Category Archives: News


In January 2016, UORF sponsored a Kids Camp for all of our middle school and secondary school-aged children. Much of the planning and implementation was provided by the UORF University students and graduates. The program included many inspirational speakers, sports, and music. A campfire and barbeque completed the 3-day event. UORF is looking forward to holding another Kids Camp over the Easter weekend at the end of March, 2018. It is a great time of fun, fellowship, and spiritual growth for our kids.


In the last newsletter we told you about Ronnie, the teenaged boy from Lake Victoria Children” Home. Ronnie came to work as a plumbers helper at Nkumba during his spring break to earn money for his soon to be orphaned cousins. When we were in Uganda in June we had a chance to see his work first hand. In the middle of the courtyard area where the children play was a brand new septic tank waiting for the
new bathrooms.


In June a work crew traveled to Uganda to work at the home in Nkumba. The goal of this trip was to complete a dining hall and bathrooms for the home in Nkumba. The material for this project had been sent months earlier on the container (thanks again to those that donated material, funds, and shipping costs). The dining hall is an open structure like a park pavilion attached to the dormitory. On one end is a small office and room for the housemother to stay in. On the other end are 4 toilets facing the church and 4 showers facing the inside of the dining hall. Thanks to the 12 hour days by the work crew, endless hours donated by church members of Nkumba, and the older boys from the home, the building was complete in 6 days.


When planning our trip to Uganda, several times I wondered what I would do to stay busy while the guys were busy working on the building. Several trips to Kampala and a visit to Bethel Covenant College to check on the progress of the 7 LVCH boarding school children filled the first few days. Once the shipping container arrived in Nkumba, there was plenty of unpacking and sorting to do. The 40 boxes of thrift-center clothing and shoes had to be sorted by size and gender.


In January a team of five from Water’s Edge Church in Carol Stream left for Uganda to visit Mercy Ministries. During our visit we had planned to do something special for the 60 orphans of Mercy Ministries. But God took Read more…


On March 4 members of the board and lots of help from members of Bethel Christian Reformed Church gathered at Bethel to load the forty-foot container destined for Uganda. The idea of a shipping container was born 2 years ago when we were sitting in the clinic at Zana. Zana Presbyterian Church has a church, a Bible College for indigenous pastors, a small store, a micro-enterprise ministry, a program for orphans in guardianship homes, and a medical clinic for the community.