MATT & SHELLEY ACTIS

  • Founders: Hope58, a registered non-profit 501(c)(3), Fresno, California.

  • Founders: New Life Church, Colombia (Iglesia Nueva Vida, Colombia)

  • Founders: Hands of Hope Foundation (a non-profit), Colombia (Manos De Esperanza, Colombia)

  • Founders: Equip for Transformation, Uganda (a non-profit)

  • Founders: New Life Ministry Center, Uganda (home of New Life Church, New Life Skills Center, New Life Bible Training, and New Beginnings preschool).

Matt & Shelley are full time missionaries serving under United World Mission

www.uwm.org

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Shelley’s ministries include New Life Skills Center, which is a unique 1 year program that teaches dropout village girls in Uganda the Bible, Math, English, Health, Business, as well as a vocation such as sewing or hairdressing, and farming. This ministry has seen many girls come to Christ, find joy, success and hope for a better future. 

Another ministry of Shelley’s is Community Education Outreach - a traveling team of girls, from the New Life Skills Centers, that bring awareness to communities on topics such as girl-child education, early marriage, domestic abuse and HIV prevention through drama presentations, poetry, songs and traditional dance.

Also, some girls who have completed the New Life Skills program have an opportunity to be placed in one of two internships:

  1. Salon Internship- an unpaid 6 month internship opportunity for qualified NLSC graduates to work in a salon practicing newly acquired hairdressing skills, customer service and business skills.

  2. Advanced Tailoring Internship- an unpaid 6-month internship opportunity for qualified NLSC graduates to learn advanced tailoring skills and designs and to practice customer service, accounting and business skills.

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Shelley

Upon hearing story after story of the struggle and plight of girls living in rural Uganda, Shelley knew that her ministry would be to educate, train, and share Christ with village girls in Eastern Uganda.  These Ugandan girls have few choices but a life of being married off at a young age, bearing children while they are still babes themselves, engaging in excruciatingly hard work and often suffering abuse.

God has given Shelley a vision and a heart to bring education to where the girls are; deep in rural Uganda.  Places where girls don’t get an opportunity at a second-chance.  Places where girls can’t get further training or continue their education.  Places where teenage girls dreams die.

Matt

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Matt's ministry is training, mentoring and discipling pastors.  Not ever having been discipled themselves, Matt takes the time to meet with pastors to study the Bible, to pray, to get to know their families, and of course visit their churches.  One of his main goals is to get the pastors to make disciples themselves.  Although a large component of Matt's ministry is theological education and leadership, his focus is not "information," but “transformation."  

Matt works with a small team of Bible teachers that travel to different parts of the district and open 3 year Bible Schools. Matt and his team teach by reading through the entire New Testament Bible, verse by verse.