God began to grow our love for the people of Uganda in 2010 when we went on our first mission trip. We became aware of the orphan crisis and the Lord prepared our hearts to answer the call to adopt. Our experience serving in a baby home (orphanage) on multiple trips led us to advocate for more children to have forever families or be restored with their birth families. In 2011, we brought home our son Fred and daughter Nuluu from Uganda. After years of navigating the adoption journey and seeing God weave our family together, we gained a better understanding of the unique and often tragic situations that leave children in the care of a baby or children’s home. Our hearts became burdened for broken families. Just like anywhere in the world, the only real solution for broken families would be found in the life changing truth of the Gospel.
During those first mission trips we traveled to nearby villages to assist in building huts for widows and to meet the extended families of the children in care. Seeing the graves of moms lost in childbirth and hearing the stories of struggling siblings left at home opened our eyes to the overwhelming magnitude of the need. Many children found themselves separated from their mother or father or grandmother due to lack of food, basic medical care, and access to education. In a country where the majority survive on $1 a day and subsistence farming, parents cannot afford to pay for the school fees, uniforms, and supplies required to attend school. Reality set in, without an education the cycle of poverty and hopelessness repeated itself…leaving even children in loving families at risk.
In 2014 God led us to a different part of Uganda. Far away from the larger cities we met vulnerable families in northern districts who had very limited access to resources and even less access to the Word of God. It was in the village of Angoltok, an hour away from the nearest town of Soroti, that we met and forged a God ordained serving partnership with Ugandan co-founder Daniel Okwara.
12 years after growing our family through the miracle of adoption, we see God’s redemption in each of our lives and his hand on our family through all the challenges this life holds. We have a busy home full of joy, chaos and lots of love. Our lives will never be the same because we stepped out of the boat when God said go to Uganda.
Today we are seeing the fruit of AEM through our various ministries which includes Discovery Bible Study, Saturday Program, Child Sponsorship, Kids 4 Kids, and Mercy Ministry. We never could’ve imagined the love we would share with the Ugandan people and the brothers & sisters He partnered us with. We are excited to see what God does next with Akote Edeke Ministries!