What We Do
Bridge Of Hope Community Engagement
When it comes to fighting poverty and engaging in community transformation, no single organization on earth can offer the scope, the mandate, or the power for dealing with these complex issues effectively. But we believe the local church is the hope of the world. It is the only sustainable, morally grounded, and mobilized organization in these poverty-stricken communities that can offer long-term sustainability. By working with communities and local leaders, our passion is to help implement long-term change. Our strategy for fighting poverty, HIV/AIDS, child sexual abuse and injustice is by committing to the holistic transformation of our community .
During His ministry, Jesus reached out to people in all dimensions of their lives—physical, social, economic, and spiritual. Bridge of Hope community engagement seeks to do likewise. In Ntungamo district, we are on the front lines in the battle against poverty and HIV/AIDS. To address the issues surrounding the greatest pandemic of our time, we seek to come alongside the local leadership in order to bring hope and healing to our community. While we prayerfully wait on God for the provission of resources, ourdesire is to provide diverse services, including care for those fighting HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS prevention awareness and training, care for orphans and vulnerable children, micro-enterprise efforts, food security, shelter, education, clean water, and church development.
Why we focus on HIV/AIDS
Leaders all over the world have called the global HIV/AIDS pandemic “the greatest humanitarian crisis in history.” Worldwide, the faces of HIV/AIDS are nearly 60% women and children. Of the 40 million people infected with HIV/AIDS, 25 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa—including more than 14 million AIDS orphans. In Africa, AIDS is wiping out entire income-producing generations. When parents, teachers, nurses, carpenters, and farmers die of AIDS, the economic infrastructure of a community collapses. A generation of destitute AIDS orphans is left unsupervised—at best, being cared for by aging, ailing grandparents; at worst, turned out onto the streets. The percentage of child-headed households in Africa is increasing at an alarming rate, leaving young teens responsible for raising their siblings. Bridge of Hope chooses to focus on HIV/AIDS crisis and poverty because the sheer level of devastation they cause is unprecedented in human history!
Youth Action Against AIDS (YAAA)
Youth Action Against AIDS is a Community Based Organization (CBO) registered with the Directorate of Community-Based Services, Ntungamo District Local Government under Reg. No. 224. The organization is under the oversight of Lift Up Jesus Church – Ntungamo. It was established in order to improve knowledge on HIV/AIDS and promote positive behavioral change; to promote access to relevant and age-appropriate HIV prevention services; and to equip young people with life-skills that reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection among other areas. The CBO is non-sectarian in service delivery and works with young people irrespective of their religious affiliation.
Our vision: The vision of YAAA is to raise a young and healthy, God-fearing generation free from HIV/AIDS.
Our mission: Our mission is to contribute to the prevention of HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections (STD/Is), teenage pregnancies, and faith sharing among young people aged 14-25 years through schools and community-based education campaigns.
Thousands of students and out-of-school youth are most vulnerable to HIV infection in our communities due to entrenched poverty, unemployment, lack of education and ignorance, neglect of girls due to cultural beliefs (many parents do not understand the need for the education of the girl-child), domestic violence, and gender inequality. Many children and adolescents have been orphaned by AIDS and are now heads of households and above all without proper knowledge to protect themselves from the infection. In most rural communities of Ntungamo district, less than half of the youth can correctly identify modes of HIV transmission. Youth Action Against AIDS aims to help young people to participate in community and national decision making and also promote grassroots action in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. By working with young people in communities, and students in schools in Ntungamo District, we help to disseminate knowledge for healthy living.
Children Of Promise
Vision: Our vision is to transform the lives of children and help them realize their full potential.
Mission: Our mission is to provide holistic support to orphans and other vulnerable children in Ntungamo district.
Children are often the unseen victims of persecution. Every year, children are orphaned or left with scarcely enough provisions to survive when their fathers and mothers die because of HIV and AIDS. Some children live in communities and homes where they are forced to live as second and third class citizens because they are orphaned. Many of those orphaned children are discriminated against and are often subjected to hard domestic labor by their caregivers. Because of unending mistreatment, children begin to feel rejected and ignored by those who would have loved them and provided them a shoulder to lean on. It is this unbearable condition that among other factors cause many children to join street life, child labor and teenage marriages in search for freedom for survival. We seek to respond to these community problems primarily by praying for the community, the children and families. Often as we visit families during our outreach programs, we come face to face with the reality of suffering that many children are facing that makes them more vulnerable such as poor health, lack of access to education due to absolute poverty, violence, and hard domestic labor.
We therefore, desire to focus on promoting early intervention and prevention efforts; seek to develop specific programs targeted at vulnerable families to mitigate the negative influences that create opportunities for vulnerability to occur; address social-cultural norms that predispose vulnerability; and to initiate livelihood opportunities for families for at-risk children, among other areas.
Whereas primary and secondary education in Uganda is free in government schools, many families cannot afford to provide scholastic materials such as uniforms, books, etc in addition to the mandatory cost-sharing fees charged by schools. The rate of child drop-out from schools is also high because many of the issues affecting children are not addressed.
The burden of these poor children is very big and we cannot independently meet their basic needs. In all our effort and contribution to the lives of children, our target is to bring them to Jesus Christ. We also strongly believe that the education of these poor children is the most effective way to reverse the cycle of poverty in their families and the community. If God will minister to your heart to be involved with us, and to support this worthy cause, you are very welcome! We are already in prayer for God to bless you and because you will have ministered to Christ!
Biblical exhortations for giving to the poor and needy
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done (Proverbs 19:17).
He that despises his neighbor sins: but he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he (Proverbs 14:21).
And the King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me (Matthew 25:40).'
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38)."
Consider this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously (2 Corinthians 9:6).
God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so (Hebrews 6:10).
"If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)
There is that scatters, and yet increases; and there is that withholds more than is meet, but it tends to poverty... (Proverbs 11:24-25).
He that gives to the poor shall not lack: but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse(Proverbs 28:27).
Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked…..(Isaiah 58:7-11).
Pr. Roberts
Lift Up Jesus Church,
Located along Ntungamo - Mbarara Road,
Eastern Division (Ntungamo Municipality),
P.O. Box 339, Ntungamo,
Uganda (East Africa).
Tel (mob): +256 772 527 835
Email: liftupjesuschurch@yahoo.com;
Pr. Rob (email): bobconnects@gmail.com
