Throwing Starfish

I read a story on another web site that really caught my attention. The story is called "Throwing Starfish". You will see the story below, but what struck me about it was how much it applies to our work in Uganda.

When our team was there, it was hard to see the number of children who weren't sponsored, or receiving medical care, or eating a meal, or had shoes, or - well, you get the point. We had to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we can only help those we can, but we will strive to help - one more! Each additional child helped is one more that will eat, receive medical treatment, get an education, feel loved and have a better hope for the future.

This is not my story, though I have done a little editing and added the last part to make our point - that it isn't just about the mission team, or even Canby Christian Church - it is about doing the work Christ calls us to do, one child at a time and bringing others alongside to join in the work.

So, without further ado, here is the story:

The Starfish Story

An old man had a habit of taking his walks on the beach. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young child, and that what she was doing was not dancing at all. The child was reaching down to the sand, picking up small objects and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The child paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

To this, the child replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I do not throw them in, they will die!”

Upon hearing this, the man commented, “But, young lady, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference!”

At this, the child bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean past the breaking waves. As it splashed into the water, she said, “It made a difference for that one.”

The old man looked at the young girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Without a word, he walked a few steps down the beach, picked up a starfish and threw it back in the ocean. “That is one more!!!” he excitedly told the girl. As they continued their work down the beach together, others saw them and joined in their work to save "one more" starfish.

New to the blog?

Many people are hearing about what Canby Christian Church has done and continues to do with the people in Uganda.  We started this blog to record the experiences of our mission team on our trip in February, but are continuing it on as it was not just a one time trip, but an ongoing relationship with the village of Kachungwa and the people of Uganda. 

To see the details of our amazing trip in February, check out the blog posts for that month.  It will be well worth your time to read and you will see why our hearts have been forever changed - and yours might just be changed as well. 

Some of the most popular posts have been:

Our God is an Awesome God
Theory of Relativity
153 and Everything
Bittersweet

Please take your time and read through all of the posts though - these are just the start!

Our next big objective is to help establish a medical clinic in the village of Kachungwa in conjunction with Africa Renewal Ministries as well as continue to encourage people to sponsor children in Uganda - the need is tremendous and the opportunity to make a difference is great. 

If you have any questions you can contact the Canby Christian Church office at 503-266-4018 or send an e-mail to reneem@canbychristian.org for more information.

God bless you and thank you!!!

Testimony

When we were in Kampala, we had a chance to worship at Pastor Alex's Luzira Community Church.  We had the privilege of teaching the children's Sunday school classes in the morning and I was blessed to meet Patrick.  Patrick is the coordinator of the children's Sunday school program and served as our translator while we spoke to the children.

I have been blessed to get to know Patrick as a spiritual son in Christ.  Recently, Patrick has shared his testimony with me, and while brief, it is a striking example of how God can reach out to people in bad conditions and give them hope and salvation.  God is using him to minister to children in Uganda in many amazing ways.  The brief testimony that you will read is just the beginning of the story and was something that I thought worth sharing with all of you.  Please pray for Patrick's ministry, the children he is discipling and the influence he is having for God's kingdom.  It's still not an easy life for him there, but God continues to refine him with the challenges and struggles in his life and mold him into the man He wants Patrick to become.

This is my Testimony - Kyaligonza Patrick

In my family, I am the only one who has been saved through faith in Jesus Christ.  God has been my everything.   I am sorry,  tears are coming when I remember this all.

There are 6 of us in my family.  My mother died but the rest of us are alive, though we don't live together.  My father is in the village and I am sorry to tell you this about my father, but he is a man who did not mean anything in our lives.  I began to drink alcohol heavily since my childhood because everybody in my family did. 

When my mother passed away I lost hope in life for everything because she was so important in our lives.  After her burial, this was when we departed from each other as a family.  We were divided among our relatives in different places.  As for me, I was brought to live in one of the orphan homes in Gaba that was run by Pastor Peter.  That home closed in 2005, when I was 16 years old and I was taken to Bethany Village because I had nowhere else to go.

This is how God came into my life:  I met God when I was 12 years old.  I was preparing food for my young ones – my uncle’s children.  During that time I started worshiping, but not really knowing what it was about.  One of our neighbors had just given her life to Christ and she told me "Patrick you're going to get saved!"  But for me, I was not yet ready.  I asked her to take me to her church and she took me to Gaba Community Church.  Pastor Peter was preaching, but I was behind too many people and did not hear hardly anything he said.  But God put only one message in my ear:  "those who want to give their lives to Jesus".  I was the first to go to the front of the church and then others came.  When I met God, I forgave my father.

