Carrie's Story | Canyon Ridge In Uganda
“It’s always fun to look back and think, ‘I wonder what God’s up to now.’” On a trip to Uganda in 2006, Carrie Post’s life changed. “Uganda - I didn’t even know where it was even, but this opportunity came up, and I blindly kinda said yes. Something changes and shifts the way you look at the world, and I come home and I’m like, ‘It’s uncomfortable coming back to my comfortable life. I need to do something different.’”
This all began when Carrie’s neighbors invited her as a photographer to join a missions trip to visit some key people in her story, including Terri Clark, a missionary who helped build a hospital and kids sponsorship program who has since passed from cancer in 2020.
Carrie remembers seeing her neighbor Donna meet some of the kids she had sponsored, saying aloud, “That’s cool.” After hearing that comment, Carrie was introduced to a family of four children - two boys and two girls. Then, she partnered with family and co-workers to sponsor all four children.
“Over the years, God has knit our hearts together, and it’s a true bond…it’s weird how he worked all that out.” All these years later, the kids are older, and some are married, but the familial bond has only deepened as the children have had their own kids. “We have this giant family now,” reflect Carrie and her husband.
Carrie started watching Canyon Ridge online in 2020. “During the pandemic, it was all relatable - the whole world is experiencing the same thing.” Carrie shared how she sets a reminder to send links to friends in Uganda every Sunday. To this day, she and the people she’s built relationships with over all these years gather online for church together.
Unbeknownst to Carrie, as her relationships in Uganda grew, a dream for a church was growing in a pastor named John. While in the village of Ssi-Bukunja, Mykono, Uganda, a region with a dark past known for witchcraft, God had placed a dream on John’s heart to build a church. He found success in leading Bible studies in the area, and a faith community began to grow. A conviction began to converge that the people in this area needed a beacon of light, and a safe place to come together. He founded The Christ-Centered Church Ssi-Bukunja.
When John began to make this dream a reality, Moses, one of the boys Carrie sponsored all those years ago, shared this with her. Carrie then reached out to her church family at Canyon Ridge to partner together in prayer, expectantly believing that “God will make something happen.”
On August 13, 2022, Carrie and a team embarked on a trip to Uganda with a $3,000* gift on behalf of Canyon Ridge Christian Church. The members now lovingly refer to the Christ-Centered Church Ssi-Bukunja as Canyon Ridge Christian Church Uganda. “God will make something happen” became an answered prayer and the start of something beautiful.
This local Ugandan church upon a hill has already met tangible and spiritual needs even before a physical building. From a local hospital to local gardens, feeding the hungry, and sharing the love of Jesus, God is truly up to something among this people.
As the church prepares to build its building, they continue to faithfully show up rain or shine every Sunday for the increasing number of believers in the area. While there are no other Christian churches in the area, people are encountering Jesus. Carries reflect, “I couldn’t build John a church [on my own], but together, you can do a lot more. You can make a huge difference. God multiplies it - a little goes a long way.”
Moses shares, “As we continue to do the work of evangelism, the church’s vision is to become a community-based church. A safe haven for all and a fun place to be where people’s needs are met. We envision times when the people in the neighborhood and local community can come together, play games, share a meal, and the gospel will be preached.” As Carrie considers this 16-year journey, it’s clear to her that “the saying, ‘it takes a village,’ is real.”
*Correction: A previous version of this story was printed with an incorrect number.