June Newsletter

Staff Connect

Meet Lokut Abraham. Abraham came to Experience Hope in October of 2021, shortly after being released from prison. He was once a devout muslim, but while in prison, he surrendered his life to Christ in hopes of a better future for himself. Once Abraham joined the organization, he became more and more in love with the Lord and

requested to go to seminary as his earned opportunity. Abraham moved into the boys house as one of the managers in 2022, shortly before beginning a pastor training program with Breaking Ground Missions in Kamuli. After a year of training, he graduated with his pastor’s certificate and continues to bless us greatly with his knowledge and passion for the Lord. Abraham is an above the knee amputee, due to a serious wound on his foot that never healed while he was in prison. (He likes to tell people that in prison he lost his leg and found Jesus!) Being on crutches never stops Abraham from going out and doing evangelism, conferences, crusades, and preaching at other churches. He also frequently preaches at the local church the boys attend, disciples the boys in the project, and counsels them daily. He continues to tell us that God’s call on his life is to stay with the organization and counsel the other street children who come. He’s such an asset to our team and we are so Thankful for his heart of serving the Lord, his brothers, and his community! You will hear more of his testimony later in the newsletter!

What’s Happening?

I am so happy to be writing this update back at home in Uganda! I’ve had such a full heart this past week surprising my boys and putting their minds at ease. Unfortunately many of them have so much past trauma of abandonment that when someone they care about leaves, they wonder if it’s true that they’ll really come back. To see the shock on some of the boys faces when they finally laid eyes on me, was like they had just saw a ghost, but then an immediate relief and joy took over and they were so happy and surrounded me with hugs! I love being “mama boys” as several of our Ugandan connections call me! Church and bible study have been so sweet this week also, seeing the boys serving at church, leading bible study, and just an overall drastic change in a few of them has been so refreshing! I‘m continuously humbled that I get to be even a small a part of their lives and see such beautiful hope and true joy come into their hearts. Just before I left America, I went to Texas for FIT (Final Interview and Training) week with GoSendMe Global, the new organization I’m now officially partnered with. It was the most precious time of being prayed for, being supported and taught, being filled up, and just being a part of such a sweet new family. During the whole process of interviewing with them, talking to them, preparing to go for the training, and even while there, I could feel the Holy Spirit moving in mighty ways. I’ve never felt more loved, supported, and ready to serve as I do now, after I left this time with them. I have always craved this type of relationship, support, and resources while being in Uganda, but now, 3 years in, I’m so blessed to serve alongside these amazing brothers and sisters! I also got to stay with my sweet friend, Kristina, while in Texas. We haven’t seen each other since we met on a mission trip in Haiti in 2019, but it was like we have been together all along! I love seeing how God has orchestrated so much of my past, for such a time as this! We are in the process of upgrading from a CBO (Community Based Organization) to NGO (Non-governmental organization) in Uganda. It’s been a long process, but we finally had our inspection the day after I got back, which should be the final step before we find out if we’re approved or not. Doing anything with the government here is daunting to say the least. Most everyone wants bribes to speed things along, but I refuse to do so. Sometimes this really hinders things, but I just can’t get on board with that part of the corrupt culture. We continue praying that if it’s God’s will for us to have this upgrade, He will find a way! As a CBO we are limited to Jinja district, and have other rules and oversight placed on us, which limit some things we can do. As an NGO, not only will it hopefully help alleviate my visa issues I’ve had off and on for the last 3 years, by allowing me to get a work permit, but it will also open more doors for growth and expansion in the future. We can purchase land in our own name, we can serve more street children, we can provide more housing and rehabilitation services, and many more amazing things. We are totally trusting in God’s plan for this and we are certain He’s only just getting started here! We got news last night (June 29th) that the inspector has submitted his report and he recommended us to the NGO board! Now we wait on the final stamp of approval! We are also excited to partner with another team in July from WorldFire Church, as they come

to pour into our boys and serve them one day at the project and one day at a youth conference. I always welcome like-minded visitors and teams who can bring more hope and healing to my boys! Sometimes they just need to hear it from someone other than “mummy”. We have a few school visitation days coming up in the next few weeks and I can’t wait to see those boys also! I haven’t seen most of them since we dropped them off for first term, in Jan/Feb, for school, due to the time I was gone. They will be almost as excited as me, I’m sure! I got to see some of our secondary boys yesterday at their visitation and they were ecstatic, as was I! I am also in the process of getting several new rooms set up for boys who have been patiently waiting and working so hard for the opportunity! It brought a few of them to tears this week to hear that their time had finally come for a room! We are so thankful for those who partner with us to help us do small things like this to get these boys a safe place to stay off the streets! With each room, 2 boys are able to get off the streets and they are provided with mattresses, bed sheets, mosquito nets, bathing items, washing items for clothes, cooking items, and a roommate for accountability. With a room, they no longer fear for their lives at night.

