July 5, 2026

Hi all!

We have an update - one that we are very excited about.

Before I (Taylor) begin, let me give you a little background. Our family has been here in Uganda for almost 3 years now, having come to work with children with disabilities and their families through Ekisa Ministries. As you can imagine - and as we've posted about before - once our feet hit the ground, two things happened: we got plugged into a local church, and we began to meet people in our community.

During the course of these 3 years, in addition to the work we've been doing with Ekisa, our work in those other two areas (church and community) has only deepened.

At our church, we oversee the children's ministry, which serves 80 children each week under the age of 14.

And in our community, the relationships we've built have given rise to some wonderful, organic ministry opportunities.

One of those opportunities has been sponsoring children to go to school.

Here in Uganda, there aren't any free schools - even the public schools in the poorest communities charge tuition. And considering that the median wage is $2.74 per day, there are a lot of families who can't afford to send their children to school. Or - what might be worse - can't afford to send all of their children to school, so they have to choose which ones to send. Or pull their kids out of school after 3rd grade, when they've at least learned to read and write, to make room for the younger siblings to get the same basic education.

That said, from early on here, we've found that a simple, yet meaningful, way to show love to a family - both to the parent(s) and the children - is to help out with tuition and school supplies. And as we've done it on a small scale for the past three years, we've noticed a particular fruitfulness among the children we've been sponsoring.

Of course, we knew that the children were growing in their education. But also, we saw that they were getting a taste of childhood for a little longer, rather than having to stay at home to bear some of the weight of financially providing for their families while they watched their friends get to go to school. We also saw that this helped deepen our relationship with them, as they felt seen and loved. And we saw that they were growing spiritually, as nearly all of them came to church with us each week of their own accord - some even walking miles to get there - and were receiving meaningful discipleship at such a formative stage of thier lives.

Education and discipleship - these are both huge needs here in Uganda, and we began to believe in the potential of this small side-ministry.

So about 9 months ago, when a Sunday School class from our church in Nashville - Covenant Presbyterian - asked to come alongside us in some way, we decided to experiment in this area, both scaling up the number of children we sponsor and adding a little structure.

We had built relationships with a number of children living in a slum community here in Jinja, and knew that we wanted to invest in them.

However, rather than sending them to the school in the slum (where there can be 80-to-1 student-to-teacher ratios), we pitched an idea to them - would they be willing to walk a good ways each day to get to a school outside of the slum that would provide a better education? They all said yes.

And so, 15 elementary students were enrolled at Main Street Primary School.

Here they are (most of them at least).

As I was talking to the school before enrolling them, I told them that, one day each week during lunch, I'd like to be able to gather the students together and do a Bible study with them. The school agreed, and gave us a classroom for us to meet in - one where they store their broken furniture.

So every Wednesday, I bring a special lunch - rice and two pieces of beef - and spend the lunch hour talking with the kids and doing a small Bible study with them.

Through the generosity of the Sunday School class, this side-ministry has quietly turned into sponsoring 50 children to go to school this year.

It's one that we continue to see fruitfulness in - and an area of ministry which, over the course of these past 9 months, the Lord has been clear in leading us to give more time to.

We don't know exactly what that will look like, but we are following Him as He leads.

We know that our three areas of ministry will continue - Ekisa, church, and community - but we also know that our capacity at Ekisa will naturally be reduced as we give more time to this area. Please be praying for us as we move forward, finding the new balance. It is, of course, difficult to think of taking any time away from Ekisa - however, we have become confident in the Lord's leading in this direction, and in that there is a lot of hope.

Whether you've been alongside us since day one or joined us along the way, we couldn't be more thankful for you - and we're excited to continue pressing onwards and upwards, as we all get to witness glimpses of what the Lord is doing in Uganda.

We love you!

Taylor, Lizzy, Burrus, and Caroline