Beacon of Hope is planning a mission trip to Uganda and South Africa in January 2026.
An Information Meeting is being held on Thursday July 31, 2025 at 6:00pm.
We strongly encourage anyone sponsoring a Child from Idudi Primary school in Uganda to consider coming with us.
Following our last mission trip in 2024, one of the sponsored children wrote to her sponsor saying I was watching and waiting for you to get of the bus when the team arrived but you weren't there. The sponsor Rick was so impacted by her remark that he is going to be on the 2026 trip with us.
For anyone interested in learning more about the mission trip who is not able to attend the meeting in person for any reason, we will have a live Zoom meeting to call into that we will activate at 15 minutes before the meeting start time.
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Zoom Link:
Glynn Smith is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting Thursday July 31, 2026 5:45pm for 6:00pm start. Topic: 2026 Mission Trip Information Meeting Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 283 483 2354 |
If you are interested in participating please email [email protected]
Planned Trip Dates: January 22, 2026 to February 07, 2026
Estimated Trip Cost: $4400 based on the cost of last year's trip all inclusive except for visas, vaccinations and personal spending money. Trip participants are responsible for raising their own funds to cover their participation cost.
Countries we will visit:
1. Uganda and South Africa
First ten days will be in Uganda 1/24/2026 - 2/2/2026
Our time in Uganda will be split between two locations.
- Idudi Primary School in Iganga District in Central Uganda for those who are sponsoring kids or generally interested in Orphan care.
- In the city of Mbale near the eastern border with Kenya.
- Impact Ministries Radio Station and Orphanage (Daniel Okabe)
- Stand Amazed Ministries Growing Church and Primary School (Sam Onapito)
These two locations are about 2-3 hours apart. Men who attend The Influencers Mens Ministry on Friday in Irvine and Wednesday in Fullerton and also who attend Don Nourse's First Love Ministries Bible study at Mariners Church on Wednesday, will be familiar with Impact Ministries, Uganda (Daniel Okabe).
Sam Onapito of Stand Amazed Ministries has been associated with Beacon of Hope in three different ways since 2018 and this year he was invited to be Beacon of Hope Partner.
There will be more about the specific activities we are considering for the trip at the meeting.
2. Second week - Last 5 days
Option 1 - 3-day conference to roll out our new Outreach and Discipleship program.
We are considering the possibility of having a three-day seminar with our Partners from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. This would be at a venue in Johannesburg very close to the Johannesburg Airport. It is a Retreat/Conference venue that we have used twice before and is operated by the Methodist Church.
Option 2 - 3-day visit to Richards Bay which is where this ministry got started in 2004.
We have two teams that operate in this area where we can initiate one of the discipleship programs. We also have a center where about 14 at risk children are being cared for. These kids needed to be vetted to see if they qualify for sponsorship through Horizon International who have allowed us to sponsor kids through their program in the past.
Planning Flexibility
At this stage of planning our mission plan is not set in stone but it is becoming more solidified with each passing week. Once we have a better idea who the potential trip participants are and what specific interests you might have we can proceed with more definite arrangements.
What to Do - Potential Participant action plan.
Anyone who is even mildly interested in participating on this trip should:
- Pray about your participation, for confirmation from God, friends and family.
- Notify me of your interest by text, phone, email or in person. (949-795-0042 or [email protected])
- Immediately start compiling a list of every person you know, friends, family, acquaintances, church family, co-workers, neighbors, to send fundraising letters to all your acquaintances.
- I will be working on a fundraiser template letter, which you can use as is or customize it to suit your own situation.
- If you think that you would love to go on a trip like this but you can't afford it, immediately stop what you are doing and pray, because this is most likely Satan trying to discourage you from participating in God's calling on you. This is a decision that needs to be made at a level above your pay grade. Turn it over to God. Your bank account might be empty but God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
Further Preparation
Starting in August we will announce a training plan to prepare us for our January departure date. At the very least we will have a 2-3 hour training session each month. In addition there will be some work sessions to prepare us for participating in one of our outreach or discipleship programs.
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