Students Serve in Uganda – Several Baptized in Lake Victoria
Since 2007, Liberty has sent five different teams of students, teachers, and alumni on a mission trip to the Buyamba Orphanage in Kampala, Uganda. Last May, the Liberty group who traveled there included 22 students and five adults, many of which had never been to Africa.
Chris Searcy, Upper School youth pastor, said that Buyamba Ministries is more than an orphanage – it also includes a primary and high school.
“In the past five years, Liberty students and families have donated bunk beds, fencing, a water well, a $50,000 pavilion for the children to eat meals and gather for chapels, and even helped purchase land for the building of Buyamba’s new high school,” said Chris Searcy, Upper School youth pastor.
Each year, Pastor Dongo, the founder of Buyamba, gives Liberty students a project to complete during their trip.
Because the government in Kampala asks each school that boards orphaned children to build a fence for the safety of the children, the project for Liberty students this trip was to build a security fence that would surround Buyamba’s new high school.
“Our group worked tirelessly and selflessly for 12 straight days,” said Searcy. “I have never seen our kids work so hard.
“It was amazing to see how God worked in and through our kids as they served, loved, and played with the beautiful children of Buyamba.”
In addition to the fence, Searcy brought with him 83 handmade blankets for the students of Buyamba that were made by fifth graders at Liberty.
Toward the end of the trip, one of Liberty’s students, junior Micah Stateson, asked his dad, Zach Stateson, to baptize him in Uganda.
Searcy said, “After we announced this to our group, several other students came forward and said they felt God was also calling them to make their faith in Him public by following the example of Jesus and being baptized.
“At the end our trip, we gathered at Lake Victoria, the largest lake in the world, and six students joined Micah that day and were baptized in the African waters.”
Joining Stateson were Cameron Budd, Abby Deaver, Cameron Gannon, Betsy Smith, Michael Smith, and Sarah Stanley.
The trip ended with a three-day safari of Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park where the group observed hippos, lions, African deer, elephants, and incredible scenery.
“At the end of our trip, Pastor Dongo told our group what he tells us every year,” added Searcy. “He said that no one works harder, serves better, and loves deeper than Liberty kids.
“We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us next year!”