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75: A Mission To Create Hope and Transform Lives in Uganda (Part 1)
221 Plays2 years ago
This week’s episode originally aired October 27, 2021 on Jill Devine’s other podcast, Two Kids and A Career.
Andy Wiggins and Todd Larkin are the Co-Founders of Hearts & Hope for Uganda. Hearts & Hope is a St. Louis-area 501c3 nonprofit focused on transforming poor villages in Uganda through clean water, health & wellness, education, and small business development. Since its founding in 2011, Hearts & Hope has established 8 schools which provide education to over 2,000 children!
Through Jill’s (and Andy & Todd’s) church, Messiah St. Charles, her family has been given an awesome opportunity to help a child in Uganda because of Hearts & Hope for Uganda. The boy Jill’s family is sponsoring is Derick Zigwanamuto in the village of Butogonha. You can follow along in their journey with Derick and Hearts & Hope for Uganda. Since this is the first time Jill and her family have ever done anything like this, she thought it would be a good idea to have Andy & Todd on the podcast to talk through Jill’s questions because more than likely, others may have the same questions as Jill and her family.
Hearts & Hope’s 11th Annual Party with a Purpose is SOLD OUT, but you can still help! This annual event is the only fundraising event for Hearts & Hope and ensures that our vision becomes a reality!
Donation page - https://heartsandhope.org/product/DON-PWAP-2023/fund-a-need-2023
Here are links to the other episodes Jill mentioned:
52: A Widower’s Advice On Living Life To The Fullest with Brandon Janous (Part 1)
53: A Widower’s Advice On Living Life To The Fullest with Brandon Janous (Part 2)
54: A Widower’s Advice On Living Life To The Fullest with Brandon Janous (Part 3)
55: A Widower’s Advice On Living Life To The Fullest with Brandon Janous (Part 4)
Normal Goes A Long Way Website: https://www.normalgoesalongway.com/
Normal Goes A Long Way Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/normalgoesalongway/
Normal Goes A Long Way Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Normal-Goes-A-Long-Way-110089491250735
Normal Goes A Long Way is brought to you by Messiah St. Charles: https://messiahstcharles.org/
Two Kids and A Career: https://www.jilldevine.com/podcast
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Transcript
Introduction to Jill Devine and Faith Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
The following podcast is a Jill Devine Media production. Christianity has become known for judgy people, strange words, ancient stories, confusing rules, and a members-only mindset. This is why I stayed away from the church for so long, but it's not supposed to be that way. I'm Jill Devine, a former radio personality with three tattoos, a love for a good tequila, and who's never read the entire Bible.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yet here I am hosting a podcast about faith.
Purpose of 'Normal Goes a Long Way'
00:00:27
Speaker
The normal goes a long way podcast is your home for real conversations with real people using real language about how faith and real life intersect. Welcome to the conversation.
Storytelling in Season 4
00:00:39
Speaker
Thank you for hitting play on this week's conversation. And one thing that has happened in season four of normal goes a long way, a lot of storytelling. And it's amazing to hear how people have been moved through God and by God. And one thing that I started doing in season four was thinking about some of the people that I've interviewed for my other podcast, Two Kids in a Career, and
Featuring Brandon Janus
00:01:06
Speaker
their stories and how the listener of normal goes a long way would really benefit from hearing those stories and so the first person that comes to mind is Brandon Janus. This guy is incredible and I had him on two kids in a career and then I just knew that I needed to share his story with you and then we did some follow-ups and I made sure to include him on both podcasts and those episodes will be linked in the show notes but
00:01:36
Speaker
Then I started thinking about, all right, who are some of the other individuals I have interviewed on Two Kids in a Career that would be great for normal goes a
Church Mission Trips
00:01:45
Speaker
long way. And it hit me, a lot of churches across the country and even the church that I attend and work at, Messiah St. Charles, they're going on mission trips.
00:01:57
Speaker
And it could be Uganda, let's see, Guatemala, Poland. There are so many different opportunities, but you may not know exactly what takes place in a mission trip. Or maybe you have these preconceived ideas of what a mission trip is. And so I had interviewed Andy Wiggins and Todd Larkin.
Interview with Hearts and Hope Founders
00:02:21
Speaker
They are the co-founders of Hearts and Hope for Uganda.
00:02:24
Speaker
And the conversation was really, really cool. They answered a lot of questions that I had that maybe you have about mission trips, about helping others in different countries. So our original conversation took place on October 27th, 2021, but everything that we talked about still applies to today.
