Already There

Dear Shining Hope Family, 

“Lord, I give You Kalungi and the difficult situation he is in because of his broker. I believe You will bring a beautiful testimony to Your faithfulness out of this pain. Prayer answered: ___________.”

This is what I wrote in my Bible journal one year ago this June. 

A year later, the Lord is answering this prayer!!!

After months of Kalungi appearing in court after his side business that helps support the ministry was stolen from, a date has been set for the verdict to be given: July 19th! What an answer to prayer! 

Kalungi writes: “I’m really humbled, and I can’t thank God enough for this milestone.”

Thank you all so. very. much. for praying! 

Ten-year-old Desmond came home from school with a swollen, itchy eye one day this month. Poor thing, he was so uncomfortable!

The condition is called kasekele in our local Lugandan language. The care for him involved keeping the area clean and not allowing him to scratch his eye.

That night, we posted a prayer request on X for him, and the love and support he received filled our hearts! Hundreds of precious comments poured in letting us and Desmond know they were praying for him. The very next day, Desmond felt so much better! THAT WAS GOD!

Kalungi and Desmond:

This special boy has two stories he wants to share with you:

“I recently did ‘gogolo’ and it was a very good experience for me! ‘Gogolo’ is done using a jerrycan (5-gallon container used for carrying water) whose one side is cut out to create space for someone to sit, usually done by kids since they are small. This is put on a slope, and we sit in it to slide down to the end of the slope. Usually these slopes are not more than 20 feet and aren’t very steep.”

“My favorite Bible story is the story of the Good Samaritan. It’s my favorite because it relates to us all as we are supported by people that don’t know us. Our lives are better because of them. I think this could be a story every child at Shining Hope loves. I keep telling it to them just so they can also do the same when they have the opportunity to help someone.” (Awww, so precious!)

In late February of last year, Nakato, one of our children’s caregivers, started having excruciating pain in both of her ears. 

Through the loving kindness of our Lord and the open-hearted generosity of our Shining Hope family, she received treatment over the next eight months that greatly reduced her pain. On October 31st, she underwent a critical surgery to repair her damaged eardrums.

Nakato has continued to receive follow-up appointments to monitor this rare condition. Recently, her specialists discovered the need to do another surgery, this time for only one ear. While this is difficult news, we are grateful she is not experiencing any pain at this time. Her surgery is tentatively scheduled for the end of September after she completes twelve weeks of treatment.

Our children’s caregivers: Nakato, Nakiranda, and Rachel

Three way you can partner with us in prayer:

1. Finances continue to be tight. At the time of writing the first draft of this letter, we had enough funds for about one week of meals in July for our children and lunches for the neighbor kids. But since then, the Lord has faithfully met 70% of our needs for July! PRAISE HIM! Please pray for the Lord’s continued blessing and for the expansion of our donor base so we can continue loving on these precious children.

2. Please pray for healing for Nakato’s ear, provision for her medical bills, and a successful surgery.

3. As happy as we are that the long court case will be behind us and that business will soon be able to resume, our hearts ache for Musinguzi and for his impending prison sentence. Please pray for Musinguzi’s salvation. When Kalungi confronted him after discovering he was stealing from him, Musinguzi threatened that he would kill Kalungi using witchcraft.

In closing, Kalungi shares encouragement about worry that he learned during the past difficult months of the case:

“Enjoy the present and be thankful for what it presents. Don’t worry about the future because an answer to it is already given by God. Don’t take away your peace when you have something to celebrate. Replace the worry with plan and prayer.”

When you step into the future, you will find that God is already there. You can rest, knowing His plan for you is good and that He will be right there beside you. 

THANK YOU for partnering with us in the work God is doing in Uganda! Your love and care make all the difference. 

Much love,

Kalungi + Rachel