The Wood-Fired Oven

The Oven Project at Project Hope Worldwide in Uganda has been exciting from the start! Many people combined their efforts to make it possible. We are so happy we can now offer soft, flavorful, nutritious bread free of preservatives for the children at Calo Me Lare (Village of Redemption) where we serve a period of time each year.

The idea of homemade bread and cinnamon rolls probably did not cross the minds of the people in Calo Me Lare, but enjoying homemade baked goods like we do, Dennis and I thought of it often. When the Lord puts something on your mind long enough it is time to act!!!

Part of it is our granddaughter Emma’s fault.  (She is pictured here with her sister, Beth). She wanted to do a fundraiser on Facebook for her mission trip and asked me if I would bake cinnamon rolls. "And I’ll help you!” Now, who could refuse that! God really blessed it! We were blown away by friends’ quick responses and generosity!  

My friend Ursula and her husband had built a clay wood-fired oven and were using it quite successfully at another Children's Home in Lira. She kept encouraging me to build one so the kids could have baked goods. 

In the beginning of 2019 Emma wanted to do another Cinnamon Roll Fundraiser. The wood-fired oven idea began to take shape. Andy Flege provided financial and other information about the oven. It appeared that we could be one or two fundraisers away from a wood-fired oven! A metal oven was recommended to bake large quantities and conserve wood (fuel). As we distributed rolls we notified each person about an upcoming fundraiser for a wood-fired oven.

Again, people were so generous! But the communication I received the next morning was God’s confirmation to me that this was HIS idea and HE would provide for it. A lovely woman texted me saying, “How much is the oven they need?” In a phone call she told me, “I couldn’t sleep last night. I know God wants me to buy that oven.” :)

Fast forward a couple more Cinnamon Roll Fundraisers, a large donation for the remainder, money sent ahead for the oven and the shelter to house it, the oven was installed on September 18. This was shortly after our arrival for a three-month stay at the Project. You can see what a nice set-up we have. It is near the homes and very pleasant to bake in. Thanks for the design, Andy! 

Getting the oven from the truck bed to the shelter was quite an ordeal. It took six strong men to unload it and put it in place!

The manufacturer arrived with the oven and demonstrated how to use it. We made 4 loaves using bread dough I had prepared and it worked out perfectly!!! The small pieces we passed around were met with many nods of approval.

With bread pans and other equipment, along with several items we purchased in town we were set! Dennis organized the kids to hunt for broken tree limbs to use in the wood chamber. For the second batch, he bought an ax made in town and a large load of wood for the fire.

Now, it was time to involve the moms. What an exciting day for them and for us! We began the first session in the Guest House kitchen with ample space for hands-on training. 

Our goal was to bake 12 loaves of bread, one for each home. I mixed dough in one basin (6 loaf capacity) while the moms took turns measuring and mixing the dough in another. It really was quite entertaining! They work so well together!

Bread rises fast in Uganda climate.  . The moms had so much joy in seeing the bread rise in the pans!

The challenging part was controlling the temperature. With thermometers we brought from the states we learned by trial and error how to regulate the heat by adding wood, and opening or closing certain doors. It was not easy, but we were successful! Some of the Moms really enjoyed tending the fire. We call these Moms "Fire Chiefs"! Dennis was a great help streamlining this part of the process while I worked with the Moms!

Pastor Fred was so excited, he couldn't help being involved!

Using both shelves the oven is large enough to hold 12 loaves at a time. 

This is the finished project! Not bad for the first try! The moms were ecstatic!

Two of the Moms are now in charge of scheduling and baking. They take turns and have a good time! After a few weeks they were ready to be on their own. It has been very rewarding to see. They bake bread every Monday. Saturdays they alternate between baking bread and cinnamon rolls. The Moms and kids love them! This is yet another blessing from the Lord at Calo Me Lare.

A big "THANK YOU" goes out to everyone who helped with this project in any way! :) The Lord used you to provide yet another blessing at Calo Me Lare!

Being part of a team is also a great way to provide support for the Moms, the principal caregivers for these children, some of the most vulnerable children in the world. 

Being a Child Sponsor gives you the opportunity to connect in a significant, personal way with one of the children. 100% of Child Sponsor donations go directly to the care of the children. For more details go to projecthopeworldwide.org.

Come! Join the Team!!!

Being part of a team with Project Hope Worldwide may well be the most exciting adventure of your entire life! Thanks to Andy and Cami Flege for providing many of these photos from their November Uganda trip 😊). Now sit back and we will take you for a ride to Calo Me Lare in our Toyota Super Custom Van…

It's fun showing the teams around Lira and Calo Me Lare! Dennis learned early to drive in Uganda (on the left side of the road, through traffic congestion. This is one way God gifted him to serve here). Lira is one of the larger towns in Northern Uganda with an estimated population exceeding 800,000, and everyone seems to emerge on the streets when we head out to Calo Me Lare.

It's normal to see trucks loaded with people and cattle plus merchandise. The photo on the right is a busy market street in Lira.

Welcome to Calo Me Lare (Village of Redemption). We won’t spoil the experience, but arriving at the gate the first day is the highlight of everyone’s trip. The staff and kids are so eager to greet the teams!




