The A-level scores have just came out and students have streamed in today to pick up their results. Some have scored beautifully (overall our school has given it’s best performance ever with three times the principle passes of last year) and others have failed dismally. This leaves us with two groups of people: those who have succeeded but have no money for further studies that they have qualified for and those who have failed and have few further option. Hardest to face are those in the first group; students we know and love, students who needed to succeed, who have not.

Master Were has the wrinkles and wisdom of a little age, he’s been a teacher here for a number of years, and He is a spiritual leader in the school and the community. I see him today, standing on the veranda of the school, his face solemn and hopeful, his hand holding tight to the one before him. He faces Aguma, a young man who has just heard his failing scores on the biggest test of his life, the one which will determine his future. Were’s hand is out-stretched and so is his heart; He is Jesus right now to this young man. . . .

A few minutes earlier, after receiving his scores from the A-level DOS this week, Aguma sat before my desk, breathing hard, trying not to cry. When I asked him how he is feeling about his results, he gestured for a pen and paper before breaking down in sobs while he wrote:

“Mum, Am very sad and disappointed. I can’t believe what I have got. Am scared and worried. I can’t see anything in future. It’s hard to make some decisions right now, but what I have in mind is I do NOT want to let go of my dream. Sometime in future I want to help my community, I want to help me. Maybe soon I will need to talk to you when I have a clear mind; I do not want to let go of my dream. Love, Aguma

I share these sacred words (what a future could lie before this young man who shares his feelings so quickly, so vulnerably and so articulately, a rare gift here!), to share the depth of human hearts and needs in this big and overwhelming world of ministry in Bundibugyo. Aguma is a an orphan who lost his father at a very young age. He holds together a small household with an impoverished mother and several younger brothers. He doesn’t eat much when he is not at school. He walks for miles to see a friend. He holds out hope when things look hopeless.

Pray for hopeless former students to have hope. Pray for us to have wisdom about guiding students to the next step. Pray for God to meet His kids both in the place of brokenness and in the place of success. I don’t know how exactly you should pray, but pray . . . . . For us who appear to have answers but don’t really, for them who are so desperate. For Uganda’s future.