Do orphans celebrate birthdays??

 

Sadly enough…I have never met an orphan that knew when their actual  birthday was 🙁 …. but as a part of being  called to look after widows & orphans in their distress… we can each celebrate our OWN birthday in a way that significantly impacts the orphans that don’t!  Let me tell you how by sharing our story…

I thought of this yesterday as we celebrated our Joseph’s … 13th birthday!

Joseph is 13 at his 10th birthday celebration

Ten years ago, when Joseph became our fourth child, he was estimated to be 2.5 years old. So since no one knew when his actual birth date was… we chose a birth date that would align with that timing and gave him the reverse of  Russ’s birthday and month 11/9/99 (just in case, in our old age, our memory’s failed us :)).   So approximately 6 months after Joseph became our son, we celebrated his birthday for the very first time. We called it his 3rd  FIRST birthday… and it was sweet beyond words!!! He loved the packages that came so beautifully wrapped…but was perfectly pleased to just be getting a beautifully wrapped package…he had no idea that he was supposed to actually OPEN it!

Now…10 years later our lives have been blessed by having Joseph in our family…and even though he knows now,  that he’s supposed to open a gift when someone gives one to him…he is still abundantly grateful for it as he is with most things in life and especially in family… even 10 years later at 13…he  does not take life or family for granted!

When we were in the USA this past September,  one selfless little girl who had been so inspired by Walloon Lake Community Church’s VBS program where the kids raised enough money to build a whole house for a Granny and her Orphans in Uganda, that she decided to ‘dedicate’ her own birthday to the orphans.  She sent out invitations to all her friends but asked that instead of a gift, if they could bring a donation for the orphans of The Way Home project! All her friends came to celebrate with donations for orphans in Uganda…so while she celebrated in Mancelona Michigan…she made impact on orphans, who never celebrate their birthdays,  in Uganda…what a GIFT!!!

 You can be part of  “looking after orphans & widows” too with a birthday or any other creative way the spirit may move you to be part of impacting  those less fortunate on the opposite side of the globe!

Imagine the memorable gift that would be to you ?  A gift that keeps on giving…

Need some help getting the creative juices flowing??  browse our MAKE AN IMPACT  page for ideas

Be sure to keep in touch with TWH ministry to widows & orphans by clicking here for our  NEWSLETTTER

 

The Way Home Africa logo

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!

  TAAAA DAAAAA!!!  We are very excited to share our joy in unveiling …

our new website WWW.THEWAYHOMEAFRICA.COM ;

share it with your friends and keep in touch by letting us know what you think…at info@thewayhomeafrica.com 

With God’s provision of an extremely patient and gifted missionary / webmaster from the Ukraine, Jason Wiser (http://webinationstation.com), our new user-friendly website and store to benefit destitute widows raising orphans deep in the village of eastern Uganda…is now LIVE and responsive on an internet connection near YOU!

 

Get involved and stay in the loop of all the latest news by subscribing to our updates too! 5 minute overview of just what The Way Home is all about:

 THE WAY HOME MINISTRY in REVIEW 2012

THE WAY HOME MINISTRY OVERVIEW 2012PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYER:

  • Our staff in Uganda has successfully kept the foundations building, the families thriving, and the futures developing for our 40 granny families and the surrounding village community while we were in the states
  • Even though the drought has been long & the rainy season late…our Granny Families Farming God’s Way gardens have produced testimony harvests to God’s Glory!
  • Pray for wisdom as we emphasize outreach through Farming God’s Way to the rapidly growing Muslim community in our Luuka district.
  • Please pray for our planning of our “adoption-God’s idea!” seminar to 100 pastors and their wives in early January

how do I get involved?

 “I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS;
I WILL COME TO YOU”…

John 14:18

The Way Home...click & give on purpose! Grateful & Blessed from YOUR FEET… keeping FAMILY together in Uganda!