What’s to Come?

As my team and I had a meeting Sunday afternoon, at the restaurant where one of my boys is a chef, eating delicious food prepared by him, we just praised God over and over for what he‘s done. To take these young men who are hopeless, helpless, angry, drunk/high, and filled with evil, and bring them to a place of true joy and hope, with opportunities for better futures (both here on earth and in heaven), is nothing short of a miracle, from Christ, himself. We sat and reflected for hours about the good, bad, ugly, and heartbreaking things that have happened over the last 3 years within the organization and how we can continue to serve the boys well in everything we do. We made somewhat of a vision board of what each of us see for the future of the ministry and everyone had such beautiful dreams for these young men. I can‘t wait to see how God continues to play out this journey for both us and the young men we serve. Heaven‘s gates are going to be flooded with some amazing young men! We are going to be opening up about 30 slots for newcomers over the next 2 months. As we send more boys to school, or they complete training, we have space to bring in new boys. The streets of Jinja are overflowing with street children these days. From police/government counts they estimate roughly 1000 street children living in Jinja, at minimum. I never want to get so big that we lose the quality of what God has called us to, but there‘s a massive need here. As the older boys graduate and complete training many of them want to stick around to continue pouring into other brothers from the streets. This has been one of the visions that God has given me from the very beginning in preparing to come, that those who have rehabilitated now help in counseling and guiding those who have come after them; mentor them, teach them, help them. It‘s not about what I can do, what my team can do, or what Experience Hope can do, it‘s about what God can do, and I can tell you that I‘ve witnessed mountains moved in mighty ways that we are able to put a few more boys in school next term, thanks to a generous donor who is covering their tuition for this year of 2024. ! The young men we work with often don‘t have the chance to go back to school, or vocational training due to lack of money and resources, so as they show us they want to change and are showing change we give them that opportunity so that they can get out of the cycle of survival that they‘re used to. We always rehabilitate the boys for at least 6 months to a year before providing such opportunities so we can have intentional time of counseling, rehabilitation, guidance, and witness their character change. The group that‘s about to start have all been patiently waiting on their opportunity and continue to show us growth and change as they wait. They‘re all leaders in bible study, in the community, and at the project. They‘ve proven to us that they don‘t want to be stuck where they are forever and want to do better for themselves. I can‘t wait to tell them the good news soon! Thank you to our new partners and friends who have joined us on this journey! We continue to follow the lead of God in this ministry and he continues to bless us beyond measure. But, the reality is, we can‘t continue doing the work we do without both monetary and prayer support. We try to make sure that needs are provided for these young men so that they aren‘t tempted to continue living the life of survival, theft, fighting, etc that they‘re used to. As we rehabilitate them and help them come off the streets we help them to reintegrate back into society with financial counseling and slowly start introducing them to paying their own rent, food, etc. We provide safe housing with basic necessities, food, medical/dental care, schooling, counseling, routine hygiene items and medical checkups, and so much more. My amazing team of Ugandans, some of which are boys who have graduated from the program, are given a salary so that they can also provide for their families as they serve. We would love for you to pray about how God can use you to partner with us in these very tangible ways. If at any time you have any questions please don‘t hesitate to reach out to me! We also have a new website! Check it out! www.experiencehopeministries.org