The center photo shows the Administration Building. See the homes below.

Next in order of excitement is the sheer joy and anticipation of seeing the child you sponsor for the first time!!! Children who live at CML can’t wait until the day their sponsor arrives!

Sponsors who cannot travel to Uganda sometimes send special gifts for the child they sponsor. The teams and staff have the privilege and great honor of distributing these gifts, cards or letters individually. We help each child read them and respond. Seeing the delight on the kids’ faces is priceless! Praise the Lord for the special relationship the children have with their sponsors through Project Hope Worldwide.

Teams use their talents to serve the Lord and these kids in a mountain of ways. God can use any talent you have at the project. Dan is an artist. He is teaching art to the students. Cami loves writing letters with the children. Together they helped the children make Christmas drawings for their sponsors.

Andy is a skilled wood craftsman. He is teaching a woodworking class to the older boys. Andy designed most of the buildings on the campus. He and Cami were the original directors of PHW in Uganda. Praise God, He has called Andy and Cami to return to Uganda for an extended period of time this fall to do more vocational training, overseeing construction, repairs, mentoring and administrative responsibilities.



We have 96 vulnerable children living in 12 homes. Each home has 8 children with one Housemother who cares for them. This is a very demanding job. Cami and I took the Moms to lunch in Lira one day to show our appreciation. It was a joyous time as Moms told us how God called them to serve these precious children. Praise God for their dedication.

Most teams go on a safari during their time in Uganda. These are a few of the animals and sights you might see.

It is an awesome experience being in this luscious  land filled with beautiful people. The kids will inspire you! Space is too limited to show you the wonder of Uganda, the Breadbasket of Africa. Come with us if you possibly can. 😊 Team trips are planned in June and October. 

Go to www.projecthopeworldwide.org for more info. You are most welcome!

Welcome to Calo Me Lare!!!

Calo Me Lare is a beautiful place! This is where the Project Hope Worldwide children live. It is in Northern Uganda. Uganda has been called the Breadbasket of Africa and you will soon see why.

It is hard to capture the rolling hills and beautiful foliage of Calo Me Lare (Village of Redemption) with a camera, but Dennis has done his best to give you a glimpse.

                                                                                                                                                                

Our first photo is the driveway leading from the gate to the Administration Building. Actually, this photo is taken from the Admin Building looking toward the gate.

The Admin Building was designed by our first Director, Andy Flege who along with his wife Cami began directing this monumental work. They are skilled cabinet makers, so we were very fortunate to have him design many of the buildings at CML.

The homes are built in circles. We currently have 1-1/2 circles and when funds become available Project Hope Worldwide plans to complete the second circle. Each circle contains 8 homes with an open building in the center which we call the Center House. This is the meeting place for children and Moms who live in the homes.

Each home contains 8 children, either girls or boys and a house mother who is a widow. Our original intention was to care for the widows and orphans. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27) We have a mixture of children and moms from different tribes in Uganda. The mothers love the Lord and train the children in the ways of the Lord, teaching them responsibility and building character into their lives.

We have a playground and a full-sized football (soccer) field which the kids use a lot! They always have the ingenuity to come up with new games, i.e. dodgeball with and old rolled-up sock.

We have three classroom structures which currently house Primary and Nursery classrooms. Our oldest children are finishing P7 (primary level of education) and we are working toward adding the senior level beginning in January 2018. The school is open to the community and currently there are about 250 students.

Our Medical Clinic was a huge gift to Project Hope Worldwide by generous donors! It was completed around 2014. We are so happy that one of the young men from our church at CML completed his education as a Clinical Officer and is now practicing at the clinic. We have a lab and this Medical Clinic can service not only the needs of our own children, house moms and staff, but also the surrounding community. This is such a huge blessing to the project!

This is the church building, thanks to the generosity of donors to Project Hope Worldwide. We must say, this church was God’s idea and as always, it has been wonderful!!! When the first children came in the Moms, the Directors, Administrators and their families began teaching them Bible Stories and worshipping with them on Sundays. When the group became too large for the Center House they moved to a large room in the Admin Building and invited the community to join them. When we arrived in 2012 there was breathing room only!  The church was built and a pastor was called. The pastor’s and director’s homes were built the same year. Now the church is thriving!!! About 200 people attend each Sunday.

This is the Drip Irrigation Garden installed in July. It is a joint effort of PHW and Field of Hope. The garden is fed from a well on the property powered by a solar pump. We are harvesting tomatoes and green peppers now. Pumpkins, egg plants, onions, carrots, watermelon and cabbage are growing also. This promises to be an amazing blessing during the dry season. The peppers and tomatoes are some of the first produce from that garden. It rivals any from Lira markets!

PHW has purchased a piece of land across the swamp where maize (corn) is being grown. Maize is a staple in Uganda. The maize is eaten fresh or ground into “posho flour”, the main starch used in the diet of Northern Ugandans. We also have an orchard with oranges and mangoes. Cassava is grown on campus also.

