Students Serve Alongside WGM in Uganda

At the end of May, a team from Ohio Christian University traveled to Uganda to serve alongside World Gospel Mission missionaries already working in the area. This trip would best be described as a vision trip rather than the typical mission work some may think of. The team got to see many different ministries the missionaries are working with as well as support them through fellowship and prayer.

During the two weeks the team was abroad, they worked with a wide range of ministries, one of which is known as the Dignity project, providing women and girls with reusable feminine products allowing them to stay in school. They also partnered with a ministry called Tutapona which means “we will be healed” in Swahili. Tutapona is a nonprofit organization that does pain and trauma counseling focused on war and violence. They concentrate on group counseling and teaching how communities can help heal one another. The team was also able to visit refugee settlements as well as participate in Bible studies with the staff.

TAPP ministries or Tumaini Aids Prevention Program is another program the team supported. This ministry works with women and children who have tested HIV/AIDS positive and were completely exiled by their communities. TAPP works to empower them and provide them with an income through various avenues like crafts and child sponsorships.

“We were able to bless them by giving them food and other supplies and they treated us so well with what they did have," Jacob Waugh (‘19) said. "Even though they don’t have much, they wanted to show us that they have God and that was honestly one of the most moving things that I took back home with me.”

Being able to see all of the different ministries missionaries are partnering with is a unique opportunity that was not lost on the team. While many see mission trips as pouring concrete or painting a building, an equally effective ministry is being a support to the people involved.