It was one of my greatest sweet moments with the children. I took just 5 children with me and that included Stephen and Margret, Owen, Tumuhairwe and Jerry to our first united Sunday School Program of which I am the vice chairman.  Over 500 children from different churches turned up.

A speaker from Netherlands said that she thought of coming to Uganda, lay her hands and bless the children. However, when she got here she found out that the children blessed her more instead.

This was our first meeting. I believe this network is going to grow big because there are so many churches in Kampala.

David Knowlton

Luke 23:32-43, Luke 7:11-17, Matthew 5: 33-37, Hebrews 12:1-4, 1 John 3:16-18

One of the privileges I have had over the last three years is being a part of a team and providing  an important leadership to growing young leaders,  developing a course that I can help them go through and awarding them certificates at the end. There is a model within the course that contains many words beginning with the letter ‘C’. One of these words is Character. It is all about the importance of developing, growing and nurturing a Christ-like character.

This is probably one of the most important aspects of any Christian’s life, but can be one of the hardest to develop as it requires changes in the way we live our lives. It seems to me that when we look at today’s society we do not see a Christ-like character being promoted in many things. This makes it even more important that we equip our young people with them.
Mentoring is a great way to help the young people, as it creates accountability for them. Mentors can be there to help them work through any issues that they encounter on their journey.

It is amazing to work with these young leaders and to see them taking on board the need to have a character that is instantly recognisable to others as that of Jesus. This is especially true when we consider how much easier it would be for them, and indeed for anyone, to act differently in different settings and with different people in their life. This really fills me with admiration for their stand.

I would like to encourage you with just five of the Christ-like characters that we use with the young people on the course, with a hope that they will also help you in your journey with Jesus.

• Forgiveness – Luke 23:32-43 shows Jesus as He hangs on the cross forgiving the thief next to Him and securing another soul in heaven.
• Compassion – Luke 7:11-17 shows Jesus having compassion for a mother at her son’s funeral.
• Honesty – Matthew 5: 33-37 with Jesus saying, “Do not swear on anything, let your yes be yes and your no be no.”
• Endurance – Hebrews 12:1-4 running with perseverance the race marked out in front of us fixing our eyes on Jesus.
• Love – 1 John 3:16-18 showing love in actions and truth.

Imagine an iceberg floating in the sea; the ice we see sticking out of the water is, as we say, just the tip of the iceberg. There is another much bigger mass of ice underwater that cannot be seen. We use this picture in the Growing Young Leaders course asking the young people to think of their lives as an iceberg, explaining that the bit at the top sticking out is the bit of you that people see. These are the things that you do and are the things that, rightly or wrongly, they will judge you by.

We also say that the bigger mass of ice underwater is like their character and that it is this that dictates what is seen at the top. The more Christ-like your character is, the more of Jesus will be seen in you and in the life you lead by the people around you.  Our aim is to encourage the young people to continue this development as a Christian and to nurture their character, so that as with the iceberg, the part under the water gets bigger and bigger as they journey deepens with Jesus.

These five lifestyle choices are a great starting place. There are so many other Christ-like characteristics that are seen in the Bible; but even with these five we would begin to initiate change and impact people’s lives in a very positive way! This often leaves people wanting to know more; so the more we change, the more we become instruments of change for others. I think of Peter and his relationship with Timothy and of how he mentored him. He  helped him develop his Christ-like character until Timothy went off to fulfil Christ’s commission of making more disciples himself, which is what we are called to do.

There are three quotes I would like to leave you with that are very relevant to testing our character development and I hope will help you in your journey.

• ‘People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.’ – Eleanor Roosevelt
• ‘The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.’ – Thomas B Macaulay
• ‘Character is what you are in the dark.’ – D L Moody

by DAVID KNOWLTON

We would like to request visitors to our website that when you visit  for the first time, please leave a note for us.  We would really appreciate that.  Also, feel free to email us about anything or your opinion regarding our ministry.

JMCM is a fresh, new style NGO located in Kampala and United States of America in the small State of Washington (#EIN 320387466). Uganda (known as the pearl of Africa) works with a multitude of primary schools and non profit organizations in a variety of exciting and contemporary fields such as sustainable agriculture, non-traditional  education, empowerment technology, exotic animal care,  and cultural immersion , and is currently developing a medical volunteer program and relief services.

