Kingsway’s Wish List

We asked Milly to make a list of things that Kingsway could really use, from small to big. From chickens to scholarships to buildings to Bibles, there are lots of needs!

Use a “Donate” button (or see the bottom of the page) to choose which funds that you want to give to.

Student support (Most important)

It takes about $75/month ($900/year) to provide schooling, room and board for each student at Kingsway. Would you be willing to be a monthly supporter, knowing that you’re directly supporting the transformation of young lives and training up disciples for Christ?

When the 2023 school year began in February, Kingsway’s offices were overwhelmed with families begging to enroll their children. Why? After two years of COVID shutdown followed by drought and then rapid inflation, many schools have closed altogether. Those left have hiked their fees, and the few that used to let orphans attend for free and needy students for half tuition, as Kingsway does, gave up their charity programs. Because of this crisis, many children in Uganda have no way to get an education past seventh grade. (Government schools are not common and are very poorly run. They too charge fees. No schooling is free in Uganda!)

Kingsway was built in 2008 with a 50 student capacity. But in 2022, when COVID ended, they re-opened with only 20 students and they wondered how they would survive. Because of the generosity of friends like you, they decided to admit 50 students in 2023. But because of the desperate need of families in their offices, they finally took 63 students last year.

For 2024 they have accepted about 120 students, which doubles their student body again! Very few students pay full tuition, yet Kingsway will need to get more desks and chairs, beds, and of course every other supply. The school grows a large garden to defray food costs, but those will go up too, of course. They’ll need to increase staff and teachers too. Please pray for them and consider supporting them.

~~~~~~

The Girls Dormitory

Great news. The bottom floor of the girls dorm has finally been completed! Rainstorms and power outages greatly slowed progress, but the builders finally prevailed.

Now that the lower level of the girls dormitory has completed, another $30,000 is needed to finish the rest of the building. The ultimate plan is for the administrator offices and living quarters to be on the upper level, so the girls have responsible adults living in the same building. This is important for security for the girls in the long term. They also would like to have a room for international visitors to stay in.

~~~~~~

Other Building Needs

Plaster for buildings – In Uganda, buildings are made with handmade mud bricks that are not kiln-fired. Rather they are stacked over a log fire that burns for several days. These bricks break down in rain and aren’t stable over the long term unless they are coated with plaster. But plaster is quite expensive! So buildings are sometimes wait for this expensive final step until funds are available, sometimes for years.

Four of Kingsway’s buildings are unplastered, and in 2023 they had a lot of rain which caused them to show some worrisome cracks! So we will put off building the next dorm level for a bit and are helping them repair some buildings before they crumble. Cost: $6000/building for 4 buildings.

~~~~~~

Solar Panels

As they were working on building the girls’ dorm, it became clear that it would be a good idea to plan for solar panels and do this before construction was complete. Electricity is expensive and unreliable in Uganda, so solar panels would allow Kingsway to save money and have reliable power. Also, some buildings at Kingsway don’t even have electrical power at all!

They would like to have solar panels for six buildings at Kingsway at a cost of $1800 per building. The total would be $10,800. To this date, three donors have paid for panels and they’ve been installed, so they now need $5,400.

Kingsway is only about 25 miles (40 km) away from the equator. That means that at noon the sun is 90 degrees above the horizon. Because they get very direct sunlight they can harvest much energy from the sunshine. Also, at the equator the length of day barely changes. Every night the sun sets at about 7PM. Having solar panels allows students to study and teachers to grade, and for life to go on after dark several more hours. Wouldn’t you like to light up a building?

~~~~~~

School Transportation Need

What Kingsway prays for most right now are vehicles. Right now they have no car, van or bus, so they often do errands by paying a boda-boda (a motorcyle taxi) to take them into the city. This is very dangerous – all of Milly’s family have been injured in accidents this way, some very seriously. When they need to purchase larger things they call a taxi or rent a car which is costly too. They urgently need a small car (about $10,000).

Their current lack of vehicles greatly limits who Kingsway can enroll, because they can’t send out a van to pick up students who live too far to walk. Yet many children live in the area, just a little too far away to walk to school.

Their dream is to have a school van, so they could attract a larger group of paying students to support the many needy students who attend. It would be a strategic asset that would move Kingsway toward its goal of sustaining itself independently while helping vulnerable children. It would cost about $30,000.

~~~~~~

Fixing the Well

Having clean water available within the walls of Kingsway is a critical need, but a constant headache. (Note the exasperation on Rev. Milly’s face!)

They have a borehole, but the pump keeps breaking. So they had a well dug, but the rope and pole they use to draw water keep breaking.

During the dry season, the well barely yields enough to meet their needs. In 2023 they had a lot of rain, and the excess rain caused the walls of the well to collapse! The well is unusable now. So every day, students must walk 2 km each way to fetch water for the school from a community well, which takes a lot of time.

When Rev. Milly visited Michigan in Fall 2023 she was able to make contact with Genesis Waters, an organization that helps address the water needs of Christian Outreach ministries in Africa. They will be visiting in April 2024 to assess our situation. Please pray with us for a good meeting! (We’re not sure of the costs that may be involved in this right now.)

~~~~~

For the farm: Goats, Chickens and a Coop

Kingsway must feed about 120 people every day, and food is very expensive in Uganda. (Read more about meals at Kingsway.) To save money, they grow a large garden and raise animals too.

Kingsway has a few goats and would love to expand their herd.  A goat costs about $50.

They also had a flock of chickens that all died from an illness recently. Milly thinks they caught it from their rooster, who has a roving eye for the neighbors’ hens. Chickens cost $4, a rooster costs about $10.

This is their chicken coop, which they really need to replace. They also need some fencing to keep the rooster from wandering! The cost is about $250. Contribute to their farm fund and their new animals will thank you!

~~~~~

Bible Study and Worship

Milly would love to have a money to buy more Bibles ($12 each), devotional books, and Bible study books suited for teens. She would enjoy having music  and instruments too. Can you contribute to their Bible Study and Worship fund? (Any amount would help.)

~~~~~

To give a gift to Kingsway online, use the Paypal button below and choose the fund that you want to donate to. You can also just give to the general fund, to be spent wherever it’s needed most.

To donate by mail or another method (donor advised fund, private charity, etc.) go to this link. Donations are tax deductible in the US and are handled by Christian Ministry Alliance. Of course Kingsway will do its best to put donations to their designated uses, but sometimes needs the money for another purpose.

You’re also welcome to email us a note to share your greetings:

 

Latest News Blogs