WWW.WATOTO.COM | JUN 2013 | ISSUE NO.2
RETURN TO DIGNITY: THE TOUR
Watoto is excited to launch a brand new initiative by Living Hope. Marilyn Skinner, co-founder of Watoto, will be traveling across the world in the Return To Dignity Tour, to mobilize women, so they can make a tangible difference in the lives of their sisters in Africa. continued on pg. 2
WHAT WE DO ORPHANED CHILDREN | VULNERABLE WOMEN | COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
THE SOUND OF HOPE
continued from pg. 1 If you have read Marilyn’s book Return To Dignity, you will know these women represent the powerful miracles that are possible if women are given a hand up in life, and shown the love of Jesus. Living Hope founder, Marilyn Skinner declares, “God is doing something incredible in Africa. He is mobilizing a generation of wounded women and raising them up to transform their communities. Where you and I might see oppression, God sees an opportunity to make evident His love for those who are in pain.” More than 2,100 women in Uganda have already experienced this love. This past January, Living Hope enrolled an additional 540 precious women into the program. The group has already gone through discipleship training, and some of the ladies have given their lives to Christ. The next step is personal trauma counseling to empower each of the ladies to confront and overcome past hurt and affliction. “I have learned about forgiveness and have come to appreciate its value. The HIV/ AIDS counseling has helped me a great deal, and I’m now able to
help counsel my friends too,” says Beatrice Namuwemba. Living Hope also provides business training, character classes and an adult literacy program for those who have challenges with the English language. After the business training, the ladies will be required to come up with basic business ideas and plans. Start up capital is provided for approved plans. “The business training has been extremely beneficial and I’ve also learned how to save,” says Gertrude Kamuli. “We know not everyone can visit Africa, so I would like to bring the experience of the ladies at Living Hope to you. If you have a ministry for women or you think your church or organization could benefit from the ministry of Living Hope, I invite you to host a Living Hope party,” says Marilyn. During the tour, Marilyn will be sharing the incredible victories of the women, the exciting Living Hope projects, and ways in which you can be part of this movement. For more information on bookings, visit www.watoto.com/ returntodignity or contact Jenelle at jennelle@watoto.com.
We are elated to celebrate a huge milestone in the history of our children’s choirs since they started traveling internationally in 1994. Choir 57 just returned from Brazil, and is the second choir to tour in South America. We are honored and grateful to God for the harvest of over 1,400 new sponsors from this tour. The team had an amazing time interacting with the social and hospitable people of South America, who supported them every step of the way. “The highlight of our tour is definitely the incredible response we witnessed to the message of Christ in our presentation. We saw many people give their lives to Him during the concerts. It was an incredibly moving experience and I loved being a part of it,” Says Gideon Kizito, Team Leader Choir 57. The group had the opportunity to spread and share the love of Christ at several new churches, hospitals, schools and retirement homes. There were challenges along the way. Following the deadly and destructive Hurricane Sandy that destroyed bridges and cut off power supply, this choir was forced to cancel some of
their concerts, as mobility was quite impossible. Despite these challenges, God was faithful. The language barrier could have been another challenge, but our Watoto kids chose to see it as an opportunity to expand their vocabulary. Many of them were inspired to learn some basic Portuguese, and some of the children even presented their stories in Portuguese. Needless to say, the locals were thrilled and overjoyed with the team. Four other Watoto children’s choirs are currently on tour. Choir 58 is touring the UK and Netherlands, Choir 59 is in the USA, Choir 60 in Canada, and Choir 61 in Australia. Follow the activities of the choirs on the road at www. watotochoirs.wordpress.com and find out when they are in an area near you.
Watoto Stud Watoto is passionate about raising transformational leaders. We purpose to set our kids up to pursue excellence in all they do and disciple them on integrity and other moral values. Our goal is for each child to become a responsible Christian and a productive member of society. We believe each child will contribute to the transformation of their nation. We are thrilled that many of them are already making a difference in the community. A couple of years ago, some of our High School students joined hands to sponsor a child. They’re still sponsoring today and inspired many others to do the same. Still others participate in various community projects such
The Patterson family didn’t think they would ever sponsor a child internationally and certainly not for fourteen years. That all changed in 1998, when Jean Patterson was introduced to the Watoto Children’s Choir at a church performance at New Song Christian Fellowship in Tennessee. Following the performance, her youngest son 8-year-old John knew he wanted his family to sponsor a child and he chose Geoffrey Kiyaga Mutebi’s picture card. “I was very hesitant to commit to sponsoring a child because I hadn’t spoken to my husband and in the past we heard about negative experiences with other ministries, where the sponsor doesn’t know where their donation is going,” said Jean. Prior to sponsoring Geoffrey, the Patterson’s learned that Geoffrey’s parents died in 1993 as a result of the AIDS virus. He lived with his elderly grandmother until he eventually needed the
Standing in the Gap intervention of social welfare authorities who brought him to Watoto. The family began
sponsoring Geoffrey when he was just 7-years-old. “Watoto always made sure
dents Transforming Community
as the refurbishing of schools, hospitals, and homes for the disadvantaged around them. A particular group of Watoto students participated in the 2012 International Day of the African Child (DAC) celebrations – a day that is set aside globally to raise awareness for the continuing
need to improve the standard of education provided to African children. As part of Kampala International University (KIU), our Watoto students started a community outreach program, directing their efforts to Bushenyi Primary School – a school for
disabled children about 173 miles. from Kampala. They raised support from fellow students, university staff and the community in Kampala in the form of cash contributions, scholastic material, clothes and shoes among others. They also established a children’s church in the school, which has been operational since July 2012. During this year’s DAC celebrations, these young leaders set up a small computer laboratory for the school and also equipped the children’s church. “We were once rescued from a life of desperation and given a chance to do something with our lives. All we want to do is help others get a similar chance,” says Francis Mubiru, a Watoto Student.
that we received pictures and letters throughout the year. The personal communication with Geoffrey fueled our sponsorship commitment and it really meant a lot to our family. We still keep all of his letters and pictures on our refrigerator,” said Jean. Jean explained that “For John it was like having a brother his age and their relationship blossomed. Throughout our sponsorship, we’ve always considered Geoffrey our son.” Looking back on their sponsorship journey, the Patterson’s can remember being unsure of how long their commitment would last. Jean explained that through prayer they continued to sponsor Geoffrey because they knew they were making some kind of difference in his life. “There were times we didn’t know if we would be able to continue with the sponsorship because of financial reasons but we thought about how valuable our commitment would be to Geoffrey. We got a sense of what God wanted us to do. As sponsors, we felt such a great reward emotionally and spiritually,” said Jean. This family’s support and willingness to stand in the gap for a boy living thousands of miles away has allowed Geoffrey to complete his education at the Watoto High School where he excelled in subjects like economics and geography. Geoffrey hopes to continue his education at a university where he plans to study business administration. “Now as our sponsorship nears the end, our family has such strong feelings of love for the organization and Geoffrey. I always think back to him as a little boy and it makes my family feel so proud of his hard work,” she continued, “he’s done his part, we’ve done our part and God will bless him,” said Jean.
WATOTO USA PO BOX 1320 LUTZ, FLORIDA 33548-1320
LIVING HOPE FOUNDER
Marilyn Skinner shares
STORIES OF HOPE, FAITH, COURAGE, AND TRANSFORMATION “I thought that I was a nobody. I had no identity. But through Living Hope, I discovered that I do have value and God loves me.” FLORENCE NANFUKA