God is Able
“And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.” II Corinthians 9:8 AMP
God is able. God keeps reminding me that He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes, the mission at the Land of Living Hope seems impossible.
The stories of trauma and abuse can rip one’s heart out. The needs are great. I can easily get caught up with the needs and can feel overwhelmed. The children are growing. They need uniforms. They need new mattresses. They need new bunk beds. The staff needs salaries. We need seeds to plant the next crop. We need grain for the animals. We need… The list could go on. Then God softly speaks to my heart…”BE STILL. I am the God who provided every need for the Israelites for 40 years as they wandered in the desert. I am the same God who parted the Red Sea. I am the God who heals the sick. I am the God who makes a way where there seems to be no way. BE STILL. I have not left you or forsaken you. These children are mine.” God keeps reminding me that I need not feel anxious over anything. He will give us complete sufficiency in everything. That is His promise through His Word. Today I am sitting and looking back at where God has taken us. He has a powerful testimony through our Seeds of Hope Children! They have gone from sleeping under a tree on the hard ground to sleeping on a bed with sheets and a blanket! They are learning to read and write. They are passing national exams in school and doing what the government said they couldn’t. They are rising up! Praise God! Today I take a deep breath. I know that God is with us, and He is for us. I can choose to be overwhelmed by the need, or I can be overwhelmed by how far God has taken us. I choose to be overwhelmed by the goodness of God! I hope that you enjoy this month’s updates! There is much to praise God for!
God Bless,
Sonya Schweighardt, Executive Director, Hope Ministries Uganda USA
School Updates
This is a picture of our newest Seeds of Hope Children, who just found out they passed the national exams to qualify for secondary school!
The new school term started in February. We have fourteen students who have entered 
Secondary 2. We are so proud of our Seeds of Hope Children. They continue to work hard and are working towards pursuing their dreams! At the beginning of February, we also received the results of the national exams for our students who completed Primary 7. We are happy to announce that all 17 students qualified for Secondary School!!! We are so thankful for the teaching staff at our Seeds of Hope School, who have worked so hard with our children to help them reach the next level! We still have students who need sponsors to help them through secondary school. If you are interested in helping a secondary student, please visit this link: Sponsor a Secondary Student
Farming and Agriculture
Our First Harvest
Alicia and Chris Dunlap, IPHC Missionaries to Kenya and Agricultural Specialist
We praise God for all He continues to do through our farming and agriculture projects! From our first 35-acre planting of maize and beans, we harvested 15,000 tons of maize and 2 tons of beans. All of the local farmers are having issues with elephants eating crops. The farmers are filing complaints with the government as the government has been promising to fence the Queen Elizabeth National Park. We are preparing for our next planting and hoping to add rice.
We were excited to welcome Chris and Alicia Dunlap, agriculture specialists from the IPHC in Kenya. They gave us very good reports on our agriculture and farming projects! We are so proud of our on-ground team for working so hard!
Maize bagged and ready to be sent to be processed for posho.
Smaller Gardens
John is our agriculture specialist. He does a great job incorporating gardening into the Seeds of Hope education. Our children have a special raised bed garden that they created. They recently helped with harvesting tomatoes! Our established vegetable gardens include cabbages, dodo/Sukumawik, eggplants, green pepper, and much more! Our fruit trees are growing well, and we hope to have many fresh fruits in the future!
The children help with gardening as a part of their education.
Our New Tractor
At the end of 2022, we had a matching fund campaign. The government was offering a special deal for one organization in each district. We were blessed to be chosen to purchase a new Kubota tractor at a reduced rate! The tractor has finally made it to Uganda! Pastor Gerald traveled to Kampala to sign the final paperwork. We are hoping to have the tractor delivered this month! Thank you to everyone who participated in this matching fund! This tractor will take our agriculture program to an entirely new level!
Pastor Gerald checking out our new tractor!
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
God has blessed us with a farm! We have so many animals: pigs, goats, ducks, turkeys, doves, guinea pigs, rabbits, and several guard dogs! Everything is multiplying! We will give more updates on our animals in future newsletters! Dennis is the head of our farm animals, and we appreciate the hard work that he is doing! Dennis has plans to start a demonstration pond for the children to learn about Tilapia. We are excited about this new adventure for our children to learn more about fish!
Our Seeds of Hope Children are actively involved in the farm as a part of the education. Farming skills will help them in their futures.