00:02:47
Speaker
And they recently just had a team come back from Uganda and a lot of first timers and just hearing their experiences. It just makes me so excited to one day go on a mission trip. So I am introducing you now to Andy and Todd and the conversation that we had on two kids in a career, but you're going to hear it now on normal goes a long
Founding Hearts and Hope
00:03:11
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way.
00:03:11
Speaker
This is an episode where I feel very prepared, but yet not prepared at all. It has to do with this amazing organization that I've known about for a while, but I've just started digging in. It's Hearts and Hope for Uganda. I have the founders of this organization on the podcast. Let me first introduce Andy Wiggins and Todd Larkin to the podcast. Thanks for coming on, guys. Thanks for having us. Absolutely. Thank you.
00:03:41
Speaker
So we have obviously talked behind the scenes and I know some of the story about what has led you guys to Hearts and Hope but I want to give a little bit of a background that I attend Messiah Lutheran in a suburb of St. Louis and so do you too. And it's this partnership that we have now with Hearts and Hope where basically
00:04:08
Speaker
And this is just me doing the layman's terms for anyone listening.
Sponsoring a Child from Uganda
00:04:13
Speaker
We have a chance to help the different villages in Uganda and sponsor a child and get that child the education that they so deserve and need. And that's basically the gist. And I have seen this and I
00:04:28
Speaker
have seen individuals in the congregation go on mission trips and have always been interested. And then this year, it was the push for kids to get sponsored. And my husband and I looked at each other and we said, we're in. And so now we have sponsored a boy named Derek. I have his little journey with us so far and it's very, very new. You can read about it at JillDevine.com.
00:04:57
Speaker
I still have lots of questions and I still don't know how all of it works. So I thought that I would bring you two on and I want to start with the background of how you two even know each other and how you began this amazing organization.
00:05:15
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Yes, so I'll jump in.
Friendship and Mission Initiatives
00:05:18
Speaker
This is Andy. Todd and I have known each other, you know, for years, probably knew each other longer than I'd say we were really, you know, friends. And that's because we know each other more from high school, but our wives
00:05:32
Speaker
grew up as best friends all the way back to Todd, I think it was middle school, is that right? Yeah, correct, like 11, 12 years old, something like that. Yeah, and so Todd's probably been friends and known my wife longer than me. And just later in life, of course, because of our wives, we've spent a lot of time together, became good friends. And that was what eventually even kind of led us to attending the same
00:06:01
Speaker
you know church because our kids you know are also both the same age so that's a little bit of the background kind of throw it to Todd to maybe fill in any other details. So you know Tandy's point both of our kids are same age both are his oldest and my and our youngest they're both we both have two kids and so our oldest kids are the same age and our youngest kids are the same age as well and
00:06:27
Speaker
We started, our oldest started attending Messiah and our kids just absolutely loved it and ended up attending. I moved from one church to Messiah and really the background of Hearts and Hope really is it started at Messiah. Messiah had been partnered with a village in Uganda for several years. I think going back to 2006 is when they took their first trip to Uganda and they really found
00:06:58
Speaker
You know, a place where they could, Messiah found a place where they could really anchor in a community and get to develop relationships with the people in that community, get to know them, get to understand their challenges, but also their joys and vice versa. That village could get to know the people of Messiah.
00:07:15
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Andy in 2010 at a baseball game mentioned to me that, hey, there was a mission trip earlier this year, and I'm thinking about going next year. He'd never been on a mission trip. I'd never been on a mission trip. We both worked for corporate America. I still do. Andy's now a small business owner.
00:07:37
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But we've never been on a mission trip. We're not, quote unquote, missionaries in our minds. And he said, hey, if I'm thinking about going in February of 2011, I'm not really sure though, but if you go with me, I'll definitely go.
00:07:53
Speaker
I had never contemplated going to Africa, much less Uganda, in my life. And I guess I was moved and decided, yeah, I absolutely will go with you. And that first trip absolutely changed our life. My life was broken, but also brought to joy in the very same moments over the course of that trip. And he experienced that as
Life-Changing Mission Trip Experience
00:08:16
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well. And at the end of the day, some of the things that we experienced
00:08:20
Speaker
on that trip with Messiah, we basically wanted to take that same involvement and model as it were that Messiah was doing with this village of Nakabongo and allow others to join in that very same experience from sponsoring a student, getting to know your student, hopefully getting to meet your student if you ever get the chance to go over to Uganda, but also just the community engagement and the relationships that were developed
00:08:48
Speaker
between people on the trip, people back at home, and our partners in Uganda. And so that was the start back in 2011. We founded Hearts and Hope, and 10 years later, there's eight villages now that we're partnering with, 1,100 kids that are in our sponsorship program today. That doesn't count all the kids who've been in our program and moved on. And we're super excited about the next 10 years.
