As Friends of Uganda, we work closely with the GSM Uganda team based in Kampala, Uganda.  Our work primarily consists of three things: advocacy, encouragement, support.

Advocacy

For most of us living in suburban America, the reality of life in Uganda seems far away. The concepts of free education, affordable school supplies, and manageable classroom sizes are no-brainers. The reality is a little bit different in Uganda, and as an organization we are committed to helping people halfway across the globe understand what life looks like for our friends in Uganda, since most of us haven’t had the opportunity to see it for ourselves. Check out these pages for a glimpse of life in one of the Ugandan communities GSM is partnering with, and check back for updates from our students and staff. We believe that relationships develop over stories and not just facts, and that people are people, not causes. We also believe that advocates are friends, not just resources, so if you’d like to hear more about this in person, shoot us an e-mail at info@gsmuganda.org. We’d love to grab coffee, share our experiences with you, and introduce you to some of our friends, or hear about your experiences in Uganda or East Africa. We also love to tell the story of GSM Uganda, so if you’ve got a book club, Sunday School class, or group of friends that you think would be interested in how God’s kingdom is being built in Uganda, let us know.

Encouragement

If you’ve been to East Africa, or have read our links on the advocacy page, you know that life in Uganda can be challenging in particularly unique ways.  One of our goals as an organization is to find ways to encourage the GSM Uganda staff and volunteers, through both visits and more consistent communication between supporting groups here in the States and the staff on the ground in Uganda.  Groups from the States travel to Uganda at least once a year to visit with, work alongside, and offer encouragement to GSM Uganda staff, volunteers, alumni, and students.  We also send a monthly note of thanks and encouragement to the GSM staff.  If you’d like to add a note to our monthly greeting, feel free to email us at info@gsmuganda.org

Support

For us, support looks like a couple of different things.  There are obviously tangible needs for the work in Uganda that can be met with financial and other donations (please see our How We Do It page for more details).  The other aspect of support is prayer.  If you’re on our e-mail list, you’re already receiving a monthly prayer guide.  If you’d like to be on our e-mail list, send us a note at info@gsmuganda.org and we’ll add you to the list.  We’ll also be posting the prayer guide here.  We believe that God hears us when we ask for things, and we also believe that prayer is one of the ways that we learn to listen and align ourselves with God’s reality.  Please join us as we seek God’s will for this ministry, and don’t hesitate to let us know how we can be praying for you!