Sometimes purpose is discovered instead of imagined.
As a student at Baylor University, Nick Martineau never pictured himself working to help orphans on the other side of the globe. But a mission trip changed his life, and - through his work and that of his friends - is changing the lives of orphans in Bukaleba, Uganda.
After a conference during college, Martineau - who is a minister to college students and young adults at Hope Community Church in Andover - felt a desire to travel outside the United States to do mission work. He found a group in St. Louis traveling to Uganda to help construct water wells in villages.
He fell in love with the central African country.
After that trip, he got to know a man in his classes who was from Uganda. Martineau often joked about accompanying him when he returned to his village. One day, those jokes led to an invitation - an invitation that Martineau and six of his friends accepted.
When they arrived in Jinja, they were housed at an Arise Africa campus. Arise Africa is a group of Ugandans helping orphans in their own homeland.
They did a lot of work on the trip, but they spent most of their time in the orphanage.
"It didn't take special skills or training to work with the orphans," Martineau said. "You just have to know how to have fun."
Martineau got the chance to work at Baylor scheduling short-term mission trips for students. He traveled often, especially on trips back to Uganda.
"I was drawn to Arise Africa," Martineau said. "Anytime we were going to Uganda, I went."
Martineau married his wife, Liz, in 2005 and after graduating, the couple spent time that summer on an extended mission trip working with Arise Africa.
But the real world sometimes gets in the way of dreams. Upon returning, the couple had jobs and now had to worry about vacation days and going back became less of a possibility.
But neither of them were ready for that effort to end.
"We wanted to maintain those relationships which was more difficult without being able to visit," Martineau said. "So some of us who had been on a trip together planned a conference call and began iloveorphans.com. We wanted to show love to the orphans in Uganda."
Through frequent one-on-one conversations and the web site www.iloveorphans.com, the group has raised more than $130,000 for the construction of an orphanage in Bukaleba near Lake Victoria.
But on Nov. 8 - recognized across America as Orphan Sunday - Martineau spoke at First Baptist Church in Augusta. His friend Joe Williams brought him to the church to speak after Williams and his wife, Kristey, had accompanied the Martineaus on a trip to Bukaleba this summer.
The Williamses have a desire to ease the plight of orphans, as well.
"We discussed adopting an orphan before we were even married," said Joe.
When an opportunity to pursue adoption came up, the Williamses had just had their third child and the time didn't feel right. But as they considered the plan and got more information, it wasn't long before they joined two other couples in Augusta in adopting a daughter from an orphanage in China.
The Martineaus have a 13-month-old daughter named Jewel. But Nick admits that their family probably isn't finished growing.
Martineau and Williams work together and that fostered a cooperative effort to help orphans.
First Baptist is raising funds for the project throughout November.
It is an exciting time in Bukaleba. In just a few weeks, the initial phase of the project will be open with 50 children up to the age of six housed and educated on the campus. Plans are to expand to host orphans from 6-12 years old and then a further expansion to help orphans up to 18 years old.
Those expansions will require good timing and the right people becoming involved before they can proceed. But for now, the staff of Arise Africa will have a way to help 50 children at a time.
This project is an example of how a small group of people can help in a seemingly impossible situation. There are millions of orphans in Uganda. They are only able to help 50 at a time. But that is the only way the problem can be solved.
Iloveorphans.com is following Biblical direction.
James 1:27 says, "Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
The desire to take care of these orphans in their distress drives the organizers of iloveorphans.com.
"We are committed to the school project," Martineau said. "We don't know where it will lead from there."
Augusta, Kan. —
