Both families were living in mud houses in eastern Uganda. We met them on the same day — our first day in Uganda, February 2026. Both are now in houses of their own, built and paid for.
When Pastor Isaac took us to this very poor area to see the living conditions, he had not told us that he had made a command decision to send 48 kids from this area to attend our school on scholarship (free). Julius’s five and Mary Auma’s three among them.
We asked Pastor Isaac what it would cost to build a house here in Uganda. He answered about $2,500. God had impressed on our hearts to do something, and two was what we knew we could do — we did not know yet who would give the money, only that we could. By the time the work went out to bid, the price of materials had risen and it came back closer to $3,500.
We think God was softening our hearts that day, and preparing us for what He was going to do.
Mary Auma
Mary Auma is living with HIV, and about a year before we met her, she lost her husband.
On film
1 minute 32 secondsMary’s story from the beginning — the old mud house, what happened to Aisha, and the family in the doorway of the new one.
Before. Aisha, thirteen, and Mary AumaAfter. Mary Auma and her family, with George Musoke in the doorway and Pastor Isaac seated
The familyMary Auma — momAisha M. — 13Gift K. — 7Zacharah Q. — granddaughter
Mary Auma’s sad story was told to us by Pastor Isaac. After her husband died there was no income, because no one wants to hire someone with HIV. Her daughter Aisha was sent to Kampala to work as a housemaid for fifteen dollars a month.
She worked for an entire year. She was never paid. Eventually she came home, and the family was living together in a tiny, deteriorating mud hut. Aisha had completed one year of school in her life.
When we met Mary, we asked her one question.
“Do you know the Lord?”
Asked of Mary Auma, the day we met her
That day, Mary accepted Jesus Christ. I asked Pastor Isaac to be sure and get her a Bible, and to disciple her in His Word. When I asked how she was doing a few weeks later, he said, “She has been at church every time the doors are open.” There is a joy in her that was not there before.
Then we set about the rest of it. We built them a house. It cost $3,256 — about 380 square feet at $8.60 a foot: plastered walls, a metal roof, a glazed window, a door that closes. A widow and her family own it.
He Is Worthy paid the family the year’s wages Aisha was owed, brought her home, and put her back in school. She was assessed and placed in fifth grade. She is at Great Love Junior Academy now, boarding through the week so that she eats — in a classroom instead of someone else’s kitchen.
This is what your giving can do.
Julius
A father, a mother and five children in one room, and a Muslim neighbor who told him what his faith would get him.
On film
38 seconds · captionedThe visit, the one room, and the neighbor’s line. It ends on a promise — “Julius and his family are getting a new home. Follow along to see progress.” Everything below is that promise kept.
Before. One room under thatchThe family, the day we met them
After. The house, finished and paintedAnd a latrine of their own. New, on its own slab
The familyJulius — dadRose — momEsther K. — 10Regina K. — 9Joseph W. — 7Grace N. — 6Alice M. — the baby
Pastor Isaac took us into one of the poorest parts of his community and showed us a thatched mud house. Inside it lived Julius, his wife Rose and their five children, in one room.
The father is Julius. He had not been able to work in a long time — a condition with his eyes that has taken his sight. Seven people, one room, and no way to earn.
We learned the rest later. When Julius became a Christian, a Muslim neighbor told him what his faith would get him.
“You will die in that old grass hut.”
Said to Julius by his Muslim neighbor
He did not. He Is Worthy built Julius and his family a house and a new privy for $4,328 — about 530 square feet at $8.20 a foot. Plastered walls, a metal roof, steel windows — metal at his own request, because broken glass is not something he could replace — a door that locks, and a latrine of their own.
All five of his children are in school at Great Love Junior Academy. They board through the week, which is how they eat, and go home to their father at the weekend — to a house now, not a hut.
And we are taking Julius to an eye doctor. Nobody has looked at his eyes yet. If something can be done about his sight, a man who has not worked in years could work again.
Who paid for it. We had very generous donors who, when they heard the story and the need, gave to make this happen.
The same corner of the community. Both families came from that one village, and their children are all at Great Love Junior Academy. The houses, the school fees and the eye doctor are not three programs. They are one family at a time.
Costs are as paid, in US dollars. Square footages are derived from cost and rate, not measured on site.
