Faithful With the Small

by Danielle Kennedy | June 15, 2017

Meet Clever…

A 13-year-boy who lives in Kirinda, a small village in Uganda, Africa whose name perfectly depicts his character and personality. Like many children in Uganda, Clever tragically lost his mother to HIV at the age of 10. He found himself searching for a way to help his father provide for his three sisters. Clever was given a livestock sponsorship through Timothy’s Home, a local orphanage and school in Uganda. These programs start children off with certain livestock animals, and after the animals reproduce the children pay a percentage back to Timothy’s Home. Clever was given three egg-laying hens in hopes that he would raise more hens and make a profit. But what became of those three hen eggs is one incredible story…

Out of those three hen eggs, Clever has now self-raised 75 hens and is moving onto other livestock such as goats. Clever’s success encouraged him to expand his business into other ventures. A year ago at the age of 12, he developed his own brick selling company making over 10,000 bricks with his bare hands!  He then turned around and sold the bricks to families in his village allowing them to build stronger homes.

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With hard work and dedication, Clever has started and managed his own thriving livestock and brick selling business. With the money he’s earned, he paid his three sisters tuition fees as well as his own. He also gave back a percentage of his earnings as a tithe to Timothy’s Home. With his tithe, an opportunity was given to other children in the village to begin sponsorship programs and earn income for their families.

Clever is a young entrepreneur who doesn’t let his age define his ability in creating his own self-thriving business.  What makes Clever so inspiring is that he did not allow his circumstances to define him. Instead of looking at his situation as lacking or hopeless he chose opportunity! Where other might have just seen dirt, Clever saw profit, income, and growth. He worked hard and learned to trust that God is his provider.

He chose to be faithful with the little, and God blessed him.

“Starting small matters. That is what the Lord loves to bless and multiply.” -Jennifer Belcher

Meet Jennifer…

Jennifer is a 36-year woman and a thriving entrepreneur and lawyer who is living out her purpose in life.

She is from Northern California and was raised with what some would call “everything.” She excelled in school, and as she grew up, she wanted to become a lawyer. She attended undergrad at UCSD and received her MBA and law degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Jennifer grew up knowing God but fell away from her faith as she grew older and entered into the college lifestyle. She described her faith as a slow fading away from God. She stopped attending church, questioned God and the Bible, and as time passed, her mindset shifted further and further from God. Jennifer said she had “now become an intellectual and the Bible couldn’t possibly make sense.” It wasn’t until seven years later when she was about to graduate law school that the Lord’s pursuit of her heart became apparent. God began to stir in her heart the question of why she walked away from Him. After a series of events and two months of this consistent questioning she found herself rededicating her life to God.  In her own words, she exclaimed, “Here I was, this girl who had been living the life in Hollywood, about to graduate law school, get her dream job, have everything in her hands. And the Lord just radically moved me to my knees to ask him into my heart.”

Jennifer became hungry for God and started diving into the word every day. God knew what season she was about to enter into and to enter into that she needed to be rooted in His truth. During this time, Jennifer was engaged and had been planning and preparing for her wedding. Unfortunately, their engagement was broken off. Jennifer found herself facing the disappointment of her broken dreams. But sometimes when dreams are “broken” and disappointment follows, God’s dreams flood in. Jennifer shared, “When God’s love comes into our disappointed dreams it doesn’t leave anything the same.” She went on explaining, “I love to think I am dreaming, but God always out dreams me.” What came from Jennifer’s disappointment could not have been predicted.

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Right after Jennifer’s engagement ended she saw that the Rock Church was offering a missions trip to Uganda. She called the leader of the trip, got everything she needed to go and left on a plane to Uganda a week later. Jennifer had no idea how much God was going to radically change her life.  She went on this trip with a group of 10 women, all-desiring to meet with God on the trip. When the Rock Church group came to Uganda, they were astonished at the need for an orphanage or school. The village did not have a place to build community. Moved by compassion for the people of Uganda, the group of women began to pray together in the banana fields of Uganda. They prayed for God to move in the village, they prayed for a school, an orphanage, and a place to bring unity into the village. With this group’s small act of faith and prayers, a seed of hope was planted. The beginning of Timothy Home.

Timothy Home…

She built a team of people individuals and called Jennifer to help her bring Timothy Home to life by using her education in business and law. Sempa and Ruth would become the local Ugandan couple who run the school, Annette is Christina best friend and also the president of the nonprofit, and Jennifer is on the board and works as their Director and Vice President. As the Rock Church group left Uganda and returned home to the United States, one of the women on the trip named Christina Burke, realized she had the means to bring this dream of an orphanage and school to life in Uganda. Christina stated, “In a season of loneliness and deep sorrow, God led me on a trip that would change my life forever. I found myself in Uganda praying with a team of ladies in a field for a home to be built to house orphans.” God was calling her to step out in faith and dream big. Before going on the Uganda trip, Christina had lost her husband to a sudden heart attack. But through this trip, God gave her a vision; He gave her hope. She used some of her family assets to move to Uganda and start an orphanage. She called Jennifer to help her bring Timothy Home to life using her education in business and law.

In 2012, Timothy Home (named after Christina's husband) opened as a school and compound in the Kirinda village. Children were given opportunities to grow into who God has designed them to be. Through their sponsorship programs, Ugandan children and families were offered a sustainable way of providing for their family. Clever is just one of the many God transforming stories that Timothy Home has played a part in. Where poverty and hopelessness lurk at every corner, Timothy Home Orphanage has become this beckon of Hope for a whole village in Uganda. Jennifer passionately explained, “As these children’s mindsets are becoming unlocked, as they are being exposed to innovation, I really believe that these children will be raised up to become the next leaders of this generation. They can step forward and grab hold of everything that is there for them. It has been amazing to see how through Timothy Home children learn about business, responsibility, and give a percentage back as their tithe.” Thanks to Timothy Home, God’s love, and truth has radically changed many children, families, and individuals. The home has been inspiring men and women in their 80’s and 90’s to start their own side businesses! It is so amazing to see God’s working hands through the stories and transformations happening through Timothy Home.

Today Timothy Home and Orphanage houses 52 orphans and 700 children attend day school. And to think it all began with God’s children being faithful with the little.

To support Rock Church's work in Uganda, please click here.

Other Ways to Get Involved
1. Learn more about Timothy Orphanage 

2. Learn more about Men’s Ministry Uganda Project in 2017

3. Visit Uganda on a short-term trip 

4. More information about other Global Outreach trips and projects 

 

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