Lokut Abraham’s Testimony

The following is a written testimony of Lokut Abraham, one of our, now, very successful young men. He wanted to share with you his story as a testimony of what God has done in his life, through Experience Hope. I have adapted some of the spelling and grammar so you can better understand the story. I greet you all, in the name of Jesus. I am by the name Lokut Abraham. First of all I want to thank God to bring Aunt Tara to Uganda to teach us the word of God and encouraging us when we have been hopeless and dismissed by people as street kids. But, Auntie Tara, God uses her to love us and treat us well and uses her to teach us His word. This is my testimony. Before I received Christ in my life I was a Muslim. I was a guy who grew up in the streets and never wanted to hear about Jesus. I came from a poor family and had to search for my own food, so I left and lived on the streets when I was 7. I was in a gang and we were thieves to try to get money to eat. When I saw being a thief was not good, I began picking up scrap to sell for money, but I used some for food and some for gambling cards and games. Things got worse, not better, so I then started taking many drugs at age 10. I started seeing many of my brothers in the gang dying from beatings and too many drugs, but I continued to do those things every day because I had no other thing to do with my life. Some organization took me from town back home to my village at age 12 but I did not want to be there because my family beat me for running away and not helping them to get food. I ran away again and started being a thief again, this time with weapons. I kept this life for many years until one day I got caught and taken to prison for armed robbery. Sometime while I was in prison I got a wound on my foot. The police would not let me get medicine or treatment so my leg had to be cut off 2 times. (Tara here: Abraham is an above the knee amputee, but they did it in 2 separate surgeries because they didn't get the full infection the first time) When I was in the sick bay for recovery, a man came to preach to us. He came every day and told me about Jesus, but at first I did not want to hear. He told me if I continued to do what I’m doing I will die and go to hell, not heaven, and hell sounded very bad to me. He told me if I give my life to Jesus, I can see my life change and I can be a powerful man one day, even though my past was bad and I was in prison. He started to write for me scriptures to read and let me use his Bible to read while he was away. After I read the scriptures he left me in John 3:16, Romans 8:1, and Mark 2:17 I waited on him to come back. When he returned the next day I told him, for me I don’t want to be a Muslim anymore, I want to be a Christian. I lost my leg 2 months before I gave my life to Christ. In prison, I lost my leg and found Jesus! I continued to read the Bible and ask this man questions while I was in the sick bay, but when I went back to the prison room, I was not allowed to see him or have a Bible anymore. I prayed to God to release me and send me more people to tell me about God because I had many questions. Before prison I was the commander of many street children in my gang, but I knew what I was doing was wrong and when I was released I needed to change totally. I was released from prison 26 June 2021 and since then have had another life in me. I first went to Kampala then to Jinja City where I heard about Experience Hope and Auntie Tara. I came to Experience Hope in October 2021 after hearing about Auntie Tara and her bible studies for street children, I wanted to join. Auntie Tara and the team helped me to understand more about God and I wanted to go to seminary to become a pastor now. I moved into the project house to be a manager in 2022 then I started training to become a pastor with Breaking Ground Missions. I graduated in April of 2023 as a certified pastor in Uganda and I praise God! I still remain at the project of Experience Hope because God gave me a vision of helping street children to learn about Jesus and not live on the streets anymore. I want to tell them there is hope in Jesus not in street life, so I stay because I love this place so much. I move around town every week doing evangelism to villages and slums and to street children in Jinja City. I also now preach sometimes at Mission Link Church and at other churches who call me to come. I thank God so much for all things he has done in my life. He saved me from everything so I have to tell everyone about Him now. God is good and may he bless you for helping to support me and my brothers as we change and know God. Mummy Tara, I love you. Thank you for believing in me and my brothers. May God bless you and keep you.

-Servant of God, Abraham.

How can you help?

• Prayer requests:

  Pray that our NGO gets approved soon so we can expand how we do ministry! Pray for financial donors who can help partner with us to do the work that GOD has called us to. It’s only by HIS will that we are here doing what we are doing and we need partners to do this work.
  Pray for our boys. That they see hope and love in Jesus and flee from the bondage they’re in. Pray for wisdom for myself and my staff as we manage these young men and try to guide them and counsel them.

  Pray for our students as they begin the second half of term 2, to remain strong and endure through their situations so that they can have a better future here on Earth.

How is God calling you to partner with us?

Through prayer? Through financial giving? We believe that even as just one of these young men changes, there’s 20 more ready to start a new life also, due to the testimony of the one. God calls some of us to go, some of us to stay, some of us to give and some of us to pray. Where do you fit in? Please consider joining us in bringing hope and healing to these precious young men!

How to Donate?

TAX DEDUCTIBLE ONLINE DONATIONS:

https://bit.ly/TaraHenson

(or click the button below)

TAX DEDUCTIBLE CHECKS mailed to:

GoSendMe Global
PO Box 913106
Sherman, TX 75091
(Make checks out to “GoSendMe Global” and include a note with the check that it is for me, Tara Henson, Uganda)

VENMO: @Tara-Henson-1

PAYPAL: @TaraHenson

ZELLE: thens1213@gmail.com

How to Connect

EMAIL: thens1213@gmail.com

or

thenson@gosendme.us

Isaiah 1:17 (CSB)

“Learn to do what is good.

Pursue justice.

Correct the oppressor.

Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”