​I didn't know...
I didn't know when we were obedient to God's call to sponsor a child that our monthly donation would be more than just helping a child and their family. I didn't know when Jacob and I prayed for the Lord to show us which child He had in mind, what other plans He had in store. For almost two years, we've sponsored Karim. We've enjoyed letters, a Facetime call, Facebook Messenger conversations. We've prayed for him and loved him from the other side of the world. We longed for the day when we could finally meet.
I didn't know when the day actually came, what would happen to my heart. I didn't know that he would take a boda taxi all the way to Katanga slum and track me down so he could meet me earlier than I expected, that he would have a birthday gift for me, that he would be so much taller than me, and that it would make my heart feel the way it did when I finally got to give him a hug.

​She asks for my water and tries to drink it 
All at once 
I stop her for breaks 
This is probably the most water she’s ever had to drink at once.
My heart sinks
I try to hide my tears from her 
Beneath a smile 
but it’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

Esther is just one of many children that live in Katanga with a story like this. Sponsorship can be the only hope for some children to go to school and to have meals and clean water. A year ago, a post from my friend, Waverly McCall, convicted me of how much I was spending on food and extraneous items when I could be changing the life of a little girl in Uganda. I never thought in a million years I’d be able to meet her and cherish her for even a short time. She has rocked my whole world and shown me how to love in a way I never knew how. If you are interested in sponsoring a child and forever changing his or her future, please check out Benjamin House Ministries and the wonderful things they’re doing in Uganda.

You may have heard that, in honor of their birthdays, we're having a friendly competition to see which of our founders - Bucky or Julie Rogers - can raise the most money for our Transitional Homes. Our goal is $10,000 or one full year of Family Restoration operations. That may seem like a big goal for just 3 months, but it's just that important. Here's why:

For as long as he can remember, Ibra's mother and father have been separated and while he was young his father cared for him. When his father took a new wife, she refused to cook for Ibra and his siblings. Naturally, they told their father and, to their surprise, he immediately kicked their step-mother out of their home. Soon after, their father regretted his actions, knowing they were made in anger, and pleaded with his new wife to return.
Ibra believed that he was the problem; he was the cause of his step-mother's banishment. When Ibra heard that his step-mother might return, he fled out of fear that she might blame him for his father's actions and mistreat him. Ibra was only 10 years old.

For the next 4 years of his life, Ibra was homeless and lived on the streets of Kampala - the capital of Uganda. Each day, he dug through rubbish pits for food and re-sold plastic bottles in front of street shops to try to earn money. At night he would sleep on the sidewalk and hide from policemen, ordered to arrest homeless children and send them to Reprimand "Rimand" Houses. Throughout the years, a few non-profits occasionally fed him, but none did anything to get him off of the streets.

If our Transitional Homes didn't exist, Ibra's story would end here. He would continue to roam the streets of Kampala, like many children before him, and be one of thousands. No one would know his name, remember his birth day, or care to hear his story. But God had another plan.
Ibra was found by Benjamin House staff. He moved into our Transitional Homes, where his House Parents, Abraham and Phiona, lovingly took care of him for 3 months as his social worker dove into his case in order to discover whether Ibra had any living relatives who would care for and raise him. The bonds formed between the Rogers family, Abraham, Phiona, and Ibra during those months will not quickly be forgotten.

After 4 years of homelessness as an orphan and 3 months of rehabilitation and family research, Ibra has a family. On Thursday, May 17, 2018 Benjamin House Ministries reunited Ibra and his birth mother! Her ex-husband never told her their son had run away and you can only imagine her horror as she discovered that he'd been living as a homeless orphan.
In 12 short weeks, Ibra's life is radically different than it was before. He has a future, a family, a home.

Our hearts are filled to the brim after witnessing Innocent return home for the first time in 8 years and be reunited with his family! This is his story:
Innocent grew up with his parents and 3 siblings in a small village in Arua about 375 miles from Kampala. In 2000, when Innocent was 6, his parents separated. His dad decided to move to Kampala to find work in the city and told their family that Innocent would come with him to go to a good school. But Innocent was never enrolled in school. Instead, he was abused at home by his uncle and after 2 years, Innocent fled to the street. He lived on the streets of Kampala for 6 years.
This February, Innocent moved into our Transitional Home, where he was counseled and loved by our social workers and House parents as we searched for his relatives.
Upon finding Innocent’s mother, we discovered that she was never told that Innocent ran away. For the past 8 years she believed Innocent was away at school. You can only imagine the pain she felt when we told her the truth.
But her pain was soon replaced by the greatest joy! With the approval of our social workers, Innocent was reunited with his mother and her family in Arua! Friends and neighbors flooded their home as news spread that their son has returned!
We are overjoyed to finally see our dream of family restoration taking place! Innocent is the first of many children whose families we will see restored! Thank you for believing in this dream and helping us make it a reality.

Flu strain A, B, C, XYZ and everything in between has littered my Facebook feed this winter season.  It's everywhere.  I've watched as people lament getting it, their kids getting it, and a hundred home remedies to stop it or make it better.  Influenza can be deadly in a small portion of the elderly and very small children in the USA, but for the vast majority of people who get the flu, they feel like trash for a few days, then start getting back on their feet.