00:09:12
Speaker
I want to interrupt the conversation of hearts and hope for a second to talk about a mission trip. And my question is, what is a mission trip? Because I don't know how you guys feel or if this is how you felt before you made that decision that you wanted to go.
00:09:32
Speaker
Mission trip kind of can turn some people off as far as the wording or what is expected or what is it and One of the reasons why I wanted to have you two on you guys are totally normal guys guys that talk about how you can just hang out and You know
00:09:54
Speaker
Just normal.
Misconceptions and True Purpose of Mission Trips
00:09:55
Speaker
So explain the whole mission trip idea and process so that regular people like you and me know what it is. So the answer is I'm sitting here, you know, of course on a podcast, you can't tell, but I'm just smiling because everything you just said is exactly what was going on in my head. So another part of the story of how Todd and I even came to go to Uganda was we were playing
00:10:21
Speaker
pick up basketball, you know, it's like the old man's basketball at church. And we were kind of new to the church and we're just getting to know people through, you know, pick up basketball and we're coming to meet these, you know, just normal, cool laid back, you know, guys, but that they were also just proud of their faith. They spoke about their faith. A number of them had the year before done the mission trip to Uganda. And so they were,
00:10:49
Speaker
talking about it. And it was kind of that same perception of, well, I never thought about mission trips before, but here's these guys that I'm playing basketball with. They seem just like me, you know, we're drinking beer after basketball, you know, but it's still connected to the church. And I was like, there's got to be something more, you know, to this church life than
00:11:11
Speaker
you know, what, what I knew, and I grew up in the church, right? I mean, I've, I've gone to a Christian school, um, been Lutheran my entire life, gone to church, you know, my entire life. Um, but you know, for me, there was a little bit of, okay, what is this about? And I remember my first mission trip meeting, uh, going in and my biggest fear was, am I going to have to go and talk about my faith?
00:11:37
Speaker
and so-called evangelize to these people. Cause I was like, that is not, that is not me. That is not what I'm good at or comfortable with. And, uh, I remember Pastor Chuck, he was like, absolutely not. You just show up and you just love on some kids. And, uh, that was, you know, very, um, freeing to me was one, I had kind of seen these other guys. I'm like, well,
00:12:04
Speaker
if they went and they had a great time and it impacted them. And I'm being told, you know, a mission ship, especially through the church, right, is not just about, you know, kind of proclaiming the word, but, you know, it really is more about showing up and through your actions, let people start to question, well, why in the world would these people come halfway across the world? And it's almost like indirectly, people start to realize, oh, well, they have a faith
00:12:33
Speaker
in somebody that cares deeply about us and them and it's a game changer, right? And so it isn't at all what I thought. I'm sure Todd can build on that too. Yeah. And I, you know, when Andy asked me to go with him, I set similar concept. I was like, well, who am I?
00:12:55
Speaker
I'm a broken sinner and I'm not an evangelist. I probably, in any given situation, point to my favorite Bible passage. But I would say that for me, it was like, well, mission trips, okay, well, I like doing projects and I'm handy and I can go over to Uganda and help
00:13:21
Speaker
help these folks and help construct or do a project or something like that. And that was my focus and my desire. But again, certainly apprehensive about what does it mean to be on a mission trip. And at the end of the day, what Andy described is 100% accurate and to the point where we try not to do projects. We don't like to have Americans flying over to a third world country and providing quote unquote free labor that
00:13:50
Speaker
you know, the local community or, you know, the locals could do themselves as well as get paid to do that work. We really, you know, the focus and, you know, my eyes were open wide on that first trip is come and meet and interact and engage with this community and these people who are your brothers and sisters in Christ. And, you know, they have a joy in them and it's rooted in faith. Go experience that with them.
