received
gifts from their sponsors.
Unfortunately, not every child
would recieve a gift. This caused
some children to feel unloved or
not thought of by their sponsor.
As a result, It was decided that
A SOURCE OF JOYparcels or gift items received
from donors and sponsors would
be inventoried and distributed
to each Watoto village. These
gifts are now given on special
occasions such as birthdays.
The day of the gift distribution
is a special day that all children
and mothers look forward to.
The whole village is filled with
excitement as people look
forward to receiving a gift.
“The gift pool policy is a great
idea because it makes all the
children and mothers feel
loved and valued,” mum Sarah
Nalweyiso says.
In the month of April, several
children received their birthday
gifts. “I love cooking, so this is a
perfect gift. The book will help
me learn new recipes and also
help me improve on my cooking
skills,” said 15-year-old Amelia.
Five-year-old David Musiime was
excited about his drawing board.
“I will use it to draw cartoons,”
he said.
Thank you to all our sponsors
who have adhered to the new
policy.
www.watoto.com/sponsorship
A FRIENDSHIP MADE IN HEAVENA shared prayer between a
71-year-old sponsor and her now
grown-up 24-year-old former
sponsor child was answered in
a little church in Louisiana this
past April. Ten years ago, Martha
decided to sponsor a child after
watching the Watoto Children’s
Choir perform at her church.
“Why don’t you take this one?”
someone at the table asked
Martha and handed her the
profile of 14-year-old Jacqueline.
Just like that God intersected
their paths.
“Over the years I watched her
Every year, ten global teams meet
in Uganda: one team helps with
children’s camp, two teams assist
with medical care, three help with
a construction project and four are
dedicated to Baby Watoto. The
team is on the ground for two weeks
and made up of individuals from
around the world. If you feel God
leading you to join in on one of our
upcoming global team trips contact
Upcoming Visit Watoto Trips
August Build Team Friday 8th – Friday 22rd August
August Medical Team Friday 8th – Friday 22rd August
August/September Camp Team
Friday 29th August –Friday Sept 12th
September Baby WatotoTeam
Friday 5th – Friday 19th September
December Baby Watoto Team
Friday 28th Nov.– Friday 12th
December
In 2009, traveling worship duo
Brad and Rebekah made a
decision to give a portion of their
CD sales to Watoto to invest into
the lives of orphaned children
and vulnerable women. After
visiting Watoto in 2011, the couple
decided that they wanted to do
more.
“We came back with a deeper
passion and a deeper desire
to continue pouring into the
ministry, and the way we thought
we could do that best was to
tell the story of Watoto through
a song. That’s where ‘The Heart
of the Father’ came from,” said
Brad. “The Heart Of The Father
was released on iTunes May 14,
2014 with 100% of the proceeds
from downloads going directly
to Watoto. Thanks to many of
our Watoto friends, the song
quickly made it on the top iTune
Christian song chart and in a
matter of just a few hours rose
to number 67 out of hundreds of
top songs.
“This single is the story of the
Father’s rescuing-redeeming
love for us, His children, but also
the physical redemption of the
orphaned children of Uganda,”
explained Brad and Rebekah on
a May 6th blog post. The song
was recently reviewed by New
Release Tuesday and described
as having “soul-stirring lyrics.”
If you haven’t downloaded
“THE HEART OF THE FATHER”:
go to iTunes and search
“The Heart Of The Father
Brad and Rebekah” or visit
www.bradandrebekahmusic.com
to watch the video,
download the song and
read more about Brad and
Rebekah’s Watoto journey.
THE HEART OF THE FATHER
IS GOD CALLING YOU TO VISIT WATOTO?
handwriting improve and could
tell she was getting an education
by the way her letters changed. I
prayed for her schooling, spiritual
growth and she would also pray
for me. I once told her in a letter
that if we don’t get to meet this
side of heaven, it will happen
someday,” said Martha.
This year, Jacqueline went on
tour with Choir 64 which just
happened to be traveling through
Baton Rouge, only 45 minutes
away from where Martha lived.
Martha was notified that her
former sponsor child would
who had just lost her husband.
We were pressed for time, but in
that moment God spoke to me
clearly and said, “This is the reason
you are here, to bring healing to
the hearts of men and bind the
broken.”
We sang, “Not Forgotten” and
shared the story of the children
who have lost one or both of
their parents. After the song, the
teary-eyed lady was beaming.
The children hugged her and
the adults encouraged her and
the family. While on the bus, it
occured to me, the reason for the
lunch gift, the drive to that town,
the venue on that day was simply
to put a smile on the face of a
grieving widow. God can surely
move the whole world for you.
Remain in Christ and God Bless
you always.
Phillip Mugerwa
Watoto Children’s Choir #64
Team Leader
watotochoirs.wordpress.com
This powerful song, co-written by
Brad, Rebekah and James Tealy
(Christian song-writer for artists
such as Kari Jobe) also features
the Watoto Children’s Choir.