I did not go back home, but went to visit Pastor Peter and I told him my story.  I told him that I wanted to go to school.  He told me to come back the next day and on that day, they took my photo.  In the following week I got a sponsor – praise God!  When I gave my life to God, He did everything in just one week.  And since then he has been my everything.

I am now serving God by teaching children at Luzira Church.  Also, I am working with a group of children at Bethany Village to form a dance group that performs traditional Ugandan worship dance with only drums for music.  I am writing this with tears in my eyes because when I look back where God found me and see what He has done in my life, it is the example I want to be for these children:  for them to have hope & trust in God, and give their lives to Him.  If He looked after me, He can do so in their lives too.  I do want them to learn that God is every answer to every question.  He is everything.  When I told God that I wanted to learn how to pray, He taught me to pray.  Not only that, but He leads me into ways to serve Him.  I continue to seek ways for God to use my life to serve others. Thank you God for saving my life – all praise and glory to God.

Called for a Purpose - by Ralph Williams

Good day to you and thank you for following our blog while we were in Uganda and still as we are continuing to add to it.  This is extremely difficult to try and express into words.  We are being asked to write a little something for the blog as a wrap up of sorts. 

How are we supposed to put into words the emotional and impactful times we shared in Uganda?  For me, Uganda was one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had a privilege of being involved in.  I am thankful that God helped provide the means for me to experience His Love in Uganda. 

The new friendships that were made while in Uganda as well as the friendships that grew as our team relied on each other in all things have impacted my life greatly.  I was blessed to have been able to experience this with my son Isaac and the fact that I was able to see his faith grow and how God worked thru him was amazing. 

Africa Renewal Ministries Staff warmly greeted us upon our arrival and were instrumental in our wonderful experience.  We were overwhelmed by their generosity as the trip unfolded.  From extreme poverty to the experience of amenities that we were blessed to partake in, we experienced God’s provisions and the fact that He kept us safe throughout our days in Uganda and the trip home.  God is amazing and his Love endures forever. 

One of the most impactful things of the trip would have to be the generosity of the extreme poverty stricken people.  Although they had very little, they often gave all they had in gratitude that we took the time to visit.  I was amazed by the generosity of the people and the Love they have for us. 



Isaac and Evas in a banana field



As I was preparing to go to Uganda, I was looking for the reason that God had called me to go.  It has been over a month since our trip and I now believe that I have found the reason that God wanted me to be a part of the team.  That reason is the sponsorship program and the importance of it. 

That realization came to me as I received a letter from our sponsor child. I received a letter from our sponsored child Evas on March 28^th.  I opened it expecting to hear how she has been since our visit.  Upon opening it I realized that she had written the letter 2 weeks before we had made the trip and met.  The letter was dated February 1^st and we did not leave for our trip until the 15^th of February.  I had no idea what was about to impact me as I read her letter.  I would like to add at this point the importance of sponsorship for the children of Kachungwa and would ask that you consider the privilege of getting involved if not already a sponsor or sponsor another child if possible.   



Young girl who died of malaria



I opened the letter with anticipation.  As I read the letter I was overcome by emotion and tears filled my eyes.  Many of you have read and already know that while we were visiting in Kachungwa that a little girl, who was not a sponsored child, died of malaria.  One of the things we did while we were there is the distribution of treated mosquito nets to many families in the area around Kachungwa throughout the villages.  The mosquitoes that fly at night are the ones that carry the malaria virus and while the people are sleeping without a mosquito net it is easy to see how they could be bitten and get sick. 



Evas wrote that she had been sick with malaria over the winter break while away from school and had been taken to receive medical care as a result of being sponsored by my family.  She was sick for about 2 weeks but received the medical treatment needed to heal her sickness.  She did not mention this as we met 2 weeks later.  Her sickness was the same duration in weeks than that of the little girl that did not make it which died while we were there. 

It was because of the sponsorship that Evas was able to receive the medical attention needed to make her well.  While distributing the nets, I know that I was able to deliver on to her family as well as the 6 other families that lived in their little community among the banana trees and the pineapple bushes.

I now know that God used all of the experiences that our team shared while in Uganda to work in each of our lives and that my calling is to try and help the children that are not sponsored be sponsored.  As you are continuing to sponsor children in Kachungwa, I would ask that you never stop and try and get more people to sponsor the unsponsored children.  I am hopeful that we can get other churches involved to come along side of us and help the community in sponsoring more.  Please do not hesitate! Feel free to contact me or Canby Christian Church office if you have any questions and we will get the information that you need to be used by God in blessing other children of Kachungwa.

Thank you for your support, “Mukama Akwue Omukisa” (God Bless You)

“Jja Ja Semakula” (Ralph Williams)