Destiny Children’s Home

Kampala, Uganda; Tuesday, May 26







We drove up into the mountains to Destiny Children’s Home where 1,200 children have taken refuge from the dangerous city slums and the grasp of the LRA {Lord’s Resistance Army}. The LRA, led by a wicked man named Joseph Kony, is a guerilla army based in Northern Uganda who engaged in armed rebellion against the Ugandan government. They have killed thousands and displaced millions. Kony and his rebels are now hiding in the Bush between the Congo and Sudan, continually crossing the boarder to escape capture.

Originally, Destiny Children’s Home was to be built in Gulu for the hundreds of children displaced/orphaned by the LRA. But after assessing the situation, World Help believed that the Home would be a prime target for Kony and his rebels. They did not want to put the children in such close proximity to him in fear that they would be killed/abducted. So 700 of these children from Gulu were placed at Destiny, some six hours away from Kony’s reach.

The Head Master of Destiny, John Michael, partnered with World Help and the Rock to continue to build the necessary facilities from the money that our students raised. John Michael invited us to Uganda to dedicate the finished building, which was a dorm facility to house 200 boys. He informed us that from the 1,200 children, 20% have parents that don’t have enough money to take care of them, 20% are half orphans, and 60% are complete orphans.

As our vans pulled up to the protected community tucked away in the lush mountains, the iron gates opened. We walked under the terrace and before us, lining the long driveway, were hundreds of children in uniforms waving and welcoming us in. We were led to the front of the boys’ dorm, where all of the children waited patiently on the hillside. To our surprise, they had prepared a welcome ceremony that included tribal song/dance. It really takes your breath away when you think about all of the tragedy and pain they’ve experienced in their short little lives, and how in light of it all they sing to the Lord with everything they have left. And if their courage doesn’t bring you to tears, the words that they sing will.

We finished the ceremony, opened the new dorms, and stood back as 200 boys flooded into the facility. Shrieks, shrills and laughter filled the air as I made my way into one of the rooms. Little smiling faces surrounded me as I scanned the area, packed with bunk beds. I asked one of the boys if he wanted a photo with his bed…in which I immediately had twenty new requests. They all wanted a photo on their bed. And as I was photographing them striking poses, giggling and jumping around, I realized that this was the only property they “owned.” This little space, this little mattress, this little pile of sheets was theirs. It was in this moment, photographing orphans, that demonstrated for me the weight of what our students at the Rock had done and the impact that one person can have in the life of another. And it reaffirmed for me that I serve a loving God who cares about the 200 so much that he would send people from the other side of the world to share this moment and provide for these needs.

Before we left, we surprised the children with ice cream. John Michael told us they only get ice cream once a year so this was a really big treat. I have never seen such smiles! Their eyes lit up with excitement and the classrooms broke out in cheers. These children were beyond ecstatic. We passed out all 1,200 ice cream containers and watched in amazement as some shoveled it down, some savored it as long as they could, some put it in their book bags for later and some just held it. Some even washed out the plastic container when they were done just to keep it…