About

My name is Shannen Kennedy also known as Muwala Wamusumba (pastors daughter) here in Uganda. I am 21 years old and I lived in Kampala, Uganda for 2 1/2 years. I graduated from high school in 2013 and had dreams of attending Grand Canyon University (GCU) and getting my degree in nursing. As graduation approached I quickly realized that God was leading me in a very different direction. I began to see different things come up in my life that made me rethink what my future held. I began to pray and ask the Lord to reveal exactly what He wanted for my life. Ads on social media began to fill with the beautiful faces of Ugandan children, the Watoto children’s choir came and performed at my church, and then my sweet friend Kathy told me to read the book ‘Kisses from Katie’. I looked into several different child sponsorship organizations and landed on Empower A Child in Uganda. I researched and got all the info I needed and just gave it to the Lord completely and asked Him to provide. Provide the finances, encouragement, and all the other pieces that it takes to go on a mission’s trip. In 2010 I had travelled to the Domincan Republic with my church and it was really made clear that my calling was not in missions. Or so I thought. I went to Uganda just a few short months after graduation and stayed for 6 months. I invested my love and life to the little rural village of Zirobwe and just learning about the culture. After the 6 months were over I knew it was time to go to school and get a degree. When I got home in March of 2014- I jumped in head first to looking into housing, classes, and all of the other things to get going on my education. Not realizing that I left a huge part of me on the continent of Africa. It took 4 months to realize that God had other plans in mind for my future. With that in mind and lots of prayer I headed back to Uganda for a two year commitment with Empower A Child. As I served in the rural village which had no access to medical care, electricity, and other basic needs I was so reminded of how much I need to learn and grow. We spent a lot of time doing outreach and volunteer work within the community. After June of 2016, when I came home to attend my sisters wedding I realized that the Lord had some new changes for me. I jumped into youth ministry at my home church and began seeking ways to bring the kingdom here in the US. After connecting with some friends in Uganda and sharing each others burden for ministry we decided we wanted to take a leap of faith and see what the Lord is going to do with the burden of starting a youth center. As of now we are going to start small and feed the streets of Uganda for Christmas and the Lord is supplying every need for this next season.

His faithful servant,

Shan