Alexander Harvey

In many places, “waiting” is an inconvenience.  A delayed flight.  A paused career move.  A line at the store.

In Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, waiting is a way of life.

Families wait for news of resettlement.  Youth wait for access to education.  Mothers wait for the next food distribution.  Teachers wait for more books, thread, or light.

And yet in this place of prolonged uncertainty, we see the Fruit of the Spirit come alive.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.

Not because the circumstances are ideal, but because the Spirit is present.

Love that Lingers

In our classrooms and workshops, love isn’t loud.  It’s steady.

It looks like a tailoring graduate staying late to help a struggling student.  A teacher who shows up early to prepare prayerfully.  A local team member who checks on each student’s family during illness.

Love is practiced in the day-to-day in how we listen, care, and remain.

“Let all that you do be done in love.” — 1 Corinthians 16:14

 

Patience that Perseveres

Patience is more than waiting.  It’s how we wait.

At Equipping Hope, patience is the English language student who repeats verb conjugations ten times until it sticks.  It’s the sewing trainee who takes apart a seam and starts again.  It’s the local leader who continues to mentor, knowing real transformation takes time.

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” — Romans 8:25

 

Kindness that Costs Something

Kindness in the camp is often sacrificial.

It’s a student who shares their ration meal with a peer.  It’s a teacher who walks extra miles to deliver supplies.  It’s a graduate who gives their turn on the machine so someone else can finish.

These are small acts, but they speak loudly. They say, “You matter to me, even here.”

“Be kind and compassionate to one another…” — Ephesians 4:32

 

Joy in Small Celebrations

Joy might seem elusive in a refugee camp.  But we’ve seen it.  Joy comes in smiles over completed projects, in dancing during a class party, and in the laughter of a successful group exercise.

It’s not naïve joy.  It’s resilient joy.  It’s joy that knows hardship but chooses celebration.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” — Nehemiah 8:10

 

Peace that Anchors

In a place where very little is guaranteed, peace comes not from circumstance, but from Christ.

We’ve seen students face delays in resettlement or disappointment in exams and still walk in peace, trusting that their worth is not defined by a result.

Peace here is a testimony.  A witness.  A light.

 

Self-Control in the Classroom

Our tailoring apprentices must focus on details while not rushing, not cutting corners.

Our English students must discipline themselves to study consistently in challenging environments.

Instructors manage limited materials with wisdom, ensuring every student has access.

It’s a quiet kind of fruit, but it holds everything together.

 

Faithfulness in the Long Haul

Perhaps the most visible fruit in our camp is faithfulness.

Faithfulness to show up.  Faithfulness to teach again.  Faithfulness to pray.  Faithfulness to believe that even in a place of waiting, God is at work.

We see it in our teachers, our students, and our partners.  And we pray to reflect it in every decision we make.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” — Hebrews 10:23

Cultivated, Not Manufactured

None of this fruit is forced.  It grows.

It grows through trials, through community, through grace.  And like any garden, it needs tending.

Our prayer at Equipping Hope is that the conditions we help create through education, skill-building, and Christ-centered encouragement will continue to cultivate this fruit.

So that even in long seasons of waiting, lives would reflect the character of God.

So that students become not only tailors or translators, but carriers of the Gospel.

So that hope would not just be given, but grown.

If you want to join this work, please consider a monthly donation of $10.  Just $10 a month will teach a refugee English, teach a refugee to sew, provide for agricultural tools to be purchased, and help us build a permanent structure for this work.

With deep gratitude for the Spirit’s quiet work,


The Equipping Hope Team