Ministry and Family Needs
As we prepared to leave Florida for Uganda, we felt that we were not to solicit any financial support and that God would lead people to give as needed. We are still operating under that premise, but do feel the freedom to let needs be known. For now, we will not directly solicit anyone for help, but we feel like we can let you know how to help if God so leads.
God provided abundantly for us financially through the sale of our home, and we will continue to use those resources as long as necessary. Thus far, we have spent over $80,000 out of our personal savings and have received about $10,000 in donations. We greatly appreciate those who have responded to the promptings of the Spirit to give to us and/or the ministry needs in Uganda.
We have some bigger needs coming up that you may want to help with. First off, we have another container coming to Uganda in either January or February. This container will mostly be filled with exercise equipment for the gym that I am trying to start. It looks like the gym will be part of a Christian Student Center at Kampala International University. Shipping the container will cost $10,000, and clearing customs will be between $1,000 and $2,000. I paid for the purchase of the equipment already, and also received a generous donation of equipment from Lee Ellis of Body Dynamics and Jon Willis of Destin Athletic Club. If you know either of them, please tell them thanks for their generosity.
More about the student center…My goal for the KIU church is to develop a Christian student activities center beside the campus. They have no student services of any type at the campus, so this could be an awesome thing. KIU has about 5,000 students and over 800 of them attend the church. They use the largest room on campus for church services, but have no other access to space during the week. In the student center, I would like to have a gym, a computer lab, a library with Christian books, a game room, and rooms for Bible studies and discipleship. The needs here are: money to ship the next container, books for the library, rent for the building (I haven’t located a place yet, so I don’t know how much but probably around $1500/month), and stocking the game room. My dream for a game room would be a pool table, ping-pong table, board games, and Play Station. They are paying to do these things, but they are almost always in bars and nightclubs. This could also be a place, once established, where short-term teams could come in and work with the students or help to develop the facility. I am excited about this vision, because it could attract non-Christians, and if they got saved, then they would already be plugged into a network for discipleship. The church has very limited space for any type of discipleship or training, and the space in the student center could be used for that, as well. Originally, I was planning on charging to use the gym, but I really want this to be an outreach. I may have a minimal charge just to keep the riff-raff out, but they need Christ, too. Pray that God would provide clear direction on how to operate the center.
We also hope to include some basic food and household items on our next shipment, if there is adequate space. It is mostly small items that we cannot obtain here or that are very expensive. It is kind of frustrating to make this list, because almost every non-food item is something that we gave away before coming. I have provided the list to Karen Van de Voorde at Heart of the Bride if you are interested in either purchasing or contributing to the purchase. It would be best if you coordinated with her so that we don’t get duplication of items. She can be reached at 850-678-9008 or karenwithhob@yahoo.com.
Thank you for prayerfully considering if God would have you participate in this effort. Many have asked us recently, probably because of Christmas approaching, about what we need. We are humbled by those who wish to partner with us and minister to us.
Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Kevin for the Tribe
As we prepared to leave Florida for Uganda, we felt that we were not to solicit any financial support and that God would lead people to give as needed. We are still operating under that premise, but do feel the freedom to let needs be known. For now, we will not directly solicit anyone for help, but we feel like we can let you know how to help if God so leads.
God provided abundantly for us financially through the sale of our home, and we will continue to use those resources as long as necessary. Thus far, we have spent over $80,000 out of our personal savings and have received about $10,000 in donations. We greatly appreciate those who have responded to the promptings of the Spirit to give to us and/or the ministry needs in Uganda.
We have some bigger needs coming up that you may want to help with. First off, we have another container coming to Uganda in either January or February. This container will mostly be filled with exercise equipment for the gym that I am trying to start. It looks like the gym will be part of a Christian Student Center at Kampala International University. Shipping the container will cost $10,000, and clearing customs will be between $1,000 and $2,000. I paid for the purchase of the equipment already, and also received a generous donation of equipment from Lee Ellis of Body Dynamics and Jon Willis of Destin Athletic Club. If you know either of them, please tell them thanks for their generosity.
More about the student center…My goal for the KIU church is to develop a Christian student activities center beside the campus. They have no student services of any type at the campus, so this could be an awesome thing. KIU has about 5,000 students and over 800 of them attend the church. They use the largest room on campus for church services, but have no other access to space during the week. In the student center, I would like to have a gym, a computer lab, a library with Christian books, a game room, and rooms for Bible studies and discipleship. The needs here are: money to ship the next container, books for the library, rent for the building (I haven’t located a place yet, so I don’t know how much but probably around $1500/month), and stocking the game room. My dream for a game room would be a pool table, ping-pong table, board games, and Play Station. They are paying to do these things, but they are almost always in bars and nightclubs. This could also be a place, once established, where short-term teams could come in and work with the students or help to develop the facility. I am excited about this vision, because it could attract non-Christians, and if they got saved, then they would already be plugged into a network for discipleship. The church has very limited space for any type of discipleship or training, and the space in the student center could be used for that, as well. Originally, I was planning on charging to use the gym, but I really want this to be an outreach. I may have a minimal charge just to keep the riff-raff out, but they need Christ, too. Pray that God would provide clear direction on how to operate the center.
We also hope to include some basic food and household items on our next shipment, if there is adequate space. It is mostly small items that we cannot obtain here or that are very expensive. It is kind of frustrating to make this list, because almost every non-food item is something that we gave away before coming. I have provided the list to Karen Van de Voorde at Heart of the Bride if you are interested in either purchasing or contributing to the purchase. It would be best if you coordinated with her so that we don’t get duplication of items. She can be reached at 850-678-9008 or karenwithhob@yahoo.com.
Thank you for prayerfully considering if God would have you participate in this effort. Many have asked us recently, probably because of Christmas approaching, about what we need. We are humbled by those who wish to partner with us and minister to us.
Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Kevin for the Tribe
posted by Ironside Tribe at 3:00 AM
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