From Prayer to Purpose

At twelve years old, Olivia left home with a small jerry can and a prayer. She told her mother she was fetching water, but that wasn’t the truth. She was walking toward a church conference in Kakira, Uganda. Alone. Barefoot. Forbidden to go.

She didn’t know anyone there or how she would get home. But she had one request in her heart:
“God, please provide school fees.”

Her mother was still sick in bed, recovering from surgery. Quietly, Olivia picked up the yellow jerry can and slipped away. Each step toward Kakira was an act of courage. When she arrived, hundreds of children were gathered, singing and worshiping. She had never seen anything like it. Then came an invitation: “Who would like to sing a song for the Lord?”

Her heart pounded. She only knew one song. The English was rough, but she raised her hand anyway.

Her voice trembled as she sang. Then she began to cry, and the crowd cried with her. In the audience sat a woman named Jodi Plum. She had come to Uganda to serve, not realizing God had arranged this moment. “I didn’t know her name,” Jodi later said. “But I knew I was supposed to find her.”

When the conference ended, Olivia approached Jodi with the help of a translator. On a small scrap of paper, she wrote her prayer request:
“Please pray for me. I need school fees.” That simple note changed two lives forever.

Days later, Jodi and her daughter Kristen couldn’t forget what they had seen. The faces of children in need stayed with them. “Mom,” Kristen asked, “can’t we do something?”

Those words became the spark for Chayah Children’s Home in 2012. It started as one act of love, then grew into a home, a school, and eventually four homes and a church. It became a place where children discovered that God not only saw them, He had a purpose for them.

Back in her village, Olivia’s family was struggling to survive. She and her sister sold firewood and carried water just to eat. School felt like a dream. Shoes were a luxury. Then one day, a familiar face appeared. It was Mami Janet, a local leader from the conference. She had been looking for Olivia. “Do you remember the white lady you spoke to?” she asked. “She wants to help you go to school.” That was the day Olivia’s life began to change.

She returned to school with books, a uniform, and her first pair of shoes. She laughed remembering how strange it felt. “I had to take them off and keep them safe,” she said.

At Chayah, Olivia found safety, family, and faith. She found mothers who loved her like their own, women she still calls Mami Jodi and Aunt Jennifer. She also found a father figure in Pastor Peter, whose care brought healing to a part of her heart that had always felt empty. “I had never felt the love of a dad,” Olivia said. “But when Pastor Peter came, I finally felt safe.”

Years later, Olivia earned a degree in social work. What began as a prayer for school fees had become a calling to serve others.

By 2024, Chayah had grown beyond what its founders ever imagined. Hundreds of children were learning and thriving. But Jodi and her board began asking hard questions. “What happens when we’re gone? How can we make sure the children and staff are cared for in the future?”

Those questions began a two-year journey of prayerful conversations with Hope Partners International. Both ministries shared the same mission: rescuing children, restoring hope, and releasing them into purpose. The partnership became clear when Jodi saw Hope Partners President, Kirk Nowery, sit down one-on-one with each child. No speeches. No audience. Just a simple question. “What’s your dream?”

“It opened my heart,” Jodi said. “That’s when I knew God was in this.”

Today, Chayah Children’s Home is officially part of the Hope Partners family. It is now Hope Center Uganda, the twelfth Hope Center worldwide. This partnership secures the legacy of what God began through Jodi, Kristen, and Olivia. It expands the mission to reach more children, support more families, and share the hope of Jesus with more communities.

For Olivia, the full circle is clear. Once a child in need, she now walks beside children who remind her of her own journey. “It has been a beautiful journey,” she says. “We give all the glory to God.”

Hope Partners didn’t come to change Chayah’s story. We came to continue it. To strengthen the mission that began with a barefoot girl’s prayer. To make sure every child in Kakira, and beyond, knows they are seen, loved, and chosen by God. Because when prayer meets purpose, stories like Olivia’s happen again and again.

Every Hope Center begins with one act of compassion, one prayer, one step of faith. Be part of the next story God is writing in Uganda and around the world.

Partner with us today. Hope grows stronger when we carry it together.