Christmas Party 2014- Preparation and Planning

Hello friends and supporters! As you know, Christmas is fast approaching. Many Mansions of Christ International-Uganda is planning and preparing (early) for what to do for the kids and members who attend our weekly Saturday Bible Study meetings. Last year, thanks to the generous hearts of our volunteers and supporters, we had a very successful Christmas party with good food and lots of fun!  Also we were able to give away kilo's of rice to local families in Mityana and Soroti districts.






We are hoping to have an even greater Christmas party and give away a lot more rice this year! We have around 10-15 children of all ages who have attended Bible Study classes throughout the year. We would LOVE this Christmas to give each of them a small gift and serve a nice meal. They have been so faithful to attend and even memorize Bible scriptures!






 Please join with us in prayer and if possible with donations to make this Christmas even better than last year for our kids and families! Right now our co-director Cheryl Derby is in the U.S. until December 3rd, 2014 and can receive financial donations or small toys purchased for the kids and take them back. Please contact us if you're wanting to bless a child this year!






Toy ideas include: books, dolls, small cars and trucks, soccer balls, markers, crayons, pencils, socks, small craft kits..... Older kid ideas: headphones, jewelry, hair accessories, socks, knit hats, pens, pencils, craft kits, playing cards.....






Otherwise, anything can be purchased in Uganda and we gratefully accept Money Gram and Western Union: Receiver info- Stephen Okumu - Mityana, Uganda. For Money Gram will need the reference number, amount and sender name. For Western Union the MTCN number and when you create a question/answer format (required) we will need to know both the question and the answer exactly as written, plus sender name and amount.




 Thank you in advance for your blessing to help the children! We will have a great Christmas Party by the grace and love of our Savior and Provider Jesus Christ!  God bless you!

Many Mansions of Christ Intl. Quarterly Report for May-August 2014

Greetings in Jesus Name. This is the second quarter report of MMOCI. God helped us achieve something alongside so many challenges. This report contains the financial summary, activities, challenges and goals. We expect more effort and more results in the last quarter of this year.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

1.       Rent- 2,000,000 ($800US)

2.       Education-551,000 ($220.6 US)

3.       Bills-65,000 ($26US)

4.       Transport and Communication-459,000 ($183.6US)

5.       Bible studies-60,000 ($24US)

6.       NGO registration-80,000 ($32US)

7.       Volunteers- 100,000 ($40US)

8.       Poultry Project 510,000 ($204US)

9.       Stationary-12,500 ($5US)

GRAND TOTAL= 382,500 ($1,535US)

       Foreign donations-$380 US

       Private donations-$1,155 US

ACTIVITIES

What is new?....

 In the month of July, Cheryl Derby, our co-director of MMOCI and private supporter, arrived back from the United States safely to Uganda to do volunteer work. And we give glory back to God for this!

In the month of August we supported a new girl as part of school fees. Salome studies in Senior One in Kikumbi Secondary School in Mityana District. She was so happy to be helped.

Also in August we bought one trip of baked bricks to initiate our poultry project in Soroti Uganda. These bricks will be used to start building the poultry house. A lot still needs to be done like purchasing more bricks, cement and to hire builders. But we thank God for the start of this project and call upon all those who wish to donate towards this effort.

Also more children joined us in Bible study meetings that we conduct on Saturdays. We give the glory back to God for this! The children are eager to attend and learn!

Bible study at Kiyinda offices, Mityana

1.BIBLE STUDIES 

This organization continues to conduct Bible Studies at the office in Kiyinda Estate. More and more children are continuing to come and attend and also participate in reading and interpreting the Bible. We call upon all volunteers who are willing to come and help reach out to the children to please join with us.

Bible study attendees in Kiyinda, Mityana

2.EDUCATION ASSISTANCE

MMOCI has continued to provide education assistance to the children both in Mityana and Soroti. One young man called Isaac, started his second year at Busitema University. There are still so many more who need sponsorship. We call upon all those who have the heart for the future of the children to keep providing support. In partnership with www.brotherinchrist.com we have provided for these children. We thank all those who are supporting us with educating them. May God bless you all!

