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If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that Kingsway has been in crisis for over a year now because their well broke down. Students must haul water from over a mile (2 km) each way every afternoon.

Back in April, Ken Watkins, founder of Genesis Waters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, visited Kingsway and decided to take this project on. More water surveys were done, and a couple of months ago they chose a location to drill. They were able to drill very deep and put in a pipe. But before the water can be used it must first be tested for whether it is safe and pure.

If it is good, then an electrical pump, a solar panel for power and a tank must be installed, along with plumbing and housing too. This all takes time and is not cheap! But Genesis Waters is funding all of this, which is a huge blessing to Kingsway.

Today we decided to get an update about the well that is being installed at Kingsway by Genesis Waters, since Milly is visiting Michigan.

Ken started with great news. The report from testing the water from the new well showed that this was some of the best water Ken has found in all of the wells he’s dug in Eastern Africa! It has very low levels of any impurity, which is really, really great.

Now they just need to source a galvanized steel storage tank which they hope will last for many years, find some local plumbers, then order all the parts and make plans to install everything. Please keep them in your prayers.

We said, the day that we finally turn on the pump for the first time, we should hold a big celebration! This is actually something from the Bible. Finding a well is a huge source of rejoicing for a community and frequently an occasion for song. We find this in Numbers 21:16-18:

And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.” Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!— the well that the princes made, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter and with their staffs.”

Our meeting with Ken Watkins at Genesis Waters today.

Over 250 people joined Lois and Rev. Dr. Milly Erema, of Uganda Christian University for a zoom presentation on October 22, 2024. They gave a seminar called “Reading the Bible as an Insider” that shared some insights from her current writing with Dr. Erema.

Continue reading “Watch Our Zoom about Reading the Bible as an Insider”

Rev. Dr. Milly Maturu Erema arrived in Michigan on September 28 to stay with Lois Tverberg once again, and they immediately began working to prepare for the “Reading the Bible as an Insider” seminar they would be leading in Williston, Florida on October 12th.

There they shared insights from Milly’s “insider” view of Bible, because she grew up in a tribal culture not unlike that of the Ancient Near East. (More about the seminar at this link.)

Because Hurricane Milton was expected to barrel through Florida just a couple days before the seminar, it was a nail-biting week as they were preparing. But Williston is in the rural north, it was not much affected so they were able to travel and speak. The town didn’t even cancel school!

 

Do you wish you could have attended the seminar? You are in luck, because they will be sharing much of their seminar again by zoom on Tuesday, October 22 at 8-9:30 PM Eastern US time.

Only 100 can participate, so sign up soon!

Use the sign-up form at this link.

We ended our seminar by sharing the remarkable story of Kingsway Christian High School. (The video is a bit low res but the sound is fine.)

Florida – Like Uganda, but very Different

Milly enjoyed her first visit to Florida because its tropical climate felt like home. But instead of finding people planting small gardens with crops like peanuts and hand-rearing a few cows for their families, she was amazed to see industrial peanut fields and enormous cattle ranches, vast estates managed through mechanization. It was quite a culture shock.

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[Photo Credit]

In Uganda, people have found a clever way to build buildings cheaply, by making the bricks from the soil under their feet.

People fill brick forms with mud and then place the dried bricks into a tower with a hollow space at the bottom to build a fire. After several days of drying over the fire, the bricks are ready to use.

This is a really inexpensive way to build, but there is a catch. Unless the bricks are covered and sealed by a layer of plaster, they will slowly return to mud when it rains, and the building will eventually fall. But plaster is expensive, so this step is often delayed for years.

This was how most of Kingsway’s buildings were built. They are up to 15 years old and none have been plastered yet. (This photo was taken in April 2021.)

On the building below you can see many places where mud is seeping from the bricks. The ladders were there because cracks were already visible in the interior walls. This was causing the US board of Kingsway to lose sleep at night!

So when a generous supporter of Kingsway stepped up with funding, Milly and our board all decided that this critical task was the next thing that needed to be done. (We decided to delay work on the upper stories of the girl’s dorm until after this was completed.)

The building with the ladders on it has now been plastered and painted, and in areas where walls were cracking, they were repaired or reconstructed. So now take a look!

