Harvest Uganda
Gospel Transformation Bearing Fruit
"They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
— Jeremiah 17:8 NIV
From One Orphaned Boy to a Thriving Community of Hope
As a young boy orphaned by HIV/AIDS, Ivan Mukulu once depended on the kindness of Christians to survive. Today, through Sonrise Ministries in Uganda, he and his sister Damali are helping vulnerable children discover not only safety and education—but the enduring hope of Jesus Christ.
Before his mother passed away in the 1990s, she arranged for Ivan and his siblings to be cared for in a Christian orphanage. There, Ivan first heard the Gospel and came to faith in Jesus. The orphanage later supported him through art school and eventually seminary.
But the story did not end there. What had once been given to Ivan began multiplying into the lives of others.
While Ivan was finishing seminary, his sister Damali opened the Sonrise Baby Home in Jinja, Uganda, a city on the northern shore of Lake Victoria known for its large population of working urban poor. Ivan returned home to help care for vulnerable children who, like him years earlier, needed safety, hope, and someone to believe in them.
As the children grew older, Ivan saw an even greater opportunity. He helped Damali launch the Sonrise Children’s Home and, in 2010, founded Sonrise Community Church. Reflecting on that decision, Ivan writes:
“I wanted not only to share this knowledge with the children but also with the whole community. I wanted them to know the Good News of Jesus Christ… Through the church, we can also reach out to the community and help them.”
Children who once faced abandonment are now being welcomed into a Christ-centred community. Young people who may have never had the opportunity for education are discovering dignity, purpose, and hope for the future. Families in the community are hearing the Gospel through both word and action.
Today, Sonrise Ministries has grown into far more than a children’s home. Alongside the church, both primary and secondary schools now serve children from the home as well as vulnerable youth from the surrounding community. In many ways, the school has become Sonrise’s most effective tool for sharing the Gospel and opening doors for discipleship so that the whole community can experience true transformation.
For Ivan and Damali, this ministry has become a way of “paying forward” the grace they themselves once received. And the local church remains at the centre of it all.
A Continuing Legacy of Hope
Uganda continues to face the long-lasting effects of poverty, disease, and instability. Many children are still left vulnerable, often cared for by aging grandparents or left to fend for themselves. Yet in the middle of these realities, God is building something beautiful through faithful servants like Ivan and Damali.
FAIR is grateful to partner with Sonrise Ministries as they continue bringing Gospel hope to vulnerable communities in Jinja through the local church, Christian education, discipleship, and compassionate care. What began years ago with one orphaned boy discovering the love of Christ is now a place of refuge, discipleship, education, and Gospel witness for an entire community.
We invite you to prayerfully join FAIR in continuing this work in Jinja, Uganda. Funds raised for this initiative will be distributed according to FAIR’s ongoing ministry plans with Sonrise, directly supporting this collaborative, local vision.
Please prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you respond to this need.