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In loving memory of Shelly Watkins

From the students, staff, and administration of Kingsway Christian High School, Kituuza-Mukono, Uganda

With profound sorrow and deep gratitude, we at Kingsway Christian High School mourn the passing of Shelly Watkins, a cherished friend and partner from Genesis Waters.

Shelly’s unwavering commitment to improving lives through access to clean water left an indelible mark on our school and community. Her kindness, generosity, and steadfast faith were evident in every effort she made to serve others, especially here at Kingsway Christian High School. Through Genesis Water, she brought not only physical water to those in need but also hope, dignity, and the love of Christ.

Her legacy lives on in every child who now drinks clean water, in every smile made brighter by health and opportunity, and in the faith she inspired in all of us.

Though Shelly is no longer with us in body, her spirit, compassion, and impact will forever remain a part of Kingsway. We thank God for the gift of her life and pray for comfort and peace for her family, colleagues, and all who mourn her.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:15

On Thursday, 12 June, Kingsway celebrated the life of Shelly Watkins with a memorial service. The late Shelly was the wife of Ken Watkins. Ken and Shelly served as the directors of Genesis Waters. The mission of Genesis Waters sums up her life’s work: “Genesis Waters exists to provide water and the amazing message of Jesus Christ to areas of the world where few are willing to go.  Once people are no longer physically thirsty, they are much more open to hearing about the living water of Jesus Christ!”

Almost three months to this day, she went to rest in glory, and Kingsway officially opened its water taps to life-giving water.

During the memorial in honor of Shelly, Rev. Milly, the director of Kingsway, preached during the service. She was visibly emotional, and among the students, there was hardly a dry eye.  This is a testament to the impact that Shelly worked so hard to achieve. She was a person who devoted her life, marriage, and family to providing millions of people all over the world in the driest and remotest regions with clean and safe water.

The congregation was reminded that mourning is for our good. For only through Christ can we truly experience the comfort of God. Members were reminded that grief is real and not made up. God understands the grief and suffering of those who have lost their loved ones. Some people don’t allow people to grieve. Our African culture usually says that men don’t cry. God promises comfort in our grief.  Ken had been a strong support to his friends even as they grieved Shelly’s passing. Our prayer as the Kingsway community is that Ken’s family, children, and grandchildren will be comforted and find hope in the promises of God.

Ken’s commitment to Shelly right to the end of her life was highlighted as commendable to the congregation. Many people quit when their spouses suffer. Many people say they did not marry for sickness. They trifle with the vows they made. Ken’s testimony has become an encouragement to the body of Christ for those who are experiencing the passing of a spouse and parent.

Surely the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Hallelujah. Psalm 34:18

Shelly is remembered for the quickening of her heart to raise funds for the water project at Kingsway. Those who die in the lord are blessed. And the impact that Shelly left will never be forgotten. Her works will be remembered forever because her heart was for thirsty people. For those who didn’t have water.

Our prayer is that all our friends and partners will come to know Jesus, the One, True, and Living water. Kingsway will build a memorial in honor of Shelly Watkins as a testament to her faithful labor in providing water for the school.

As the Kingsway community, it is the peace of God that teaches us to say that it is well with us, only because God can give us peace amidst mourning.

Rest in eternal peace, Shelly Watkins

You will never be forgotten. Your light continues in every life-giving drop of hope you gave the world.

Please celebrate our new kitchen with us!

In January, we relayed the news that Kingsway’s kitchen had collapsed. It was a dilapidated structure that came with the property, so its days were numbered. Termites and rust finally took their toll.

The collapsed kitchen has been torn down and a sturdy wood building now stands in its place.  Those who prepare the food have shelter from the elements and a dry place to cook. A shiny metal roof has been nailed in place.  Students appreciate the serving window where they can pick up their meals.

Although this structure may have been built quickly, hopes are high that it will last for quite a while. Government school inspectors approved it for now but say that ultimately Kingsway needs to build a real kitchen, along with building where students can eat their meals. Right now students eat outside, or in a classroom or their dorm.

Just to remind you, here was our old kitchen:

 

And here was how lunch was cooked and served from the old kitchen.

Students at Kingsway celebrated Palm Sunday with exuberance! Palm branches were lifted high and waved while students danced and sang, “Hosanna!”

Holy week is an important time in the life of the school, and is observed with a variety of opportunities to hear the truth of God’s word taught in chapel.  Milly shared the message on Palm Sunday while students listened intently.

Comfort is pregnant and has been experiencing quite a bit of nausea and fatigue, so we were grateful that she was able to participate in the worship service. She went back to her room and took the rest of the day afterwards to rest up.

Progress continues to be made on the well project at Kingsway.  Recently, they built a brick structure to house the well, and installed a solar panel that will power the pump motor on the roof.  Engineers connected the solar panel to the water pump.

They are also working on connecting the water pipe to the pump.  Next, the pump will be tested to verify that everything is working properly.

Trenches have been dug for the water pipes.  Water will be be distributed to different parts of the school.  The plan also includes piping water to the kitchen from a water tank.  The tank was ordered and paid for, however, they are still waiting for the delivery of the tank, which is coming from Kenya.

Please pray for the tank to be delivered soon and successfully installed so that the students and staff at Kingsway can access the fresh, clean water available to them, thanks to Genesis Waters.

In early January 2025, there was a real emergency – Kingsway’s kitchen collapsed! Thank goodness most students were away on break at the time.

You might not be too surprised if you know what this dilapidated structure looked like (above). When I (Lois Tverberg) first visited, I asked if they intended to replace it. They said no, but not because it was adequate. The structure came with the property and they were just making do for lack of funds. (This is how life is in Africa.)

It should be noted that this is a pretty basic structure, even by Ugandan standards. Cooking is done over an open fire so the building’s function is mainly to keep the rain off. The large gaps in the walls are to let smoke dissipate.

It has been clear that this structure’s days were numbered for quite a while. What caused its collapse? Termites had been eating away at the poles, and the metal roof was full of rust and had been damaged by tree limbs falling on it.

We were hoping to raise funds for a much nicer kitchen. But now they are forced to replace it quickly, before students arrive in a few weeks. They are already working on constructing something basic.

They have purchased poles and wood but they must still buy a new metal roof. They also must pay the builders. The total cost is estimated to be between $2000 and $3000.

Would you like to help them out?

One exciting event in the life of Kingsway’s leadership is that Milly’s daughter Comfort got married to one of Kingsway’s teachers, Ivan.

Comfort is 32 and has taught at Kingsway for many years, and has served as school headmaster too. Ivan is a graduate of Kingsway who now teaches Physics, Math and Computer along with coaching sports. You can hear his story here.

During the September school break, their families celebrated a traditional Lugbara wedding and over 2000 guests came! Below Comfort is kneeling before her elders and introducing them to Ivan.

In December they had a Christian ceremony at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Okuvu, near Kampala, where Milly and Sam Erema served as priests. After this Comfort and Ivan were officially considered “married.”

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Once again, over a thousand people came! Sam ministered to several small congregations of the Lugbara people group. Because of this, many parishioners wanted to attend his daughter’s wedding.

About 50 Kingsway students attended. The students provided the live wedding music by singing and playing instruments, with Comfort’s brother Dan in the lead. Comfort herself sometimes led the students in song.

Congratulations again, Comfort and Ivan!

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.