Hooray! The building looks completely new and it now matches the new girl’s dorm. Here’s a photo of the rest of the buildings in the process of plastering and painting:

Over the past few months, we’ve been able to plaster and paint almost all the buildings and it looks like a whole new school! But the change is not just cosmetic, it was very important to do this before the buildings started to fall.

We are just so overjoyed.

On April 18-19, Kingsway was excited to have Ken Watkins from Genesis Waters on campus. Genesis Waters is a ministry based in Grand Rapids, Michigan that provides clean water for outreach-oriented Christian ministries around the world.

Ken was able to look at Kingsway’s collapsed well and assess their bore hole, which gives a small amount of water per day which doesn’t smell or taste good. He also walked the whole 2 km with the students to where they are currently fetching water. It’s a long haul, especially uphill with full jerry cans on the way home! Check out this video:

Ken was also able to look over Kingsway’s property, assess their current well situation, and offer some next steps.  He was optimistic about the possibilities after his visit.

First, Ken recommended they get a new water survey done of the whole property to determine the optimal place to drill a new well, in terms of soil conditions and depth. If there is indeed a prime place to drill, Genesis Waters will help install it.

If there are no good places to drill, then they will install equipment for rain harvesting since the area gets a lot of rain. Rain is a good supplemental source of water to be used for bathing and watering the animals and garden.  This is something that could be done gradually, a few buildings at a time.

The students were very impressed that Ken put forth the effort to spend time with them and walk with them the whole way to where they fetch their water.  They showered their affections on him in a final “thank-you” assembly.

Ken was humbled by the attention he received when the students performed a variety of skits and dances for him. He left Kingsway with many new friends! Ken then flew on to Kenya for other projects there.

Sports and physical activity are an important part of what goes on each afternoon at Kingsway Christian High School. Some of the benefits of physical exercise, according to the Mayo Clinic, include:

• • combats health conditions and diseases
  • improves mood
  • boosts energy
  • promotes better sleep

  

  All sports require some type of equipment which prevents injury and improves performance. But Kingsway has no budget for sports equipment, and they have a policy of not spending donations on sports when other needs are more critical, like books, medicine and even food. (Just a couple of years ago, Kingsway could only serve one meal a day for lack of money.)

  Yet sports are universally adored in Uganda, especially soccer (football). So alumni and local friends who want Kingsway to be able to play against other schools have donated uniforms.

  But very few students come to school owning sports shoes. Instead they play in flip-flops, sandals or crocs, or even barefoot resulting in stubbed toes, bruises, cuts and abrasions.

  

  In the fall of 2023, the board was made aware of the need for soccer shoes and other equipment. One of our board members asked various groups in town for donations. After a long and nearly fruitless campaign, she finally discovered a local organization called Cleats for Kids that collects used soccer equipment for charitable causes. They donated two large tubs of shoes and shin guards that cost approximately $1,400.00 originally. Hooray!

  

  Milly was in Michigan last October, and was able to bring the equipment back to Uganda with her, much to the delight of everyone at school. American shoes are of a much better quality than anything available in Uganda. They are durable and will be used by students in future years too.

  

  Currently, Kingsway is also working on constructing a basketball court so they will have the option of playing basketball too. Since the school has no money to spend, the students themselves are doing the heavy work of digging the base and leveling the ground.

  

  Why This is Important

  Kingsway’s long-term desire is to be self-sustaining, to have a body of paying students whose tuition supports needy students who attend for free. Right now that goal is somewhat far off, because very few students pay full tuition.

  Because sports are so popular in Uganda, having a good sports program is very useful for attracting paying students. In-kind donations like durable shoes and long-lasting equipment brings them closer to that goal.

What does a typical day in the life of a Kingsway Christian student look like?

4 AM – Rise and Shine, and Studying!

The students are not sleeping in until the last possible moment as many American teenagers do. Instead they rise at 4:00 am, a couple hours before dawn!

The first thing they do is get themselves physically ready for the day by brushing their teeth, washing their face, and bathing.

Next, is Morning Prep which takes place from 4:30-6:30 am. The focus of this time is on mathematics. Many students struggle with mathematics and the teachers want to see improvement in this area, so they are devoting the first part of the day to tackle what is most challenging for them academically.

6:30 – Morning Tea

The students then get a 30 minute break for morning tea. This is followed by 30 minutes of cleaning the compound and leaving it spotless.

At 7:30 students begin what is called their Early Morning Lessons. This is a 3 hour time block followed by a 20 minute break.