JMCM  is unique in that we believe that, unlike many local and foreign NGO’s that tend to impose their own agendas and waste precious resources in the process, the best way to do development work is by contributing to and working with pre-existing organizations started and run by the Natives   themselves. Our development and funding model allows us to stay strings-free and helps us earn genuine credibility among communities we serve. We believe that this type of model should be the way international development organizations are run and hope to be the first successful one of its kind.

While we have an influx of international volunteers to assist us in our projects on a short and long -term basis, we are looking for program-specific intern leaders to join us and live in proximity to JMCM centre with staff and volunteers to further evolve and develop our projects and/or potentially create new ones in their chosen field.

Ideally, all candidates will have experience and/or a degree in their desired fields, however, we are very open to speaking with all applicants who have a tenacious attitude, strong work ethic, sense of adventure, are independent, can think outside the box, and who are interested in contributing to, what we believe, is the way development work should be done.

One of the principal advantages of internship with JMCM is that, while you will work intimately with our founders in a variety of ways, you will primarily be managing yourself, your projects, and potentially other volunteers. We afford you the freedom to be creative, be intimately involved, and take a leadership role in our organization as long as it remains within the parameters of our umbrella mission and ideology. While we want you to focus primarily on your chosen field, all project-specific leaders will get the opportunity to be a part of JMCM other various endeavors and gain a diverse and expansive field of experience.

While serving at JMCM, you will receive basic guidelines. Furthermore, you will be living with and be constantly surrounded by interesting people and one can’t help but create a substantial network of fascinating friends and co-workers.

Project Leader Interns:

General Requirements are:
Minimum stay of 2 months
Conversational English or greater
Able to work with people who speak little to no English
Comfortable travelling and living in a developing country
Able to design and create an ongoing volunteer project (or significantly contribute to a pre-existing project or area)
Able to work independently with minimal guidance
Able to travel to and from work site independently
 
Medical Project:

JMCM has recently partnered with several small medical clinics, hospitals who are interested in developing an ongoing international medical volunteer program with us. We are in need of individuals in the medical field/community/profession to help us establish this program. Since Uganda is a developing country, potential interns must understand that they will not be working in pristine and technologically up-to-date hospitals, however, there are an abundance of unique opportunities (opportunities very often difficult to receive in more developed countries) to learn from well-educated doctors in a hands-on setting while helping lots of people. In addition, volunteers will be having the chance to develop their own medically related side-projects.

Medical Project Interns must be a:

Qualified Medic, student or accepted onto a Medicine program, or work in the medical/health field
Comfortable working with doctors and medical personnel with patients on actual medical procedures
Comfortable working in developing country hospitals and clinics where conditions will be lower than most are used to
Be sensitive to cultural differences as they pertains to health

Agriculture Project:

JMCM believes that sustainable agriculture projects are often an efficient and important method of alternative funding and education for Ugandan organizations. It allows the Ugandans to experience a sense of teamwork, empowerment, accomplishment, and the satisfaction of reaping the rewards of their labor. We are interested in finding agriculturally/environmentally-inclined interns to maintain and evolve our existing agriculture projects and to start their own.

Agriculture Project Interns must:

Possess a qualification in agriculture or have specific experience in agriculture/environmentalism
Able to work with both project personnel and farmers on their farms
Happy working outside in hot and sometimes difficult environments

Special Education Project:

JMCM works with special-needs school- orphans, street and vulnerable- the only special-needs school that works with young children that have a variety of disabilities. There are many areas at this school that require improvement and we would like intern leaders with an education/special-education background to come and work with the students and faculty to help find solutions to improve the all-around quality of education for these children. There is also potential to expand the special-education project to areas outside this particular facility.

Special Needs Children Interns must:

Have a qualification or experience working with special needs children
Happy working directly with children who posses all types of special needs
May be asked to take over class when the teacher is absent for periods
Understand that the educational environment and procedures of a developing country do not always conform to the standards of a developing one.

Empowerment Technology:

One of our principal technology partners is the internationally-recognized “One Laptop per Child” or OLPC that designs, maintains, and distributes free educational laptops to children and schools in developing countries. We want technologically-inclined interns to come and work intimately with OLPC and their operations, as well as find new and effective ways to utilize technology to improve the lives and education of Ugandan children.