Crispus/sponsored child buying supplies for school

Sarah Akullo/sponsored child and Cheryl

3.POULTRY PROJECT

MMOCI has started purchasing bricks for building a poultry house. We are still under initial level and we call upon all those who can give a hand in this project. We intend to have 1,250 layers eventually and will sell eggs to establishments in Soroti. Each load of bricks costs $100 and we need 2 more loads to start the first poultry house. A bricklayer will cost approx. $500 (including cement and supplies). Then the chickens will cost $1500 to purchase. So in total we need $2200 yet to fully begin and then monthly wages of $180 after that to employ 3 full time caretakers for this project. The project will generate a monthly income of $5,400.

4.VOLUNTEERS

In the month of July to August we were joined by volunteers who filled out Volunteer Forms to officially join us-one from the United States and six from Uganda. One of the Ugandan volunteers called John Bosco Kalule leads our weekly Bible Study class and translates English to Luganda for the younger aged children.

John Bosco Kalule/volunteer from Mityana

Stephen and Brian/volunteer from Soroti

Francis Etyeku/volunteer from Soroti and Cheryl

5.OUTREACHES

MMOCI founders were able to visit the families of the some of the beneficiaries. We visited Kikoyo David, a blind father, at his home where he has poultry and piggery projects in place. He is the father of Mutebi David, one of the kids we have supported since the beginning. We also visited Senkuse Henry, the father of Kasemengo Crispus, also one of the kids supported since the start. Henry was suffering from a swollen knee and not able to work temporarily. Also we visited Akullo Sarah and her mother in their village in Soroti. They were all helped and encouraged.

Kikoyo David and Cheryl

Stephen, Henry and Crispus and friend

Sarah Akullo's mother in Soroti

CHALLENGES

>Lack of enough funds to run the organization

>Lack of transport means ie car

>Expensive rental costs

>Lack of permanent donors

>Lack of sponsorship for many children and youth

2014 GOALS

>Continue leading the children to God through sharing with them the word of God (evangelism)

>To keep helping the children and youth with educational needs

>Look for more exposure for the organization

>Enroll more volunteers worldwide and locally

>Continue partnering with www.brotherinchrist.com and look for more partners

>Continue building the poultry project in Soroti and seek more funding

Special thanks go out to www.brotherinchrist.com , our volunteers and friends for the heart they have shown to the children. May God bless everyone!

------------------------

Okumu Stephen

MMOCI Founders Cheryl and Stephen

Returning to Uganda East Africa!

It's been 7 months since I left Uganda and I've missed it every day for all that time. I came back to the U.S. to rest and recuperate and I can say now that I have fully recovered and am ready to go now! God blessed me with the money for my plane ticket at the end of June! I will leave from Buffalo Niagara International Airport on July 21st! I have my Malaria prevention tablets and am going to start taking them two days before I get on the plane. I am mentally packed but will wait until a day or two before I leave to actually pack everything. Items have been purchased to bring back with me that will make life there a little easier for me. I know now what to expect and also how to be proactive in solving some of the problems I endured the first time. I still need a refrigerator but am trusting God to help me get one. (about $150-$200 used)

I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones I've met online since I left. I am excited to get back there and continue the work we started in creating and initially building Many Mansions of Christ International-Uganda. After almost one year since creating the constitution for it and then later submitting it for approval at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we received word that the registration process had been successful and MMOCI was now officially registered to operate as a Non-Governmental Organization in the country of Uganda! Our certificates were obtained in June and we couldn't be more happy to have them! Every journey begins with the first step. This was a huge official first step!

We pray that God will continue to bless us in our efforts and anyone who we are able to support! We have been able to start this ministry with the help of amazing people who felt it in their hearts to help those less fortunate. We are eternally grateful as are the ones who are receiving help with school fees and those who we have been able to give food and some small money to. We currently have several more children who need sponsors for school fees and also who have urgent medical needs listed on our webpage. http://manymansions11.wix.com/many-mansions-11#!mmoci-kids/clci We are also currently looking for volunteer help in creating a more permanent and effective webpage as well. 

