Commissioning of the Kumi Team from CCUMC

As mentioned a couple of posts back, a team of 8 from Chinese Community United Methodist Church will be traveling to Kumi, Uganda to partner with YCVM for a couple of weeks. During their stay, the team will participate in the construction of the boarding school, and conduct a Vacation Bible School type of program for youth in the community.

Every year at the Cal-Nevada Annual Conference of the UMC, all of mission teams in the conference that serve in that year are commissioned for their work. Since the Conference is in June, some teams have already returned from their trip, while others have yet to go. CCUMC's team of 8 attempted to be on-stage with all of the other Conference mission teams, but unfortunately arrived 15 minutes late due to unexpectedly bad traffic between the San Francisco area and Sacramento, where the Annual Conference was being held. However, later that night, the team was announced and prayed for during the Bay View district dinner, which was very meaningful. It also gave the team some publicity amongst the churches in the district, and some of them will be praying for the team.

Pictured above are some of the 8 team members who will be departing from San Francisco on July 7th. Be sure to check kumikonnect.blogspot.com every day starting July 7th for daily updates on the trip!

A Concert for Our Children

In a couple of weeks, there will be a concert to benefit YCVM and the children

of Epworth UMC, Berkeley CA. Please publicize this event, and attend if you can!

A Concert for Our Children

An evening of intimate
Chamber Music
Benefitting the children of
Epworth United Methodist Church
and Kumi, Uganda

Saturday, May 23rd 7:30pm
Ecumenical Center
2401 Le Conte Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709

Suggested Donation: $20
For more information (510) 725-5329

The proceeds from the concert will go towards the renovation of children’s space at Epworth UMC and building a school for orphaned and impoverished children in Kumi, Uganda

http://docs.thinkfree.com/tools/download.php?mode=down&dsn=855090

2009 Summer Mission Trip is on!

A team of 8 sent by Chinese Community United Methodist Church, Oakland CA, will travel to Kumi for two weeks in the summer of 2009 to join forces with YCVM. The team will be supported by a "home team" that will coordinate the U.S. side of things. Everyone, whether they are traveling to Kumi or not, will receive education and training in preparation for the trip. If you would like to join the home team, please email ycvminfo@gmail.com Your prayers for the team of 8 and the home team are a necessary part of this mission trip!

For more information on the trip, as well as updates during the trip, visit http://kumikonnect.blogspot.com/

Taking care of the bereaved family

Last year, we received the unfortunate news that a child from the surrounding community fell into YCVM's construction well on the boarding school site. The child was not one of YCVM's sponsored children. Nevertheless, the YCVM board wanted to help the bereaved family, and rebuilt the child's mother's house (see earlier blog post). To help further, YCVM recently improved the beddings for the bereaved family members.

On the left, you see the former bedding, which is a common papyrus mat on the dirt floor of the hut. Following that, you can see the mattress that YCVM provided - a luxury in the villages. Lastly, you can see YCVM director Silver Omakenyi delivering the gifts to the family.

I thank God for the work that YCVM continues to do in the Kumi community.

10,000 bricks

Q: How do you make 10,000 bricks in Uganda?


A: With your bare hands.



This summer, a mission team sent by Chinese Community United Methodist Church will experience a small piece of life in Kumi with YCVM hosting. The mission team wants to (literally) get their hands dirty with the construction of the boarding school, so the YCVM team set about making more bricks. Please continue to pray for YCVM and the work they are doing, as well as the mission team from CCUMC.

The bricks are made by mixing water with dirt from the nearby area. A simple wooden form is used to create bricks of uniform size. The bricks are then left to dry in the sun. After that they're stacked, and a fire is lit underneath to bake them. While is process is very labor-intensive, it doesn't cost much money. Buying the concrete and mortar is a much greater cost.

2009 Goals

 

Now that the Citrus Orchard is funded, YCVM can look forward to long-term, sustained income-generation for the education of the sponsored children.  So, the top priority for YCVM is now the completion of the Ngora house where the children live.

We are looking forwards to more funds being raised to add the windows, doors, solar panels, and finishing touches.  The estimated amount is $25,000 USD.

Be watching for fundraisers coming this year!

Graduation!

 

YCVM is proud to announce that 2 of the sponsored children have graduated!

Alice Abeja earned her Certificate in Early Childhood Education.

 

Susan Achom received her Certificate in Health Science, and wants to become a nurse.

 

 

 

Also, Mary Asio transferred to another Christian sponsorship program, so she is no longer with YCVM.

On a very sad note, YCVM withdrew its sponsorship of Helen Atai and Stella Among after improper conduct.

As of now, YCVM sponsors 6 children, and is considering adding more.  A big THANK YOU to all supporters of YCVM!