Where we live, in Uganda, Malaria is everywhere.  It makes up nearly half of all diagnoses and treatments from hospital and clinic visits.  It is the single highest cause of death, making up 1/3 of all deaths, globally.  Forty-two Ugandan children die every day due to Malaria.  In fact, during the time it will take me to write this blog, a child here will have taken their last breath because of a disease that is preventable and easily treatable.
​

Bucky and Julie Rogers say God has called them to Uganda for life.
The Spartanburg couple had known for a few years they were being called to provide orphan care overseas in some capacity. After multiple mission trips to Uganda through their church, Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church in Moore, that calling turned into a vision three years ago to rebuild Ugandan families by helping the country’s growing number of orphaned and vulnerable children.
“It became apparent that (Uganda) was the place God was calling us to plant our lives,” said Bucky Rogers, who had been pastor of students and worship arts at Anderson Mill. “The situation for orphaned and vulnerable children is very dire there, and generations of exploitation have made it exponentially worse.”
The Rogers sought to invest their lives in seeing things change and in spring 2016, the couple and their four adopted children moved to Kampala, Uganda, to establish an orphan care and family restoration ministry called Benjamin House Ministries.
Right now, the organization is assisting 140 children and families in Uganda through its programs.
“We have been on the ground in Uganda for about 18 months now…and have no plans to return back to the states to live,” Rogers said. “We believe God has called us here for life.”
Providing basic necessities
Among the priorities of Benjamin House Ministries is to help provide basic necessities for Ugandan children like food, clean water, safe shelter and education.
The average Ugandan lives on less than $1 per day and eats one meal per day, Rogers said.
Streams, wells and run-off pipes are where most Ugandans get the water they use for drinking, cooking and bathing. Every year, more than 10,000 Ugandans die from illnesses related to drinking dirty water, Rogers said.
“Many of (the children) became separated from their parents and have been living and sleeping on the streets, begging for food and using drugs to numb the hunger and make themselves sleep,” he said. “Some reach a point of desperation and want to go home, but don’t know how.”
The Rogers and their staff of eight in Uganda also work with the country’s local leaders to get homeless children into transitional homes and prepare them to be part of a family again.
“We want to see the millions of children who are growing up in abject poverty without mothers and fathers be reunited with their birth family or tribe of origin,” Rogers said.
D.J. Horton, senior pastor at Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church, said like any new ministry in a challenging place, the organization’s first two years haven’t been without some difficulties. The organization has evolved and adjusted, but what hasn’t changed is the Rogers’ desire and call to help the people of Uganda, he said.
“Bucky and Julie had everything here with us at The Mill — great job, thriving ministry, beautiful home and tons of loving friends,” Horton said. “Yet, because of their heart for Uganda, they gave all of that up to go live in a third-world country and simultaneously start a new ministry.”
Helping children thrive
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world. The median age is around 16 years old.
The AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa and the war in South Sudan and northern Uganda wiped out much of the adult generation, Rogers said.
“It’s literally a nation of children,” he said. “Well-meaning people came to Uganda and established orphanages to care for the children who were left behind. Inadvertently, they created an even bigger problem.”
Bucky Rogers said as a result, Uganda has a generation of adults who grew up in orphanages and boarding schools and who don’t know what it means to be a family. The majority of children are either raised by grandparents or placed in boarding schools and visit home only a few months a year, he said.
“This breakdown in the family has caused ripple effects that are hard to overestimate,” he said. The role of Benjamin House Ministries is to provide donors, churches and other groups an avenue to inspire hope across Uganda. The organization does this by assisting orphaned children and preparing them for their futures, subsequently building up the country’s next generation of leaders.
An important piece of this preparation is education, which can lead to job skills training and empowerment.
According to the organization, some Ugandan children begin working as young as 5 years old to help their parents earn a living. If they sell enough items like rice or bananas on the street, they might be able to pay for school.
“All education in Uganda costs money,” Rogers said. “If a family cannot afford the school fees, including a school uniform and school supplies, then their children may never learn to read or write.”
The organization’s sponsorship program helps take care of schooling expenses, along with medical care and other minor needs, allowing parents to keep children in their families. The organization also has a program that equips teenagers with leadership skills.
“Kids who were struggling when we first placed them in school are now thriving, and we even have several who have advanced to the top of their classes,” Rogers said.
Restoring healthy families
Another way Benjamin House Ministries helps to restore families and get abandoned children off the streets is by building transitional homes in Uganda.
The organization broke ground in June on the first of multiple transitional homes. Children will stay in the homes between three and six months as they receive counseling and rehab for any drug addictions.
“The kids we are rescuing from the streets are alone. On the streets there is no hope for them,” Rogers said. “Our transitional homes are a safe place to land and prepare to be a part of a family.”
Each home will have a set of house parents and between six and eight children. The organization’s staff will work to find the children’s families or tribes and make sure these are safe options for the kids.
Where that isn’t possible, suitable foster parents will be trained and assume the role of parents in a child’s life, Rogers said.
Parents or guardians also will receive counseling through the program in order to adequately care for any children and provide them with a forever home. This can be a complicated process and often involves helping parents or guardians gain skills so they can find a job and provide for their children.
“We want to see families lift themselves out of poverty and brokenness, not simply receiving a handout,” Rogers said.
Building future success
Back in the United States, one part-time representative and a board of directors help spread the Benjamin House story and raise financial support to help the organization continue its work in Uganda.
“Our ministry is completely dependent upon our supporters in the states,” Rogers said. “So the timing of our vision depends wholly on the giving.”
The organization’s major fundraising avenue is through its annual unveiling events. This year, such an event will be held on Sept. 28 in Chattanooga, Tenn., and another on Oct. 5 at the Upward Star Center in Spartanburg.
The ticketed dinner events are open to the public and will involve an intimate discussion with Bucky Rogers about the basic needs of Ugandans and how Benjamin House Ministries can help meet them.
“The work that Benjamin House does is transforming the lives of Ugandans by inspiring hope while meeting their basic needs,” said Kevin Drake, publisher of the Herald-Journal and a Benjamin House Ministries board member. “By caring for others we enhance our own life experience. This banquet gives us an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these children.”
Michael Lord, who also is on the organization’s board, said the future of Benjamin House Ministries is bright because the need is still so large. The board’s role is to give the Rogers the tools they need to do what needs to be accomplished in Uganda, he said.
“When you look at Benjamin House and its aims and its goals for the future, the potential to reach every child is just overwhelming,” Lord said. “We want to impact the lives of as many children as possible, but it all starts with one child. And I think the Rogers know how to build those relationships with that one child, and then another child and another.”
Through ongoing financial and community support, Bucky Rogers sees the organization expanding in the coming years with an entire self-sustaining village in Uganda.
He also wants to see the organization reach more children and families, plant hundreds of new churches, and shift the general mindset of Ugandan families.
“Basically, we have a huge dream, and we believe God can do it,” he said.

