For Pascal, the odds of a successful future were not good. Growing up as the child of poor, uneducated parents in Uganda, he knew what it was like to not have enough — not enough food, not enough shelter, and not enough money to go to school. After his father abandoned the family, Pascal and his mother and siblings began to lose all hope.
But then, child sponsorship changed everything — giving Pascal a chance at bright future.
Difficult beginnings
Pascal’s father left the family when Pascal was just 4 years old. His mother was uneducated and had spent the past several years taking care of their home and the children. Without her husband to help shoulder the financial burden of five children, she quickly became desperate.
“We slept wherever we could, we lived wherever we could, and we ate whatever was found,” Pascal said. “Life kept on being harder and harder.”
Admitting there was no way she could properly provide for her children, Pascal’s mother placed the boy and his siblings in the care of different families in the area.
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Pascal ended up in the home of a witch doctor. Hoping to earn his place in the home, the little boy began to help in the witch doctor’s rituals. What was supposed to be a place of safety quickly became a place where Pascal was exposed to evil.
During this time, Pascal’s mother continued to struggle. Life for a single mother in Uganda is not easy, and although she wanted her children back, she also wanted what was best for them. After several months, she was introduced to Jesus and decided to become a Christian.
Although her financial circumstances did not change, her heart did. Pascal’s mother had hope, and she began to pray for her son to be saved, too, and for him to be able to return home.
Her prayers were answered, and Pascal was soon able to rejoin his mother. Over the next year, Pascal’s mother worked hard, and her son found work as a delivery boy. Every day, he would run to the market and pick up items for families whose children were in school.
By now, Pascal was 8 years old and still had never attended school.
When his mother realized he was one of the only children in the village who wasn’t receiving an education, she began to weep and wail. She was doing everything she could to take care of her son, but she realized that unless there was a miracle, he would never go to school. And he would continue to struggle with poverty the rest of his life.
Hearing her cries, a worker from the local children’s home asked her what was wrong. When she shared her story, the worker told her that maybe a sponsor could help.
A new start
Pascal did receive a sponsor, and soon he was able to attend school like the rest of the children in his village. He thrived in the environment and, after a year, he was chosen to join the 2004-2005 Children of the World International Children’s Choir tour. For Pascal, the experience was completely transformative.
“I was seeing Jesus in the people that loved me when I came to the tour,” Pascal shared. “I got an opportunity to serve God for the whole year, and ever since then I’ve never turned back. I’m still a servant of God because of a foundation that I got in that one year.”
After the tour, Pascal returned home determined to make a difference in his community. Since then, he has graduated from high school and completed a degree in church education and biblical teaching. He now works for a Christian ministry, sharing the Gospel and helping meet the needs of other people in Uganda.
“I’m now a qualified Bible teacher because I know I’ve been called to serve God,” Pascal said.
Child sponsorship took a boy living in poverty and gave him hope for the future. When you sponsor a child, you do exactly the same thing.
For just $35 a month, you can sponsor a child like Pascal. Your investment will give one child the tools he or she needs to fight poverty and start a new life.