Uganda One 2023!

Video Posted on September 6, 2022 Updated on January 17, 2023

Hello everyone! If you haven’t visited us at First Christian Church Aurora, IL please drop by on Sunday, 10 Am for worship and the Word! We love you and are grateful to partner with you for Uganda One 2023!

Uganda Mission 2023

“They are all hungry. They are all beautiful. They are all alone …save one man.”

Imagine you are are cut off from the whole world in a desolate place where kind hearts willing to make a difference cannot go.

Imagine knowing that your own mother tossed you in the trash when you were a baby so you were raised by religious radicals and taught to hate. Imagine finding the love of Jesus as you became a man and wanting to share it with everyone. Now imagine that those who saved you from the trash are now trying to hurt and kill you. Every time you start a new church of believers under a thatch roof, they come and burn it. They drag you to prison and pay the guards to beat you daily until you reject your belief in Jesus.

Imagine knowing that others half way around the globe want to help but cannot.

This is the story of Bishop Otim and we at First Christian Church are privileged to be a part of his redemption story!

Uganda One 2023 is the partnerships formed after 5 years of labor together to establish the work already underway by the man I consider to be my son in the Lord Jesus, Bishop Hallan Otim.

In 2017 the Leadership of KMMG partnered with me to help legitimize the Bishop in his nation after nearly 19 years of work. Last year First Christian Church joined us and now in 2023, we are excited to welcome Covenant Christian School, Aurora, IL to the effort!

Here is the overview: the children of CCS will bring in dollars for the freedom to wear jeans on Fridays. The money from this will go directly to feed and house our Orphans in Palissa Uganda under the Bishops care. We currently have around 350 children at the orphanage from only a few months old to age 13.

It only takes us 2-3 US dollars to feed and house one orphan in our facility per month. So if a child brings one dollar in every Friday, two children will be fed and housed that month! Imagine if it were that easy to feed and house our own!

If you are a parent of a student at CCS, know that we will not take a penny out of that, but all the money goes directly to the care of the orphans.

Please read on for more information or talk to myself or a staff member at FCC or CCS.

We can use much more help.

Bishop Hallan Otim lives and works with people in remote bush villages in eastern Uganda where poverty’s hold has made the people hopeless and desperate. Children roam the footpaths with no food, no water, and no one to take them in, …parents dead from famine and disease.

In 2017, Pastor Shaun heeded a “Macedonian-call“ from the Ugandan Rev. Hallan Otim who had been praying for connection to a scripturally solid ministry, to learn from, and partner with, in the United States.

The ministry of Rev. Hallan Otim is serious and manifold in many remote areas of Uganda where Bibles are scarce, and basic human needs are even more so. He had, (by 2017), with Gods help, single-handedly started over 50 bush churches and continually visits these remote villages, often on foot if he could not find a bicycle to borrow.

After nearly a year of remote relationship building, Rev. Shaun Hays, flew to Entebbe, Uganda to travel with Rev Hallan eastward to remote villages and witness the stories firsthand.

“I was astonished at the widespread poverty while still in the international cities of Entebbe and Kampala, but as you travel further East, it is clear there are even fewer opportunities and hopelessness abounds.”

“The continuing ministry of Rev Hallan is built around Scripture:

“James 1:26-27

26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

I have never witnessed a more literal undertaking of scripture and such a committed group of ministers in all my travels. The ministry Rev. Otim has established in eastern Uganda is convicting. I have so much to learn from them!”

While the ministers are very committed and enthusiastically carrying the Gospel to remote villages, they acknowledge their lack of training and are seeking more ministry resources from us. This involves: Bibles, writings, and educational lesson plans in English and their various tribal languages.

However, Rev Hays witnessed a greater, more immediate need during his travels with Rev Hallan to several sites.