A group of Hendrix Elementary School students want Ugandan children to enjoy an upcoming solar eclipse as much, and as safely, as they did this week.
Amy Flynn’s fourth-grade class has started collecting used eclipse glasses to send to Ugandan children later this year. School officials are working with Benjamin House Ministries, and the glasses will come with notes from Hendrix students about what the eclipse was like.
The African country lies in the path of a 2020 solar eclipse.
“One of the students said, ‘Well, we could keep them until the next eclipse’ and we said, ‘That’s not really possible,’” Flynn said. “That’s when we started looking, who could we even give these to?”
The idea built steam after Flynn reached out to Benjamin House staff. The organization works with orphans and families in Uganda.
Spartanburg School District 2 spokesman Adrian Acosta said other schools have been asked about either sending glasses to Hendrix Elementary or starting similar donation drives.
Friday, Flynn encouraged her class to bring in the glasses the district gave them for the eclipse.
She taught another lesson about the eclipse and its significance before having students write messages to the Ugandan children who will receive their glasses.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Grayson Smithson. “I hope they’re thinking that, ‘Hey, some kid was nice enough to donate these to me.’”
Hendrix Elementary is an International Baccalaureate school, encouraging students to use lessons to take action, Flynn said. The eclipse provided a perfect opportunity for learning, because it it led to classroom lessons and a lesson in giving back, she said.
“I think that’s what they’re going to remember about fourth grade,” she said. “They’re going to remember all the learning about this specifically. I hope when they hear about the eclipse in 2020 in Uganda, they remember someone will be holding their glasses.”
Addison Posey said her “mind was blown” by seeing the eclipse with her parents and family friends. She hopes children in Uganda have the same feeling in a few years.
“I hope they get the message that the solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and they’re really experiencing history and now they have the glasses to actually experience that history,” she said.
Any residents who want to donate their glasses can drop them off at the front desk of Hendrix Elementary or mail them to 1084 Springfield Road in Boiling Springs.

We began our ministry that day by washing feet. Layers and layers of dirt... As I scrubbed the bottoms of their feet, they were not even ticklish. Their feet, just like their hearts and eyes, were hardened and void of feeling.
I won't lie... I caught myself thinking what's the point? What will washing these dirty feet accomplish? They will be dirty again in minutes.
Covered in scars and open wounds, I began to see their feet as a beautiful, sorrowful depiction of the lives they live. Hard, dirty, unfeeling, scarred, and wounded. 
God revealed to me that the washing was not only for them, but for me. I needed to see their filth, their pain, their scars, their wounds. I needed "the eyes of my heart enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18), because I was just as dirty, scarred, and wounded before I found Christ. Those feet represent all our lives before Christ, and thankfully Christ does not look at us and say, "What's the point? They will sin again." No, lovingly and patiently, He washes us clean over and over again.
Thank you Jesus for your never-ending and never-failing salvation that washes us white as snow.

I wish I had more faith…

Why is it that we, who have been given everything we need in Christ, bought from death, sealed by the Holy Spirit, living a life of joy and happiness and hope, experiencing that God has always been and will always be faithful, and awaiting an eternity in paradise with Him…………still doubt?

Why can’t I simply wake up every morning and trust that the needs that God shows me today, He will provide for in His time and in His way? Why can’t I rest in His promise that He has all this in His hands? Why does restlessness and helplessness and anxiety seem to be in my shadow? I’ve seen Him do it! I’ve witnessed the nearly visible hand of God right in front of me a hundred times! I know…I KNOW who He is and what He has promised. Why do I still wonder?

When I’m looking at a sea of faces of kids at a local school I chaplain, why do I give in to fear that they will turn aside from the Word and just continue the cycle that has been destroying the family in Uganda? Why can’t I remember the examples of the ones who are steadfastly following Jesus and are going to make a difference…or think of Charles or Joakim or others on our staff who are breaking that cycle and leading others to do the same? I want my first thought to be a thought of encouragement, remembering a young man who used to be Muslim and is now being baptized on Christmas to publically profess his faith.

There’s a computer program that we use to track our giving for Benjamin House. The front page has a chart that tracks giving over time. I check it every day. Every…day. Why can’t I just trust that God has called us to this and He will provide every cent we need to accomplish the goal? Why does my heart skip a beat when I log in and notice the giving trend going down, or when I get an email from someone saying they’re discontinuing their giving. I’ve seen it before, and God always does something incredible and it goes back up. Why can’t I rest in that?

