Viola lives in the slums of Kampala, Uganda with her parents and five siblings. Living conditions in this area are cramped and unsanitary. Viola’s family lives in a small, brick, two-bedroom house. The whole family shares one room and the other one is used to house chickens and a goat that are being raised to sell.
When the lockdown measures hit the world this spring, each of our programs had to pivot from their normal services at schools, churches and community centers, and venture out with more home visits to care for our children. This cost a bit more, but we knew it was what we needed to do.
Viola is one of the children our team in Uganda visited. During one of the home visits, we realized that Viola and her siblings were sleeping almost on bare ground. They were sleeping on thin, dirty, browned pieces of pad that had to be put together for one to sleep on, along with torn-up blankets that can hardly bring warmth in the cold.
Our staff realized Viola was one of the children who, whenever they got the chance to meet up with her, either had a cough or flu, and if not, she was complaining of back and body pains. This could have been a result of the poor sleeping conditions.
Our Uganda team got together and decided to get two mattresses and three blankets for the family.
Our Uganda team reports, “The joy, gratitude, and tears in their eyes when receiving the beds and blankets was worth a memory in our hearts and they now sleep comfortably like they should.”
God used this pandemic to lead our staff to Viola’s home where they discovered this serious need for a real bed. God reached out to Viola with His tangible love not just in spite of this horrible season, but through it.
In the extremely poor village of Kijabe, Kenya, there lives a crippled widow named Mary. After her husband died of AIDS a few years ago, she struggled to find food. While she suffers from HIV, too, Mary’s greatest challenge is a nerve problem in her legs. She has to use crutches
2025 was filled with moments that reminded us why every story matters. From clean water in Uganda to a young woman’s graduation in Mexico, each glimpse reflects the hope God is building through our Forward Edge Family. Read on for just a few of the lives changed this year—thanks to your faithful support and partnership.
“Every Saturday, my heart was filled with joy,” says Elvin, reflecting on the love and care he found at Cornerstone Kosova. Growing up in the harsh realities of Kosova, Elvin once faced a life full of hardship. But through the community’s love and the teachings of Jesus, his life was transformed. Now 15, Elvin’s journey of hope continues, and he’s sharing that same love with others.
Two Lives Forever Changed Adriana and Itzel both grew up with difficult home lives but everything changed for them when they joined Trigo y Miel, Forward Edge’s program in Oaxaca, Mexico. As children, they didn’t have many material possessions, but because of the program they were privileged to hear about
6 yrs. old
Entered the Program: August 2024
Ramsey lives with his grandmother, mother, 3 cousins, aunt and uncle in a three-room wood house with a dirt floor. The house has solar lighting and the family gets water from a neighbor’s well. They have an outside kitchen and use firewood for cooking; they have no bathing facility but use a pit latrine.
Ramsey and his older brother were initally raised by both of their parents, but their father became an alcoholic and abusive so their mother left with the children and went back home to her mother’s house. She is now a single parent and is often unemployed but tries to find casual labor jobs. Her meager income is hardly enough to provide for her sons and care for her elderly mother.
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