Happy New Year! And to those of you who may be new to His Grace Ministries, welcome…we are so happy to have you here! Here, at His Grace Ministries – Uganda, we seek to be a place where every story begins with hope and every effort leads to transformation! We hope that every mother and child that enters the gate to our ministry – will experience an atmosphere where leaders rise, dreams are built, and individuals experience the love of Jesus! As we step further into 2025, we invite you to be part of these stories of transformation and hope. There is room for each one of us to be used as a vessel to serve the women and children in Uganda and through our collective efforts, we will see the transformative love of Jesus at work.
Join us, as we embark on this next chapter.
With much gratitude,
Brett & Kara Shumaker
His Grace Ministries
Celebrating Jesus’ Birth
As we prepared for Christmas Day back here in the states, the HGM family in Uganda gathered as well to celebrate the birth of Jesus. A fun-filled day of music, dancing, praise and worship filled the HGM center as families gathered.
Each year, our HGM puts together “care packages” for each family during the holiday season. With children returning from boarding school and the holiday break – the need for extra food can cause pressure for a family.
Each family received flour, sugar, rice, cooking oil, sodas (a special treat), a live chicken, a cake made by two of the HGM teen boys and balloons to add Christmas cheer to their homes.
Holiday Programs Spread Cheer
When schools let out for the holidays, many children return to their homes and rural villages. This can add concerns and
worries within families. When the children return home, there
are now additional mouths to feed each day as well as keeping the children safe while the mothers work. In hopes to alleviate this pressure, our HGM staff created a holiday program for the children – from preschool age to teens.
Our HGM training center opened its doors, three days a week from morning until late afternoon (during December and January) where the children were invited and encouraged to attend the program packed events.
On average, 80 children were served morning breakfast and lunch daily. Each day, there was a schedule of events offered to the children including morning devotions and Bible study, English literacy and computer classes as well as sessions including career guidance, conflict resolution, leadership, sexual purity, drugs, meeting and achieving goals and so much more.
In addition to these programs led by our in-country staff, we
also were fortunate enough to have community volunteers come in on several occasions. During these occasions, they were taught first aid and CPR, as well as given several motivational speeches by graduates from the local universities.
The children were also given daily opportunities to participate in soccer, volleyball, music, dance and drama. Throughout the weeks, photos and videos came in showing all that was taking place at the center, and it was clear, God was in the midst of all the activity! The joy and laughter, the hands raised and voices singing out in worship – what a beautiful thing to witness the goodness of God. I am deeply encouraged by what I saw take place. The love and heartfelt commitment to our children as shown by our staff on the ground is a beautiful thing. All the glory really belongs to God! It is through Him that we are able to accomplish so much. From our in country staff working so tirelessly to meet the many needs and demands of our programs to those of you that make donations so that we can offer programs – I thank you.
A New School Year
As I write this – schools are preparing to reopen for the 2025 school year and for our staff on the ground, this is an exceptionally busy time. Paying school fees and racing around town purchasing school supplies for 85 children is no easy task. It takes a village.
Our staff, mothers and children are working together to see that each child is given the right supplies and requirements to have a successful school term. Beyond books, pencils, and paper – school requirements can include items like sugar, toilet paper, brooms, shoe polish, mattresses…the list goes on and on.
This academic school year, HGM will be sending 85 children to school – now including two students who are in the university level. Your sponsorship is changing lives. These children have never before known what it is like to attend school without the worry of being sent back home for not having adequate school fees to pay for their schooling. But because of your generosity and kindness, they can now experience school without worry and instead, focus on their academics. For the first time, the students are beginning to feel that their dreams may be within reach.
We still have several children who are without sponsorship – and many children who do not have full sponsorship. If you don’t currently sponsor a child and may be interested, please reach out. If you do currently sponsor a child, please share with others who may be interested.
New Website Coming SOON!
We are so excited to announce that in just a few short weeks, we hope to be launching our new HGM website. This site will now include the most up to date information on programs, sponsorship and so much more. We are also excited that on this new website you will be able to shop for items that support locally skilled artisans including the HGM weaving program!
Shop for Good – February 8th
Just this week, we received new inventory of baskets and so much more from Uganda. We are so happy to have been invited back by the Rusty Rail Brewing Company in Mifflinburg to set up again at their craft fair. We had such tremendous success that we have no doubt, this will be a repeat experience.
All proceeds from basket sales go directly back into the weaving program to keep providing the women with an opportunity to work, earn money and provide for their family (free of handouts).
Your purchase is a direct way to empower and restore dignity to these women who take great pride in the workmanship from their own hands. We hope to see you there!
With Valentines just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to spread love…love of the Gospel.
We have a goal of purchasing 70 more Bibles in Uganda to distribute among the mothers, teens and children. We have a remaining need of only 28 more.
The cost of a Bible in their native language is $15.
Would you consider sponsoring the donation of a Bible? In return, you will receive a heart made by our HGM mothers. Donations can be made via our website at www.hisgraceministries.org under the donation tab. All donations are tax deductible.