       Russ & Marcia …Joseph, Dominick & Samson 🙂 

TWH ‘s Marathoner time 4:34 = 4:34 LIVES changed

 

NO COINCIDENCE in Her finish time

God ALONE could only have sovereignly planned to provide homes in Uganda for 4 widowed grannies raising their 34 orphaned grandchildren through Trisha Brayton AgerMarathon finish in 4 hours:34 minutes.

God asked our good friend Trisha to run for orphans…she answered that call and finished the race with perseverance to change the whole world for 4 grannies + 34 orphans in 4 hours 34 minutes…all THE WAY HOME for them !!!

Thank you Trisha & dedicated team of supporters to the least of these here. We are overwhelmed with your dedication..
Much love,
Granny Getulida and her 14,
Granny Zeulense and her 7,
Granny Tapenensi and her 6,
Granny Faith and her 7 orphans …
and the Baugh family and the entire Way HOME team  🙂

THE WAY HOME’s personal marathoner and support team!

Walk through a Granny interview with US!

 20 Grannies raising 122 orphans
2012 INTERVIEWS
Will you join us in the village?

As we arrive at Granny Getulida’s small mud hut after bumping many kilometers deep in the village of Luuka district, in a cloud of orange dust from the dry mar-rum roads…we are greeted with dancing and clapping hands from the grannies and their older orphans, while gathering whatever benches or chairs they can find for US to sit on and grass mats for themselves.
Then the fearful tears erupt from the younger orphans who’ve never seen a “Mzungu” (white person) before. Several minutes of greetings begin as the Granny and her grandchildren all drop to their knees in the dirt overflowing with expressions of gratitude for our visit…in Lusoga, their local language.
Present are Arch Deacon George Impande who helps us organize and screen our Grannies under the qualifying criteria, the local pastor of the village church that the granny attends, Alfred Nabudere (TWH construction manager), Charles Kyakola (TWH Farming God’s Way manager), Russ & Marcia, as well as ever increasing numbers of inquisitive adults & children that accumulate from the village as we begin asking questions through Arch Deacon George as our interpreter.

How long have you been widowed? 15 years
How many biological children do you have? 2 how many are still living? none
How many orphaned grandchildren are you, alone, caring for now?
 FOURTEEN !!
What are their names and ages? Louisa 14, Robert 11, Sharon 10, Isaaka7, Rose 7, Betty 7, Memu 6, Jennifer 6, Eflance 5, Daniel 5, Apaphra 5, Charles 3, Cate 2, Sarah 2
Are any of them in school? no
What is the size of your land? 20 by 50 sticks (200 ‘ by 500’)

In the meantime Alfred gets permission, and is taking photos of the Granny, her children, the condition of her present home, and determining the degree of her need & and property and Charles is evaluating the land for placement of a “well-watered” Farming God’s Way garden. Alfred finds one small mud-brick hut with a sparsely covered grass thatch roof  with a cook fire inside, and NO bathroom or latrine at all, only some bannana leaves tied up to provide a screen with a plastic basin for bathing on the ground.

 

 

Russ then thanks the Granny for taking in her grandchildren and caring for them..and reminds her what an important job God has given her. He explains that The Way Home is a ministry made up of Christians who love the Lord and because of that, “care about YOU and your family!” They desire to give sacrificially from what God gives them to make it possible for us to help build you a stable home that will keep your family together after you are gone, and teach you about farming in a way that you will SEE God’s all sufficiency, with the resources God has already given you. He explains further about the details of the spiritual and health teaching we will provide for the grannies in groups with their orphans and promises to return to begin building a new family home and latrine/bathroom for them in the next few months.

