Mark and Kerry Kellond are seasoned ministers having served the Lord in a variety of locations and capacities over the past 37 years. They served as youth pastors in local churches in the United States before moving overseas to provide youth ministry to American military dependents. For almost 20 years they served military dependents on bases in Germany, Japan and Okinawa.

The Lord later guided them to work with vulnerable children in Cambodia for several years.

Most recently, they served in Uganda at a Christian boarding high school, collaborating closely with Ugandan pastors to revamp the school’s discipleship program.

While in Uganda, Mark and Kerry witnessed the severe impact of extreme poverty in the lives of the students around them. Many students asked for help to pay school fees prompting the Kellonds to initiate a “Work 4 Fees” program. This program provided opportunities for students to work at various projects to earn money for their education.They also observed that students graduating from high school often returned to subsistence farming due to lack of scholarships for trade schools or universities. Even students sponsored by organizations to complete high school were most often aged out of programs and left without means to complete the education needed to break the poverty cycle.

Compelled by God’s love for the orphan and the vulnerable, Mark and Kerry founded Launch Uganda. This initiative aims to provide students with the education necessary to break the cycle of extreme poverty and become Christ-honoring, self-supporting adults.