Christopher, Sean and Billy

Christmas 2010 through 2011

"Oh, God..... Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus."

Christopher Ddamulira to Sean Gregory

Reply from Christopher Ddamulira , Sounds of Hope Youth Group, Uganda

Dear Sean,

Sharing with me how reach out the needy in New York and as The C.U.T.S is so admirable. Here, we have no well programmed means of reaching out for the needy. But at Sounds of Hope, sometimes we mobilize ourselves as youth, to visit homes for the elderly and do genera cleaning for them and also fetch water if there is need. I have appreciated the organisation you have form needy.

Searched out for a photo of Banjo and I got to see it. It is such a nice and funny musical instrument. You are blessed that you can play it.

Lovely time please.

Christopher

Reply from Sean Gregory, Christians Under the Stairs, Deer Park, N.Y., U.S.A.

April 2011

Dear Christopher,

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for your reply. It seems like the volunteers at The Sounds of Hope organization are doing wonderful, caring things to help the elderly in your area. You mentioned even fetching water for them, if necessary. How far do you need to go to get water?

That's cool that you found a picture of a banjo. It is fun to play and I enjoy making music with my friends that play guitar. If only I could sing!

I changed jobs recently and have been working very hard trying to do my best at it.

Our C.U.T.S. group will soon be going into New York City with the Hope for the Future organization to feed some of the homeless and needy people from the area. I'm looking forward to going with them. Best wishes,

Sean

Correspondence March 2010 through December 2010

My name is Christopher Ddamulira. I am 14 years old and a member of the Sounds of Hope youth program in Uganda. I live with my parents and 4 sisters. We also have goats, chickens and cattle at our home. I have to share a room with some of my sisters.

My chores include fetching water, cleaning the house, looking after the cattle, collecting firewood and gardening. I enjoy sports, especially football (soccer). I walk to school but it is a short distance: a half a mile. I attend church regularly with my family and my favorite hymn is "Hosanna". I hope to grow up to be an educationist.

Reply from Billy Briney, Christians Under the Stairs, Deer Park, New York, USA

" Christopher ... I am 26 years old and live at home with my mom and step dad. I also have a sister and two step brothers. My sister works in education. She teaches math to high school students. I work five nights a week cleaning building in my town. I like wrestling, baseball and football.

I used to come regularly to Youth group when I was younger. Now I just do the mission outreaches - 30 Hour Famine, Hope for the Future and the El Salvador mission trip.

Anthony, Bill (seated); Daniel (back), Vicky (front)

My favorite song we sing at Youth Group is Lean On Me.

Good luck becoming a teacher."

[The Thirty Hour Famine raises money for World Vision which reaches out to the poorest of the poor around the world. At Hope for the Future we prepare for an on-the-street revival meeting by distributing a hot meal - note: served on the streets of New York City.]

Reply from Christopher Ddamulira , Sounds of Hope Youth Group, Uganda

Dear Bill Briney,

This is Christopher saying thank you for choosing me as bible pal. My dad is Sunday and mom Sylvia. They are both living thanks to God. My dad is a shop keeper and my mom is a house wife but am in am living with my grand ma. Meeting other people helps to understand them more. My best subjects in class are Science and Social Studies.

Comment and Challenge from Lindsay Ullmann, United Kingdom

Hi ... my name is Lindsay Ullmann. I started to write poetry when I was your age and it helped me to learn more about myself as a person. I grew to understand that I had to search to just find myself . I am in my 20's and now am a professional songwriter and singer. So if we turn our thoughts around into something positive we can accomplish almost anything - through creativity and spirituality.

Christopher or Bill, do you feel that you have had a wake up call in life like I had through poetry, when I was your age? If so, would you care to share? Would you agree that creativity and spirituality can help us and also those around us?

Reply from Sean Gregory, Christians Under the Stairs, Deer Park, N.Y., U.S.A.

Dear Christopher

My name is Sean and I am now 21 years old. I live at home with my parents and one of my brothers. I was a member of my church's youth group from the time I was twelve years old until I graduated from high school at age eighteen. I always enjoyed the people and making new friends. Even now I still stop by occasionally to see what is going on.