I want my kids to know their father trusts THE Father. No matter what. Now I just have to work to become that man. I identify with Peter more than I ever thought I did before. Everything in me wants to jump out of the boat at every instance. I want to be where Jesus is, on the front lines, in the middle of the dirt and the pain with Him. But before I take the 3rd step, I’m looking to the right and to the left to make sure nothing’s gonna hit me.
I have to be real. No plastic smiles here. Things are hard. And we go through days that we feel like we’ve been trudging through mud for so long that we can’t take another step. Then I get a message like this:
“I’m thinking about you all this morning, we miss each of you so much! I’m especially missing just hanging out at the Rogers house and see all of the beautiful Christmas decorations and decorating Christmas cookies. But I’m so grateful for the work you are doing in Uganda and seeing all of the updates on each step of this journey God is bringing you though (especially the recent ground breaking!). We pray for you but I’m spending some extra time lifting you up this morning, as I know the enemy tries to discourage and tear you down, I pray for strength, endurance, and Gods peace as you all are on the front lines. Thank you for being such an incredible example and blessing to so many we love y’all!”

So, I’ll continue to echo the man in the Gospels who said, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.” I’ll continue to lean on the Church as she continues to be what God has called her to be. I’ll continue to wrestle Brennan, beat the girls off Inno, watch Sasha tackle manhood, keep Xan from having a heart attack, tickle my Becca-boo, and keep the ice trays filled for my lovely Julie. I’ll look into the eyes of the thousands, remembering the dozens that God has already worked miracles in, and we’ll keep walking by faith.

Pray for us. Pray that we will be able to take a step in the dark not knowing where our foot will land but trusting that the one who made it all and who loves us completely will be guiding that foot to a perfect and solid place. Pray that our hearts will remain steadfast and encouraged. Pray for the days when the dust seems too think, the air too hot, the roads too bumpy, and the language too hard. Pray for us to remember that each day is a gift and a responsibility and no matter what happens, we’re saved and heaven is waiting. This life is a blip on the screen, and I pray we’ll be faithful with this moment.

Bucky, Julie, and the Benjamin House Team



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A former Spartanburg pastor who moved to Uganda was back in the city Thursday night to update a large crowd of supporters about his first six months in Africa and the project he started there.
Bucky Rogers, executive director of Benjamin House Ministries, his wife, Julie, and their four children packed their lives into about 10 duffel bags and moved to Uganda in March to dedicate themselves full-time to Benjamin House. Rogers started the ministry to help orphans in the country.

It took about two months to get settled, Rogers said, but over the past six months Benjamin House Ministries has opened a church that about 300 people attend and started a family sponsorship program.

The next project is a transitional home that will help children transition from orphanages to a family setting. The home will give them a place to get comfortable with living with a family before moving into that situation, Rogers said.

Before moving to Uganda, Rogers took several trips to the country and saw firsthand how great the need was. Living there has allowed him to see the need in a different way, he said.

“It’s everything I expected it would be, and yet everything is different than I expected it would be,” Rogers said. “Every day is hard. It’s not hard in that it’s hot or we don’t have ice or we don’t have Chick-fil-As on every corner. We’re OK with that. But it’s hard helping 44 kids in a slum right now and seeing thousands more who need help. We’re asking God to open up the floodgates and let us help these kids.”

Kelly Clark, a member of Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church, went with Rogers on his first trip to Uganda. They were on a mission trip with the church, and Clark saw how much the trip and people there touched Rogers’ heart.

Clark said it wasn’t a surprise when Rogers announced his family was moving to Uganda. It seemed natural, she added.

Thursday was the first time Rogers had been back in Spartanburg since leaving. Clark said she was excited to hear about his experiences and had her handkerchief ready.
​
“They moved in March and I’ve seen the Facebook posts but I haven’t heard Bucky’s heart,” Clark said.

