When Nakese, Nakole Ruth, and Loiki’s mother died from AIDS, the three young girls were left to fend for themselves in their grief. They survived by rummaging through garbage for food and sleeping in abandoned houses in their Ugandan village. They found a home again when Sylvia, a pastor of a nearby church, attended a Timothy Leadership Training led by Resonate Global Mission.
Resonate, the Christian Reformed Church’s mission agency, uses TLT to equip pastors and other Christian leaders with a Reformed worldview of mission. When Sylvia participated in TLT, she learned how her calling as a pastor and believer was not only to preach the gospel in word, but to live out the gospel by meeting tangible needs and caring for people.
Resonate’s TLT training completely transformed how Sylvia saw her role as a pastor, and when another pastor told her about Nakese, Nikole Ruth, and Loiki, Sylvia felt convicted to help.
“Sylvia felt a burden in her heart,” shared Stephen Omoko, a Resonate ministry leader who facilitates TLT in Uganda.
Like many pastors throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Sylvia isn’t paid. She and her husband sometimes struggle to make ends meet. They make do with the crops they’re able to grow as subsistence farmers. Their seven adult children also periodically send them food or money.
Even though money could be tight and food could be scarce for Sylvia and her husband, she felt convicted to care for the children who had lost their mother. She was confident God would provide.
Sylvia set out to find the three girls and brought them to her home.
When she walked in the door with the girls, her husband was upset. He wasn’t sure how they could afford to feed a large family, but Sylvia told her husband what she learned through TLT: Bible verses about God’s love and care for people, and how God can deliver people from trouble.
It took some time, but Sylvia’s husband placed his trust in God, too, and embraced Nakese, Nakole Ruth, and Loiki as part of their family. Now the girls have caring adults who provide them with food, clothing, medical care, a safe place to sleep, and an education.
Sylvia and her husband’s care for these three young girls who lost their mother has had ripple effects in their family, church, and community. Their seven adult children see Nakese, Nakole Ruth, and Loiki as their sisters and help to support them. Members of the community and the church that Sylvia pastors have shared their funds to help care for the girls, and teachers have bought them school supplies. Seeing Sylvia’s compassion and care, members of the community have even joined Sylvia’s church.
“The community too has become concerned about people who are suffering,” Omoko said. “These children have seen the love of God.”
About the Author
Cassie Marcionetti, Resonate Global Mission