Then the Mid Morning and Afternoon lessons begin and continue for about two hours until their Lunch hour.

1 PM – Chapel and Lunch

Before they eat, the students and teachers have a time of praise and worship as well as a brief sermon.

Then a meal of maize, beans, and vegetables is served.

The afternoon activities include games and sports, and runs from 2:00-4:40 pm. After a long day of academic work, students change out of their school uniforms into casual clothing and head to the field where they can play football (known as soccer in the U.S.), netball, or volleyball. This time is supervised by the sports teacher, and is always opened and closed with prayer.

As most of us know, sports are a great way for kids to grow physically, mentally and socially. It also helps students hone their athletic skills and talents outside of the classroom. Sports are greatly loved by Ugandans too.

The latest project at Kingsway, involving the help of both teachers and students, is the making of a basketball court. The ground has been leveled, and the next step is to compact the soil before pouring the concrete and putting in the posts for the basketball hoops.

4:30 Fetching Water

When games and sports are done, students fetch water that is used for bathing and for washing their school uniforms and sports jerseys. Each day a different class takes a turn hauling water for school use. Because Kingsway’s well is not working, they need to walk over 2 km each way to fetch water from a community well. It’s a long hike, especially uphill back to Kingsway with a full water jug!

After all that physical activity, students are hungry.  Supper is served at about 6 PM followed by evening devotions in the Chapel from 7-7:30.

After devotions, the young men and women of Kingsway head back to their dorms and spend the rest of the evening studying until lights out at 10:00 pm. This fairly rigorous schedule leaves little room for boredom or idleness and makes supervising a large number of young people more manageable.

Holy week this year was a very memorable time for the students and staff at Kingsway Christian High School.  The significance of all that Jesus experienced during the final week of his life on earth was broken down into daily devotions with thoughtfully chosen Scriptures shared by staff at both the lunch hour and in the evening.

Palm Sunday was celebrated enthusiastically with vibrant singing, dancing, and waving of palm branches as Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem was remembered.

On Monday, the focus was on Jesus Christ turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple.

Tuesday’s devotion revolved around Jesus teaching in the temple and his  authority being questioned by the chief priests and elders.

On Wednesday the students learned about the anointing of Jesus while he was in the home of Simon the Leper and how Judas decided to betray Jesus and spoke with the chief priests and the officers of the temple to discuss how this might be done.

The Last Supper Jesus and his disciples celebrated together along with the events following; praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus arrest,  being brought before the Sanhedrin, and Peter disowning Jesus were the focus of Thursday’s devotions.

On Good Friday the teaching brought the students to the cross where Jesus suffered and died for all our sins.  The evening included a time of worship in which the Almighty was honored, glorified and exalted for all that he did on our behalf.

Saturday the devotion was based on Matthew 27:62-66 which tells us that the tomb was made secure in order to prevent anyone from stealing Jesus’ body.

Easter Sunday was filled with jubilation and much rejoicing as the students sang Easter songs and celebrated Holy Communion led by Milly.

All students participated in Sports Day on March 8 at Kingsway Christian School.  The day began with a student led prayer in which the day was dedicated to God.

The teams for this year’s event were named “The Conquerors”, dressed in red t-shirts, and “The Victor’s” dressed in yellow t-shirts.  The sports activities that students and teachers participated in included soccer, field races, javelin throw, high jump, and long jump. The male and female soccer teams had their own jerseys for the game.

The staff at Kingsway were very thankful that the students had an injury free day, due in large part to the donation of sports equipment that included cleats, shin guards, and socks. (More info here.) When Milly was visiting West Michigan in the fall of 2023, she was able to take back equipment that was collected by the board.

On a side note, the boys soccer team was super excited to claim a victory over a big school in the region recently, and they do not think it would have been possible without the new gear that enabled them to play their best.

After over 10 years of waiting, the joy was overwhelming when the girls could finally move in to the completed first floor of the dorm.

Many hands make light work! The boys muscles were appreciated as they helped carry the beds and other items to the dorm.

Not to be outdone, the girls had fun showing how much they could move using their heads rather than their brawn.

After claiming a spot of their own, the girls were able to make their beds and settle in.

The girls could kick off their shoes and get some rest on their comfy new beds after a busy day of moving in.

What a blessing to have the dorm up and running for the start of the new school year!