Their local pastor then closes our meeting in prayer and breaks into a familiar song all in Lusoga language…we join them in English and for a few moments worship together 🙂

“Oh God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come;
Our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal HOME! ” 
Followed by jubilant dancing and expressions of thanks from young & old…and then by the most humbling ending …the widow’s mite -Luke 21:1-4
We have received various gifts at the conclusion of the interview: ground nuts (peanuts), beans, eggs, jack fruit…but the custom of most is to show their gratitude by giving us a chicken…however this Granny had NO chicken, or anything else to give us…so as we walk to the car to leave…she gives Russ a big hug as she quietly stuffs a 10,000 shilling note (approximately  $4.00) into his hand to buy a chicken!!!To receive this fortune from this destitute Granny was excruciatingly humbling…but to not take it would’ve been the ultimate insult and cultural fop-aux.With a lump in our throats and a humbled understanding of the widow who gave the Lord her two mites, we press on to the next Granny family…
Granny Lakeri
Granny Tapenensi
Granny Louisa

YOU CALL IT CORN… WE CALL IT MAIZE!

 

WHAT YOU SOW YOU WILL REAP!

 

We are back in Uganda and as we move forward we think of the many of you we know so well. In many cases as we grew in maturity together over the past years, didn’t we increasingly understand it is God’s Word that’s the ultimate authority for the truths we live by and that turning to His Word brings the revelation and enlightenment that loosens, removes and breaks the yoke of spiritual poverty? For villagers in the part of Uganda God has us, enormous strongholds of witchcraft and ancestral worship and the active witch doctors are found in enormous numbers along with the advancement of Islam. People consult them in nearly all critical stages of life including birth, sickness, adolescence, circumcision, weddings and funerals. Witchdoctors and Imam’s are brought in to pray over land and the harvest. Many consult witchdoctors and here they perform rituals including sacrificing chickens, sprinkling of animal blood, spreading bones, placing potions and putting of animal skulls on corner posts. These efforts seek to bring temporary relief until the next crisis arises. These efforts feed the African state of hopelessness, poverty and spiritual bankruptcy. No technology will break the curse of poverty over Africa. But the curse can be broken both by His Word and deed applied to the life of one in need of Him!
For Annet and Florence, the good news of God’s solutions to life in spiritual and physical poverty was told at our first Farming God’s Way (FGW) conference. Along with the Technical and Management teaching of Farming God’s Way we taught most of the two day conference on the FGW Biblical Keys. They are:
1) Acknowledge God and God alone. Prov. 3:5-6; Dt. 8:18.
2) Consider your ways. Haiggai 1:2-11 It’s God who withholds rain and curses land and as it was for Israel, it is for anyone who turns their backs to the Lord in rebellion. We may not alone change a nation, but each can consider our ways and influence others change his ways. 1 Peter 2:5.
3) Understanding God’s All Sufficiency. 1 Corinthinans 9:8.
4) What you Sow You Will Reap. Too often there and here the poor look to the wrong source. Others become the provider in place of God. 2 Thess. 3:10 (Land becomes fallow because we cannot keep taking without giving back). FGW teaches to sow bountifully, knowledgeably, faithfully and with joy!
5) Bringing the Tithes and Offerings to God. Mt. 6:20-21.
6) Stake Your Claim. Humbly seek His Face, Confess and Repent, Ask in Prayer and Stand Firm. James 5:14; Prov. 15:29; 2 Chronicles 7:14.
These Biblical Keys are followed and supported in teaching the Technical and Management legs of the FGW system of agriculture that can increase the farm produce production by 3 to 10 times the traditional farming methods…
ALL PRAISES TO GOD OUR PROVIDER !!

SEE YOU SOON ?

 ARRIVALS

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3: 5-6

When you hear that their are 143,000,000 orphans in the world and that shoulder to shoulder they reach around the globe two and a half times…. what comes to your mind? Here in Sub-Saharan Africa live a great percentage of those orphans, increasing the population by one orphaned child every 15 seconds!!! This is the tragically victimized and most vulnerable people whom God loves and has clearly commissioned each of us to be blessed by “looking after” in James 1:27. A few are called to Uganda to obey that command…but all of us, as a child adopted into God’s family, may do something really good to join in caring for this most vulnerable group of God’s littlest people…a life-changing challenge He has issued, coupled with responsibility, privilege and blessing!

