Tom: Board Chairperson
I first became connected with The Shepherd Center through my son Matt, who was a missionary in Uganda. Matt has had an on-going relationship with Patrick since his early days in Uganda and as one of the first students in ABIDE (a discipleship program Matt created in 2008). I developed a friendship with Patrick during those early days and enjoyed taking part with him in his journey towards making his vision for TSC a reality. I have been a supporter of the ministry early on and then it took a different turn in 2015 when Patrick asked if I would develop a U.S. Board for TSC and serve as its Chairman. I told him I would work with Matthew (a board member, not my son) to establish a board and pursue stabilizing the ministry which had fallen on hard times in 2014 and early 2015. The rest is now history.
Matthew: Board Member
I became a Christian while in high school in a suburb outside Chicago, Illinois. From there, I picked up and moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where I graduated from Colorado State University in the fall of 2007. Soon after, I became involved with mission work in Uganda, teaching leadership training through a program called ABIDE. I first met Patrick Tushabomwe through ABIDE in 2008, and nearly 10 years later, his friendship has continually been a blessing. We both have tried to continually be servant leaders wherever we are–something we learned together in ABIDE. So, when I returned to Uganda in 2015 for 6 months, Patrick and I reconnected. He had already been running The Shepherd Center, but it was obvious we could use one another’s help. In September of 2015, we started talking and planning about relaunching The Shepherd Center, and Patrick continued reaching out to new people to see about how we could begin anew. Since then, The Shepherd Center has grown quickly, and we have seen God’s blessing at every turn. It’s obvious to us that this is a ministry that is necessary in Kabale, Uganda.
I now work full time in Denver, Colorado, as a Property Manager, running a property for a large company as well as my own property on the side. I love the work I do here, and God has blessed me with the ability to still work and advocate for The Shepherd Center. My hope and prayer is to see these young boys be allowed to have the privileges I received and took for granted growing up in a place where food, clothing, shelter, a mother and father, and education were a normal part of my daily life. I know this is not the case for so many people around the world, but I believe we can change that, and even have a personal responsibility to do so. It is Jesus Christ who calls me to this ministry, and I pray you would consider making this a part of your ministry as well.
Wes: Board Member
My role as a board member with The Shepherd Center began through my ongoing friendship with director Patrick Tushabomwe.
Several years ago, my wife, Amanda, and I returned to southwest Uganda to work with various ministries throughout the country. One of the ministries we worked with was ABIDE, which had recently opened a new ministry center in the town of Kabale. One of the staff members we met through there (who also drove us all around town) was a very ambitious and highly energetic young man named Patrick. We soon found out that Patrick was not only centered on growing his own faith, but that he was beyond excited to share with us his lifelong desire to open a home for young men who were living on the streets of Kabale.
And so, six years later, Patrick asked if I could join the board of The Shepherd Center as he, and all of all of the board members, reformed and reshaped its vision to best suit his goals as well as meeting the needs of the young men living on the streets of his hometown.
With my involvement in TSC, I’ve come to learn that the world is full of people and places that draw us to a work that is bigger and beyond anything we could ever imagine. Uganda and its people just happens to be one of those places.
Before Amanda and I visited Uganda to explore how we can partner with the work that God is doing there, I served vocationally as a Student Minister in New Hampshire and Illinois. I now work as a Parish Administrator near my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is here, in this new moment of our lives, where we hope to instill in our own son the very work that God is doing and keeps on doing through people like Patrick in his home country of Uganda.
Elaine: Board Member
The Shepherd Center 