We have begun a poultry business, where we are raising about 550 chicks. Some will be used for meat and about ¼ of them will produce eggs for those living in the homes. This was a gift from the government of Uganda to help these children. We are grateful to the government for them and are thankful that God put it in their hearts to help some of Uganda’s most vulnerable children!

Thank you again for visiting our blog and visiting Calo Me Lare! Thank you for your prayers for the children, staff and us. They are very much needed and appreciated!

If you want more information about Project Hope Worldwide in general or about sponsoring a child, please visit the website, http://www.projecthopeworldwide.org.

Welcome to our Uganda Home!

Lira, Uganda is a great place to live although it is much different from America. We are feeling quite at home since we have lived here before. Our transition time was minimal.

We arrived in Uganda on Thursday, September 7; traveled to Lira on Saturday, and moved into our house the following Monday and Tuesday.

Living room - larger table is coming!

This is where we are living. We feel blessed to have such a nice house. It is well-guarded with friendly people. There are 10 2-bedroom units in this complex. The night guard for the complex is standing on the right. We found curtains in town that make the rooms look homey. We are still waiting for our tables to be built. As you can see, this one is a little short. We have two bedrooms, so come for a visit!

Our front porch.

Guest room - bed will come.

Our bathroom is tiled and very nice except it has no mirror and no water heater. Oh well, it’s Uganda! Most days a cold shower feels pretty good!

Our bedroom.

The kitchen.

The kitchen is small but it smells of home cooking. Most cabinets have no shelves, so we have purchased quite a few baskets and containers to accommodate our needs. The kitchen has very high shelves, so it is not made for women. Oh well, Dennis enjoys helping in the kitchen.

The closets in this area consist of a piece of wood nailed to the wall with hooks on them to hang clothing. Therefore, we don’t need wall decorations. J We are waiting for our clothes rack.

This young lady helped me with cleaning and laundry today. We are thanking God for her. She was recommended by a friend and she was delightful! She looks like a teenager but she 23 years old. She had to drop out of school for lack of school fees, but I know God has a special purpose for her.

As you can see, we have settled in pretty well with the exception of the furniture being made.

Our days have been busy, welcoming the children into the homes after their break between school terms. Dennis has been working with the Director on financial issues and Margie has been working with the auditor. We thank God for sending us at just the right time. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

The Lord has shown up in so many ways already and we look forward to what He will do during our time in Uganda. We appreciate all the prayers being offered in our behalf.

We will try to communicate with monthly blogposts. Thank you again for visiting ours.

Special Tribute to Joyce Cribbet

Welcome to our blog! We are thankful that you took the time to read about our experiences in Uganda.

We left Uganda in July of 2015 and really did not know at that time if we would return for a long period of time again or if we would only take part in short-term mission trips. But God has called us to return, this time for three months. This photo was actually taken last year, but we use the same pink suitcase every time.

At this time I (Margie) would like to pay special tribute to my sister Joyce Cribbet, who went to be with the Lord in April of this year. She always provided at least monthly updates on our family back home. (My sister Kathy is doing this now and we are so thankful). Joyce was one of our faithful Prayer Warriors. I was saddened that Joyce would not be around to pray for us this year. You see, we recognize that we are in God’s capable hands, but that He works in response to prayer. This year God was so good to show me in many ways that she is still part of this trip and I know she is in heaven now praying for us along with many who went before her. This is a photo of Joyce and her husband Butch. You can see she was always full of life and love!

Carol Wells,a dear friend who is part of our Community Group at Discovery Bible Fellowship has offered and given us transportation to the airport one almost every trip to Uganda. Carol and Dennis loaded our baggage in her van as I did the final inspection to make sure we had included everything. When I arrived at the van Carol handed me an envelope and said, “This is from Joyce.” You can imagine my surprise!!!

Now, the explanation: My sister Joyce and her husband Butch owned a hardware store in Collinsville. One day shortly before Dennis and I left on one of our trips to Uganda, Carol was in the store with me. Joyce told me that she was sorry she could not be at the airport to “see us off” as she was slipping some cash in my hand, “for things you may need while traveling or something you see that you want to buy for yourself.” Carol took note of that and that’s why she gave me the money in Joyce’s name. (What a sweet reminder from the Lord)!

After arriving in Uganda we stayed in Entebbe one night. Due to extra shopping and business in Kampala we stayed an extra night. Everything was fine until we awoke at 3am to a familiar, high-pitched sound we immediately recognized. A mosquito was under our net! The net was made with a slit in one area for easy entry. . We had closed it at bedtime, but our blanket had pushed the slit apart. Dennis put his hand near where the mosquito landed, I swatted it from outside the net, and that mosquito was “a goner”. Neither of us was bitten. Dennis said he could hold it shut the rest of the night in case there were more, but how could he sleep like that? Then I remembered the safety pins Joyce sent the first year we came to Uganda. I had used 2 or 3 in the 4 years we ventured back and forth. Those pins did the trick and we have not seen or heard a mosquito since!!!

We want to thank all of our faithful Prayer Warriors. Without your prayers our efforts are fruitless and ministry is ineffective. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints.” (Colossians 1:3-4). May God pour His abundant blessings on you because of your prayers and support!