Janice and Dr. Tim McCall left their Castle Heights home in Waco and his successful medical practice in 2007 to build a new faith-based community in war-torn northern Uganda.
Photo by Rod Aydelotte

Photo by Cathy Pleitz

On 500 acres in northern Uganda in a land fraught with civil wars, Waco missionaries Janice and Tim McCall are building a community and restoring hope.

It’s called Restoration Gateway. And those who come say it’s a gateway to a better life for Ugandans. Many in that nation have lost relatives to decades of war and AIDS, and some were forced to be sex slaves or child soldiers. For a generation that has grown up displaced, uneducated and living in government-run tent camps, the outreach offers a chance at a new life.

But it’s not a free ride or charity that the McCalls offer. It’s an approach steeped in the Christian faith to rebuild the country one community at a time through education and jobs skills.

As missionaries affiliated with Antioch Community Church in Waco, the McCalls began building Restoration Gateway in 2007 in this desolate, war-torn bush land in East Africa. In just three years they have attracted dozens of workers and provide a home for many orphans. They have a burgeoning brick-making business and are erecting homes and classrooms. Hundreds of volunteers — including many from Waco — have visited and helped with construction and medical services. With each year, the McCalls’ project, vision and community continue to grow.

On a month-long visit to Waco over the Christmas holidays, the couple sat down with Waco Today and talked about their mission. They discussed its ups and downs and their need for financial and spiritual support as they build a new community in the bush.

Humble beginnings

The McCalls received Ugandan government approval to open the orphanage last August. By year’s end, they already had taken in 55 orphans ages 5 to 12. Eventually they hope to house 300, from infants to teenagers.

In three years, the community has built 14 homes, an auditorium, gymnasium and school, where Janice teaches. In 2010, they broke ground on a hospital and dental office for nearby villagers. The facility will cost $750,000, and could be completed this year.

There is no electricity but there is plenty of clean, running water. Visitors say the sounds of hope ring clearly through the fresh air like the sounds of the mighty Nile River nearby — punctuated only by the sounds of hammers and progress.

“We are called to build a community centered around His word with many different facets, including helping the orphans,” Janice said. “What we want to do is to restore. And that’s what makes this such a blessing to us. We can actually see God working. We see it on the faces of those children.”

The McCalls say the land is beautiful, but the people are scarred.

“It overlooks the Nile River. It’s gorgeous. There is whitewater and we can hear the rushing water from our home,” said Janice, who with her physician-husband Tim gave up a prosperous life in Waco. They left their 4,800-square-foot home to live in a 25-foot-wide storage container stacked atop another storage container.

Their two-story green “can by the river,” as Tim calls it, meets all of their physical needs, he said. By helping others, they feel spiritually and emotionally fulfilled with riches beyond this life.

“We were so sure that it’s God’s work and that He is calling us to do it. That’s the only thing that would convince us to leave our job, home and profession and go there,” Tim said.

A war-torn nation

The McCalls are affiliated with Antioch, but receive support and funding from many other Waco churches and groups, including Highland Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Woodway. Using sponsors’ funds to start their mission, they purchased the land in 2007 as a brutal civil war was ending.

When Tim first went to see the site in 2005, he had to have a military escort. He moved onto the barren plot in January 2007; Janice joined him that July.

A Ugandan woman from a nearby village carries goods and water to her home.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

Janice McCall teaches in a classroom at Restoration Gateway.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

The McCalls’ home in Uganda.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

Many of the McCalls’ friends and family initially feared for their safety, but the McCalls say it is safe now.

“It’s really a very peaceful place now,” Janice said. “There still is a fear from the people because Joseph Kony is still alive somewhere. But they are trying to put their lives back to normal now.”

Kony is the leader of a guerilla terrorist movement called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). That group launched one of Africa’s longest-running and deadliest civil wars in northern Uganda in 1986. The violent campaign resulted in the abduction of 30,000 children, deaths of thousands and displacement of 1.6 million people.

Kony was driven from Uganda about three years ago and is thought to be living in the nearby Democratic Republic of Congo, where the LRA is maiming and killing thousands. Many Ugandans still live in fear of his return. They also deal with deep emotional and physical scars.

During the violence, thousands of Ugandans fled their homes and abandoned their farmlands and villages. They ended up in government-run tent housing. They lived there for more than two decades in squalid conditions with little or no education or job training.

Now that the country is at relative peace, the government is closing many of these tent cities. For the first time, the people are emerging into a country overflowing with orphans and a populace severely lacking job skills. The McCalls say this is what they are trying to address by opening Restoration Gateway. It is a place where orphans can live safely, go to school, learn job trades and become productive Ugandans. It also trains and employs displaced adult Ugandans who have nowhere else to go.

“That’s why we call it Restoration Gateway, so people know it’s a place where we can reach out to the rest of Uganda. It’s a part of the world that’s been forgotten,” Janice said.

