A little bit of education can be a bad thing.

We found out there is a large opportunity for support raising at the end of the year as people reflect upon finances and decide where to donate for tax deduction purposes. Since we are so new to this missionary thing, we decided to sign up for a course about end-of-the-year support raising.

Bad move on our part.

Granted, the course did have helpful templates to send to current and potential supporters. There were bible verses to use, with places to plug in names of our country and the names of our ministry. But they felt phoney. We know the best way to ask you to support us is to be genuine, tell our story in our own words, and to let you know up front that, yes, this post will end with a request for funding. Move on right now if you want, but we hope you will give us just a little of your time to tell you about what we have accomplished in Gulu since arriving a few months ago. We hope that you will see the importance of our work to individuals in Uganda and will choose to support us financially.

We found out that our home church, The Grove Community Church in Riverside, refers to our residence as “the Missionary House”. At first this was amusing to us; it is our home. But as things have evolved, the term makes more and more sense. The garage has been set up as a place for sewing and we call it “The Sewing Studio”. One of the rooms in the building behind our home has been converted into a “Fellowship and Fitness Centre” with gym equipment. Two rooms inside our home host visiting pastors (only one has a bed, the other has two sleeping pads that we would like to exchange for 2 twin size beds soon). Our living room has been used for a planning/study session by the leaders of Gulu Bible Community Church. Our dining table is always in use for computer lessons. Do you get the feeling that this house is truly not “ours” but “His?”

Our days are now filled with teaching ladies how to sew, doing outreach in outlying churches, hosting visiting pastors, encouraging church members and friends to exercise, doing computer trainings, and providing resume services to the community. We have settled into a nice ebb and flow of an “always busy but we never know just what the day will hold” mode. Our days are so unlike the ones that we left in Riverside - there we rarely entertained, and this house of sustained activity has been a huge adjustment. We also need to remind ourselves to say “no” or we might have ladies sewing from 5 am to 10 pm every day instead of 10 am to 5 pm; or men exercising through the night.

The major milestone we are looking forward to is an exhibition in the Marketplace in Gulu on December 28. It is an open air bazaar where tote bags made by our sewing ladies will be sold. Please pray that the sales are successful.

Pastors here rely on tithes and offerings to survive, just like in the US. Yvonne’s most touching moment was when one of the young pastors whose wife is learning to sew, confided that “she now has hope”.

We would like to share some information about our current financial situation. The Grove Community Church provides 15% of our monthly budget. Individual/family contributions total 43% of our monthly requirements. We contribute from our personal funds to make up the balance.

This is your opportunity to support a ministry that has eternal impact to the people we reach in our bible classes, and also provides hope to individuals through our sewing ministry.

To continue to support us on a monthly basis, we thank you for your kindness and generosity! No action is necessary on your part unless you would like to increase the amount that you contribute.

If you would like to join us as a new donor in making a difference to individuals in Uganda, please click here. Monthly donations help us plan for expenses. We are genuinely grateful for any amount you are able to contribute, either one time or on an ongoing monthly basis. Your gift is tax deductible.

Thank you for considering supporting us.

Yvonne and Jeff Weinstein

Here is a timeline and some photographs of activities over the months:

Mid-August: Arrive in Uganda. Begin to set up house with essentials such as kitchen supplies and bedding. Nighttime theft while we were asleep of all our valuables. Amazingly generous response by friends and church community of donations of cash to partially recover losses.

Early September: 3 treadle sewing machines purchased.

Mid September: Social event held at our home (aka “Missionary House”) Yvonne invites 10 ladies over to have tea, eat, and hear about the free sewing activities available to them and others in the community. Began meeting and researching with Gulu Bible Community Church leaders for Vision 2040 (Church planting in 10 African Nations). Our home (aka “Missionary House”) first used for lodging for visiting pastors.

End of September: Exercise equipment (barbells and dumbbells) purchased. Almost daily walks (2 miles) into town to build relationships with shopkeepers.

October: First of monthly visits for Men’s and Women’s programs (Bible and sewing) in Adjumani and Anaka. Hired local church member/tailor to teach ladies to use treadle machines. Began computer trainings. Outfitted room in the back building for use as a “Fellowship and Fitness” Centre. (Painted room, built weight bench, hung mirrors, painted inspirational texts on walls). Church members and pastors begin coming for exercise.

Mid October: First Quilt top finished. Yvonne invited to “Women of Virtue to show how to bake cakes and hand sew clutch purses.

November: First tote bag completed. Plans are made to sell tote bags at a local exhibition on December 20