Last year, in conjunction with Lea Shaw from Love Wales, we started supporting the LEMA Hope Centre in Busia, Uganda. You can read all about how the project started in Lea’s blog here. The project is based in a very poor area of Busia called Sofia, where many children are sleeping on the streets, child prostitution is high and families and children go hungry on a daily basis. In partnership with Life Edifying Ministries Africa (LEMA), the LEMA Hope Centre was born to support some of the children who had been living on the streets to provide food, accommodation, education, security and hope. Some of the children recently wrote to us to tell us how their lives have changed and we’d love to share their stories with you.
Jovia
Jovia is seven years old, and up till last year she was living on the streets. Through a translator, she wrote to us, “Jovia your friend is happy to write to you and thank you for the great work you are doing in her life. She is 7 years old, in Primary 1 and she says thank you my sponsor for the financial support that has enabled LEMA Hope Centre staff to pay for me to go to school, buy me books, pencils, school uniform, school shoes, stockings and she says her life has changed ever since you started giving her your support. She says she can now read and write, pray for herself and she prays that God gives you abundant life so that you may continue to support her to achieve her future dreams.”
Joshua
“Receive greetings from your friend Joshua in Jesus’ name. He is happy to write to you and appreciate you for the great work you are doing to see that your friend is out poverty. He says that his life is good because of the great transformation he is undergoing in LEMA Hope Centre through the support you give him. He says God has picked him up from dust but now he is with kings through sponsorship. He says he is in school studying well and he is in Primary 4. His best subject at school is science and he loves football. He says he attends Sunday school and his memory verse is Proverbs 4:10 which says, ‘Listen my son, accept my words and you will live many years.’ He says his favourite song is ‘On the mountain, down the valley, on the land and in the sea.’ He requests you to pray for him to get knowledge to study hard in class and become a great person in future.”
Junior
“Your friend John Junior is happy to write to you and thank you for the great work you are doing in his life. He says he is 14 years and in primary 5. He says he is happy for the support you give him, he was able to go to school, get a new uniform, new shoes, stockings, books, pens, pencils and he is staying in a good place, sleeping on a mattress and covered with a blanket. He says he eats good food as compared to when he was on the streets and he could only pick food from the dustbin. He says thank you for the help in Jesus’ name. He says he likes playing football, reading the Bible and sharing his testimony with his friend Juma. He says he loves to sing and the song that makes him happy says that God loves me and you. His memory verse is from Mathew 28:18-19 which say ‘Jesus came near and said to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ He requests you to pray for him to study well and become an engineer.”
Life is still not easy for the children at the LEMA Hope Centre but it has changed drastically from when they were living on the streets. The Hope Centre aims to give exactly that – hope; equipping these young people with the skills they need to fulfil their dreams and the knowledge that they are special, loved, capable and important. We are grateful for the amazing team at LEMA and the support from all of the incredible sponsors and donors making this possible.
