A Special Update from Legacy Christian Academy Uganda
A brief note from SOS staff - this update is being sent to Legacy Uganda supporters (current and recent). As Shannon notes in his update below, we are diligently working to provide more consistent and easier communication between sponsor and student, and are praising God for a new webmaster. See below for brief instructions on how to log in and communicate with your student. If you have any questions, or would like to send a one-time gift or a note to your student, please Contact Us .
Legacy Christian Academy, Uganda just completed its fifth year of service. Five years ago, it started with kindergarten and 1st grade. The goal was to educate and disciple the children in our community. We had no idea how the school would be embraced, since education was not a value for the people of our community. I will never forget the first day of class, watching 150 small, cute kids attending school for the first time. Half of the children spent the first week crying out of fear of being left at school. Today, those small, cute kids are now young adults, and the school has reached a population of 350 children. It is amazing! I could not be more thrilled that God has led us to establish this school. Now, as I look back at the year and reflect on all that has transpired, three words come to mind.
The first word is awe . I am proud to announce the fact that we have completed the construction of all the buildings for our primary school. This last year we finished the final classroom. This is a miracle. I literally want to cry as I consider the struggles and the steady progress the Lord has allowed us to go through to reach this benchmark. Every step consisted of putting pennies together and draining bank accounts to erect these building. Now that they are completed, we are in awe. We can’t help but ask the question, how did God allow this to happen? We are in awe of God's provision and are extremely thankful to the many hands that have enabled this to take place. A special thanks has to go out to a few families that faithfully sacrificed to make this happen —my dear brother and sister from California, my beloved sister from Texas, and the cherished foundation out of Kentucky. I love you guys, and the people from our community are forever indebted. As our hearts and attention this next year turn to the high school, we can't help but pause and reflect on God’s kindness.
The second word is pain . If I am honest, this year was not our most successful of years. This is mainly due to a miscalculation of the needs of growth known as growing pains. I knew our administration team was small, but I tried to squeeze one year out of the small team. This was mainly due to financials and a lack of highly qualified personnel. The first two terms were fine, but the last term, when the teachers got tired and Solomon’s dad passed away, we did not live up to the high standards for which we are aiming as an educational institution. Nonetheless, I am extremely thankful to Solomon and Damon for their tireless, faithful service. We have spent many hours within the last month rectifying the problems and fortifying the administrative team. I am really excited about next year.
The third word is growth . Legacy is growing not just numerically, but spiritually. What is hard about ministry in Uganda is the fact that ready-made, spiritually mature teachers and administrators are extremely rare or impossible to find. Therefore, Legacy is forced to disciple our teachers. This task is not easy. But the growth is very evident. The beginnings of a positive peer pressure for striving for Christ has taken root and the sweet aroma of a loving, Christ-exalting community has resulted. This is not just true among the teachers, it is also true among the students. The older kids are now starting to understand their need for God and are now starting to pursue Christ on their own. Every Sunday our church is filled with probably 200 children. We are longing for a deeper impact, but the seeds of faith are starting to sprout. Please pray with us that this next year will be a massive harvest.
Legacy is all that we have hoped it would be, but we have a long way to go to maximize our potential. We will get there, but please do pray with us that God will continue to cause the growth. We would also love for you to help us get the word out that sponsorship opportunities are available. Sadly, due to a technical problem with the communication between our website and the payment forum, we found that we had children marked as sponsored, but payments were not being made. The result was many unsponsored children. Therefore, we are seeking to fill this gap and get all of our children sponsored before a new group of 50 are added in February. Please pray and help us share this amazing ministry with others…
We love you and are honored to serve alongside you.
Your fellow pilgrim,
Shannon Hurley
SOS Ministries
Need more information? Take a few minutes and watch this short video providing an overview of Legacy Christian Academy Uganda. You can also find more information on SOS Ministries at www.sosministries.com , including more information on Legacy Christian Academy .
Legacy Portal Instructions
If you sponsored a Legacy student by the Legacy student portal at sponsor.sosministries.com , you should be able to view your account, update, and send your student a message. Just go to Manage My Account, and then Dashboard. If you have any difficulties or questions, please Contact Us. While we work on continued improvements to the student sponsorship portal, we would be happy to personally transmit a note to your student.
Thank you so much for your faithful support...
For additional information or questions...
1.877.4UGANDA info@sosministries.com
