This Is The Story of My New Little Best Friend

Shefik Katende is a five-year-old boy in top class at Kyampisi Childcare Centre. He has
chubby little cheeks with dimples in them and sparkling brown eyes that, despite the sadness
they’ve seen, smile all the time. He has little blue shorts, red knee socks, and black leather
shoes for school that make him look like a little man (especially when he sticks his hands in his
pockets). He lives with his beautiful mother, Lukia, who takes care of him and his seven other
cousins and aunts in a little one-roomed brick house smaller than most American bedrooms.
His innocent little eyes have seen more poverty and sadness than I’ll ever see in a lifetime. And
yet, when you spin him around in the air or give him a piggy-back ride, his giggles and laughter
are the most infectious thing you’ve ever heard. And when he hugs you, he opens up his little
arms so wide and wraps his whole body around you with so much love and affection that makes

Meeting Shefik
I met Shefik on my second day at this humble little school. I was sitting on a bench
resting under a tree when I saw this little face staring at me from a little ways away on top of a
dirt mound. I motioned for him to come to me and a little to my surprise, he did almost instantly.
He put the biggest smile on his face, walked straight over to me, and leaned right up against my
lap. I picked him up and set him on my knees and instantly I bonded with this little boy. He was
so loving and just melted into my arms. From that moment on, every time I was at the school,
you could find me and Shefik together. We loved playing together and even though there was
definitely a language barrier (as he only spoke Lugandan since he wasn’t quite old enough to

A Call to Provide
Kyampisi Childcare Ministry has a program set up where you can sponsor children from
the school. There are different levels of sponsorship which provide for different needs (Basic
Sponsorship provides school fees, a mattress, a mosquito net, etc; Sponsorship + Healthcare
provides basic fees plus regular check-ups, de-worming, and some medications). After about
the first or second day of being with this ministry I began to really start considering this program
as I felt God was leading me towards it. My finances aren’t always the most stable from month-
to-month but after considering this just for a little bit, I realized God wouldn’t call me to this and
then not provide. So I told God one night that I will sacrifice His money back over to Him if He
will provide it for me to sacrifice. I felt such a calm about everything and immediately started to
think about which child I would want to provide for for the rest of hisher school career. I had
played with a bunch of little kids the first day I was there and had bonded with a few of them.
There was a little girl that was so attached to me the first day and she even started calling me
Mama as I kept picking her up and carrying her around (even mouthing “Bye Mama” to me as
our truck pulled away to leave for the day). Then there was this adorable little boy with little blue
school shorts, red knee socks, and black leather shoes who had been attached to my lap the
whole second day.

a church, they were going to have their mid-week service there that night. So for the rest of
the afternoon we just hung out at the school and played with the kids. While we were waiting
for the service to start, I began to think about the sponsorship program again and who it was
I was supposed to choose. By this point, I had been bonding so closely with this little boy but
at the same time, It had only been the second day and I wanted to make sure I was 100% on
my decision and not rushing into anything. By now, this little boy had run outside to play so I
began talking to some of the older secondary girls sitting next to me I had just met. But as the
conversation paused, I couldn’t stop thinking about the little boy that was no longer sitting in
my lap. I started to get frustrated with my lack of ability to make my decision so I stopped and
asked God to give me a sign if this boy was supposed to be the one. I asked God to just send
him back into the room if it was supposed to be him. I didn’t want to test God and I wasn’t used
to asking for something like that. Honestly I felt kind of bad. But I knew God wanted me to
bring the matter to Him and I knew I wanted God to guide my decision and my answer. Within
the next 5 minutes, this little boy came walking back in and went straight back to his spot next
to me on the bench. I knew then and there that this was the child I wanted to sponsor and this
was who God wanted me to sponsor. I asked the older girls next to me what his name was and

Choosing Shefik
The next night, when we were back at the guest house where we were staying (known
as Jesus House) I started to ask around about the sponsorship program and what I would need
to do to complete the process. Rebecca, the girl helping me with everything, took me to the
office and handed me the notebook of kids and an application form. About halfway through the
book I found his little face staring back at me and when I told Rebecca and the pastor (Pastor
Peter) who I had chosen, they were so happy and full of gratitude. The next couple days that I

A Bed to Call His Own
There were other girls on my team who had decided to sponsor some kids too so on
Saturday, our last day, we were told they were going to take us to the houses of the children so
we could tell their parents. Each house was a beautiful story and a beautiful reaction. Shefik’s
house was the last house we went to. His mother is one of the teachers at the school and
because our visits involved her students, she went with us throughout the day. I had known her
all week but honestly never knew the connection between her and her son Shefik. I knew
Shefik’s mom was a teacher so about halfway through the day, I asked Barbara, one of the girls
from the ministry, which teacher was his mom. She started laughing and said Lukia, the teacher
that had been with us was his mom. She couldn’t believe I didn’t know this before and when she
told Lukia, they got a good laugh about it. When we arrived at their house, some of Shefik’s
cousins were already outside. As soon as we got out of the car he came out and went right up
to me and gave me a big hug. We immediately grabbed hands as he led me to his house.
Walking inside was heart-breaking but they were so eager to welcome us in.

roomed home (with Shefik on my lap of course). Obviously Lukia knew our purpose in being
there as she had been with us all day. But we sat there in her house and Peter said, “Lukia,
Sarah wants to sponsor Shefik.” Before he got the words out of his mouth there were tears
streaming down her face. Her family has been through more than their fair share of conflicts
(one child had escaped child sacrifice by a witch doctor 4 years ago, a story she still isn’t able to
tell, another wasn’t able to be in school right now because there was just no money) but seeing
the hope in her eyes was so encouraging and such a blessing. Peter looked at her and
said, “Find some space, Lukia, because Shefik is getting his own bed.” I couldn’t stop smiling
the entire time I was there. We sat there for a little longer visiting with the family but eventually
we knew we had to say goodbye. We wanted to take a few pictures first though so we headed
outside in the sunlight. All of a sudden, instead of posing for the camera with his mother and
me, Shefik turned around and stuck his face against his mother’s leg. He is not usually one for
being shy so I was a little confused. I put my hand on his shoulder and pulled him over to me
but he did the same thing to me. By then I noticed he was upset over something so I picked him
up. I heard Pastor Peter say, “he thinks you’re leaving” and when I looked at his face, I saw
there were tears rolling down it. It was all I could do to hold my own tears in as I tried to comfort
him and tried to find a way to get us to both smile for a picture. Eventually we were able to snap
a few with his mother and some with his family. As I gave him one last hug, set him down, and
said goodbye, I barely made it to the car as my own tears started to flow. Saying goodbye to
Shefik was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do but as I was leaving, I promised him I