Watoto is so grateful for Brad
and Rebekah’s desire to support
Watoto’s work directly through
the sales of this powerful single.
Every song that’s purchased is a
donation that will impact a life.
It’s also an incredible song to
simply worship to. We guarantee
you won’t be able to keep from
singing this chorus all day long.
“In the heart of the father
There is love.
He loves us.
He loves us.”
be touring and a visit was
scheduled.
“The moment we looked at
each other we recognized each
other,” said Jaqueline. Their
visit was filled with laughter
and reminiscing about the
past ten years. Martha brought
her scrapbook of photos of
Jacqueline that she had kept
over the years and they poured
over the photos.
“I was surprised to hear
how much Martha had gone
through in her life. You have this
perspective of what a sponsor
must be like and you think
they must be rich. Knowing
she sponsored me despite all
she’s been through was very
humbling,” said Jacqueline.
If you are considering sponsoring
a child, Martha has this to say
about the experience, “Don’t miss
the opportunity and the privilege
to walk through that journey with
someone. It’s so rewarding.”
www.watoto.com/sponsorship
Newsletter_June_USA.indd 2-3 6/27/14 5:15 PM
AN INSTRUMENT OF HEALINGSomething spectacular happened.
We went as a choir to a food place
to have lunch and as is our culture
in Watoto, we sang a thank you
to the people who had prepared
the food. After singing, a man
approached us and requested us
to sing a song for one of his friends
Pregnant with her fifth child,
Mercy joined the queue of
expectant mothers waiting to
sign up for prenatal treatment at
the busy maternity unit.
After three hours of waiting for
her HIV test results, she was led
into a small room where she was
told by a nurse that she was HIV
positive. A wave of emotions
broke over Mercy. She was
shocked, afraid and angry.
She was told by the nurse that
with treatment she would be
fine and transmission of HIV to
her child would be prevented.
Unfortunately, a year after their
son’s birth, her husband died and
Mercy’s health deteriorated. She
had to spend some time in the
hospital.
Her siblings, who looked after
her children while she was away,
said they would kick out her
children if she died. Mercy cried
as she realized that she was the
only person her children had
left. If anything happened to her,
there would be no one to care
for them. This ignited something
within her. She drew from inside
her the strength to carry on. Life
was hard but with her basic skills
in tailoring, she managed to keep
herself and her children alive.
The children had to drop out of
school and the family sometimes
could only afford one meal a day,
but she never gave up.
Mercy came to Living Hope in
2008. Here she improved her
tailoring skills and learned how
HOPE REGAINEDto save some of her earnings.
Today Mercy works as a trainer
in our Kampala workshop and
she is a great teacher. She is able
to send all her children to school
too. Her desire to build a home
for her children, to ensure that
they have a place that belongs to
them, a place from which no one
can chase them away, continues
to be her driving force. This year,
she opened her second bank
account. She is well on her way
to saving the money she needs
to buy a plot of land and build
her own home.
Thank you for partnering with us
and helping us empower women
like Mercy. Encourage your
friends to do the same.
www.watoto.com/livinghope
Watoto’s new gift pool policy
was introduced in October
2012. It replaced a policy where
beneficiaries directly received
gifts from their sponsors.
Unfortunately, not every child
would recieve a gift. This caused
some children to feel unloved or
not thought of by their sponsor.
As a result, It was decided that
A SOURCE OF JOYparcels or gift items received
from donors and sponsors would
be inventoried and distributed
to each Watoto village. These
gifts are now given on special
occasions such as birthdays.
The day of the gift distribution
is a special day that all children
and mothers look forward to.
The whole village is filled with
excitement as people look
forward to receiving a gift.
“The gift pool policy is a great
idea because it makes all the
children and mothers feel
loved and valued,” mum Sarah
Nalweyiso says.
In the month of April, several
children received their birthday
gifts. “I love cooking, so this is a
perfect gift. The book will help
me learn new recipes and also
help me improve on my cooking
skills,” said 15-year-old Amelia.
Five-year-old David Musiime was
excited about his drawing board.
“I will use it to draw cartoons,”
he said.
Thank you to all our sponsors
who have adhered to the new
policy.
www.watoto.com/sponsorship
A FRIENDSHIP MADE IN HEAVENA shared prayer between a
71-year-old sponsor and her now
grown-up 24-year-old former
sponsor child was answered in
a little church in Louisiana this
past April. Ten years ago, Martha
decided to sponsor a child after
watching the Watoto Children’s
Choir perform at her church.
“Why don’t you take this one?”
someone at the table asked
Martha and handed her the
profile of 14-year-old Jacqueline.
Just like that God intersected
their paths.
