Every year we go back to Uganda for our medical evangelism mission and every year God blows us away by the things He does. This year we saw more than 3,000 patients in our six medical clinics, providing treatment that most of them would never have received otherwise. God allowed us to be His hands and feet as we loved on these precious Ugandan people.
In one village, a mother came into our clinic with her baby who was suffering with hydrocephalus, a severe condition in which fluid collects on the brain causing the head to grow abnormally large and often leads to brain damage or even death if untreated. I took some of our nurses aside to talk about our options and this mother just watched us as we talked about her son. While we were talking, she looked up at me and said through a translator, “Can you please help us?” Tears filled my eyes as I thought about my own children. What would I not do for my own precious girls?
“Yes ma’am,” I said. “We will do everything that we can to help your son.” We sent the baby to a local hospital for evaluation and then provided the money for his surgery. He is going to be just fine. Like with this boy, there are certain medical issues and procedures that we cannot address in our village medical clinics. In many of these cases we are able to send them to a hospital or facility that can provide them with the care they need. Obviously this comes at a cost. We do our best to take care of as many needs as we can as long as we have the funds to do it. Your giving truly has an impact all around the world. Here are just a few examples of some extra ministry opportunities we were able to help with this year because of your faithful financial gifts.
In one village there was a woman with four young children who had recently lost her husband. We were able to help her with enough provisions to take care of her family for the next 3 months. The local church in that village is following up with her to make sure their needs are taken care of.
- We distributed Bibles to each village church.
- We taught, fed, and encouraged more than 400 church members and leaders.
- We provided a new generator for a church plant with no electricity.
- We provided gifts for 52 friends and interpreters with our ministry partners, Arise Africa.
- We sent another child with hydrocephalus to a clinic for evaluation and to have surgery for a shunt placement.
- We sent a six-year-old boy with a large abscess on his side to a clinic for incision and drainage of the abscess.
- We are providing continual care for a woman with a cancerous tumor in her throat. We are still working to have it removed.
- We sent a malnourished baby with syphilis to a local hospital to receive extensive medical treatment.
- We took care of the medical expenses for two of our Ugandan translators who were in a motorcycle accident.
- We provided school fees for a young lady who was going to be forced to drop out of school.
God did a great work during this trip, but the task is never complete. There are always more patients that want to be seen and the need is unending. We can work and serve until we have nothing left to give and at the end of the day, there is more work to be done. The medical care that our team provides is great, but it’s temporary. That is why we are unapologetically a gospel-centered ministry. It is the gospel that changes people for eternity. Whether we do a camp for children, a medical clinic, construction project or a church conference, the purpose behind everything we do is to communicate the live-changing message of Jesus. Romans 1:16 says “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.”
So what we are most excited to report to you is that during this mission over 500 people surrendered their lives to Jesus! Most of these were the result of one-on-one gospel conversations in our medical clinics and on the city streets of Jinja. Praise the Lord for His gracious saving work! Because of friends like you, we are able to reach people that we never could on our own. By your praying and giving the Lord has used you to help with the tremendous need in Uganda. Thank you for your partnership.
– Jared
