Richard Rukundo, Provincial Children's Worker from the Church of Uganda, visited Bristol in 2014.
Church of Uganda, Childrens Ministry: Quarter I Update 2015 (Jan March)
Dear Friends/ Leaders of Children;
Greetings in Christ our Lord.
Thanks for all the support, moral and spiritual, that you have given us since the year the began. We have had time of reflecting and planning together in the Unit and Department and we are glad that we are set to roll out our agenda this year.
There is continued support towards childrens Ministry at Diocesan, Parish and School levels. Ministry has been growing through encouraging the participation and involvement of Children in activities being organized at all levels. I have visited various Childrens Ministry and Schools activities in the Dioceses of Kampala, Namirembe, Ankole and Northern Uganda since January and witnessed great strides in children involvement for ministry
We had training in Namirembe Diocese for over 150 Children Teachers in January. We have been distributing childrens discipleship curriculum to Dioceses which had not been trained. We delivered over manuals to Kitgum Diocese, West Ankole Diocese and Sebei Diocese. We hope to continue with Trainings in the remaining Dioceses which are not yet trained and as we strengthen the trainings in the other Dioceses which had trained. Already scheduled in the year we shall be training in Kampala, Mukono, West Buganda, Mityana and Busoga Dioceses.
In February, we launched, with representatives from all the Dioceses, the church of Uganda Child Protection and Safeguarding policy which was approved in by the 22nd
Provincial Assembly in August 2014. There is a growing realization for the need to protect and safeguard children at all levels which is making the policy popular and timely. We have clear objectives lined out as we roll on to Dioceses; these include;
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To raise awareness about risks to childrens wellbeing and protection.
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To mobilize communities to respond and prevent childrens risks
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To monitor possible risks on an ongoing basis
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To help develop local teams and networks to solve the problems
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To liaise with authorities and other players on issues beyond their jurisdiction.
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To ensure that children get justice, counseling and rehabilitation
We plan to have many of the Chaplaincy Workshops especially in Eastern and Northern regions. The western regions and Central have already received. The need to have ministers in our Church founded institutions is eminent and urgent especially now with the changing world. We are glad that the Dioceses have already set some training for lay Chaplains. The Theological Schools are also being tasked to include such practical trainings in their programs so that many willing ministers are equipped for service.
We thank God for the new Provincial Childrens Ministry Committee Chairperson Mr. John Tereraho. Continue to Pray with us that we will get enough financial resources to run all our programs throughout the Province. We believe God for more Children being safeguarded and protected from harm especially with our empowered Child Community Advocates, Safe guarding officers and all childrens Leaders/ Teachers.
We wish you blessed Easter Celebrations,
May the Risen Christ shine His Light on you now and always.
Yours In Chists Service,
Rev Richard M. Rukundo,
COU Provincial Childrens Programs Coordinator/
Asst. Provincial Education Coordinator