We are trusting God for all provisions to help Many Mansions of Christ International continue to grow and be able to assist many in need in Uganda and eventually other countries in East Africa. We have plans to start income generating projects but need the funding for them. But with God ALL things are possible!

As I await my final days before I leave for Africa again, I will be thinking of those I am leaving behind as much as those I will soon be seeing. I have had a great stay in New York and am SO thankful for the love and care I have received since getting off the plane December 10th 2013 so very weak and ill. I love my family with all my heart and am thankful for their open minds and hearts to let me spread my wings and fly away to do what God has called me to do! 

I hope if there is anything they can gain from me and my experiences, it would be to have confidence in following their dreams and goals in life no matter what obstacles may get in their way. I say to anyone who feels empty and unfulfilled inside, please realize your passion in life, grab ahold of it and give it all you've got! Life is precious and short. Be happy!  

~Cheryl~

Info regarding income generating projects:

We are currently looking into starting poultry projects in Mityana and Soroti. We need donors to assist with the start up costs like renting land, building coops, buying 200 chickens per location and the salaries for two employees to manage them. 

Teaching this to the kids is also critical in preserving the country's cultural and tribal traditions as well as giving them opportunities later in life to earn money for post-secondary education and or in starting their own farms and businesses. 

Our goal this year is to raise 2 million Uganda shillings (Approx $810 US) for the poultry project and then start raising funds for cows, even starting a "buy a cow" promotion. Each cow costs 350,000 Uganda shillings (approx $141 each). Ultimately starting with 10 in Soroti, Uganda.

We currently have 3 cows! Only 7 more to go to meet our first goal of 10! 

http://manymansions11.wix.com/many-mansions-11#!our-passionate-plea/c4xp

MMOCI-Uganda Jan.-Apr. 2014 Quarterly Report

TO THE DIRECTORS MANY MANSIONS OF CHRIST AND MEMBERS

This is a report from January 2014 to April 2014. It consists of the activities done within the period, challenges and the financial statement.

MMOCI in partnership with Brother in Christ ministry have continued their support to some vulnerable children, of which include Mutebi David in a primary school:

 

And Kasemengo Chrispus also in primary:

Their school needs have been fully met through Brother in Christ ministry.

Apart from the above MMOCI also met part of the tuition fees of Engur Isaac in February:

He is Busitema University in Eastern Uganda pursuing a degree course.

 

The organization also met part of the fees of Akullo Sarah who is an orphan and teenage mother in Soroti, Uganda. She is in a secondary school fighting to complete in ordinary level education:

Apart from the above, MMOCI also met part of the fees of Masaba Paul in a primary school in Mityana:

His mother pays for part of the fees. Masaba has health complications and need our prayers and further support.

MMOCI has also been conducting bible studies at MMOCI offices every Saturday. All the kids under MMOCI care have been attending the studies together with Brother in Christ ministry members. The children were able experience spiritual growth through learning to pray and worship together.

MMOCI also participated in outreach to bereaved families and to a widow, visiting the hospital and also participated in a youth conference organized in Mityana, Uganda on March 22 by pastor Debra Muntz from the United States.

Though MMOCI was able to achieve the above with a period of four months, the following remain setbacks and obstacles to the organization.

Many children still remain listed and hanging on the website without sponsors. We call upon good hearted people to at least pick a child and share love with him or her.

http://manymansions11.wix.com/many-mansions-11#!mmoci-kids/clci

Bureaucracy in the government offices has led to the delay of our certificate of registration but God-willing we will be picking it up at the beginning of June.

Huge rental cost is still a problem. At the moment we use our residential place as an office and more so its expensive and with few rooms. We pray that God relieves us out of the situation soon.

We also still lack any means of transport and this therefore makes our outreach activities ineffective. Apart from that, our computer in the month of April also broke down and therefore hindering communication. We hope to repair or replace it soon.

We do therefore hope to initiate an income generating activity for the organization in the few months to come so as to reduce on the financial burden. We also may set up volunteer and well wishers form for those who are willing to mobilize resources for the organization in any part of the world.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Expenses                      (ugx)                                     Donations

Education                   900000                                    $195

Communication           240000

Rent                           2000000

Bills                             198400

Volunteers                   15000

Bible Studies               10000

Transport                       150

Total                        3378400                                     $1351

The organization in the period of January to April spent $1351. MMOCI founders raised $1156 and Brother in Christ ministry donated $195.
 

