IMPACT Stories
Real lives are being changed because of our presence and resources in the community.
1. Meet Aketowanga, our first child at Gen House.
We met Aketowanga (also known as “Ketty") in 2014. At the time, she was working as the house help for a family since her school fees and the promise of her going to school was never fulfilled.
When Founders, Ocen and Jordan saw her again in 2017, she was unrecognizable. She had lost a significant amount of weight and her face showed much hardship. It was then that we learned she was back in her home village, eating mostly one meal a day, and “going to the garden” (farming) daily.
In that same conversation, we listened to her fears—that early marriage and pregnancy would become her only future. We also discovered her greatest desire. After four years of sitting out of school and living as a double orphan with her ill (now late) grandmother, one thing was on her mind: She wanted to go back to school.
Surely, God fulfilled his promises! The following year, Ocen took her school shopping to prepare for her first year of secondary education. Because of God’s immeasurable grace towards her, she remained in the top students of her class and has recently finished her tenure in secondary school!
Today, this aspiring doctor is preparing for nursing school and later studies at a university! We are proud to call her our first child at Gen House, and are sure of her bright future ahead with dreams to care for people in villages just like hers!
“I thank God because I am in school now, and Gen House is supporting me.”
— Aketowanga, our first child at Gen House
2. Meet Gladys, a young mother at our church.
In March 2021, we opened our church and met Gladys, the young mother of a desperately ill young child named Sunday. On our first day, a packed Sunday under a great blackberry tree, the church corporately stretched its hands and believed that God would heal him.
Three days later, Gladys and Baby Sunday met Founders, Jordan and Ocen in Gulu Town to begin his hopeful hospital journey to recovery, together. Days after meeting, we were able to sponsor her child’s medical care so that Baby Sunday could finally be treated from a hospital. Shortly after his painful, yet uphill battle against his first diagnosis of malnourishment, Baby Sunday suddenly passed away due to a final diagnosis of sickle cell anemia.
As devastating as that was to experience, and especially to grieve after, we were grateful to spend every single day at the hospital with Gladys and Baby Sunday, caring for them in such an emergency circumstance.
We also grew in deep relationship with Gladys, discipling her from the hospital and cultivating her faith in Emmanuel—'God with her’ in that trying time.
Today, Gladys is mama to a new son, Desmond. She is an active member of our church, faithfully present, and enjoys participating in home fellowships with us, all while carrying Desmond tied to her back. She is a silly, yet attentive young girl who is obviously growing in hope, our faith, and healing each day.
We have such joy when we see Desmond today, knowing that Gladys’s church membership allows us to remain a refuge for her grieve, be supported by church community, and raise her new son in The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Meet Lukwiya, a youth leader at our church.
We thank God so much for Lukwiya! Since the early days of our church, he has served in different capacities and is known for always stepping in where there is a need. Lukwiya is also an incredible youth leader at our church! He is dependable, hilarious, a team player, and passionate about playing the drums on Sundays, and mobilizing our church youth during the week. Lukwiya loves God and if you meet him, you’ll know it!
What you typically wouldn’t know about Lukwiya is that he developed a chronic wound on one of his legs. It’s extremely painful (he never shows it), and affects the way he walks. Well during Easter 2022, African students from across the continent studying at Ocen’s alma mater, African Bible University, chose to spend a week in our village as local missionaries, and intentionally stayed in the homes of our neighbors and church members. Lukwiya’s family home was one of the homesteads they were hosted at.
During the week, the ABU students organized crusades at our village’s market, conducted door-to-door evangelism, hosted trainings at our church, and taught in our children’s ministry. To close out their incredibly transformative mission week, they left us with tangible clothing items to meet the everyday needs in our community. They also blessed Lukwiya with medical sponsorship for his chronic wound!
We are so grateful for the kindness of the ABU students, but even more for the mindfulness of God! During the night before the ABU students headed back to the capital city, Kampala, they held a bonfire to reflect on their week as a group and the humility of Lukwiya was one of their memorable highlights. Surely, his servant-heart was greatly witnessed by them that week and we are honored to experience it every week with him!
