Moving Forward - Part 1
Hey, dreamers! I’m going to be sharing the details for our vision moving forward at RUJA in a series of posts over the next few weeks. This is Part 1. Let’s get straight to it!
We are finally moving to the village. Kachinga is a small village where I have spent a significant amount of time during each of my trips to Uganda. Since the very beginning, it has felt like the place that we would eventually end up doing our best work. It’s also the village where Robert, our Ugandan director, grew up. The terrain is made up of rolling hills covered in banana trees and deep green farmland. It is beautiful
We’re going to build a house for our family that meets our needs (but not so nice that it is overwhelming to the rest village). Positioning ourselves in the village will allow us to serve the community and engage people’s needs the right way! On top of that, our cost of living will be lower and we’ll have the space we need for healthy growth. Planting Robert, Milly and our family in Kachinga is the first step in moving towards our long term vision for the village. We'll be sharing in a couple of weeks how you can be involved in making this happen.
How does this fit with what we are doing right now?
After returning from Uganda this month I am more convinced than ever that we are doing this the right way. My heart has never been so full. The progress our kids are making is, quite honestly, beyond what I thought was possible. Educationally, emotionally, relationally, spiritually… love has changed, and is changing, everything. I believe this now more than ever. Our kids are going to change the world. How do I know? Well, they are already are.
We’ve seen this kind of change by being patient and choosing to grow the right way. We’re not after impressive numbers or creating headlines that make the public think we’re bigger or better than we actually are. We have been, and will remain, committed to slow, healthy growth rooted in love.
We believe that positioning ourselves in the village will allow this love to take root and empower an entire community.
If you took a walk along the red clay road that runs through the village you would be in awe of the beauty. The people. The scenery. You would also, however, be overwhelmed by the apparent need. There is no clean water source, limited medical care, and the schools are poor and most people can't afford them anyway. (That’s significant because the school in the center of the village costs less than $8 per year!)
We can have a meaningful impact on this place. Do you want to hear specifics on how we are going to do that over the coming years and how you can get involved? Sign up for our email list below (if you haven’t already) and you’ll be the first to know when we reveal the details.