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Blessings come in all forms.
Your donations are what fuel our work, and we have lots of giving options to make
contributing easy and convenient. Click here
to find out how you can join our fight.
Compassion in Action
Kampala is 7,893 miles away from our home office in Atlanta, and the economic and
cultural gap is sometimes much wider. Follow our progress as we reach the children
of Uganda at Compassion in Action, the official Legacy World Missions blog.
Stay informed through social media
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Contact Legacy World Missions
Legacy World Missions, Inc.
8491 Hospital Drive
Suite 201
Douglasville, GA 30134
Toll Free: 866.476.4844
Email: info@legacyworldmissions.org
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Stephen's Story
June 3rd was like any other summer day at the Legacy office, until the phone rang.
Our founder (and my dad) Pastor Gary Warner was in Kampala, Uganda, making the final arrangements
on the food program we'd created to feed 6,100 kids in 20 different children's homes. Our home
office in Douglasville, Georgia was quiet and I'll admit, a little morose. We work together closely
as a team in our office, so when one of us is gone-especially Pastor Warner-we feel it. That Tuesday
afternoon, we were definitely feeling the 7,730 miles of distance that separated us.
That afternoon, we received a phone call that would change the priorities and direction of the work
week at Legacy World Missions, and change the lives of many people.
Our administrative assistant Cindy told me I needed to take the call on line one. I spoke with a
concerned mother of two in Michigan who told me, nearly out of breath, about a child in Uganda that
needed our help. She'd read about this child in her local newspaper, she told me. The urgency in her
voice bordered on panic. The boy was nine years old and worked at a rock quarry. His mother had been
killed doing the same work, and she was absolutely desperate to help him.
"Is there anything you can do for him? I know there are so many like him, but this one speaks to my
heart." I told her I would make some calls and do what I could and let her know how it turned out.
When I hung up, my mind was reeling. Suddenly nothing I had to do that day was as important as
finding this boy.
Stephen was his name, and he found a shaky sort of fame quite by accident. A reporter with the
Associated Press interviewed him at the Kampala rock quarry where he worked on Sunday, June 1,
2008. By Tuesday, when I heard about him, Stephen's story was quickly gaining momentum: Stephen
Batte had smashed rocks with a hammer to make gravel since he was four years old, earning 18
cents a day. His mother fled Northern Uganda's civil war when Stephen was an infant, settling
into the Acholi Quarters, an urban refugee slum. She found work in the same rock quarry that
would later take her life, and she took her son Stephen to work with her. At four years old,
Stephen learned to break rocks with a homemade hammer. He'd been doing it ever since.
Stephen is from the Acholi tribe of Northern Uganda that suffered the cruelty and violence of
civil war for 22 years. Like so many thousands, Stephen's father was killed in the war. More
than two million people fled their Northern Ugandan homeland. Most went to internal displacement
camps hoping for protection from the government; another 600,000 fled to Uganda's major cities,
mostly in the south. Stephen and his mother were among them.
At four years old, Stephen's mother taught him to break rocks into gravel. They sold these by the
bucket for use in road construction. It's hard and dangerous work, and in August 2007, Stephen's
mother was killed by a rockslide. Left alone and orphaned, Stephen was among those who dug her
body out from the rock.
That Tuesday afternoon, I called Pastor Gary in Kampala. It was late there, but I knew I'd reach
him, and I explained all I knew about Stephen. "Dad, there's a boy in a rock quarry who needs
our help," I said. "His name is Stephen Batte. He's been orphaned. Can you find him?"
There was never a question of what we had to do. Pastor Gary, along with Charles Mawenu, our
Ugandan Director of Security and Pastor David Knowlton, Director of Jesus and Me Children's
Ministries, one of our partner organizations, drove to the rock quarry on Kampala's outskirts
to find Stephen. When they arrived, they were welcomed by the Local Council and tribal leaders,
who listened closely to what we were offering: Stephen could come live with David Knowlton. He'd
be well cared for, go to school and be a child like any other. No more hard labor, no more
uncertainty and an education that would otherwise be beyond his reach. The Local Council and
tribal leaders listened carefully and then asked Stephen if he wanted to leave the Acholi
Quarters and attend school for the first time in his young life.
In a small voice, barely a whisper, he answered, "Yes."
The next day, Pastor Gary, David and Charles returned with the necessary paperwork. As the
village looked on, David Knowlton and the Local Council signed the papers making it official:
Stephen had found his new home.
With a new bed, school clothes, notebooks and pencils, Stephen was ready to start school when
he fell ill. Like so many Ugandan children, Stephen had malaria, a dangerous disease and the
leading cause of death among kids under five years old. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes
and causes fevers so high that they can be deadly. Luckily, malaria can be treated easily when
medication is available. In the Acholi Quarters, Stephen's malaria would have gone untreated;
most Ugandans are sick an average of six times a year with malaria. Now, Stephen had access to
doctors and medical care. After recovering, Stephen started school.
His teachers report that Stephen is a bright student and is quickly catching up to his age
level. He's adjusting well to live in the city and loves his new home. In two days, Stephen
found a future full of hope and possibility, and those of us fortunate enough to be part of
it felt our lives change.
Stephen is lucky; his story has a happy ending. But Stephen is only one if tens of thousands
of children who need your help in Uganda. Please open your heart and make a gift to help kids
like Stephen who so desperately need your support.
Blessings,
Angela Warner
Executive Director
** Click here to view press release.
** Click here to view original news article.
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