God bless every one who gave us time and resources. Let us keep together as we build the kingdom of God. One of the MMOCI founders, Cheryl Derby, will be travelling again to Africa in early June for continued work with the ministry. Please, she needs all your support for her travel and prayers that God may fulfill her mission in her and for the glory of God.

God bless you

Okumu Stephen

MMOCI

Many Mansions of Christ International: Do Something.........Please

Many Mansions of Christ International: Do Something.........Please: There’s a song I love on Christian radio that has a story behind it about a college aged girl who went to Uganda on a missio...

Do Something.........Please

There’s a song I love on Christian radio that has a story behind it about a college aged girl who went to Uganda on a mission trip and ended up staying because she saw a need and felt God’s calling on her life to do something about it. Hence the name of the song. If you would like to see her story and hear the song here is the link to Matthew West’s website.

http://matthewwest.com/the-stories/the-story-do-something/

The Lyrics they are here: 

Matthew West-Do Something

"Do Something"

I woke up this morning

Saw a world full of trouble now

Thought, how’d we ever get so far down

How’s it ever gonna turn around

So I turned my eyes to Heaven

I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”

Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of

People living in poverty

Children sold into slavery

The thought disgusted me

So, I shook my fist at Heaven

Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”

He said, “I did, I created you”

(chorus) If not us, then who

If not me and you

Right now, it’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when

Will we see an end

To all this pain

It’s not enough to do nothing

It’s time for us to do something

I’m so tired of talking

About how we are God’s hands and feet

But it’s easier to say than to be

Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves

It’s alright, “somebody else will do something”

Well, I don’t know about you

But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire

I don’t want a flame, I want a fire

I wanna be the one who stands up and says,

“I’m gonna do something”

                                                                     Chorus

We are the salt of the earth

We are a city on a hill (shine shine, shine shine)

But we’re never gonna change the world

By standing still

No we won’t stand still

No we won’t stand still

No we won’t stand still

If not us, then who

If not me and you

Right now, it’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when

Will we see an end

To all this pain

It’s not enough to do nothing

It’s time for us to do something [x3]

All my life I have seen and had a deep compassion in my heart for those in the world who were less fortunate or suffering. As a child my mother would tell me to finish all the food on my plate “because there are starving children in Africa”. I would dutifully eat every last morsel. Or she would make me stay there till I did. I felt bad for those hungry kids because right before supper time I would be soooooo hungry and my mom would NOT give in to my dramatic pleas for a snack to tide me over. It would “ruin my appetite” she said. Of course she was right.  I would have left something on my plate for the sake of the African children if I were allowed to though. But how would we get what was left all the way to Africa? And ewe! would they even want it by the time it arrived there? I actually pondered this stuff as a kid. 

I was educated in Catholic schools most of my school years and from an early age I attended Catechism classes every Monday night (7pm sharp- some things ya never forget). We learned about caring for others. We cleaned houses owned by the elderly in our church. We organized street clean up days. We studied handouts about mission work in the world and caring for the sick. (I became a nurse in 1990). In school we would have in-services where we would gather in the musty basement of the school, sit cross-legged on the floor and watch hours (it seemed) of reel-to-reel movies of Mother Theresa caring for the Lepers in Bangladesh. I understood human suffering at 6 years old. It’s the age I remember feeling compassion in my heart. I didn’t understand what Leprosy was until later but even at a young age I knew it was my duty to also DO SOMETHING.

Now I am older. I still eat everything off my plate, much to my defeat in ‘successful dieting’.  (Thanks a lot mom!) I spent 17 years as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Most of those years I worked in Geriatric nursing but later as a Hospice Nurse. In those years, I was diagnosed with 2 autoimmune diseases, each of which there is no known cause and no known cure. First it was Rheumatoid Arthritis and then 10 years later Systemic Lupus. I worked for years as a nurse who relieved the suffering of others WHILE I was suffering myself. In 2004 I was diagnosed Stage 3 Lupus Nephritis (kidney failure). I was forced to give up my beloved career helping others. I didn’t know it then but God had way better plans for me. 

