“Let the little (Ugandan) children come to me.”
By Lorna Katagara, Assistant Manager of the Life Skills Education and Counseling Program
There are a lot of children in Uganda.
To give you an idea of just how many children there are, the median age is only 15.8 years. For comparison, the median age in the U.S. is more than twice that: 38 years.
There are a lot of reasons for this, like the high (but declining) infant, child, and maternal mortality rates that are common in developing countries. Another reason is that Ugandans just love having children. There is a societal expectation to start having as many children as possible, as soon as possible. This is especially true in the rural villages of the Busoga region, where Kibo works.
But even though people in rural areas have a lot of children, there is a gap in knowledge and ability to care for these children properly. Parents sometimes can’t afford to educate their children or don’t understand why education is so important for children, especially girls.
My Kibo program, Life Skills Education and Counseling, works with parents and children to instill the value of children’s education — and the value of children themselves — into the community. I believe this is God’s work. We see throughout the New Testament that children play a unique and vital role in the kingdom of God. In Matthew, Jesus emphasizes the importance of children, not just to have children, but rather to learn from them and care for them:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
Matthew 18:1-5 (NIV)
In the next chapter, the disciples forget what Jesus just told them, and they try to chase the little children away from Jesus:
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:13-14 (NIV)
Children are special to Jesus, and they should be special to us as well. I think it is God’s work, not just to have children around, but to ensure that each individual child is nurtured and loved. We have a lot to learn from children, and the kingdom of God is incomplete without them. I am honored and blessed to work with them, teach them, and learn from them every day.