Somewhere around the mid 80’s, John Farnham released a song called “You’re the Voice.”  I’m sure the meaning of the song is nothing like how my brain has been applying it over the past 5 months, but nonetheless, those words keep ringing through my mind.  We’re all someone’s daughter…we’re all someone’s son.
Yesterday, Julie and I were driving back home and there were two very little girls digging through our trash, trying to find something of value, and probably trying to find food.  I met another boy at the gate who said, “Pastor, I don’t want to ask you for things.  I know everybody does that.  But we have no food.  My grandmother is sick and needs to eat.  Do you have anything left?”  A man came up to me after service last Sunday asking to speak to me sometime this week.  I made an appointment with him to talk this past Thursday.  He told me he was thrown in the latrine as a baby and someone passing by got him out and cleaned him up and nursed him back to health.  That caregiver died when he was a young boy and he’s lived the rest of his life trying to survive on his own.  He turned from Islam and accepted Christ that day.  I spoke to his wife yesterday and she too gave her heart to Christ as well.  I told them I loved them and I would see them next Sunday, and as we were walking away, he told me that was the first time he had ever heard those words directed to him.
The other day I was doing some painting at the church and a student from the school that I’m campus pastor for came by to see me.  He helped paint a little and then I walked with him back down to the school.  On the way he said, “Do you remember a few weeks ago when you talked to me after the chapel service?”  I did remember. He was clearly upset and wanted me to pray with him, so of course, I did.  He continued, “That day I was going to commit suicide.  I had already planned when I was going to jump from the 4th floor balcony.  I played it out in my mind over and over.  I decided not to after we prayed.  Pastor, I have nothing left.  I have no one left.  There’s no one who would even know if I had died that day.”  I kept it together until after I dropped him off at school and then I just got into my car and wept.  Of all the things in this world I understand, that just isn’t one of them.  I’ll never understand it.
When I think back over my childhood, all I can remember is love.  My parents divorced when I was 2 years old.  When I got a little older there were some pretty rough times…going from a fairly comfortable to having absolutely nothing within 6 months.  I can remember a few times during those years not telling my mom that my class in elementary school was taking a field trip because I knew we didn’t have the money and I knew it would hurt her to tell me that we just couldn’t swing it.  So, while the school was on field trip, I would hang out at the school, help the teachers grade papers and stuff, and then come home without a word.  I can remember saving up my birthday money and Christmas money that relatives had given me, and sneaking a $20 bill in mom’s purse every now and then.  My older brother was in trouble a lot, and I would wake up at night to shouting matches between him and my mom.  And yet, with all that…the thing that is most in the forefront of my memory is love.  There has never been a day of my life, ever, that I didn’t feel loved by my mom and dad.  I’m their son.  I know what that means.  And I’m a lot like them.
Over the past 5 months I’ve been struck by the reality that there are generations of people in Uganda who are just like their parents.  They too are someone’s daughter…someone’s son.  They’ve known neglect and so they neglect.  They know abandonment and a lack of love, so they abandon, and fail to love.  They’ve been cheated and exploited for gain, so they cheat and exploit.  They become their parents…and on and on.  Uganda is drowning for lack of heroic, godly, caring, strong, Biblical fathers.  I would never do anything to diminish the value of a mother.  But there’s something powerful about the hands, heart, and words of a father.  And they’re almost entirely absent here.  I can feel it everywhere I go, and with every boy and girl I talk to or spend any time with.  They hang on every word.  They’re content to just sit beside you…to hold your hand.  They have a scared look until you smile at them and then they smile the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.  A simple “I love you” spoken by an adult, and their life is utterly changed.
Ministry is ministry, and our whole world needs it.  And maybe I’m biased because these are my people.  But there is a level of need here that isn’t matched by any experience I’ve had in the 15 or so nations I’ve been to.  There’s a desperation that human words just can’t really fully explain.  That’s why we need you.  We need you to pray for wisdom and discernment.  We need you to pray for strength as we hold our hearts out every day and bring them back in every night bruised and torn.  We need you to give, and give sacrificially.  I need people to value life and the Gospel and choose to sacrifice something to see something miraculous happen.  We need you to come.  These kids, mothers, fathers, this society needs you.  It needs your smiles, your hugs, your words, your example, and the greatest need of every human heart…the Gospel.  We need you to keep telling the story, to remember us, and to help others see what they otherwise would not see.  We need you.
Our unveiling banquets in Chattanooga(Sept 13) and Spartanburg(Sept 15) are going to be a huge celebration of all the open doors God has made available to us in these past 5 months.  But it’s also going to be a very difficult night for me.  Because as much as I want to celebrate, and see everyone, and update everyone on our progress, I still have faces in my mind of all the kids and birth mothers we’ve had to tell that we can’t help them yet.  I have memories of kids waiting just outside the door…kids waiting on their name to be called.
So, in the words of John Farnham:
We have the chance to turn the pages over.  We can write what we want to write We gotta make ends meet, before we get much older
This time, we know we all can stand together With the power to be powerful Believing we can make it better
You’re the voice, try and understand it Make a noise and make it clear We’re not gonna sit in silence We’re not gonna live with fear
www.benjaminhouse.net
www.facebook.com/benjaminhouse

​As we are in our last week in the United States there is a lot going through my heart and mind.  There are a thousand tiny details to still get ironed out.  There’s the actual travel (24 hours of travel time with 3 small children, 2 of which have special needs, and 15 bags that contain all our earthly belongings) through crowded airports, TSA checkpoints, times of food, times of no food, and times of plane food.  There will be dozens of things I want to jump on as soon as we land and plans that have been in my dreams for the past year that we can finally set into motion.  And yet, all I can think about is what happened last night.
 Last night I sat down with about 25 men.  The Lord led me to which 25 were there, but there could have been 100 others (although my heart may not have been able to withstand that).  I wrote each of them a letter, reminiscing on the past, reminding them of where they’ve been, and challenging them to never go back there.  In the mix were guys whose dads left their post and in doing so left a shattered heart after the dust settled, guys whose dads passed away early in their lives, guys who have been in the deepest sin struggles you can imagine, and guys who have earthly fathers that are second to none…and everything in between.  The one thing they all shared in common was that they each have a piece of my heart.
The Lord has been gracious to me to bring me young men over the years to invest my life in.  I don’t know exactly how He does it, or why He chooses the ones He does, but I’m so grateful.  I don’t have all the answers, and I have messed up more than I’ve gotten right as I’ve sought to lead these men to Christ.  I’ve said wrong things, given wrong advice, been impatient and pushy, and sometimes even pushed so hard that some of the men God brought to me are now far from Him.  But for whatever reason, He keeps bringing them to me.
I went around the circle last night and read those hand-written letters aloud to each of them.  I wanted them to be encouraged that they’re not alone…that every man goes through times of battle and can rise on the other side of it with victory.  I laughed and cried during almost every letter.  This was supposed to be my chance to encourage them and challenge them for the future.  But, just as I wrapped up and was about to pray, one of them spoke up and began to share how the Lord had changed his life during the time I’ve known and loved him.  One by one they shared, and the real flood gate of tears started.  But these weren’t empty tears from brokenness or shame or self pity.  If there can be joy in tears, I think that’s what was happening.  I’ve never been more happy and more sad than in that moment.  Then some of us went out to Taco Bell for one last ride.  I’ll remember it forever.
People keep asking me how I’m doing, and I don’t really know how to answer.  As far as moving goes, and selling all our stuff and being in a new culture, living simply, embracing poverty, and all the unknowns I’m doing fine.  I’m ready.  I’ve never been so ready for anything in my whole life.  But when I think about the people I will leave, the relationships that will never be the same after 5 days from now, and the legacy these men will go on to build, I am completely undone…broken…scattered.  That is, until I think of the 25, the 250, the 25,000 young men in Uganda who need to have this same testimony.  What if a nation of fathers begins to commit to their families that they will not leave their post?  What if each believer in that nation decides they’re going to add one more to their family whether through mentoring, foster care, or adoption?  What if I could help make sure that one more child has the mom and dad they need and that they will never go to bed afraid ever again?
You see, Benjamin House isn’t just a project for Julie and I, it’s our lives…made into an organization.  It’s the priorities of our family (the Gospel), multiplied.  And as we go, we look back over our shoulders at the thousands who are holding our hands, holding us up, holding us accountable, and holding the rope for us in prayer and giving, and we are overwhelmed.  Please continue to pray.  We will be at GSP at noon this coming Tuesday, tickets and duffel bags in hand, ready to step out of the boat and trust Jesus to keep us from sinking.  Pray, tell our story, give in whatever capacity the Lord allows, and let’s change the world.  I’m just crazy enough to think we can.

