Kasibante Family Sends Update From Africa

Thanks to Sue Williams for this update from her niece, Laura Fieg Kasibante, in Africa:

April 23, 2019

Laura and Chief (back), Max, Zionne and Judah

Greetings from the Kasibantes in Nkumba!

Our family has adjusted well to life back in Nkumba, Uganda. The past two years have been spent partially in Georgia, USA with my family, and also living in Lubowa, near the International school where I was teaching. 

In October, 2018 we moved for the 7th time (since being married) to a new house…our OWN house!  It is an incredible blessing to no longer be renting. We are so thankful to the Lord that He has provided a wonderful home, in a large compound, where we are free to settle, plant and invest our lives. It is also very convenient to the church. It is only 4 minutes walk to House of Prayer Nkumba. The whole family is enjoying getting to know our neighbors, and appreciating the beauty of the nature that surrounds our home. We have guest bedrooms-let us know when you want to come visit!

We are in a season of settling and investing into ministry. Chief was given his last US visitor’s visa before Zionne was born, and the visa is now expired. This means we will stay as a family in Uganda until Chief obtains a US green card/citizenship. Pursuing this is quite an investment of finances and time, so we are waiting on the Lord’s timing of when to begin this process. I am currently homeschooling Max (5) and Judah (3), leading the children’s ministry, and is also involved in women’s ministry. Chief continues to lead the church; he preaches 2 services on Sundays, teaches in the Bible School, and is currently teaching the book of Joshua for the Wednesday night Bible study.

Since we are staying through the summer, I had the idea of doing a Vacation Bible School. Everyone is excited about the idea. Someone blessed us with a kit I chose called “Roar! Life is Crazy but God is Good.” I feel that the theme fits both my life and the lives of the children here in Nkumba. I also love that it is a safari theme so I know it will be easy to find supplies for decorating and crafts....and everyone loves songs with African drumming! It is exciting to live in a place where kids are free to run and play and attend church activities. 

However, during school holidays many children live in homes with very little structure. Parents live one day to the next, working for survival, leaving their kids to the neighbors or older siblings for care. This usually results in kids running and roaming around the community, often watching whatever is playing on the shopkeeper’s or neighbor’s TV. Meals are sometimes hard to find. Very few children have anything to really “look forward to” during school breaks.

We believe offering an annual holiday Bible program will be a great platform to bring home the kingdom of God to these little souls. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, for the kingdom of God is theirs.” (Matt. 19:14).  Despite 80% of our community being Catholic, many Catholic parents allow their children to attend our growing Sunday School program. We have more than 100 children coming to our church on a Sunday morning; investing in them is important to us. 

As a community church, we feel called to provide opportunities that can show them the love of Christ and give them opportunities for spiritual growth. We will have times of dancing, singing, prayer, Bible time, crafts, meals, and other interactive activities. We are intentionally laying the right foundation in these young lives because they are the church and the hope of tomorrow.

Please labor with us as we embark on such a wonderful journey of transforming and redirecting lives of the children in Nkumba.

The “ROAR” holiday Bible school will go from 9 AM -1 PM from May 20-24th.

Here are the ways you can labor with us:

PRAYER

-God’s spirit to be upon the entire event. That all glory would go to God!

-Logistics of running the program: finances, volunteers, organization, parents, children, supplies, food

-Salvation - for both children and their parents

-Volunteers - that the Lord would give us wisdom, to effectively serve the children’s needs, have teamwork, be committed, that we would also learn, stay healthy, and have enough people to be successful!

-That we can start on time every morning

-Nice weather

-Clear communication between everyone involved

-Safety with food, snacks, play, etc (and, if needed, we would have a nurse on duty)

-Enough sponsorship to enable at least 40 children to join this program.

-Joy! That despite chaos and unexpected events, we would have a blast the entire week...remembering that God is good!

GIVING

Please visit this SoKind website if you are interested in giving. You can sponsor a child for just $16. If you feel led to give more, we have other needs you can donate towards as well. A few of the requests are things that we will continue to use throughout the year and future Bible School events, like playground sand, tents, and tables. Any amount helps! The sooner we receive the funds the easier our preparations will be!  (Ed. Note:  You can also go to Laura's Facebook page for more inormation.)

God bless you!

Love,
Laura Kasibante

House of Prayer Children’s Ministry Director