We hosted a SLAM Service Camp for youth in Kabonge on GOD Intl’s campus just a week ago. Over 150 youth from all across Uganda attended—many of them coming from impoverished families, situations of lack and tragedy, and carrying grief and loss.
It was a gift to host them. To talk with them and hear their stories. To learn their names. To worship and dance together. To serve alongside them—and to witness their hearts begin to soften to the realities they live in every day. As they served children, the elderly, and communities in need—often ones that mirrored their own upbringing—they began to realize something: poverty doesn’t have to make them complacent. It doesn’t have to bind them anymore. And they don’t need money to bring change to their communities.
God can use their hands and feet—and even more, their compassion and understanding—because they know what it is, or what it was like, to live in those circumstances.
Through worship, Bible study, service projects, fellowship, and more, we watched these youth come alive with the Spirit of God. As the Word was sown into their hearts and they were given a space to live it out in practical ways, we saw these youth be changed by God.
The testimonies shared were deeply moving—ones our team will never forget. One youth said, “I learned that God chose me and wants me to be part of the story He is writing.” Another said, “I now know that I don’t need money to do God’s will. I can use my hands and my feet for Him.”
There were so many more like this—testimonies that brought me to tears and deep humility. To witness the word of God touching hearts, uplifting those the world often forgets, dignifying the lowly, calling the broken, and bringing beauty from ashes.