“They’ve been living in refugee camps and that’s all they know,” said Tim, who was a physician at the Waco Family Health Center. In 2005, he founded the center’s Department of International Medicine, which serves Third World countries. He has provided medical care throughout the world, and he said conditions in Uganda are among the most dire.

“They lived in mud huts just several feet apart with sewage running between the huts. It’s a hell hole — the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

In the tent cities, HIV and AIDS were rampant and there was little education provided. Residents received daily government handouts, but practically an entire generation has grown up without learning a trade.

“That’s what is so neat about what the McCalls are doing because they are teaching them to work the land again,” said Waco resident Cathy Pleitz. She visited Restoration Gateway in September and brought donations. “Their philosophy isn’t to give them stuff; they teach them to work for what they get and so even the children after school are clearing the land and working, and that’s a part of their culture that they lost.”

Pleitz visited Uganda after her 26-year-old son, Josh, spent a month in 2009 volunteering and working construction there after he graduated from law school. She said he returned home a changed man and raved about the good the McCalls were doing. After a year of his urging, she went to see for herself.

“They are doing incredible things with a holistic approach,” said Pleitz, a former president of the Junior League of Waco. “They are providing the people with knowledge of how to work. They are establishing a community and putting people to work, teaching them skills like how to make bricks, taking in the orphans and giving them an education.”

Mark Wible, associate pastor at Highland Baptist Church and chaplain for Baylor University’s men’s basketball team, agrees. Wible is an organizer of Hoops for Hope worldwide basketball camps. He has visited Restoration Gateway twice as part of church-sponsored mission trips, and led basketball camps there in 2009 and 2010. During one trip, a group of eight visiting dentists pulled more than 500 teeth in a week, he said.

“When we first went there, there was just one pod of seven homes; the last time there were two pods of homes; and they had completed an auditorium in the span of one year. They’re a tremendous team, the McCalls,” Wible said.

Hoops for Hope has taken more than 500 basketballs (deflated for travel) and held camps that attracted nearly 300 kids, Wible said. During the first camp, the children began kicking the basketball soccer style, like in their country’s primary sport. But after someone showed them how to dribble and shoot, they caught on quickly and had big smiles all around. Some children walked up to two hours each direction to get to Restoration Gateway daily for the camps. Wible said the McCalls are well-known and respected by the nearby villagers.

His church is planning a return trip in May and he says he looks forward to seeing even more progress.

“There are thousands of children in need of help there,” Wible said. “These kids have grown up knowing nothing. It’s a great ministry and opportunity to be involved helping people who are in a much more dire situation than we could imagine.”

Tough times

Teaching the orphans can be challenging, Janice said. Although English is an official language in Uganda, most of the orphans do not speak or read it, she said. She is trying to teach them via phonics, but it’s slow-going most days.

Communicating with the workers also is challenging. Most speak the native language of Lwo (Lu-OH). This is not to be confused with the Chinese dialect of Luo (pronounced the same way), which Tim did when he first arrived. He was showing workers a construction video that he thought was in Lwo, but it was in the Chinese dialect. That set them back a bit, but makes for a great story, he recalled with a laugh.

Cathy Pleitz visits with Ugandan orphans.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

Bricks made on site at Restoration Gateway are used for construction on the property.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

The McCalls easy-going spirit helps carry them through. They are deeply rooted in faith and not afraid to tackle grand plans. They are smart, determined and share a deep love for Uganda and its people.

They estimate Restoration Gateway could take 10 years to complete and cost $10 million. They already have raised and spent more than $1 million. But they do not fret about when or from where the money will come.

“We believe the Lord will bring the expertise and resources,” Tim said resolutely.

They also haven’t been scared off when they faced threats. In passing, they casually mentioned how several times early on, their lives were threatened by nearby villagers and some of their workers.

“The only way they know how to resolve conflict is through violence,” Tim said. “They threatened to stone us to death several times if we didn’t do things the way they wanted.”

Janice quickly added that’s a common reaction there and they didn’t take it to heart. They simply sat down with the opposing parties each time and discussed compromises.

In a male-dominated society where polygamy is common and women have few rights, one area of contention is the McCalls’ employment of women. The men didn’t want to see valuable jobs and pay go to females. But the delicate brick-making machinery that they use — imported from Thailand — takes finesse. The McCalls found the women to be more patient and able to create better bricks.

Their business can churn out 1,000 bricks in a day. Made with the red dirt Africa is known for, the buildings have a red tint. The bricks do not require mortar, just dirt, sand, water and sun to dry, and they interlock like Lego blocks, Janice said.

At Restoration Gateway, everybody works. Some make bricks, others paint or install plumbing, dig trenches, cook, wash clothes or teach. The children contribute by washing clothes and “mowing” the fields with long machete-like sticks.