James grew up in the northern part of Uganda, in a city named Gulu.  Gulu was one of the cities hardest hit and most affected by the 20 year war led by Joseph Kony and the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army).  Within just a few years of the conflict, many of the adults in the region had been killed and many children had been abducted by LRA troops to become child soldiers.  The children would leave their homes and hide at night out of fear that the soldiers would come and kill their parents and take them away to become soldiers.  Deep into the conflict, Uganda emptied the cities of the north and gathered people into very large refugee camps.  An entire generation grew up in those camps. James told me about his life growing up in an area that was basically under prison encampment conditions. “Mom and dad died when I was 4 years old leaving me with my little brother, Joel, and my grandma.  Life became really hard during that time.  My brother, Joel, and I weren’t able to go to school, and my uncle would drag us from the hut almost daily and beat us.  My grandma wasn’t able to care for us because she had nothing to feed us and there was no way to buy food.  We would wait on food from the government people who ran the refugee camp.  Life there was so terrible.  We would go days without eating.  Sometimes I would steal from our neighbors so my brother would live.  We were caught so many times stealing and they would beat us so badly.  When I was 7 years old I was abducted by the rebels (the LRA).  They took us out into the bush and for 6 months I was forced to carry heavy things very far distances.  There were 7 of us that were abducted at the same time.  4 of them were killed in fighting, and 3 of us survived.  They made us kill.  I refused at first and they beat me over the head and made me watch them kill a woman who was simply fetching water at a local well.  I saw many people killed during that time.” James spoke softly as he showed me scars literally all over his body.  He showed me 2 large scars in his leg where a stick hand gone through his shin as they were running through the bush when he was abducted.  “We happened upon some government soldiers and the rebels started firing.  I started running and I jumped down and embankment to get away.  That’s how I escaped and went home.” After some time passed, a man from Canada came to the camp and collected all the orphans to take away to an orphanage.  James and his brother, Joel, were separated and taken from their grandma.  He was able to eat and go to school, but even James admitted, “We were so wild. We were used to bush life and had no family, nothing to ground us.” A few years later, the leaders of the orphanage were exposed.  They had stolen money meant to help the kids and the orphanage was closed and all the kids taken back to Gulu.  Some were reunited with family members, and others were left to the streets.  “The only way I’m able to go to school is because I am one of the lucky ones who has a sponsor,” James said.  “My grandma can barely afford to feed us, she surely can’t afford school.  Joel isn’t in school because he doesn’t yet have a sponsor to help with school fees.  He dreams of becoming a doctor when he is able to go back to school.  I want to be president.” James is 21, and his brother, Joel, is 18.  I met James through a strange set of circumstances and the Lord compelled me to tell his story.  I don’t tell his story to get people to get emotional and say to themselves, “Man, that’s so sad.  How could anyone treat children like that.”  Honestly, I don’t believe God has called me to try to move people’s emotions.  He has called me to move people’s actions.  To motivate a nation to rebuild families, restore relationships, build great moms and dads, put away corruption and deceit, and lead their country.  He has called me to wake up generations of Americans who have fallen asleep at the wheel and been anesthetized by plasma screens, apps, status symbols, and extravagance.  He reminded me again today that the point of life isn’t simply to arrive safely at death with more toys than your neighbor. I probably shouldn’t say things like that.  I’m sure it will come across as harsh and judgmental.  But, honestly, I value the lives of the children of Uganda(and many other places in the world) and the future parents they will be one day more than I value being liked.  We have no idea in this country what 90% of the rest of the world faces on a daily basis…the fear they wake up with and go to bed with every day. But you can choose that your life will be different.  You can determine that you’re going to live life with your eyes open and although you can’t save every child…you can save one more today.  You can build a father today.  You can help a mom keep her kids today.  You can stand with a young, pregnant and terrified 13 year old girl so that she doesn’t have to walk alone.  You can choose to sponsor Joel and make sure he finishes high school, university, medical school and changes the lives of countless other Ugandans he will treat one day.  You can lock arms with us at Benjamin House Ministries and make a difference.  Or, you can go back to life, enjoy your kids and grandkids, and arrive safely at death.  I think most people are just waiting for an opportunity to make their life count for something greater.  Stand with us.  Sacrifice to help us fund the ministry that will accomplish all these things in Uganda.  Become a child’s sponsor and make an impact that will be felt for generations.  Or, if not us and if not Uganda, then do something…somewhere.  Life is a breath and then it’s gone.  Let’s use every ounce of it. To donate online, visit www.benjaminhouse.net.  To contact me, just email me at bucky@benjaminhouse.net.  I’d love to make time to talk with you.  Child sponsorships for Joel and thousands of kids just like him will begin in March 2016.  For those of you who have been following my family and our story, we fly over with a one way ticket to Uganda on March 8th with no plan B.  We need you rowing with us.  So, grab an oar, and may God bless you for your sacrifice.

