Uganda History
Overview of the History of the Uganda Mission at The Church of St. Peter’s
The St. Peter’s Uganda Mission has been continuously involved in working with St. Anthony parish in Uganda since 2006. The mission efforts have included the development of a student sponsorship program which has introduced the opportunity for a Catholic education for many young children. It has also advanced other needs in support of the parish including the startup of a pig breeding program for the purposes of food and sale, and capital fund raising for a roof, altar and windows for the Church of St. Anthony.
In the summer of 2006, the Church of St. Peter was visited by a young priest from Uganda, Father Lawrence Kizito Kimbowa, who filled in and celebrated Masses for us. During this brief encounter, he introduced us to his efforts and work at the Church of St. Anthony, a newly formed parish in Migyera Uganda, where he was Pastor. He presented us with his desire to establish a program to help educate the children of his parish and to develop a relationship between our two churches. From that time, the Ugandan Mission Team was formed and has worked closely with Father Lawrence and his staff in Uganda to coordinate the Student Sponsorship Program. For $360 per year, a family in the parish can sponsor a student in Uganda for one year. As a result of the compassion and generosity of our parishioners, the program has continually supported nearly 100 students in this worthy cause since its inception.
In the spring of 2007, Fr. Lawrence returned to the Church of St. Peter to deliver his personal thanks to the parish and to extend the gratitude of the people of his church, St. Anthony’s Parish in Migyera for the generous participation of our parishioners. During this visit he informed our parishioners that the people of his church had built their first church structure consisting of the walls but no roof. His parish is one with limited personal income, therefore, he appealed to our community for help to obtain funding for the roof. This appeal was met with overwhelming success and resulted in donations sufficient for St. Anthony’s Church to have a roof constructed in the ensuing months.
Since 2007, Fr. Lawrence has visited almost every year to promote the sponsorship program and other needs of his parish. We have raised money for an altar, a tabernacle and windows for the church. We conducted a fund raiser for a piglet project in which families were given a pig to raise and breed for sale to benefit their families. A strong relationship has been built between St. Anthony’s parish and the Church of St. Peter. In the spring of 2017 a group of pilgrims from St. Peter’s journeyed to Migyera and witnessed for the first time the fruits of the donations as well as meeting many of the students sponsored and doing work at their schools. This visit was wonderful in building personal relationships and getting to meet the many brothers and sisters in Christ we have at St. Anthony’s. More trips are planned for the future.