ONE WAY IN UGANDA

The pearl of Africa

In the spring of 2009, Pastor Wilson Sentongo requested help from One Way Mission. In 1991 Pastor Sentongo started many churches in the Mubende region, one of which is in the Muleete village. As the years have gone by the church has expanded and is now known as the Agape Center which consists of a church, a school with about 400 students and a health center. The school and the center built around it were self-supporting for a long time until the unusual weather conditions and storms that hit East Africa destroyed the crops, forced the people to sell their cattle which was dependent on grazing land and damaged the school buildings.

One Way decided to make the Agape Center of Muleete one of its mission fields. First off, we started financial support so that they could survive through the crisis. Help is also needed in training the congregations as well as the pastors and in equipping the churches. Because the mission has continued fruitfully and self-sufficiently in Uganda for a long time many of the early challenges and problems of pioneer work are already behind us. The work has settled down and rooted itself deeply into the Ugandan soil.

For more information about our ministry in Uganda, please contact:

Coordinator:
Leena Kinnunen
+358 40 767 5556
uganda@onewaymission.fi

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Extreme poverty is one of the main problems in Uganda. Poverty causes many social problems such as shortage of clean drinking water, an overall bad level of hygiene, etc. Evangelical churches need, first and foremost, training but also financial support is much needed.

Areas of Ministry

SCHOOL AND CHILD SPONSORSHIP

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The village of Muleete is like a small oasis in the middle of Uganda’s poor regions. Even though the village community of Muleete with its dozens of houses is small the operations of its Christian Center have an impact on the lives of over 20,000 people. The 400 students attending the school come from a large area – many of them walk every morning in the dark a journey of 10–15 kilometers to reach the school.

Continuing the school activities is one of the biggest challenges of our Uganda project. Where we work 97% of the children begin primary school but only 56% continue to study until the final grade. Without the school of Agape Center, many children would not have a possibility to go to school because their families cannot afford it.

Sponsor a child

We are looking for sponsors for the children who otherwise could not afford to go to school. Would you be willing to sponsor a child’s education with a monthly gift of 30 euros?

If you are willing to sponsor a child for 30€/month, please contact the coordinator of our Uganda missions.

THE HEALTH CENTER

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Agape Center has its own health center which was completed at the beginning of 2011. There was a crying need for it. Each year dozens of inhabitants in neighboring regions die i.a. from malaria. Nearly all of these deaths could probably have been avoided if these poor people had received help in time.

The maternal mortality ratio in Uganda is one of the highest in the world because mothers give birth in their huts all by themselves without any help. Government and municipal health centers do not have enough workers, medical supplies, and medicines. Also, poor patients cannot afford to pay e.g. for malaria medicines that are prescribed to them in municipal health centers.

The most common illnesses such as malaria, diarrheal disease, respiratory infection, etc. are treated in the health center as well as normal childbirths. Two nurses are working at the health center and they treat about 200 patients in a month. The lack of supplies and medicines, however, limits what can be done. Enabling the health center to operate full-scale is a financial challenge of its own.

THE STAFF AT AGAPE CENTER

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There are altogether 40 workers (teachers, nurses, kitchen staff, etc.) in Agape Center. Due to the shortage of funds, the rate of the staff (about 140 euros / month) is only about half of what is paid to people working in the public sector. For this reason, many teachers have left because they cannot support their families with such a low income. In order for the school to remain a Christian school and so that we do not lose more of our staff at Agape Center, we intend to raise the salary, as soon as possible, to the same rates as those of the public sector. For this, we need your help.

We are looking for sponsors to support the workers and their families by taking part in covering salary costs by a monthly donation of their choice. To cover the cost of one worker’s salary we need 140 euros per month. You can support a worker with a gift of 30 euros per month or any other sum you wish to give. If you are interested in supporting the workers, please contact the coordinator of our Uganda missions.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

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The ministry of Agape Center has previously been financed by cattle breeding and agriculture. Agape Center owns 14 hectares of land in Muleete. The crops have covered the costs and they have been a source of food for the children.

Matoke which means cooking banana, potatoes, nuts, tomatoes, onions and corn are grown on the fields. During the past years, however, the weather conditions have been very erratic and the plantations have suffered from droughts as well as tropical storms. The harvests have been bad or totally ruined. As a result i.a. orphans have been provided food only once a day.

Because the plantations and the crops harvested from them have been the foundation of financial independence and self-sufficiency it is essential that their condition is improved. One of the goals is also to buy more land so that we could grow i.a. coffee beans and get funds from it to run the Center.

MISSION TRIPS

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On our mission trips to Uganda we get to see among other things the clinic and school work done at the Agape Center, we take part in church and children’s ministry and visit the bush church in the countryside. We will lodge in the village of Muleete at the missions house in Agape Center. The highlights of the trip are the spectacular African dances and musical performances of the orphans, meeting the child or worker you are sponsoring as well as meeting the kind and hospitable locals.

Uganda is called the pearl of Africa because of its magnificent nature, beauty, and kind people. You will be greatly impressed by the scenery and the people in Uganda. The trip may also include a safari tour to one of Uganda’s gorgeous national parks or a trip to the source of the Nile. During the trip, we will also go shopping in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. The trip will certainly be a memorable experience!

Please contact our coordinator for Uganda missions: Leena Kinnunen, +358 40 767 5556, email: uganda@onewaymission.fi

“You cannot change the whole world but you can change a person’s whole world! We have been privileged to see how through the help of God and education the lives of many individuals and entire villages have changed.”

Leena Kinnunen, Coordinator for Uganda missions

ONE WAY IN UGANDA

The pearl of Africa

For more information about our ministry in Uganda, please contact:

Areas of Ministry

Sponsor a child

“You cannot change the whole world but you can change a person’s whole world! We have been privileged to see how through the help of God and education the lives of many individuals and entire villages have changed.”

One Way Mission

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