The other day I had myself a good old-fashioned pity party.  We were setting up the stage for our annual Ignite Band Christmas Rockstravaganza (a Christmas worship service that I and our worship band do each year).  This year, my youngest son Brennan was going to be singing a verse and chorus of “Where are you Christmas?”.  You know it.  The song’s chorus says, “My world is changing, I’m rearranging.  Does that mean Christmas changes too?”  Brennan did so good as he practiced it for the first time with the microphone.  No nervousness at all.  I knelt there beside him, holding the microphone, and sort of zoned out thinking, “I wonder if he has any idea how true the words he’s singing really are?  Does he realize just how much it will change?  Am I a bad father for making choices that will drastically affect his life forever?”  And thus commenced the pity party.
We are moving to Uganda, Africa.  I’ve spent months telling our story, trying to raise funds, trying my best to not worry about our funding and to just trust God with our future, thinking about the details of forming a non-profit, assessing the needs in Uganda, preparing my team for action once we hit the ground in March, and studying Ugandan culture and the orphan care situation there until I couldn’t see straight.  I prepared my heart and mind for nearly every change that we have coming, and have been trying to prepare my kids for those as well.  But there was something about this simple line from a simple song that destroyed me that day.
Growing up, Christmas was magical.  No matter what actually happened in the busyness and bustle of that day, no matter the fact that I grew up in a divorced family and we traveled all over the place from spot to spot to see relatives, it was always my absolute favorite day of the year.  The anticipation was always so sweet and it always reminded me just how much I was loved.  And, I guess that’s what hit me. Next Christmas, while most people back home are enjoying snuggling up by the fire on a cold Christmas Eve, we’ll be opening our windows to try to get a breeze.  While dads are tucking in their kids snugly under their quilts, warm in their pajamas, daring them to come out of their rooms, I will be tucking in the mosquito nets around our kids’ beds and praying them off to sleep.  While families make plans to drive around to see Christmas light shows and church musicals, we will enjoy having our neighborhood kids over for dinner in a dimly lit room.  While kids back home gather together with family, getting big sloppy kisses from grandma and being tickled by grandpa, my kids will skype with their grandparents to tell them Merry Christmas and kiss a computer screen as they say goodbye.  Christmas indeed changes too.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten weepy!  I used to never cry.  I don’t think I cried more than 10 times between the ages of 15 and 25.  I’ve cried more in the past 48 hours than I did those 10 years!  And so, as I thought of all these things, I started wondering if I’m somehow shorting my kids.  Will they blame me in the years to come for taking them away from comfort, family, friends, and all the things they’ve come to know?  Am I being selfish in taking them halfway across the world to chase after this dream I believe the Lord has given me?  And while I’m at it:  Of all the people in the world that are far more capable than me of doing this task, why did the Lord choose us?  We have nothing to offer.  I’ve never done this before.  Gracious.   I have spent the last 6 months talking to congregation after congregation about how God had brought us to a place of complete trust…and He had…but at this moment I was overwhelmed and couldn’t seem to get it together.
Then Joseph came to mind.  I would never presume to place myself in the same category as a man like Joseph, but I do wonder if he ever had times of doubt like this.  What am I doing?  How does a mere man raise the son of God?  Is there not someone else who is in a better position for this task?  What will this mean for my future…for our other children one day?  I wonder, as they fled to Egypt, if he ever questioned whether he was a good enough, strong enough father, and if he would be able to deal with what his future would hold.  Did Abraham think about leaving his home/friends/extended family when the Lord told him to go to a land he did not know?  Was Noah apprehensive about starting over with just his wife and kids?  Did Peter, James, and John ever doubt that what they had experienced was real…real enough to go across the known world and make it known?  Would Paul have still gone on his great missionary journeys and propelled the church into the world if he had allowed the thought of change to overcome his mind?  Again, I’m no Abraham or Peter, but because I am surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, I should…Lord willing, I will…throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles(like doubt), and run the race that has been marked out for me.
My kids’ Christmases will be different.  Their world is changing.  They’re rearranging.  And that means Christmas changes too.  I want them to love their family, and long for time with their grandparents.  I wish we could enjoy all the things each Christmas that we’ll be leaving behind.  I wish they could have more than memories of those things.  But more than that, I want them to know that when God calls, no matter what the call, answering that call is more important than anything else in the world.  Christmas is still about God coming to the desperate and alone…and that part of Christmas will never change.
Most people aren’t called to move their family to a third world country.  For them to do so would be wrong.  But we are.  We aren’t any better or more spiritual, in fact I can name about 50 people off the top of my head right now that I think the Lord should have called instead of me J.  And so, we go.  And although you don’t go with us, in a way you do.  You are every bit as much a part of the Benjamin House story as we are.  As you pray for us and the families we will restore, you become a part of their family.  As you sacrificially give to allow us to be on the front lines of this dramatic shift in the orphan care system of a nation, every bite of food we take, mile we drive, person we meet, father we train, mother we give a job skill to, lost person who is adopted by Jesus, child who receives AIDS treatment for the first time, teenage mother we love, teenage pregnancy we help keep from ever happening…all of it…you ARE Benjamin House.
Your giving, particularly at year end, is critical to our family and ministry.  As I’ve said before, I hate asking people for things.  But, this task is too big for us to do alone.  We need you.  You can send your tax deductible contribution to Benjamin House Ministries PO BOX 21, MOORE SC 29369, or give online at www.BenjaminHouse.net  Contact us through the website if you would be open to us speaking to your civic group, church, small group, etc. between now and when we fly out on March 8th.
May God bless your family this Christmas.