In the first years of not working it was difficult and lonely. I was a full time sick person. It was my ‘job’ now to get to all my doctor and physical therapy appointments (I had SEVEN specialists caring for me altogether) and to keep track of 18 medications a day and several injections a month. The pharmacists knew me well. In between all that I was pretty much in bed. Both diseases cause extreme fatigue and excruciating joint and muscle pain.

I would spend most my time watching television or being online. I would read and study my Bible, something as a working mother, wife and nurse I admit I didn’t have time to do but I missed. God gave me all the time in the world now. I became a member at a Christian website and started meeting people from all over the world. I had seen on the news the suffering of people in other countries, but now I was actually talking to the very people who lived it. My compassionate nature was once again sparked. I needed to DO SOMETHING.

I met my first Ugandan in 2009, 5 years into my new career as a full time sick person. He was a young man working in an internet café who was an orphan and also had Polio since age 6. He was the most sincere, humble, respectful person I’d met. He was good and kind and though struggling to survive himself told me that one day he wanted to help poor children from his village. I thought to myself, “but you ARE the poor child from your village!” He saw it differently. He had a job. No decent shoes, or a bed, but he was thankful he had a job. I bought him shoes and a bed and an Internet Cafe of his own. I did more for others there and in neighboring Kenya as I could. 

It is now 2014. Since then, I have met so many people around the world. A lot in under-developed  and oppressed nations. The Internet has made the world not so big anymore. I feel the pain and fear in the words written to me by my friends around the world on my Facebook messenger or Christian websites.  I see the news stories almost as soon as they happen; Rape being used as weapon of war in the Congo; Corrupted and ruthless dictators (North Korea); People fighting for freedom from tyranny and dying in the streets (Libya, Egypt, Ukraine, Ivory Coast). My heart cries. There are SO many stories of suffering. So many battles of need. So many inhumane injustices uncorrected. HIV/AIDS (period) Sooooo, sooooo many orphans. Children working all day in brick-making yards, sold into slavery for a $100 debt made to a cruel man by the parents before they were born. The needs in the world are overwhelming. Which brings me back to Matthew West’s song and the girl who stayed to help in Uganda.

“If not me and you, then who? If not now, then when?” In all my years of Catechism classes, Mother Theresa documentaries and reading my Bible did I ever think that it was all up to just God.  I knew as a Christian and a human being that it was up to ME. I am grateful for so many who know this too and give money or time and efforts to help our fellow men, women and children in the world. But I say to anyone who may be reading, that if you see something wrong in this world, you can react. Don’t think ‘I can never do enough so I just wont do anything’. “It’s not enough to do nothing” Matthew sings. Or ‘how can I trust my money to a person or organization when I don’t REALLY know they are legit’. Find out if they are. Please have discernment not apathy.

Mother Theresa said “If you cannot feed the masses, feed just one”. Please. If only everyone fed just one. There are 7 billion people on our planet. It produces enough food to feed all 7 billion. There are 2.6 million children who DIE every year from hunger related illnesses. Please. We are never going to change the world by standing still. I want to always be one who stands up and says I can do something. No matter how little I have to share, I still have more than someone else. In 2013, even with 2 incurable diseases and not much extra money after my plane ticket cost, I had the privilege to go to Uganda East Africa. I saw. I went. I helped. I am going back.

            PLEASE......... IT’S TIME........ DO SOMETHING.........

No we won’t stand still

No we won’t stand still

No we won’t stand still

If not us, then who

If not me and you

Right now, it’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when

Will we see an end

To all this pain

It’s not enough to do nothing

It’s time for us to do something

                                            

Note: If anyone wants to do something and is not sure where or how, I can recommend a list of organizations, churches and individuals in various countries ( Kenya, Uganda, Pakistan, DRC, Ghana, Burundi and India) that I have known personally and can verify they are doing great things to help others! 

Thanks!

Cheryl Derby- Co-founder and Co-director of Many Mansions of Christ International-Uganda