Mama Benjamin House

by Alli Kennedy

Benjamin House Ministries Summer 2019 Intern

On a cloudy morning in Nangabo, Julie Rogers sits in her home office, scanning letters from children to their sponsors about their favorite colors and foods from a desk covered with letters delivering good news to parents in Nangabo that their children have been sponsored.

Julie is the co-founder of Benjamin House Ministries with her husband, Bucky Rogers, and serves as BHM's sponsorship coordinator. Her favorite movies are Pride and Prejudice  and Anne of Green Gables, the movie that God used to first reveal to her the needs of orphans worldwide. She is the mother of five adopted children: Sasha (22), Innocent (17), Xan (13), Brennan (11), and Becca (9).

If anyone had a multitude of valid excuses for not leaving the U.S. to serve in a third world country, it was Julie Rogers. Her daughter Becca was attending the school for the deaf and blind and showing progress in therapy. Brennan and Xan were being homeschooled by Julie, their son Sasha was just starting college, and Bucky was serving on staff at Church at The Mill.

When Bucky first came to Uganda, he called Julie to tell her he felt like Uganda was where God wanted them to serve.

“I changed the subject completely,” Julie laughs as she recounts their phone conversation.

One year passed and with another trip to Uganda and another phone call from Bucky, Julie began to pray. As pieces starting falling into place, they knew it was God’s will for their life. “Bucky felt like God had called him and I trust Bucky, so I said 'Let’s go.'”

Trust.
​
Julie’s life has been one overarching theme of trusting God.

Years before the thought of Uganda had crossed Julie’s mind, she had to take a leap of faith when she and Bucky decided to adopt. Before getting married, Bucky and Julie had decided they weren’t going to have children. Even so, the Lord began to soften Julie’s heart towards the thought of having children. She began to pray and trust that God would change the desires of Bucky’s heart as well. A full year later, the Lord revealed He had been working in both of their hearts simultaneously when Bucky told her he felt that the Lord was calling them to adopt. They were ready to begin the journey.

They were poor seminary students. The cost of adoption was more than they made in a year. All she could do was trust God. “We knew the Lord wanted us to do this, so we’re just going to do this. Trust what the Lord has placed on our heart.”

At every stage of the process, the Lord provided. They adopted Xan first from Guatemala as an infant in 2006, Brennan from Louisiana in 2007, Sasha from Ukraine in 2010, Rebecca from China in 2012, and Innocent from Uganda in 2016.

Julie loves that when questions arise about their family from those they come in contact with, she is able to share the gospel and how Jesus took us into his family even though we aren’t biologically His. Adoption has enabled them to show that they are very much pro-life and living it out as they have chosen to adopt two children, Becca and Brennan, with special needs.

Things haven’t been easy living in Uganda for her family. People stop in the street and watch them walk by. They draw attention anywhere they go, which is one thing Julie wishes she could change. Usually, children with special needs are sent to the orphanage when they are born, so the Ugandans are surprised by their family.

While Becca doesn’t have access to the therapies she was getting back in the states, Julie trusts that God has her medical care under control. One of the blessings of living in a third world country has been the ability to afford a nanny for her. This way, Julie can have Becca at home and make sure she is well taken care of.

Julie also loves that they are able to provide Brennan with one-on-one tutoring from home with a Ugandan instructor. Interaction with people outside of his family has helped with his development and social skills. Julie does fear the limitations of what might be available to him in the future in Uganda. He won’t be able to live and work on his own, but she wishes to see his dream of being a chef come to fruition. Brennan’s love language is food, so the most difficult part about living in Uganda for him has been not having access to the foods he loves. "While Brennan has adjusted well to their Ugandan lifestyle, he still misses our food dates and Chick-fil-A and Firehouse Subs,” says Julie.

For Xan, moving was really a chance to get him out of his comfort zone and grow in his faith, Julie tells me. He misses his friends back in the states, but regularly video calls with his friend Jackson who came to visit him during the summer of 2018.
Xan has also actively pursued friendships with each boy who has come through our Transitional Home.

When Innocent first met the Rogers, he had come with a children’s choir to Church at The Mill. They found out that his grandmother needed help providing for Innocent and that she wished for Innocent to stay with the Rogers to have a godly mother and father. “She told us, 'Don’t see this as I’m merely giving you my grandson, see this as I’m adopting you as well,'” Julie shares. They have since taken in Innocent as their 4th son. He lives with them at home in Uganda.

Julie and Sasha’s relationship has transitioned from child and parent to friendship as Sasha moved back to the States to marry his bride, Hannah. It was fulfilling for Julie to see him mature as he prepared himself to become a husband after the few months he spent living in Uganda with his family.

Raising a family is difficult on its own. Then paired with the emotional strain of living in a place that is filled with the sense of overwhelming helplessness and extreme poverty, Julie has had to really trust in the Lord during her time in Uganda.

Despite the hardships, Julie loves seeing the passion that people have all the way across the world for children they’ve never met in a country they haven’t been and may never get to go too. “I’m seeing the great commission fulfilled right before my eyes,” Julie says with excitement.

She and Bucky both hope and pray for a day where they can take a step back with a team of Ugandans in place on staff that are just as passionate about Benjamin House as they are and to see a great amount of their budget coming from Ugandans. They’re beginning to see this progress in Ntinda, where their ministry all began. Once the locals learned about the mission of BHM to rescue children from the streets, they began to raise a significant amount of money to help build the new transitional homes all while learning how to save money on their own and live a better life because of wise decisions they’ve made with their money, Julie tells me.
​
Julie’s pattern of trusting the Lord in the big and the small has proven so rewarding in the advancement of the Kingdom through her work and family. God is teaching Julie to be thankful amidst frustration, patient with His timing, and to rest in the fact that their future is in His hands.

---

Donate Now

See More Stories

---