Cultural Exchange and Personal Growth
00:14:17
Speaker
and just understand them and learn about their culture and ask questions and get a better appreciation for the challenges that they face, but also the joy and the benefits and the assets that they bring. And, you know, that is a, you know, it's strange to think about, but so often in this world here in America, but also in Uganda, you know, people pass by each other and are busy in their daily tasks that they're
00:14:44
Speaker
going after and when you get the opportunity to go on a mission trip, it's really an opportunity to slow down and to engage with someone without the pressures of the modern world. My wife on her first mission trip made the comment of, how many times am I at home in America and have an opportunity to just pause and interact in a really deep and profound way with someone? And even if it's someone I'm just now meeting, it's such a,
00:15:12
Speaker
unique experience that doesn't always happen in today's society. I would have to think too that after you come back from Uganda or even when you're in Uganda, your appreciation for what you have here has to just magnify. Absolutely.
00:15:32
Speaker
But there's also, and I will tell you that some of the guidance that our pastor Chuck gave us and we were fortunate enough that he was on that trip with us. He said, when you come back and your kids, at that time our kids were nine and six, they're going to ask you for this video game or take me out to dinner or give me this toy.
00:15:55
Speaker
And he said, don't put what you've experienced onto them. Don't put that on them. Understand that they haven't seen what you've seen. They haven't experienced what you've experienced. And so approach that with grace. And it was difficult. It was extremely difficult. I don't know if you had similar experiences with your family or kids when they haven't experienced that. And you immediately get off the plane, you're jet lagged, and it's a completely different world.
00:16:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, certainly when you go over there, you know, and now obviously, you know, Todd and I, you know, 10 years in, I mean, we've gone over, you know,
00:16:34
Speaker
more than 10 times each, right? Just about every year, sometimes twice a year. Every time it's a bit of a reset because you do get over there and you realize just how fortunate we are. And when I even say we, it's not just we meaning Todd and I and our families. I mean, it's everybody in the US. And that's sometimes the tricky part is you come back and you gotta be careful that you don't come back all self-righteous
00:17:03
Speaker
And Chuck's been great. He's like, look, nobody that goes over there is expected to come back and sell everything so that they can serve the poor. But what he really looks for and what we get great enjoyment out of now as an organization is introducing people to these people in Uganda and seeing the fire ignited in them.
00:17:30
Speaker
to try to make a difference, whatever that difference is, right? And for some people, it might mean writing $100,000 check and saying, I'll build a brand new school. For other people, it might be as simple as, I'm gonna donate to the food program because we've got kids that were struggling during the pandemic. And then obviously for a lot of people, the way they get deeply connected is through sponsoring a kid. And so, going over there, it's,
00:17:58
Speaker
It's heart wrenching and it's great at the same time, but it's also, it's a different world. It's hard to really compare, but we hope, and I think for Todd and I, we'd both agree. We'd like to think we're kind of so-called better people for having experienced Uganda.
00:18:19
Speaker
But it doesn't mean we don't still like nice things. It doesn't mean I still don't want the new fancy car or something at the house. It just means I think a little bit harder about what I do and how I share my treasures and my gifts. That's really all we can ask of anybody that gets involved in what we're doing in Uganda.
00:18:45
Speaker
So you mentioned one of the key components of your organization, which is sponsoring a child and not necessarily a child. You could say a young man or even a young woman. And I know from what I've experienced at our church that it is a direct
Trustworthy Sponsorship Programs
00:19:11
Speaker
situation, meaning I know that the person we decide to sponsor is going to hear from me, is going to hear from my family. I don't think that's the case in a lot of situations.
00:19:26
Speaker
Believe me when I say any organization that wants to help out in situations like this is amazing. It really truly is. Obviously, we can't argue that. But there is, going back to the whole idea of a mission trip and what we have assumptions about it being,
00:19:49
Speaker
There's some of that too when you're watching TV and you see some of these commercials come on and I think that people have just been burned a lot and they're very cautious and they want to make sure, hey, what I'm trying to help and do, I really want to help and do. And so I hope that makes sense as to why I want to talk to you too about the specifics of the kiddos that are getting sponsored.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think that certainly we've all experienced those moments where you're watching TV is the perfect example. And you see the videos of the hungry kids in Africa. And for some of us, it goes back to growing up when a lot of that was happening in the world. It's the sick animals that need help. And so it's a great cause. Those organizations are doing great things.