We had planned for so many years to adopt a little girl from China.  They require you to be 30 years old and have a certain income and as soon as we reached those milestones, we began the process.  In a somewhat sterile way, we went down a list they gave us of special needs and were asked to check off ones that we would be open to.  In our minds, we were okay with a medically correctable special need.  Things like cleft lip, club foot, even birth marks are considered special needs in China, so we checked all those.  We would adopt a little girl, bring her to the states, get her whatever small surgery she needed to be “normal” and then go on with life.
We were paired with a little girl and we finalized the process and were ready to travel to China.  We had been given some indication that she had some delays, but all children in institutionalized environments have delays.  We read up on overcoming those, and got ready to receive our little Rebecca.  As we walked into the cold orphanage office, we sat down and she was brought out to us.  She was asleep and laid there peacefully but then began to wake up.  As she woke up she didn’t really move much.  Her eyes kept rolling back in her head and she would just scream and hit herself.  We quickly began to realize this was not just institutional delay.  Something was very wrong.
As we were leaving the office a lady came up to us, shoved a packet into our hands and said, “We never thought she would be adopted.”  Inside were some of her medical records that they had intentionally not shared before the adoption.  They revealed that at some point a hole had been drilled into her skull to relive pressure.  All the signs pointed to a scenario where either her birth parents or a caretaker had shaken her, causing damage to her brain stem, and bleeding on the brain.
The months following were a slew of doctors visits, tests, and scans.  We sat in the consultation room after her MRI and her neurologist came in and showed us the pictures.  The diagnosis was cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and cortical blindness. He pointed out large areas of dark in her skull where her brain should be.  It simply wasn’t there anymore.  He then told us to prepare for the future.  She would never walk, never talk, never be able to eat or care for herself.  She would likely be on a feeding tube and lots of medication to keep her sedated and comfortable and she would probably live about 8 years.  We were devastated.  We sat and held each other and cried.
I remember days later praying to the Lord and giving Becca to Him.  I said, “If you have given Becca to us for 8 years, then I will make them the most care-filled and love-filled days a child could have.  But you have the power to heal her now.  And I trust you either way.”  Our God answers prayer.
About a month ago, Becca grabbed our ottoman and pulled herself up to a standing position.  She has dozens of words in her vocabulary.  She interacts with us, knows our voices and the voices of her brothers and others in her life, and God is continually performing miracles in her life.  These things are unexplainable by human standards.  She simply doesn’t have the brain capacity to do what she is doing.
In Uganda, many children just like Becca are relegated to lay in their cribs until they die.  The culture doesn’t understand special needs or how to treat them.  Part of our ministry through Benjamin House will be to train therapists who will be the hands and feet of Jesus as they work in children’s lives to give them the best possible shot at a long and healthy life.  We’re asking the special needs community in the US to rally together and help provide the needed support for this to happen.  We are so blessed with access to services in the US.  To whom much has been given, much is expected.

Just about the time that Xan started getting used to us, and our bank account started to recover, we felt the Lord was calling us to adopt again.  Julie wanted a little girl, so we began the process to adopt domestically.  We carefully put together a profile and waited.  Two birth mothers chose us, but we lost both due to the birthmothers changing their minds.  We rejoiced in that, but it was also very painful.  Then one night we got the phone call that would change everything.  “We have a 3 week old little boy.  Do you want him?”  Well of course!  How could we say no!  So, we drove all night to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The next morning, our little Brennan was placed in our arms.  He was so tiny.  We took him home, and the crying began. He cried…and cried….and cried.  We later found out that his birth mother likely used drugs pretty heavily while pregnant with him.  His first few months were painful ones for him and for us.  We spent evenings stretching out his muscles that had been made tight because of all the pain he was in.
Over the years, he has had therapy on top of therapy to try to get him caught up.  The drug abuse has left him slightly delayed and on the autism spectrum, but he has progressed so much.  Brennan is the happiest, most content child I’ve ever known…and such a blessing to us.
In Uganda, a child like Brennan would have been left alone to grow in silence and obscurity.  People just don’t know or don’t have time or money to get children like Brennan the care that they need.  We want to bring that kind of hope into families that are confused and scared.  So much can be done, if we have people standing with us.
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Will you give so that kids like Brennan will have a full and long life?