January Mission Team
Mission Team January 2023
Purity Teachings
We were excited to have a mission team in January. It consisted of members from the United States, Kenya, and Uganda! The team taught purity lessons to the teenagers. The lessons were powerful. Even the interpreters told the team they were learning things they wished had been taught in their youth. One testimony from our lessons was that all youth in Uganda needed this training! Seven young ladies accepted Christ at the end of the sessions. Please keep our youth in your prayers. Many of them have been through very traumatic experiences in their lives. Through the lessons, the youth learned about how God sees them and the good things God has for them. They learned about God’s grace and His deep love for them. Our girls also learned they have the right to say, “NO!” Cheryl closed the girls’ session with a special testimony on forgiveness. It was a powerful time, and many of our girls were able to walk through forgiveness in areas of their own lives.
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- Chris and Ronnie challenged the boys to think differently than what culture says.
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- Sonya is the “guide” in one of the hands on activities.
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- Puzzles have many lessons!
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- Chris teaching our youth boys.
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- Alicia teaching our youth girls about God’s grace.
If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands
Our good friend, Cheryl, came with music instruments and fun new songs for our younger Seeds of Hope Children. The children loved the music time and even taught Cheryl some of their songs! Thank you, Cheryl, for the new instruments and the new songs!
A Day to Dedicate to God
We had a dedication service on Thursday, January 26, at the Land of Living Hope. Government officials and the community of Matanda were invited to attend. It was a special day as we dedicated all our buildings to God. Tours were given to the local community and government officials. It was a special time for the people of Matanda. Hope Ministries Uganda has offered education to the local community at a reduced cost. Many children in the community would never be able to attend school because of extreme poverty. We are a Christian school, and the Lord has also allowed us to educate Muslim children in the community. As we continue to build relationships with the Muslims, please pray that they will have ears to hear the Gospel message and hearts that can be transformed! Sonya Schweighardt, our Hope Ministries Uganda USA executive director, gave the message during the dedication service. She read from Deuteronomy 28 and explained God’s blessings for His people. It was a beautiful service with many positive words from local government officials.
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- Enjoying the festivities of the day.
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- Bishop Patrick praying a blessing.
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- Local government official praising the work of Hope Ministries Uganda.
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- Government officials and the community of Matanda toured the buildings.
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- The officials were impressed that we had showers and running water!
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- This Muslim has a child in our school. He believes in our work.
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- The community is so excited about all that is happening at the Land of Living Hope
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- Pastor Gerald sharing the vision.
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- Local government officials
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- Sonya dedicating the Land of Living Hope to God.
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- Even the Muslims joined us in thanking God.
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- Local official challenging us to higher levels.
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- Our Seeds of Hope Choir danced for everyone.
Ministry Friend Corner
Written by Cheryl Newell-Burns
At long last, there it was, the glow of gold, orange, blue, and green as it appeared among the grassy fields. I had traveled far and long to get to the Land of Living Hope -not just the more than thirteen hours on the airplane, but for a full five years.
It was then that my loving husband Duane was suddenly taken from me and my girls. In my mind, 38 years of marriage and decades of varied church ministry came to a screeching halt. I was depleted and broken and thought I had lost purpose.
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- Dormitories 1 &2
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- Cheryl sifting sorghum
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- Cheryl meeting the Seeds of Hope Children
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- Dormitory 3
Opportunities
We have an opportunity to match $32,000! This is an important match because it will help us with our monthly budget. This will specifically help us with paying our staff. We have 42 staff members. This includes our director, Seeds of Hope School Director, social workers, head teacher, records manager, farm manager, teachers, matrons, cooks, gardeners, nurses, security guards, and agriculture manager. Please prayerfully consider helping us take advantage of this match. Our staff is a vital part of our ministry, and we need them to help care for all of our Seeds of Hope Children. This is an investment into the lives of the children.
Some of our staff at the Land of Living Hope. We love our staff!
To donate towards this match: $32,000 Matching Fund Opportunity
Special Thank You
We want to say a very special thank you to two special groups of women from Fountain of Life Church in Elizabeth City, NC, and Living Hope Church in Lenoir, NC.
Fountain of Life Church women made one hundred pillowcase dresses for our girls! The girls were excited and looked so beautiful in their new dresses!
Living Hope Church women made washable sanitary pad kits for our teenage girls. Each of the girls received a special bag with washable pads, a fun necklace, a washcloth, and a bar of soap. This was a huge need for our teenage girls, and they were blessed by this gift.
Seeds of Hope
Read the latest news
There is a waiting room at Holmes Regional Medical Center, off to the side of the ER. It is one that a social worker may lead you to and sit with you quietly as you await sickening words seep out of a surgeon’s mouth. It is where the deaths are confirmed.
We are now working on raising support for dormitory number three. We have a matching fund campaign going on right now! A generous donor is willing to match up to $28,500! Will you help us to double this to $57,000?