00:20:47
Speaker
The reality is we as people, as humans, first and foremost, we want to trust that where we're sending the money, it's actually going to do good. And so I think for us at Hearts at Hope, one, we're still small, and two, most of the people that we're working with and that are involved,
00:21:08
Speaker
know somebody that has literally gone to Uganda and seeing firsthand the difference that we're making. And whether it's meeting your own kid or a lot of people go over now and they're meeting their kids, but they're also meeting their neighbors' kids and their friends' kids. So there's something about just working, I think, with a small nonprofit that you know the people that are kind of running it, working in it, involved, have been over,
00:21:38
Speaker
that makes a big difference. And then I think that last part is
00:21:42
Speaker
I think people also just want to know that the dollars I'm investing are making a difference. And sometimes it's difficult. I mean, we do lots of big projects, right? But sometimes it's difficult, you know, if you're trying to raise $100,000, you know, to build a new school for somebody to feel like, you know, their $300, you know, donation is really making a difference, right? Because if you break it down, it's kind of like, all right, well, you know, I probably just bought, you know,
00:22:11
Speaker
a couple bricks, right, to oversimplify. But then you look at what the sponsorship program does for roughly $300. And it's changing a life. And that's why most of the people that are involved with us, it starts with that. Because there is, one, a knowledge and trust that I'm making a difference. And it's because I know this
00:22:37
Speaker
child. I'm communicating with this child. They're real. They're connected to me, only connected to me. And then a lot of people evolve from that to, well, what else can I do? How can I help their school? Oh, the school needs something else. Well, I'll donate because it's now personal, right? I'm trying to help, you know, my kid and I'm willing to pitch in to make his school better, you know, or
00:23:04
Speaker
you know, make her community, you know, a little bit better. And one of the aspects of, you know, I'll say core foundational elements of Hearts and Hope is on that first trip, I had just started sponsoring a little girl, her name's Patience in the village of Nakabongo. And on our visit to that village,
Personal Stories and Connections
00:23:24
Speaker
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet patients that first trip. Fortunately, I've been blessed to be able to go back and then meet her and interact with her in a much more involved way. But on that first trip, Andy and his wife, Shay, had been sponsoring this girl, Madarin, for two years, I believe. And she was actually going to a school that was not in Nacobago. She was boarding at a different school.
00:23:48
Speaker
But she came out to that village and I happened to witness Andy seeing her for the first time. She came walking around the corner and tapped Andy on the back. He turns around, it's Madgerine. I had seen photos of her, but I didn't know Madgerine obviously as much as Andy and Shay did.
00:24:08
Speaker
And just the the joy in Andy's on Andy's face, on Madreen's face, the relationship that had been developed over those two years, you know, just exchanging letters and then finally meeting her in person. And I was fortunate enough to have my camera out and taking a photo of that. And I said to Andy, as we were thinking about starting Hearts and Hope is I want to be able to
Impact, Vision, and Family Sponsorship
00:24:31
Speaker
Create an organization that allows or enables people to have that same experience and it's that one-on-one Relationship and mad reen by the way, she now works for hearts and hope. She's one of our sponsorship coordinators. So she's actually now in the field she's got her degree in social work and she's in the field helping kids that used to be just like her and helping them get to the you know, the opportunity that she was blessed to have so
00:24:55
Speaker
That's core to us is it's deeply personal and either you can go visit your child or if you do go and you have friends who connected you to Hearts and Hope, our hope is that you would also be there to represent your neighbors and your friends who are also sponsoring a student and be their representative to that child and let them know that I know this person who's sponsoring you and that you're building this relationship with.
00:25:20
Speaker
We'll pick back up with this conversation in next week's episode. But first, I want to let you know that if you go to normalgoesalongway.com to listen to this episode or wherever you are listening to this episode, the show notes will have the links to learn more about hearts and hope. It will also give you more information on
00:25:41
Speaker
how you can help sponsor a child and also to make a donation so every single august they have a huge event called party with the purpose and it always sells out and individuals always are looking for ways to donate and contribute if they can't attend the event in person and so i have the link
00:26:03
Speaker
at the show notes or on the show notes, I should say, at normalgoasalongway.com or wherever you're listening, you can just easily click it and make a donation.
00:26:12
Speaker
Now, in next week's episode, we'll pick up with the conversation and we'll talk a little bit more about the questions I have for what it's like to be on the receiving end, such as if I am the mother of a child who's getting sponsored, how does that affect me? And here's a sneak peek of what you're going to hear. You know, I would say most parents that are, you know, come into the program, view it as a blessing and are, you know,
00:26:42
Speaker
excited to be a part of it, not only just from the paying of their school fees, but also because they now have someone across the world who's investing in their family's life and building that relationship. So I would say it's always a challenging question. That's a challenging situation to be in, but ultimately it's a blessing.