 

ARRIVING in the USA August 2-October 27
 

The Way Home’s foundation has been providentially rooted in one of the poorest areas of east Uganda having the highest AIDS statistics and Muslim population. God has been cutting an amazing trail here that is empowering these orphans and their grannies to survive and thrive not by traditional practices but by dependence on God’s provision and learning more of living according to His principles. We are coming to the States to update and encourage you with the incredible journey to date and bless you with a peek at the potential. The Gospel of Salvation and of Kingdom living brought to them through Word and Deed is changing lives before our very eyes!

WE WOULD LOVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE, WITH OUR TEAM THERE AND ANY WHO WOULD LIKE TO HEAR WHAT GOD IS DOING THROUGH THE THE WAY HOMEIN THE LIVES OF ORPHANS AND WIDOWS HERE IN UGANDA. Summer is not over yet and we will be there soon…

PLEASE CONTACT US TO SCHEDULE A TIME TO SHARE OR SPEAKmailto:BAUGHSINAFRICA@YAHOO.COM

With Granny Annet’s thumbprint she secures a home for her 6 orphaned grandchildren’s future

TRANSFORMATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

FOUNDATIONS

The Wise and Foolish Builders

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:24-26

Granny Florence’s DIGNITY returneth!!
How can we even imagine being a widowed granny, having a family of 7, loss of sight and mobility AND having NO BATHROOM at all?

 

Granny Florence’s previous Latrine/Bathroom
BEFORE


Do you think it’s possible that this Granny and family might be even more excited about having this new Latrine/Bathroom than their new house?

Wouldn’t you be? 

 

AFTER!

BEFORE…

This was the life of Granny Florence and her 6 orphaned children:
In a matter of a few weeks, with an investment of about $2,000.00 this Granny’s life and the future for her 6 grandchildren HAS BEEN forever changed.
Being hernia-free, having a proper latrine and bathroom, a new house with separate bedrooms for she and her young grandchildren will empower this family to survive and prosper with God’s help.

              
             

 AFTER !!

MISSION:
By Word and Deed, THE WAY HOME seeks to
advocate for the physical, emotional and spiritual
needs of abandoned and at-risk children in Uganda,
to grow up in a loving family and know the love of Jesus.

 

 


THIS mission that is not just building homes that provide PHYSICAL foundations for widowed grannies and their orphaned grandchildren, but SHOWING them through Word and Deed, the FOUNDATION…the ROCK…JESUS who IS truly: THE WAY HOME! As we write to you today, the foundation for the third Granny’s house is being laid!

Generous support of this ministry both prayerfully and financially is the catalyst to bearing lasting fruit for the Kingdom!

We remain merely the PHYSICAL FEET sent to SHOW THE SPIRITUAL WAY HOME… THE STRONG FOUNDATION…ONE FOUNDATIONAL BRICK AT A TIME…

WANT TO HEAR MORE?
THE BAUGH’S WILL BE IN THE USA FOR JUST A FEW WEEKS TO SHARE THIS PROJECT WITH YOUR CHURCH, GROUP OR INDIVIDUALS SEPT-OCT, 2011

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR A TIME TO SHARE THE DETAILS OF WHAT GOD IS DOING HERE WITH NEW POTENTIAL PARTNERS WHO MAY ALSO BE CALLEDTO HELP US CARE “FOR THE LEAST OF THESE”

THIS YEAR 20 GRANNIES WILL RECEIVE VITAL HELP. WE ARE ASKING GOD TO PROVIDE $55,000 FOR A 2012 GRANNY PROGRAM WITH EXPANDED SERVICES TO THEM AND 20 MORE.

Granny Florence is number ONE!!!

