Webale Minsitries is composed of a group of people who aren’t afraid to wade in with the people we love. We are addicted to following Jesus, vanilla hazelnut coffee and spending time serving together. We’re relying on and taking the lead from the ultimate world-changer, Jesus. As a group our investment in Uganda began at different moments in time. For us, the Porters, it began with a small face on a computer screen in 2009; a little boy dressed all in red; a journey to our son. For the Wilsons, God called them to serve beside the Porters after praying and seeking direction in their role within the ministry. The Raffertys describe their journey to Uganda, “Our hearts turned toward Uganda because of Pastor Sam Childers and became real because of Charlie” (the Porter’s Ugandan-born son). Webale Ministries was officially founded after a heritage trip in 2017 but it’s been happening long before in the work that Gerald and his wife have been doing to enhance the lives of the children and families in their surrounding area. God simply led us to come alongside Gerald Sekanabo and his wife, Barbara, and continue that work they’ve been doing. Gerald and Barbara heard a sermon that impacted their lives and, ultimately, lives around them. The pastor said that westerners come to Africa and go the extra mile for strangers and then asked what Ugandans were doing to go the extra mile for other Ugandan families. Through prayer, they sought the Lord’s will in how they could help their neighbors. They’ve organized community dinners, carpooled children to church, and stepped in to try to ease the financial burden of school for some of their neighbors. Gerald owns and operates a safari-drive service in Uganda and Barbara is a leader among their church family and hosts home group weekly. We (the Porters) left Uganda with God-sized dreams and the beginnings of a plan. We circled the wagons, gathered our people and got to work. Webale (way-bah-lay) means “thank-you” in Luganda, one of the languages spoken in Uganda. While in prayer over a name for our ministry I (Jenn) was reminded of Psalm 118:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” And I then thought of our littlest daughter, happily calling out “webale!!” to the gentleman that would open the gate at our rented house in Uganda. The smile on both of their faces was just pure joy. And that’s how Webale Ministries began. It’s also totally fitting because, at the end of the day, we are so thankful to God for being given management over this ministry.