“Over the years I watched her
Every year, ten global teams meet
in Uganda: one team helps with
children’s camp, two teams assist
with medical care, three help with
a construction project and four are
dedicated to Baby Watoto. The
team is on the ground for two weeks
and made up of individuals from
around the world. If you feel God
leading you to join in on one of our
upcoming global team trips contact
Upcoming Visit Watoto Trips
August Build Team Friday 8th – Friday 22rd August
August Medical Team Friday 8th – Friday 22rd August
August/September Camp Team
Friday 29th August –Friday Sept 12th
September Baby WatotoTeam
Friday 5th – Friday 19th September
December Baby Watoto Team
Friday 28th Nov.– Friday 12th
December
In 2009, traveling worship duo
Brad and Rebekah made a
decision to give a portion of their
CD sales to Watoto to invest into
the lives of orphaned children
and vulnerable women. After
visiting Watoto in 2011, the couple
decided that they wanted to do
more.
“We came back with a deeper
passion and a deeper desire
to continue pouring into the
ministry, and the way we thought
we could do that best was to
tell the story of Watoto through
a song. That’s where ‘The Heart
of the Father’ came from,” said
Brad. “The Heart Of The Father
was released on iTunes May 14,
2014 with 100% of the proceeds
from downloads going directly
to Watoto. Thanks to many of
our Watoto friends, the song
quickly made it on the top iTune
Christian song chart and in a
matter of just a few hours rose
to number 67 out of hundreds of
top songs.
“This single is the story of the
Father’s rescuing-redeeming
love for us, His children, but also
the physical redemption of the
orphaned children of Uganda,”
explained Brad and Rebekah on
a May 6th blog post. The song
was recently reviewed by New
Release Tuesday and described
as having “soul-stirring lyrics.”
If you haven’t downloaded
“THE HEART OF THE FATHER”:
go to iTunes and search
“The Heart Of The Father
Brad and Rebekah” or visit
www.bradandrebekahmusic.com
to watch the video,
download the song and
read more about Brad and
Rebekah’s Watoto journey.
THE HEART OF THE FATHER
IS GOD CALLING YOU TO VISIT WATOTO?
handwriting improve and could
tell she was getting an education
by the way her letters changed. I
prayed for her schooling, spiritual
growth and she would also pray
for me. I once told her in a letter
that if we don’t get to meet this
side of heaven, it will happen
someday,” said Martha.
This year, Jacqueline went on
tour with Choir 64 which just
happened to be traveling through
Baton Rouge, only 45 minutes
away from where Martha lived.
Martha was notified that her
former sponsor child would
who had just lost her husband.
We were pressed for time, but in
that moment God spoke to me
clearly and said, “This is the reason
you are here, to bring healing to
the hearts of men and bind the
broken.”
We sang, “Not Forgotten” and
shared the story of the children
who have lost one or both of
their parents. After the song, the
teary-eyed lady was beaming.
The children hugged her and
the adults encouraged her and
the family. While on the bus, it
occured to me, the reason for the
lunch gift, the drive to that town,
the venue on that day was simply
to put a smile on the face of a
grieving widow. God can surely
move the whole world for you.
Remain in Christ and God Bless
you always.
Phillip Mugerwa
Watoto Children’s Choir #64
Team Leader
watotochoirs.wordpress.com
This powerful song, co-written by
Brad, Rebekah and James Tealy
(Christian song-writer for artists
such as Kari Jobe) also features
the Watoto Children’s Choir.
Watoto is so grateful for Brad
and Rebekah’s desire to support
Watoto’s work directly through
the sales of this powerful single.
Every song that’s purchased is a
donation that will impact a life.
It’s also an incredible song to
simply worship to. We guarantee
you won’t be able to keep from
singing this chorus all day long.
“In the heart of the father
There is love.
He loves us.
He loves us.”
be touring and a visit was
scheduled.
“The moment we looked at
each other we recognized each
other,” said Jaqueline. Their
visit was filled with laughter
and reminiscing about the
past ten years. Martha brought
her scrapbook of photos of
Jacqueline that she had kept
over the years and they poured
over the photos.
“I was surprised to hear
how much Martha had gone
through in her life. You have this
perspective of what a sponsor
must be like and you think
they must be rich. Knowing
she sponsored me despite all
she’s been through was very
humbling,” said Jacqueline.
If you are considering sponsoring
a child, Martha has this to say
about the experience, “Don’t miss
the opportunity and the privilege
to walk through that journey with
someone. It’s so rewarding.”
www.watoto.com/sponsorship
Newsletter_June_USA.indd 2-3 6/27/14 5:15 PM
WATOTO USAPO BOX 1320LUTZ, FLORIDA33548-1320
SPONSOR BABY WATOTO TODAY
Baby Watoto exists to provide quality
care, love and stimulation to the
most vulnerable babies and toddlers
in Africa. This foundation is a vital
part of the overall mission of Watoto,
to rescue the most vulnerable, raise
them, and help them to become
Africa’s future leaders. Partner with
us by sponsoring Baby Watoto at
www.watoto.com/sponsorship
Newsletter_June_USA.indd 4 6/27/14 5:15 PM