For fun, the children play duck-duck-goose or sing songs. The McCalls said they marvel at how happy the children are with so little. Despite the tragedies that many orphans have endured, Tim said within days of arriving at Restoration Gateway, they know they are safe and loved and they beam with happiness.

“These kids are a different breed,” Tim said. “They are just so compliant and so grateful for anything that you do for them, and half of them probably lost their parents to the LRA. They come to us depressed and they withdraw when you try to hug them at first. Many have some medical conditions. But within 48 hours, they are different children. They know they have come to a safe place now and that these people actually care about them. It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life to watch the change in these children.”

The first orphan they took in, Asha, was about 6 years old. She had been wandering the streets of a nearby village, and a fisherman had taken her in. But he had eight children of his own. After he nearly lost his arm in a crocodile attack, he was unable to support everyone and brought Asha to the McCalls. Since then, at least 54 more children call this place home. They share bunk beds and live eight to a house with a Ugandan house mother. Food is cooked in a central kitchen or on outside ovens.

More than 70 workers are employed by the McCalls. The orphans and workers attend a morning devotional every day before going to school or their jobs. On Sundays, church services are led by locals.

Throughout the years, more than 600 volunteers — including hundreds from Waco and Baylor University — have come to assist the McCalls. Many more are scheduled to come. In January, the McCalls’ daughter, son-in-law and four young grandchildren also planned to move to Restoration Gateway.

Orphan children help wash and hang clothes at Restoration Gateway. The youths often have only two sets of clothes, including the one they are wearing.
Photo by Cathy Pleitz

The McCalls sort through the more than 150 gently worn school uniforms donated by parents of St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School students in Waco. They took the uniforms back to Uganda in January for the orphans to wear at the Restoration Gateway school.
Photo by Rod Aydelotte

After living in Nigeria from 1983 to 1994, the McCalls, who are both 60 years old, are used to being away from their children and grandchildren. But Janice was especially excited at the prospect of having four of their seven grandchildren living with them.

She anticipates the Ugandan children will learn English at a faster rate if helped by American children. And she was excited to share with her grandchildren this innocent life that is void of materialism and full of radiant sun, magnificent stars and clean air.

The orphans, the McCalls say, are not jealous or greedy. Because they do not have a school bus, the McCalls take small groups of children with them into town. The nearest town of Gulu is an hour’s drive away. At first, they feared the children who were left behind would be upset. But instead, they ran to them and thanked them for taking their friends to town.

“They take care of each other,” Tim said. “They have been ignored by the world for all of their lives, and for someone to pay any attention to them, just give them a smile, and they’ll light up.”

Janice agreed.

“It’s so refreshing to see kids that aren’t just wanting more and more,” she said.

Pleitz said she was struck that the orphan homes didn’t have closets. When she asked the children where their clothes were, they said they were wearing one set and their other set was drying on the line. That’s all they own.

She wrote her husband, Dan, a Waco lawyer, and he mentioned this in their Sunday school class. This piqued the interest of Melinda Suchecki, who has a child at St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School. She knew St. Paul’s was changing its uniforms, and she offered to start a collection drive for the used uniforms, Pleitz said.

They collected about 150, which the McCalls had stuffed into bags and suitcases and were taking back with them in January. As more volunteers visit this year, they also plan to take more uniforms.

Many visitors take goods to donate. But the McCalls don’t give it all away. For adults, they hold yard sales with nominal prices. This teaches the Ugandans to earn their goods, not just accept handouts, Pleitz said.

The McCalls have purchased an additional 200 acres adjacent to their site, and they plan to start selling lots, at cost, to their employees. For many, this will be the first land they have ever owned, and hopefully will instill a greater sense of pride because they earned it, Janice said.

Many years from now, the McCalls hope to open a resort nearby. They are not far from Karuma Falls, a national park, as well as safari lands full of exotic animals that draw tourists. The money raised, they say, could greatly boost the local economy and all would be given back to the Ugandans to reinvest in their country.

Making a difference

Restoration Gateway seems to be making a difference in this remote part of the world in large part due to the McCalls. Those who have visited say that the Ugandans are filled with greater hope and a brighter future.

“We have watched them change from hopelessness to hope,” Tim said. “That has been one of my greatest achievements. When we first got there, we asked what they hoped to achieve in the future and they had no answer. They didn’t think about the future. They didn’t think they’d be alive tomorrow. Now they’re thinking about where we should build the parking lots. That’s progress.”

Despite the bloody crusade that Joseph Kony of the LRA appears to be leading in the Congo, the Ugandans whom the McCalls know are picking up the pieces and learning how to sustain themselves.

About 900 peacekeepers were redeployed to the Congo in mid-December to curb the murders and abductions by the LRA. But in the small northern Ugandan region where the McCalls live, what was a bastion of murder and crime is now a community restoring pride and dignity to the people — one brick at a time.