“Upon arrival to the Ebenezer Orphanage, I learned that no one sponsors this place. No group sends money. The government ignores their need. Rev Hallan, thru fasting and prayer alone, finds small amounts of food and (less than pure) water to bring. A handful of volunteers tend to well over 100 children at this site with no mattresses, no medical attention, no clean water source and often not enough food. Many of the children under the age of 5 had Cholera, Malaria or even HIV/AIDS. They are all hungry. They are all beautiful. They are all alone …save one man.”

Until now.

We have joined the efforts of Rev. Hallan to change the way he is able to minister to the needs of these children and continue to partner with he and his ministers in these remote villages.

In the last month of 2017, we put out the plea to help the Ebenezer Orphans, calling this partnership “Uganda One”, as it was our first priority in Uganda. Our precious friends responded and we raised enough money to pay the years’ back rent on the property, and to give the Children and workers a Christmas Feast! We were also able to get some critical medical attention to some of the children!

In 2018, we raised funds to pay monthly rent and get food, clean water delivery and firewood at the orphanage and found a new central office of operations for Rev Hallan (now an officially recognized Bishop!) This was needed to coordinate his efforts throughout six districts. We provided a safe haven for Muslim converts to receive discipleship, an educational center with playground for ministers’ kids and residences with plumbing and electricity for five of the poorest newly ordained ministers’ families. We provided smart phones and a tablet for the ministry and best of all…

We were able to get emergency medical care for Bishop Hallan’s youngest daughter, “Blessing Otim” when she contracted Malaria and they were quickly losing her.

Hallan continued to travel to see widows, pray with them and bring them food. He visited the orphanage at Ebenezer and several schools that have taken in some our orphans. He brought food, when he is able, to help the schools as they teach our future Ugandan Christian leaders.

At this point we have seen the weekly loss of orphaned children to malnutrition, dehydration and diseases all but STOPPED! Praise God!

Among many of the great stories we now have, B Hallan Otim has been conducting ongoing training conferences for up to 60 associated ministers with our materials, and has many ministers from other groups clamoring to join.

The lovely people in our churches/ministries in Uganda continuously tell us that they are praying and fasting for us and all the donors who remember them with their financial gifts.

First Christian Church Aurora IL is now partnering with Bishop Hallan Otim. The people of his churches are praying for us. They want God to bless us and to grow our ministry. They want us healthy and close to God. They pray in very intense prayer meetings for God to do miracles in our lives and our community.

They are asking for our help to make this vision of Bishop Hallan Otim a reality:

-that his orphans and widows would know that someone in America loves them and prays for them. That all his ministers families would have health and that there would be food to give the hungry. That their ministry could have a car someday and that their children will know God.

We don’t think that’s too much to ask.

We are dedicated to non-toxic missions efforts that will help our people in Uganda become self sustainable. We have a goal of replicating this throughout Africa and the world, but we are at a crucial moment this year.

B. Hallan is a super great minister who’s helping so many hurting people without enough money to get the job done right.

We’d love to see his efforts rewarded and increased every year. By end of 2024, we want to see full sponsorship of every Ebenezer orphan, a jobs training program, a vehicle for the ministers to share, portable PA and music outreach, and a fresh well dug for clean water wherever they need it most.

and every little bit helps-

In fact, the very smallest amount … really does help and Pastor Shaun and Faith makes sure every single penny gets to them by covering all administrative expenses out of our own pockets.

How can I Help?

The most effective way you can help is by a faithful monthly donation. Small, regular giving from many, helps more than a large one time gift.

Give to the Ebenezer Orphanage

$2 per month – $24 per year

One orphan – food, water and housing for the month.

$7 per month – $84

One orphan – food, housing, clean water, clothes, educational opportunities and a mattress to sleep on!

$15 per month – $180

Your donation provides them all this, plus special medical attention as many are susceptible to diseases.

You can choose – orphan – widow

You can sponsor a Native Ugandan Minister and his family like Bishop Hallan Otim or his many young pastors. $555/ year will provide them with some much needed materials for ministry training, food and housing for their family. If you ask, we will provide you with photos and other special ways to connect to these ministers.