Moving Mountains

Dear Shining Hope Family,

In Mark 11:23, we find these beloved words from Jesus: “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Through your faith-filled prayers and financial support this May . . .

1. God moved mountains in providing for our monthly needs.

By May 10th, we were 100% funded. And by the 31st, we were nearly funded for June! WHAT AN ENORMOUS MILESTONE AND ANSWER TO PRAYER!!! For about a year, we’ve been living from donation to donation. It is so amazing to see what the Lord is doing in and through Shining Hope, and how He continues to use our dear support family.

We continue to have the privilege of providing lunch to the neighbor kids each day. And recently, they have been spending the entire day with us on the weekends, like this sweet boy.

“I want us to make this a routine,” Kalungi writes, “where all the kids we feed in our home are given an opportunity to stay with us from morning to evening on both Saturday and Sunday. This is because I would like to not only feed these children with food, but with spiritual food as well. The fear of God leads in everything we do, so it’s all a waste of time if these kids are fed to grow, but not with a strong, Godly-based foundation.”

These precious times together are like Sunday school. We have Bible teaching, prayer, and a time of singing songs of praise. The kids love these sessions, and many of them go from our home and teach others what they learn and practice!

From the archives! This moment we captured of Rachel teaching the kids about Jesus is still one of our favorites a year later:

2. God moved mountains in our children’s education.

It was about a week before the 29th, the start of the kids’ second term of school. The goal thermometer on our fundraiser for tuition still registered about 16% funded. But then our powerful Lord began to move. Donation after donation started to pour in. Four new donors blessed us with their presence. And before we knew it, we were $480 OVER our goal!

“What a good way to begin this term. God deserves all the glory. Thank you to all our dear friends who contributed to a very wonderful start of this term.”

On their first day of school, we dedicated the morning hours to praying and thanking the Lord for His kindness and provision. Harriet, Drake, and Cedric so beautifully capture our hearts of praise.

Pastor Peter also joined us in praying over the kids and giving a short teaching. He talked about how reverencing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), and he encouraged the kids to ask for wisdom from their generous Father in Heaven (James 1:5).

“Seek Him in everything and He will guide you,” he exhorted.

Pastor Peter and our high schooler, Scovia, pause to take this sweet picture:

Now it was time to leave for school. How loved they felt, knowing there were people who cared about them (like YOU!) and made it possible for them to attend school.

The faces of our high schoolers, Edrine and Jonathan, show the excitement of starting school:

3. God moved mountains in protecting Kalungi.

“Since April I’ve been deeply in prayer,” Kalungi shares, “and I’ve been getting myself closer to God.”

Previously, a friend called and shared with him his dream where Kalungi was hurt, perhaps fatally, in a car accident.

“First, I ignored, and I was like, ‘It’s just a dream.’ But through another person having the exact same dream, to me it seemed like a communication from the Holy Spirit about a possible attack. The only fighter against this attack is God, so I had to faithfully pray. God is good. I kindly request you all to pray for me against any evil plans against me. I am deeply invested in serving the Lord.”

Soon after becoming aware of these dreams, Kalungi learned that the head broker of one of his side businesses was cheating buyers and skimming from him. (We are working towards making these businesses a sustainable source of income for our ministry.) Kalungi confronted him and the man became irate. He threatened to use witchcraft to curse him. The curse? A deadly car accident.

We serve a great and mighty God. One Who is able to protect even from the devil’s wicked schemes.

A very joyful Kalungi with our boys Ernest and Drake:

Thank you sincerely for being used by God to move mountains in our ministry! We are so. very. blessed. by your loving support. In your own life, what mountains may YOU be facing? As you come before Your Heavenly Father, in faith-filled prayer and humble submission to His will, you will see your mountains move.

To the One Who moves the mountains,

Kalungi + Rachel