20/04/2025
"We went to the home of a widow who lived in one of the villages. She was 79 years of age and had seven children. Six of them had died of AIDS, and the seventh was dying of an infection. She took us around the back of the house to the banana plantation. There, among the bananas, were seven graves—one for her husband, one for her daughter, and five for her sons—all taken by “slim” (AIDS).
Children of every age surrounded her, the youngest of them clutching tentatively at their grandmother’s shabby dress, looking up at us with sad, yet beautiful eyes. There were twenty-three of them—her grandchildren. She was caring for them alone.
I will never forget her words to me, as tears welled up in her weary old eyes: “I am an old woman. I can no longer dig to grow food. Soon, I too will die! Who will look after my grandchildren?”
What could I say? This was a situation so bleak, it was almost impossible to believe it was real. I took her frail, calloused hands into mine, looked deeply into her eyes, and told her that God would never abandon her children.
A short time later, during a moment of personal devotion, Jesus spoke to me: “Gary! I want you to look after My children!”
A visit with a little old lady in a Ugandan village became a life-defining moment. It was a spark God, our Heavenly Father, ignited and fanned into a burning fire in my soul—for justice, for righteousness, and for the least, the lost, and the lonely."
[Edited extract - Where Faith Lit the Way, Gary Skinner]
In 1983, in the middle of a civil war, Gary and Marilyn Skinner planted a church in Kampala, Uganda—with a dream of demonstrating the gospel not just by what they said, but what they did.
A year later, Watoto Childcare Ministries was born.
Since then, thousands of orphaned and abandoned children have found love, family, and purpose. To find out more, visit Watoto.com
Watoto brings hope and healing to vulnerable women in Uganda and South Sudan. 
