We are wrapping up a very busy 2019! The theme of 2019 has been “creating sustainability”.  In the 5 ½ years we have been in Uganda; we’ve seen so many organizations come and go with no lasting change after they leave. We desire for the impact of our organization to continue well beyond our time there.

When we began working in Uganda, we spent most of our time training Ugandans in farming, job skills and business. We’ve realized this is not only unsustainable, but also not as effective as it would be with Ugandans conducting the training. Ugandans are well equipped to teach other Ugandans. They understand the language and culture and understand the learning styles of Ugandans, so they are so much more effective. Because of this, we have focused on training trainers.

We have also been working to develop our own curriculum that is Uganda-specific. We had been using a curriculum from South Africa called Work 4 A Living. It was great curriculum, but it had its limitations. Uganda and South Africa are similar in some ways, but very different in other ways. Another limitation was the program was video-based, and in English. This meant that we were only able to conduct classes in English. We are now able to train in the local language with our new curriculum!

We have been working to help generate sustainable income in Uganda without outside support. The farm is moving toward sustainability through things like growing vegetables, planting fruit trees and raising cows and goats. We have also been generating income from our coffee van to help fund our ministry. Generating our own income is important to making our whole program sustainable.

We are so very blessed to be doing this ministry in Uganda! Because of you, we are able to help people come out of poverty, share the Gospel and disciple believers. Because of you, over 1000 people have been trained in Farming God’s Way, over 300 people have been trained in our work training program (most are employed), we have helped startup and mentor the business owner of over 30 businesses, over 50 people have made a faith commitment and we have discipled hundreds! You are making a difference!

Jobs are also being created. Jobs are extremely important in a country with enormously high unemployment. When someone has a job, not only are they able to take care of their immediate family, they are also able to take care of their extended family. An example of this is Hamza. Hamza has a young son who was being raised by his grandmother because Hamza had no income, though she was also struggling. Hamza took our work training program and our barista class, and we hired him as a barista. Now that he has an income, he has been able to not only take care of his son, but also help his mom get back on her feet. He later took our business course and started a side business of a barber shop where he also sold clothes and drinks. He has hired a barber and is now a job creator himself! He’s a Muslim, but he faithfully attends our weekly Bible studies. Please be in prayer for Hamza that God would lead him to following Christ.

We have created 5 jobs on the farm, 3 ministry jobs, 4 jobs at the coffee shop and over 40 jobs at the food park! This does not include the jobs that we have helped people find through our work training program or the jobs created by the businesses we have helped start!

Our ministry has been so fulfilling to us, but as I mentioned at the start, it is so much more than just farming, jobs and business, it is primarily about mentoring and discipling. I’m going to take a quote from Beth Edfeldt’s Instagram post from when she visited Uganda. Beth Edfeldt interviewed our General Manager, Elijah, and he said, “Working here, working with Klint… it’s a big deal. It’s like a family. We don’t only work here, we do share, we do learn to love each other…” He smiled and shook his head as he laughed in disbelief “someone came from America to teach me family.”

You are the one to thank for all of this! We are very thankful to have wonderful partners who make this ministry possible! We still need more partners to help us to train and mentor unemployed youth in Uganda! Our most urgent needs are one-time gifts to get our accounts back in the black, monthly support to keep them in the black and prayer support because we are fighting a spiritual battle.  We can’t do this without you! Thank you!

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