OUTREACH

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  Matthew 25: 35-36

As a team we minister to different projects and schools where children and youth live or go to school. Each week go on 4 or 8 outreaches and minister to over 200 children.

We play games, make crafts, share Bible stories, praise and worship, perform skits, lead panel discussions, disciple, share and counsel in small groups on topics relevant to the particular age group. Topics range from character building and living a lifestyle of integrity, to HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, to obeying authority figures.

Below are just a few of the projects we visit each week.

Projects


Primary Schools

We visit various types of primary schools or elementary schools during the week. They range from large government schools, where we might perform a large assembly for the entire school or facilitate a game day for the children, to small schools set up for orphans and vulnerable children in the slums of Kampala. Many children who attend these types of schools live with a mother, aunt or uncle, or grandparents along with 4-12 siblings and/or cousins. They truly look forward to the time we spend with them sharing a Bible story and playing games with them.


Remand Home


The Remand Home is a variation of a juvenile hall. Along with housing young offenders it also is home to street children and orphans. Many times the teens in the home have not committed any crime they have just been wrongfully accused or dropped there because a guardian may not want the burden of caring for them any longer. The teens in the Remand Home have often faced difficult circumstances, living on the streets, trying to escape the war in northern Uganda, or kicked out of a relatives’ place after their parents have died. Many teens who have lost hope have found hope in Christ through our weekly outreaches.



Breakfast Outreach

Beyond our weekly outreaches to primary schools in the slums, Empower A Child will step in at times to provide breakfast for these young students. Due to their low-income, their parent or guardian can only afford to feed them one meal a day. Many often come to school hungry and are unable to concentrate on their lesson. In July 2007 Empower A Child began feeding these kids at different schools to give them an extra push in concentrating on their lessons and excelling in their studies.


Secondary Schools

Each week we visit one or two secondary schools or high schools and minister in their Scripture Union. This is a lot like a lunch-time Christian club. We share messages similar to messages that would be shared with teens in America and England. The youth in Africa struggle with a lot of the same pressures and stress that youth struggle with in the western world: peer-pressure, drugs, and sex. However, the consequences of these pressures for youth in Aftrica can be far greater: a life on the streets, teen pregnancy, even AIDS. By sharing and encouraging these youth we hope to help keep them focused on the path of education and following Christ.


Street Kids' Homes

Many kids end up on the streets for a variety of reasons. Some have run away from home out of rebellion; others have been kicked out of their home by a step-father or step-mother who doesnt' want them in their family any more. Whatever the reason, Street Kids' Homes tries to get these kids off the streets and give them shelter and food. They also help rehabilitate them back to life at school in hopes of eventually reuniting them with their family or other relatives. We go to these homes, build relationships with these kids, share the hope of Christ, and just give them a time to be kids again by playing games and sports with them.


Babies Home

Empower A Child international volunteers have been going and volunteering at local babies' homes around Kampala.These babies' homes house babies from a few weeks old to 5 years old. Volunteers go help change diapers, wash clothes, feed them, play with them and just show love to these babies who have been abandoned and orphaned.


Katalemwa

Katalemwa is a hospital for children with severely broken limbs and disabilities. Children come here from all over East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, and Sudan to be treated in the hospital. Many come from war torn regions and cannot afford to pay for the surgeries. However, an international surgeon offers them free of charge as a service to them. We go visit the children in the hospital sing songs, teach Bible stories and have a time of crafts with them.


Sports Outreach

As John Wooden quotes, ‘Sports do not build character but they reveal it’. Empower A Child views sports as a very important strategy of reaching out and discovering oneself. We take part in various sports with people of all kinds and ages. From simple games like ‘Simon Says’ and 'Duck, Duck, Goose' with pre-schoolers to basketball with high-schoolers to organized and impromptu football games during our outreaches and missions in villages. In this we share a word or two with our participants after the games. Our sports arm is very flexible and we welcome any new games that come along as we receive new mission support teams.


Drama Outreach

Drama, drama, drama. Every one sees drama in this own perspective and at Empower A Child we view it in terms of skits, plays and jokes that reveal the mission, love and work of Jesus Christ in plain words or story form. We do drama almost everywhere we go and it’s the key arm that goes beyond talks and sermons as it explains the word of God in a way the children and youth can understand. This drama is not by skilled people but by volunteers who are ready to learn and share the love of Christ in creative ways and go out of their way to do the impossible for Christ. Remember, talent wins games but team work and interagency win championships. Come, let’s win for Christ.