Our Story

Life is ever changing and beckoning us to do the same. When it comes to change, some of us welcome it, others long for it and a few even beg for it. On the other hand, there are those who avoid it like the plague. For us, the change was something we never thought would happen to us. God irresistibly drew us to move to Africa. As we shared this leading, we were tickled to hear just about everyone say,  “This doesn’t surprise us a bit.” In one way, God caught us completely off guard, but reflection on our back story serves to affirm that God had been patiently guiding us to this moment for years.

As “good kids” who grew up in church, a recurring event of our early years was the arrival of missionaries serving all around our world and the requisite telling of their tales. We attended plenty of conferences and mission trips, led Mission’s Ministries and in 2007, stepped out in faith as founders of a missional church called The Well. For as long as we can remember, the missional approach to life has been on our heart, but a geographic destination was never clear.

A few years ago, God spoke clearly of His plan for us to adopt from Ethiopia and, in 2009, we brought our new son, Tekle, home. As he has with our three children, God has blessed us beyond belief through him and inspired him to love his homeland. Over the past nine months, our missional bent resulted in three trips to Uganda where we fell in love with the country, its people and God’s great work underway there.

In April of 2010, that love coalesced into the realization that God was calling us to make Africa our permanent home. In retrospect, so much of our life, both the trials and the blessings, makes sense now. God doesn’t always allow us insight into “the whys” of life, but, lately, we have had keen clarity about our past experiences and their convergence in this moment.

The most asked question is, “What do you do there?” In short, we work with an awe-inspiring organization called Cherish Uganda. This remarkable group of “leading-followers” is literally changing the lives of children with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.  Our base of operations in Uganda sprang up over 5 years ago when God motivated a group from the UK, to build a “village within a village” called Akaloosa (A sweet smelling fragrance).

Now a home for the most vulnerable children fighting HIV, this first-of-its-kind community is transforming the lives of all who live, work or visit there. In addition, it is on track to become fully sustainable.

The story of Cherish is one of redemption on a biblical scale. Since Adam and Eve left Eden in shame, God has been in the redemption business and He has clearly set up shop in Akaloosa. Its residents are living examples of God’s gracefully unfolding restoration story.

In addition to ministering to Akaloosa, we also work to bring the love to Bulega, the community surrounding Cherish. A poor fishing village on the shores of Lake Victoria, it is home to approximately 5,000 people, many of whom are struggling to survive. To these precious people who are sick, unable to afford education, or lacking food and shelter, we hope to bring Jesus through simply being His hands and feet.

God has also laid another strong leading on our hearts, to help Ugandan pastors understand how to “do” children’s ministry. In a country with the youngest average age and a generation orphaned by AIDS, churches are overwhelmed by the challenge of ministering to the thousands of children coming to them with a yearning to know Jesus. We believe this crying need is a natural place to apply our 20-plus years of living and breathing children’s ministry.

This journey has been one of the most challenging seasons of our shared lives. More keenly than ever, we recognize that there is a significant cost to follow Christ. While we are certainly counting that cost, we know that ignoring it and staying put would be even more costly. As our friends, we sincerely hope you will pray fervently for our family, for Cherish and for the continuation of God’s redemptive work. Team Phillips desires nothing more than to be and do as God’s will has intended.