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Benon Kayanja
January 2025
Benon Kayanja
Dear Friends
Christian Greetings from Uganda and Happy New Year.
Justice Livelihoods Health(JLH), the local implementing partner of BMS in Uganda finished the year 2024 on a high note with a lot of excitement about the Christmas break, the expectation was that all staff would gather in Gulu where we would share among other things; the overall positive impression of the year 2024, Celebrate the accomplishments with the team as well as recognizing team members who exceeded, so that the team can return from their breaks motivated to take on 2025. However, this was not possible due to the Karuma Falls Bridge which remained closed till office closure for Christmas, the alternative routes were quite expensive. We found alternative ways of localizing the gathering which worked pretty well.
Thank you so much for your prayers, what feels like the end is often the beginning, we are all back to work and excited about the new year, already embarking on what God has laid out for us in 2025. I returned from Gulu just last week where I had travelled to address the team (which has now grown to include two extra staff all in our Kasese office) about new year priority areas, and they all looked refreshed and ready for mission.
You will be pleased to hear that our holistic work of transforming lives is continuing to grow massively, JLH registered a giant leap from 6000 direct beneficiaries reached in 2023 to 16,000 in 2024. This gigantic leap is mainly attributed to the introduction of the Church Community Mobilization Process (CCMP) in our strategic locations during the year 2024 which has a strong and massive mobilization effect. We have a team of 57 facilitators from 5 different denominations that are involved in CCMP training, and they are engaging their Christians in bible studies. This strategy of responding interdenominationally has created unity and strengthened synergies in serving the purposes of God as a body of Christ.
Esther McMillan the BMS CCM Lead and Jenny MacLennan-BMS Head Programs Last year in November 2024 arranged a CCM Gathering in Ethiopia-Addis Ababa for 6 different African Countries implementing CCMP. Myself and Pr. Vincent-the JLH CCM Coordinator attended in person. Making CCM a lifestyle in our engagements was one of outcomes of the gathering, being deliberate on mentoring and coaching facilitators and CCM Coordinators was the other among others, and we have incorporated these outcomes into the scale up plan for JLH for 2025. Please pray that Leaders as gateways for community transformation will embrace the process, hence making the facilitation of the process very easy hence enhancing the participation of the people.
Capacity strengthening within JLH is crucial as itempowers individuals and the entire team with the necessary knowledge, skills, and systems to effectively achieve goals, adapt to change, manage resources efficiently, and ultimately drive sustainable growth and improved performance across all levels of the organization. During the year 2024 BMS helped JLH greatly with a series of trainings under the BMS capacity strengthening department and one of the major outcomes of these capacity engagements has lead JLH to think strategically ways of funding its interventions sustainably through social enterprises. So in the year 2025 we will be talking a lot about Business as Mission. Thanks to BMS for the 12-week course they have enrolled me with Beyond Babylon Business- course whose intention will prepare me how to use business and or social enterprises to serve God. I will be completing this course in February this year and will be looking forward to applying it into the JLH market space. Please pray that the different trainings done for all leaders will produce good results that are beneficial to all the stakeholders. Please pray for the next training of the Board of Directors of JLH on Environmental Social Governance which should position the directors very well to make decisions with those aspects in mind.
Our Gender mainstreaming work continues to grow in Kasese-Western Uganda and the profile of JLH has been raised especially after the 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) last month, we are registering increased cases of GBV in Kasese and this is due to increased awareness and reporting, therefore moving forward in 2025 we would like to consolidate our efforts with awareness. We also observed that Church leaders are not speaking enough about violence in their congregations, and we will need to engage more with the faith-based leaders in 2025 highlighting the importance of using the scripture to fight GBV. Pray that JLH will be able to lobby for more funds in 2025 to be able to manage the increasing number of cases coming up as we progress with the project interventions in our strategic locations.
Every person we encounter, whether positive or challenging, is intentionally put in our path by God to teach us, guide our growth, or fulfill a specific purpose in our lives. We currently have a British friend in Uganda Richard who was introduced to us by BMS in November last year. He delights in teaching God's Word so that Ugandans can really understand what God has called them to do- specifically to work and not depend on handouts all the time as Deuteronomy 8v18 says and 1 Thessalonians 4v11-12. He has been very resourceful in equipping the team with resourceful books in leadership, prayer and discipleship.
Please pray for the new JLH Finance and Administration Officer as Dennis Kaweesa did not renew his contract in 2025.
Blessings
Benon