The Village

Klint Ostermann • August 10, 2016

We have been operating  a demonstration farming project on 22 acres in Mayuge District that is used to equip Ugandans with job and business skills using biblically-based curriculum that incorporates discipleship. We are now beginning to offer the same type of training in the urban environment as an extension of the farm project. We are calling this project “The Village”. It will be a work training center to equip and empower unemployed youth so that they can find gainful employment. The goal of the project is to put well-trained, Spirit-filled, discipled people into the workplace.

This project will include a Work 4 A Living training center that will provide workforce training to address issues many employers find with employees including:  poverty mindset, entitlement, dependency, lack of excellence, lack of moral values, and lack of self-governance. Students learn to be efficient, ethical, and professional. Graduates of the program leave equipped to be respectful, have effective communication, have good time management, understand the employer’s perspective, have biblical values and business ethics, and take ownership of their work and career.

The Village Project will include a professional, non-profit job placement agency geared towards placing the best graduates from the Work 4 A Living center in the workforce.

Students can pursue additional training specific to the employment they are seeking including:  business management, computers, cashier, merchandising, and office administration. There are also schools of excellence that the best students can be invited to attend. The schools of excellence include:  a service and hospitality school called SERV, an artisan baking program called Grain Baking Academy, and a barista program called Red Band Barista Academy.

The Village Project seeks to open a center in Jinja, Uganda that will house businesses such as a coffee shop, bakery, farmer’s market, farm-to-table restaurant, guest house, laundry, print shop, and tour and travel company. These businesses will the pinnacle of excellence in every way and will allow students to get practical training in the highest standards.

The businesses will also be linked to non-profit organizations serving in the Jinja area so the profits of the businesses will be reinvested in the community. A board will be put together to determine the organizations that will benefit from the profits of The Village Project to ensure the money is having the most impact on the community.

A complex of buildings has been identified that can house The Village Project on a corner lot near the heart of Jinja town. The project will be completed in phases over several years. The first phase will be purchasing the building complex and opening the Work 4 A Living center and job center. The total cost of the first phase will be $350,000.

Check out our video and our website at www.thevillageuganda.com.  This is a huge project and we will need lots of help to get this off the ground so please be in prayer about how you can help. Thank you!

The post The Village appeared first on Heart For Uganda.

By Klint Ostermann April 16, 2025
Last week, during our West Africa In-Field Mentoring in Senegal, we witnessed God’s transformative power in remarkable ways. I’m excited to share this story with you. In-Field Mentoring involves coaching mentees as they deliver sessions for community training. As mentors, we guide them beforehand, evaluate their presentations, determine if they earn credit for the session, and provide constructive feedback for improvement. Occasionally, a mentee struggles, requiring us to step in to ensure the audience receives accurate information. This happened on the second day during a session titled “Consider Your Ways, for You Are the Temple of God.” This powerful session often leads to repentance and salvation, but the mentee struggled to convey its message. I stepped in to lead the session, and as I spoke, I felt the Holy Spirit moving in the room. In Senegal, where 97% of the population is Muslim, sharing the Gospel openly can be met with resistance, and attendees have left trainings after such presentations. Yet, I felt led to share the Gospel boldly. Praise God, six men raised their hands to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! We guided them through a prayer of repentance and connected them with a local pastor for discipleship. During the break, a Muslim woman from a closed Northwest African country approached me. She had traveled to Senegal specifically for this training and shared that the Gospel message I presented needed to reach her homeland, where such teachings are unheard. She revealed that for years, she had suffered from a debilitating nerve condition in her leg, impairing her ability to walk. She had been praying for healing for years, yet she found no relief—until the first day of our training, when God miraculously healed her! Overwhelmed, she felt something stir in her heart during the Gospel presentation but didn’t fully understand what was happening in her. She even said she wanted to become a Farming God’s Way trainer. Her country is deeply hostile to Christianity. Apostasy can carry a death sentence, though no known cases of this has occurred in recent years. Converts face severe risks, including family rejection, loss of livelihood, or exile. Extremist groups further endanger those who leave Islam. We provided her with a Bible and connected her with missionaries working in her country. Through Farming God’s Way, someone from a closed nation, who might never have heard the Gospel, encountered God’s love. Additionally, two Peace Corps workers from Hawaii and California attended the training. Afterward, they approached our team with questions about Jesus. Missionaries shared the Gospel with them and gave them Bibles.  God is moving mightily through Farming God’s Way, drawing people to Him in unexpected and beautiful ways. Thank you for supporting this work that is transforming lives!
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