Ideally have a qualification or professional experience in IT i.e. programming or system administration OR a general knowledge and love of technology
Comfortable working with Windows and/or Linux
Able to teach skills to beginner and advanced students
Able to implement hardware and software systems with available (often antiquated) resources

NGO Development Intern:

JMCM  is desirous of having an intern that is qualified and interested in working intimately with the founders to further develop JMCM as an organization. NGO Development Interns will be afforded the opportunity to meet with new and existing directors/staff of a variety of Ugandan organizations and nonprofits and learn how to establish and maintain relationships as an international NGO. The intern will also help with JMCM’s marketing, promotion, web-site development, and assist in the management of its day-to-day operations. You will participate in weekly (sometimes daily) meetings with the founders, will learn about what it takes to manage and run an NGO with a fresh ideology, and also have the freedom to create new endeavors/projects that will benefit JMCM as  a whole.

NGO Development Interns must:

Have qualification or experience in marketing, English, management, business, communications or a relative field
Excellent writing and communication skills (being able to write in English  is a big plus but not a necessity)
Have an understanding of a diverse array of media and how to utilize it
Be open to constantly working on a multitude of projects and deadlines
Enjoy working in a variety of fields
Excellent self-management skills and strong work ethic
Have the ability or desire to establish and maintain a wide variety of contacts on JMCM’s behalf

Ben and Kirsty  arrived at JMCM as volunteers in December 17, 2011, the day we picked them up from the airport.  During their stay at JMCM centre, they exhibited remarkable humility. They were among the best, if not the best of the volunteers who came to JMCM. They were genuinely here for the children and didn’t just use JMCM for their own gain. We really thank the Lord for them, and they will always remain in our hearts and minds.

They stayed here and fitted nicely into our daily, ordinary life. They didn’t even mind about their security. After all, our security is in the Lord and even if we have ten thousand men guarding us, if the Lord is not with us, we are not truly safe. Their love, prayers and support always reminded us of their commitment to see JMCM move forward.  We will always be grateful for the documentary that they made to promote the work of JMCM worldwide.  It was so beautiful one morning when they sent an email and told us, that as soon as they were back in Germany, her wife Kirsty wrote to all their friends and family looking for financial support for JMCM.  Their desire is for JMCM to be self reliant by investing in agriculture starting with crops and animals. Raising money for JMCM is such an enormous effort and a great reflection of their love for the children.  May God direct us and provide us good local partners who are already in agriculture and are faithful, just and trust worthy.

We are very excited about the news of Kirsty being pregnant and we all pray for good health for her and baby. We can’t wait for the time of her delivery!!!

We also thank Jennifer and Larry for the girls’ dresses.  It was great because they bought the exact sizes for the girls. I thought the measurements that we took were not correct but they turned out to be exact and similar to US measurements.

Jennifer and Larry are wonderful people.  We love and appreciate so much all that they do  for JMCM. Their love for the children is admirable as evidenced by their sacrificial giving. Indeed, they love not just by words but most importantly, by deeds.

We express our gratitude and heartfelt thanks to Lindsey Joe Barth and their friends Andrew and Ashley for their prayers , love and the financial support sent on 06/06/2012 to help with the surgery and treatment of my cracked tooth and also for the children’s food.  At least the children have now something to eat and not sleep hungry. We can’t thank them enough for allowing God to use them to help JMCM.

We have renewed the certificate of registration of JMCM for another five years. This time the NGOs Board responsible for all NGOs operating in Uganda has changed their system.  Way back in 2000 when JMCM registered as an NGO, they were only issuing a Certificate of Registration.  Now, however, the Board is issuing out three: – Certificate of Registration, Incorporation and Work Permit.

This requires an organisation to register as a company and at the same time an NGO so that the organisation can do the NGO work and at the same time can venture out into businesses that can help generate income to fund the organisational activities.

We praise God that JMCM has renewed all the three Certificates for another five years. This is our second term on subsequent renewal meaning, we renew after every 5 years but annually present our work plan, audited accounts, minutes and annual general meeting and annual general report to the NGOs board as required by law governing the non-governmental organisations in Uganda.