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When Sandy Gannon heard a speaker from Kampala in south central Uganda at her church twelve years ago, something stirred in her heart. Three years later, Gannon, a member of Trinity Covenant Church in Lexington, Massachusetts, got her first passport and took off for the town of Bakka, population 24,000.
In the face of the significant need she witnessed there, Gannon felt God’s overwhelming presence and direction. When she returned, she and fellow Trinity member Todd Klipp worked together to found a nonprofit called Kisoboka Uganda. “Kisoboka” means “it is possible” in Luganda, based on the promise in Matthew 19:26: “With God everything is possible.” The nonprofit is dedicated to helping provide access to quality education, vocational and skills training, small business assistance, and community services, plus basic necessities like housing, food, and clothing to people in Uganda. They also began working with an established school to help fund medical, nutrition, and clothing needs for the students.
Trinity Covenant Church, a congregation of just over 100 people, partners with and actively supports the ministry. “God has called us to this place,” says pastor Chris Haydon. “In Uganda I discovered a part of my heart that I had never felt and didn’t know was missing. They are beautiful faithful people.”
Nine years ago, Kisoboka started partnering with a local Ugandan congregation to help educate students in a region where most young people receive no more than a fourth-grade education. Many have to drop out before high school in order to find work or care for their families. In 2016 Kisoboka purchased a school. Initially, less than a dozen students were enrolled in the high school. Now, thanks to the consistent education available through Kisoboka, currently eighty students attend the local high school.
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Today Kisoboka also sponsors more than 400 children in the villages of Bakka and Mukono in south central Uganda, near Kampala. Gannon serves as a Kisoboka-sponsored missionary, based in Lexington. One-third of her support is provided by the congregation; Kisoboka provides the remaining two-thirds. The nonprofit also receives support from corporate sponsors and individuals.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Through Kisoboka, Ugandans have been able to start small business ventures, such as a beauty salon and a sewing business, as well as purchase cows for a milk business and cultivate a hog farm. The focus on healthcare means that epidemics of worms and jiggers have been wiped out. Clean water from new wells has decreased cases of typhoid.
Trinity Covenant also supports a church and school in DR Congo, works closely with an orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico, and offers a number of outreach programs in the Boston area. Since 1984 the church has hosted Community Partners, a social gathering for local mentally and emotionally challenged adults. Once a month, forty to sixty guests gather for conversation and a meal provided by volunteers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
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Trinity Covenant Church
Lexington, Massachusetts
Weekly Attendance: 110
Organized: 1897
Website: trinitycovchurch.org | kisoboka.org/
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