What We Do
The Church
As the third pillar of our ministry (to provide the neediest of God’s children with a loving home, education and spiritual development), the local church will complete the “family”. While the mommas will love and care for the children as their own, the church will become the extended family and the place of spiritual growth. Women in the church will help look after the children and tutor them in their studies. Men from the church will spend time with the children, lead them in Bible studies and help with the care and maintenance of the home.
In most situations, the King’s Kids homes will be built on church property, adjacent to the pastors’ homes.
Campus
Whenever King’s Kids Africa comes alongside the Presbytery to build a new church, it will also build a pastor’s home. Both of these structures will be culturally relevant to other churches and community structures in the area. Churches will generally be 30’ X 60’ and pastor’s homes will be generally be 25’ X 25’. Both of these structures will be made from locally sourced fired brick, concrete foundations and flooring, wood trusses, sheet metal roofing, plastered walls, glass windows (with metal grills) and metal doors.
Each campus will be provided with latrines and a source of fresh water. The idea of having fresh water available at the campus introduces people from the surrounding community and villages to the church (a form of evangelistic outreach and service).
Pastors
Pastors for newly planted churches will be selected by the Presbytery and will generally be chosen from graduates of the local Covenant Bible Institute of Theology (“CBIT”) in Mbale, Uganda. The ongoing operation and care of the church will be the responsibility of the pastor, under the supervision of the Presbytery.
Church Planting
The model that King’s Kids Africa will use in planting new churches will follow the work of its partner, RMBC, in the Mbale area of Uganda.
It will be up to the Presbytery to identify a need, select the land, and contract/administer the construction of the church and pastor’s home. King’s Kids Africa will provide the funds for the land, structures, pews, sound system and Bibles, and will work with the Presbytery to “promote” the new church. To do this, King’s Kids Africa will work through its Board of Directors and Advisory Board to identify churches in the U.S. who have a heart for missions and a willingness to come along side King’s Kings Africa on a short-term mission trip to Uganda. Generally, these teams will include 20-30 people, including pastors from the participating churches. The trips will be timed to coincide with the opening of the new church. Once in Uganda, the teams will engage in teaching, discipleship training, children’s ministries, and evangelism. However, the primary focus will be to go hut-to-hut through the surrounding villages to: (1) share the gospel message of Jesus Christ; and (2) extend an invitation to attend the new church.
Everyone from the mission team will be assigned a local translator (generally a pastor or a student from CBIT). Then, the teams (1 “missionary” and 1 translator each) will walk along dirt paths and through the fields to simple mud huts along the way. At each hut, the teams will introduce themselves and ask for the opportunity to speak with the families. Using a booklet (track) by Evantell titled: “May I Ask You a Question” (which is presented in both English and Swahili), the “missionaries” and their translators will share the gospel message. The people of Uganda generally have a sense of God, but have never been told about Jesus. However, once they hear the Word, families are usually very quick to join the “missionary” in praying the sinner’s prayer for salvation.
This is a beautiful experience that touches and changes the lives of everyone who comes.
In addition to the hut-to-hut evangelism, the team will also work with the Presbytery and the new church pastor to hold a “crusade” every evening of the week leading up to the “grand opening” of the new church. The crusades will include local gospel music and will feature testimonies and preaching from the mission team. For many of the “missionaries” this will be the first time they have shared their personal testimony. So, these evening crusades will not only reach out to the local people, who will one day become members of this new church, but will stretch the mission team in a way they have never experienced before.
Then comes Sunday and the “grand opening” of the new church. People come from all directions, appearing out of cornfields, to enter the new church. Generally the church is filled beyond capacity with some people standing by the windows looking in. The mission team gathers the children for a Sunday school lesson under the trees, where it is not uncommon to have more than 300 children in attendance. After the morning service and the dedication of the new church, all the guests are fed a lunch (with “meat”), which serves as a special treat.
After the service and the long goodbyes, the mission team starts their journey home – never to be the same again!
Fresh Water
The single biggest factor in improving the health of children is the availability of clean water. Wherever King’s Kids Africa builds an orphan home, school or church, it will ensure that fresh water (through boring a shallow or deep well, spring capping or rain water collection) and sanitary facilities (generally pit latrines) will be provided, unless otherwise available nearby. Along with fresh water, King’s Kids Africa will provide training on proper sanitation and hygiene – the simple washing of hands and dishes.
Sustainability Programs
Sustainable development remains elusive for many African countries, including Uganda, with poverty remaining a major challenge. The lack of modern energy services is a major obstacle to sustainable development in rural Uganda, but King’s Kids Africa is committed to working alongside local communities to find solutions. King’s Kids Africa will network with other NGOs to identify and develop sustainable opportunities suitable for rural villages, including agriculture (e.g. farming and livestock), textiles (e.g. sewing), and micro-loans for small entrepreneurial business opportunities.
Local Churches