World Outreach Ministry Foundation

Uganda

Kyle and Laura Ashcroft will be overseeing the Children’s Village that WOMF is building for orphaned children. Our mission is to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of orphaned children while providing a safe and nurturing environment for them to grow into productive adults. Our goal in this is to raise children into Christian adults who will positively engage all aspects of this area and country.

Our primary objective is to administrate a one-hundred bed orphan complex in the remote village of Usuk. This village is located in the Katakwi district of north-east Uganda. The orphan complex consists of ten modern children’s houses, which will house ten children each along with a house mother. There is also a missionary house, where the Ashcrofts live, in the compound. The work is situated in the middle of what was once a refugee camp and now a growing village. Although the project is not yet completed, it is in process and the first house is functional and occupied. Right now we are caring for twelve children who live in the first house along with our pastor and his wife as house parents. The other nine children’s houses are in varying stages of completion ranging from close to livable to needing quite a bit of work. There is also a bore hole and the start of a playground in the compound.

There are a high number of orphans in this area due to civil war, disease, and the harsh living conditions in this area. This along with polygamy and alcoholism contributes to a very difficult life, especially for children. Laura runs a free clinic from their veranda which sees fifteen to thirty-five children and some adults most days. This services the village and surrounding areas while Kyle works on income generating projects for the local people. They also do outreach into the surrounding areas as well neighboring people groups. This includes preaching the Word of God, teaching, as well humanitarian aid when possible.

We are working to accomplish this with a spirit of excellence which is already impacting not only our compound, but also the surrounding community. There are ten children’s houses and a missionary house, as well as several out buildings, in our large compound. Kyle and Laura’s jobs are quite varied from overseeing the day to day work of running the village to working with the local government officials when necessary. They do construction work, mechanical work, planning, landscaping, fencing, hauling food, transporting people, building relationships with the surrounding community, outreach, preaching, and the like. They are also involved in training local people to do these same jobs; it is a busy and rewarding life.

The needs of the village are many as it is still in its infancy. The fence needs replacing with one with iron posts and chain link; this is for security as well as keeping the neighbors animals out. Once this is in place we hope to plant an orchard to supplement the children’s diets. The houses need quite a bit of work to make them livable and the water system is not completed. Also we have the start of a playground, but need to expand to accommodate more children as they come. Would you please partner with us to see this needs met?