The many activities and challenges we did helped us grow closer and also grow in our spirituality. One event that meant a lot to me was to team up with an organization on Long Island and drive into New York City to feed the homeless people.

I'm working full time now and just started a new job. I've had to work on most Sundays, but when I am not working I like to attend church.

Music has always been important to me. I'm not the best singer but I like to try to sing when I am playing the banjo. When I was in high school, I was a member of a band. We had a couple of guitar players, a singer and I played the drums. We performed at various places and played for the youth group one time. We wrote our own songs and recorded a CD. I enjoyed the creativity of coming up with lyrics and putting them into a musical arrangement.

You mentioned that your favorite hymn is hosanna. Mine is "Here I am Lord". I like when the choir of our church sings it too. In your letter you said that you like to play soccer. I was never a good player but I love watching it on television. Are you following the World Cup? There have been some awesome games. I can do without the constant sound of the horns though!

You also mentioned that you would like to be in the education field. Do you mean you would like to be a teacher?

Take care,

Sean

Reply from Christopher Ddamulira , Sounds of Hope Youth Group, Uganda

Hello Sean

Am so grateful to hear from you. Thank you for the great heart you have to serve the church during your teen years. I also enjoy making friends and sharing with others. Thank you for stopping and choosing me to be your friend. Challenges are good at bringing people closer to God or to take them far from the lord and we need to always pray that we are not taken away from the Lord by challenges. Indeed that was a great event and we also feel proud of Sounds OF Hope which extends its little resources for the poor orphaned children and keeps them in school. Some people here think that in USA there are no needy people but I got your email shared by them to read and also understand that they not the only poor people that need assistance.

Am glad to know that you employed full time and you just started the new job. How does the Banjo look like? It likely to be an interesting music instrument to play. It is great news to learn that your high school had a band. We admire kids who play in the band. One time I told my friends that I dream of a band that is manned by Sounds of Hope Youth. They all laughed because it was really a dream to big to true. I request that one day you send a copy of the CD if you still have it. Was it video or Audio? How many members were you? I followed the world cup vey well and one moment that amused was seeing the USA coach Bradley giving his son Bradley a chance to play and score a goal for USA. It was great but if a coach does it here, haa people can pin him. But I was glad that the Americans had faith in the coach and Bradley delivered. I dream of being a teacher to offer my teaching to the needy.

Bye for now

Christopher

Reply from Sean Gregory, Christians Under the Stairs, Deer Park, N.Y., U.S.A.

Hi Christopher,

Greetings from Long Island, New York! The weather here is now getting colder; in fact we got 18 inches of snow at our church two days ago. We completed our holiday of Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Schools and businesses are closed that day and people travel for distances to be with family and friends. We do the same thing on Christmas Day.

Thanksgiving is about family and giving thanks to God for all of his blessings. We usually have turkey for our meal at Thanksgiving. Before we eat our family takes turns to say what they are thankful to God for. The turkey tradition was started by our ancestors that came to this country in the 1600's. As you said in your letter, many in your country think there are no needy people here in the U.S. However, the need is great. In the weeks prior to Thanksgiving there are food collections in churches, schools and communitites for those who cannot afford to buy groceries. My mom is one of several teachers in her school that have brought a turkey for the needy families in her school. This way they can feed their families a Thanksgiving dinner. Students from the local school have come around to our house to collect donations of food that will be distributed in time for the holiday to needy families in the area. I recently traveled to New York City with the organization Hope for the Future. The C.U.T.S. youth group from Deer Park works with this group to give out food to the homeless people in the area of New York City. This is one of the activities that I liked best when I was in youth group.

I spend a lot of time working with my job. I get to meet and talk to people from all different places. I also plan on volunteering at a hospital in the area. I am not sure what I will do but I want to help in some way. I have much to be thankful for and would like to give back in any way that I can.

In your letter you asked what a banjo looks like. It's a five stringed instrument and the strings are plucked our played together as a chord. I like to play it and I like to play and sing.

Until next time.

Yours in Christ

Sean

Would you like to write to Christopher, Bill or Lindsay ? Send a note to Timferguson@christianyouthgroup.org and it will be included on this webpage. Bill, Lindsay and Christopher will be notified that you have written.