Many sponsors and people in my email contact list have never met me and have no idea who I
am. I have received several questions. Here is my attempt to
give you a little background about me, and
show you how God can use anyone to do his work. There are SO MANY GOD
moments in my life this is just a highlight of few that I thought would
be helpful for you to understand who I am and how God is using me to
answer prayers in Uganda.
I am one of eight children I am the third oldest. We grew up very rich in love but
money poor family. We faced many struggles. Including loosing our parents very young, my
youngest sisters were still in high school.
At the end of my parents lives we
lived in a project that even the police did not like to go into. My job was at a store outside the project, I was held up by gun point 6 times, I had even had a
sawed off shot gun held to my head this
all happened over a 2 month period. A car was
driven through the front door of the store on Thanksgiving,a group of
kids jumped out to steal cigarettes. I was at the cash register and just
missed by the door. I was 17 at the time. Growing
up we always knew we were loved deeply by our family and God, but we also felt we were never valued
much by anyone else. I think this realization is where my
passion for the kids in Bakka stems from. They are beautiful human
beings loved deeply by God but they are viewed as disposable to the
world around them.
Through out my life I always believed in God and
prayed. It is amazing to look back and
see all the answered prayers. Many
situations I have no memory of how we got through but prayers were
answered. Most of my prayers started “Dear
God, Please” In 1996 when both my husband and I were
unemployed I spent many hours praying.
During one of my prayer times I was filled with the Holy Spirit and told
by God that I would be educating young black children. At the time I thought it must be working with a friend in
Roxbury. This moment was
so intense I called Pastor Chris to share. I was as light as air and I
felt like my feet did not touch the ground.
A few months I later was hired at Net Works
OnLine which later became BrassRing. The
day I interviewed I knew I had the job and it was God’s will. A part- time night job paying $8.00 an
hour. I was confident that this is what
God wanted me to do. I came home from the interview and told my husband I had
the job and it would take me as far as I wanted to go. ( No one had told me I was hired yet) I was a little concerned that I needed to
earn much more to provided for a family of 5; the pay was only a quarter of what I
had been earning. My prayer “Dear God, Please provide me with a
job that will provide for my family”
This job lead to employment for my husband and sisters and many friends
that became family.
The memory of educating young black children faded. Several years later I was the Director or
Operations and Recruitment Services managing a remote workforce of 1200 people
plus a 3 shift 7 day a week operation.
In 2003 I changed my prayer style. I started praying the Prayer of Jabez.
1 Chronicles 4:10. Jabez called on the God of Israel saying
“O that you would bless me in deed and enlarge my territory, that your hand
would be with me and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause
pain! So God granted him what he
requested.
My friend Mary told me “Sandy
stop praying this prayer it is too big.” LOL I had no idea!
In 2006 God answered this prayer and showed me the plan he had for me in 1995,
but I did not realize this until 2009. Pastor Frank Mukiliza from Uganda found his way to my church Trinity Covenant
Church in Lexington.
He talked about many things, but
when he talked about children living in the village of Bakka that could not attend school
because they were naked. God told me fix this!
I started right away gathering clothes to ship. We sent 17 box filled with clothes, and school
supplies etc, they were shipped by ocean
liner and took 9 months to arrive.
During this time 3 members of TCC church went to Uganda. They came back when I saw the pictures and
video of the children at Bakka I knew God wanted me to do more. God told me to go to Uganda. This was a real stretch, I never really
desired to travel internationally, I did not have a passport, my husband was
out of work again and we did not have the money. I had never left my children. I told God all of these reasons, he told me
to go.
In May of 2008 I went to Uganda and the village of Bakka, my life will never
be the same. It was the most intense experience, the Beauty of Gods Spirit
among the disease filled hungry children that have no value to the world. Two
very extreme emotions feeling God’s Glory and at the same time feeling the depth of his sadness
and pain. If God showed me this, and I
walked away and did nothing, what would judgment day be like for me. I promised God and these children that I would do
everything in my power to help them.
Easter morning 2009 when I was praying while working on this project, God
told me "I answered your prayer." Yes
he had expanded my territory and also my family. The children at Bakka are now my children, that I
am committed to work for day and night. Having 400 children that need to be fed,
clothed and educated really stretches my comfort zone.
The day in 1995 when God told me I would be educating young
black children has come to fruition. WOW
I had no clue! When I was filled with
the Holy spirit it was so powerful it seemed so clear at the time but had faded
as life happened.
God told me to do public speaking, ask for
donations. My response, “God I am the quiet behind the scenes
worker; I nearly faint when I have to
speak in front of anyone. How can I do this?” I don’t like to ask for
directions how can I ask for money
To this day I still do not like
public speaking, but when I talk about the children in Bakka I have no
fear! God is speaking through me, I have
a hard time limiting my talks to the amount of time given. Being used by God is powerful he has much to
say.
The school budget is $3,000.00 a month. This feeds the children, pays the teachers
salaries, and pays the secondary students school fees. I have to ask for money or we won't meet this
budget. Stretch Goal :)
My day job as an Implementation consultant for
Human
resource software takes a 10- 12 hours a day 5 days a week. I have a
husband and 3 children (now all three are in college) Before 2008 I had
never been on a mission trip before not even in the US. I have many excuses no time, no money, no
talent. But God uses me anyway.
The trip to Uganda is long and expensive ~24- 25 hours of travel, 10
days of vacation time. Personal cost is around $3,000.00 most of that being the
plane ticket. In the past I had a
sponsor for my trip. He is no longer able to fund my trip so I need to fund
raise to help cover some of the expenses.
My goal is to raise ~$5,000.00 this will cover a special
meal meat, rice , beans, soda and cake for
the children of Bakka . And a gift for
every child- The gift is a nylon back pack with school supplies.
Any donation will help!
$3.00 will pay for one childs meal. $10.00 will pay for a gift.
Checks can be made out to and mailed to Trinity Covenant Church 7 Clematis Road Lexington 02451 Attention
Sandy Gannon
Loving a Village One Child at a Time
Love, mom sandy Gwoyagala
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