How on earth does one choose from 19 grannies all struggling to survive in the circumstances they’ve been given?… This one has no latrine…this one is living with animals in her house, but this one is crippled….this one has more orphaned children that are young, this one has crumbling walls and many holes in her iron sheet roof …

We believe, after discerning these variables, the one chosen first, was God’s decision….
Introducing HIS first choice: Granny Florence and her six young grandchildren ages 2-14!

Florence does not know how old she is but on the day that we came to officially read the agreement that would provide her with a new home and a latrine, she literally dragged her lame legs and cataract covered eyes across the dirt and over to the grass mat to be within inches of the reading of the agreement, so as not to miss a word.

With tears, a hand-clap from the gathering crowd and an THUMBPRINT for a signature the ground was broken for her new castle in the village!

Pastor Alfred and Russ prepare for the ceremony!

BEFORE…
This was the life of Granny Florence and her 6 orphaned children:
In approximately 3 weeks, with an investment of about $2,000.00 this Granny’s house will be finished and her life and the future for her 6 grandchildren will be forever changed.
Having a proper latrine and bathroom, a new house with separate bedrooms for she and her young grandchildren will empower this family to survive and prosper with God’s help.

Your generous sacrifice to support this ministry both prayerfully and financially is the catalyst to bearing lasting fruit for the Kingdom!
We remain merely the feet that God has called to bring the Good News of His generous and obedient followers desiring to be an ACTIVE part of making a difference for ONE child and family at a time in Uganda…according to His Word and by His power …ONE STEP AT A TIME…

To GOD be the GLORY!!!

EXTREME MAKEOVER…UGANDA!!

 

Meet Granny Annet coming to greet us with a smile and a stool to make US… comfortable while we interview HER!
She is mother of 8 biological children- 7 of whom are still living. Immediately after her husband died several years ago, she was forced off her land and out of her home by her 7 children…she fled to this area and sold her only possession, a cow, to buy this 50′ X 100′ land where she lives and cares for 5 grandchildren of her eldest deceased son, in this small hut with no latrine and a small puddle of banana leaves for a bathing area.

Our two days in the villages in the Districts of Iganga and Luuka driving one tracks, in ruts, across fields, to find one of our 19 potential grannies one by one by one was nothing short of an amazing experience. Sometimes groups of neighbors gathered as we talked up to 75. We were utterly aghast and humbled and broken hearted at what we saw and at the same time, felt honored and joy filled that we are in a position to help these faithful hero’s who sustain the lives of their grandchildren.

Even the 2-3 Ugandan pastors (one our construction manager) riding with us, when we loaded the van after talking to the granny, getting the lowdown on her and one to seven grand kids, taking pics of her make shift accommodations, etc. were altogether silent for minutes as we moved on to the next place. These leaders are not newcomers to the poverty in their Church areas and are men who have fantastic senses of humor and who are wonderful evangelical Christian leaders. So as we went along silently together we all were in agreement the Lord is the be all and end all… as we have the amazing opportunity to do this work. We thank you all wherever you are who are generous and giving your prayers and resources so diligently to support us and the project and make this opportunity to serve, a reality!

We have taken many photos…so there is definitely more sharing to come…just wanted to update you on your prayer results !!! Extreme Make-Over Home Edition….Uganda !!! is coming 🙂

With our love and gratitude,
Russ and Marcia Joseph, Dominick and Samson

Meet SEFOLO-ZA, Granny of 14 !!!

 

 

Losing her children to HIV Aids this sweet Granny, Sefolo-Za, that we met last week, represents a large population of unsung heroes who bury their own children only to begin raising their grandchildren to keep them from being statistics added to the already horrendous numbers of Aids orphans. The area church leader that we met greeted us with this statement..”This year is declared as the ‘year of children and youth’ Thank GOD for your coming…we have been praying for YOU to come!”
We can hardly wait to begin working with and serving these brave, selfless and hard working elderly saints!!

Newsletter

Get latest news & update

Do you have questions?
Call or visit us.

1 (231) 735-7441
Every Child Ministries
c/o The Way Home
P.O. Box 810
Hebron, IN 46341