The Green House Orphanage

Kampala, Uganda; Saturday, May 30





I have to tell you about a brother and sister named Kevin and Catherine. He is 24. She is 21. Their parents died and left them as orphans. Kevin received a full scholarship to attend Liberty University in Virginia and has just graduated and is coming back to Uganda on Monday. Three years ago, Kevin looked around and realized that there were other orphans that needed care, so he and his sister began to take them in. At age 18, Catherine had become a mother to these children and their head caretaker, as Kevin returned to Liberty to study. Over the past three years, the number of orphans has reached a total of 68. The ages range from 3 months up to the lower teens. Catherine, a child herself, is now mother to 68! The only income they receive is from the part time job that Kevin has at school, which he balances with being a fulltime student. This brother and sister decided together that they would give their lives to these 68 children until they are grown and can provide for themselves. Their courage is a great challenge to me…

The children only get to eat once a day, around 3 or 4pm. She serves them tea in the morning to hold them over until then. And then lets them play in the afternoon until bed, in hopes that they will fall asleep before they realize their hunger pains and ask her for more.

For $100USD we were able to buy a wide variety of food for all of the children and give them a meal that would nourish their little bodies. Catherine, knowing each child intimately, cried throughout the meal because she couldn’t remember the last time she saw them enjoy eating so much…

When we first arrived, I was standing in the courtyard and a little girl in pink & white waddled up to me from across the way and hugged both of my legs. My heart melted! I scooped her up and held her until lunch was served. Her name is Shakira. At lunch, I watched as she ate three platefuls of food. When I picked her up again, her little belly was so full. And she held tightly onto a sippy cup full of orange soda, another rare treat. She wouldn’t let me take it from her little hands. So she fell asleep in my arms, gripping her prized possession.

Julie has a friend back home named Susan who hand designed special teddy bears with the wordless book sewn onto them for these orphans. We were blessed as we passed out the bears and watched the children…they were elated! When those teddy bears were in their arms, they all slipped into their imaginary worlds as they began to talk to the bears like any child would.

Before we left, Dale asked Catherine to share her story with us. Through her tears, she described what it has been like for her, day in and day out. She doesn’t know where the next bar of soap will come from. She washes all their clothes by hand. She makes all their food. She is mom to 68! But they all respect her. They love her. She is their stability. Catherine gets her strength from the Lord. But her situation is desperate. She needs help. She is carrying a burden that is far too great for such a young girl. We were able to pray for her and encourage her as best we could. And as we left, we hugged her and the children good-bye. With the needs so great, our few hours there seems like nothing. But to have her smile for one day, to lift her spirits for one day, to encourage her on one more day, is what God called us to Africa to do.

As I watched Shakira and the others, I wondered who they would become. Maybe the next Catherine, maybe the next President of Uganda, maybe the next great missionary… So Kevin and Catherine’s commitment to these children does matter. Our few hours with them does matter. When we do what God has called us to do, we have to trust that He has the rest under his sovereign control…