BLESSED HOPE FOUNDATION
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Blessed Hope Foundation’s 2018 Site Visit
August 20, 2018 - We have just completed another visit to Uganda to see firsthand the progress being made to provide hope for the many orphans there through education. The team consisted of: Tom Wiseman, President; Denese Carney, Managing Director; April Hottle, Development Director and Finn Ramsland, major donor, plus his adult children: Kendall, Kristen and Bryce. Our self-funded trip lasted nearly 2 weeks.
The first day after our arrival, we visited the Champions Home and School at Bulamu. It was a very festive occasion as the children lined both sides of the roadway leading to the campus and cheered us heartily. They clearly enjoy having visitors. During the following 10 days, we visited three other schools sponsored directly by Pastor Joel and his wife, Sarah: Buwanda, Jomba, Ndeeba. We also visited two other schools sponsored by Pastor Joel’s associates: Nyenga (Pastor Anthony & Barbara) and Matugga (Pastor Vicent & Rebecca).
We were once again inspired by the faith and diligent efforts of Pastor Joel and all his co-workers to provide for as many orphans as possible. It is truly amazing to see how much they are able to accomplish with the limited funds they receive. They have developed several methods to minimize expenses and generate some revenues locally. Still, their available resources regularly fall short of the very real needs.
The children seemed happy and healthy. The young ones we saw on our first visit in 2006 are now entering adulthood and contributing to the work of caring for orphans. e.g. one young man has now become the medical doctor serving the Champions Academy and surrounding community at Bulamu in the new medical clinic there!
A recent development is the purchase of a farm tractor and land for planting corn as a cash crop to supplement income for operating expenses. They are very grateful for all who contributed to this effort toward greater self-sufficiency.
Tom Wiseman, Chairman
Christmas Miracle for Africa!
December 22, 2017
It all started when a Pastor from Africa came to a prayer meeting at our church looking for prayer because his wife collapsed at home in Africa while he was here in US.
The elders prayed for his wife (who recovered) and we were praying for the election. After prayer I met this Pastor and he insisted I should visit them in Africa...their churches plus the orphans they are raising to be champions for Christ ..The Lord confirmed I should go (my first mission trip). So many amazing things happened (but that’s another story). But when I got home I kept hearing a word “water initiative”. The hand-dug well at the orphans school had collapsed from an earthquake and they were left waiting for rain water or getting water from a dirty pool of water at the bottom of a hill. When I shared the word about the water initiative with my wife she too felt it was the Lord and was praying for that need. Several months after my trip the Pastor from Africa was back in the US for a ministers conference and was able to stay with us for a few days. While he was at our home a friend Alex said "Hey, let’s pray for Africa! We all held hands with him and began to pray. During the prayer my wife said “I believe the money for the well at the orphanage will come in by the end of the year!“ I thought, "I hope she heard that from God!" Time passed it was not looking like any money was coming in. Then, in November, I had been trying to remove a stain from a stone sink and my wife said, "Why don’t you contact our friend who gave us the sink but moved away." When I emailed the friend she said “Oh, I'm glad you emailed me; I totally forgot you were a realtor and we are looking to move back to Dallas or the surrounding area"! The Lord led us to a home they loved and during conversation I mentioned the Africa trip, the word of the Lord about water and some of their needs. I had really wanted to consider a better well, not hand-dug but a pipe-driven bore-hole well so it could not collapse. My friends husband called me and said, "I want to supply the money for the well for the orphanage. You do some research and I will supply the funds!"
The cost of that type of well was between $7800 and $9000. We had a survey done for that location and the price came in at $7800. He wrote me a check and we sent it to the US foundation that supports that Ministry, www.BlessedHopeFoundation.org with instructions on how to use the funds. The Children and the Pastors and the Families are rejoicing over God’s Miracle Blessing which will be completed before the end of this year!!! We are now working towards a second well for one of the Pastors ... it will be at his small home and property but will be able to serve his whole community! We are only $1860 away from the second Well! God is blessing the community through His People. God told Abraham, "I will Bless the Nations through you and your seed!" There are still many needs for the churches and orphans in Africa.
- Testimony of a Donor
Blessed Hope Foundation’s 2016 Site Visit
April 10, 2016 - We have just completed a visit to Uganda to see firsthand the progress being made to provide hope and a future for the many orphans there. The team consisted of: Tom Wiseman, President; Barbara Wiseman, Secretary; and Todd Carden, long-time sponsor. Our self-funded trip lasted nearly 2 weeks. We were originally scheduled to pass through Brussels, but our trip was delayed by the terrorist activity there.
We arrived just in time to attend Easter Sunday services with Pastor Joel and his family at Ndeeba, a suburb of Kampala. It was a very festive and worshipful occasion. During the following 10 days, we visited several churches and four different orphanages/schools sponsored directly by Pastor Joel and Sarah, his wife.
We were greatly inspired by the faith and diligent efforts of Pastor Joel and all his co-workers to provide for as many orphans as possible. It is truly amazing to see how much they are able to accomplish with the little funds they receive. They have developed several methods to minimize expenses and generate some revenues locally. Still, their available resources regularly fall short of the very real needs.
The children all seemed happy and healthy. The young ones we visited on our last trip together in 2006 are now entering adulthood and contributing to the work of caring for orphans. e.g. one young man is about to complete his internship and become the medical doctor serving the Champions Academy and surrounding community at Bulamu!
We also visited the village of Jomba, where we found many young children who are apparently unable to attend school. So the need remains very great and the resources are few. Please join us in praying that God will provide for even more of these little ones…His precious children.
Tom Wiseman, Chairman
