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Lynden Tribune | Wednesday, February 24, 2016 | Ferndale Record
2016 PROGRESS
Janzen: A family endeavor Continued from C19 did not give permission. She did not want the children adopted in the United States. Stories circulate about mistreated adopted children, and it scares people in Uganda into not allowing adoptions, Jill said. The Janzens were disheartened at first. After two years of effort, the two children they wanted to adopt had been denied by Ugandan law. But then Toby and Jill felt prompted to find new ways to serve the orphanage where Peter and Pamela live. In 2013, the entire Janzen family went on a trip to the orphanage that is located in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, just north of the equator. Toby, Jill and their three kids went to help at the Amahoro Children’s Home and meet Peter and Pamela. It was the start of ongoing contacts. On another trip a year later, Toby helped build a new kitchen at the orphanage. He owns his own construction and
general contracting business, Janzen Custom Builders. In January 2015, the couple got Peter and Pamela moved to a different orphanage created by New Hope Uganda. Here the children are raised in family groups and will have the opportunity to go to vocational school when they are older. “It’s the best-case scenario for an orphan there,” Toby said. The orphanage is located in the Luweero Triangle, an area north of the capital city. It was established in 1986 to care for children made orphans during a guerilla war that began five years earlier, according to the New Hope Uganda website. This April, Toby will go back yet again with a group to build an addition to the home Peter and Pamela live in. The $3,900 needed for the addition has been raised, with the help of the community and their church. The family has received support from Sonlight Community Christian Reformed Church since the start, Jill said. Before each trip to Uganda, members of the
CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
PORSCHE BELLINGHAM
AUDI BELLINGHAM
ROGER JOBS VOLKSWAGEN
2200 Iowa Street Bellingham, WA 98229 phone: (360) 734-5230
Pamela and Peter, Toby and Jill celebrate a birthday. (Courtesy photo)
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