Professor Tim Smith of the BYU McKay School of Education shared how he has seen miracles in his life as he has served disabled children in Uganda.
Smith taught at the Uganda Christian University in 2010 and has done volunteer work in Uganda for 13 years. When he finished teaching at the university, a church member told him he should start an organization in Uganda.
“No, are you kidding? I'm a professor. I don't do that,” Smith replied. “I know how to teach; I don't know how to do anything else.”
The church member then pressed the matter a second and a third time, Smith said.
“For some reason, I actually paused to think about it,” Smith said. “I don't think this was the precise message, but basically it was the Spirit saying, ‘So do you think you came to Uganda for your own experience?’”
While he and his family were volunteering during their time at the Uganda Christian University, Smith realized there were no services for children with disabilities in the area.
From 2011 to 2020, Smith ran a home-based organization that provided at-home care and support for children with disabilities and their families.
Smith linked up with a women empowerment group called Mabira Collective in 2021, which had a building in Uganda, and created the Ashraf Ability Centre in 2022, he said.
According to its website, the Ashraf Ability Centre provides education, physical therapy and medical support for children with disabilities in and around Lugazi, Uganda.
Allison Lund, a recent BYU graduate, helped set up the center and has worked with Smith since 2022.
Smith exemplified Christ-like love and understanding for others, she said, calling Smith when she felt frustrated with some of the local staff.
“We called Tim and explained the situation,” Lund said. “Tim just responded and said, ‘Well, they're right, and we’ll just love them. I see what they're saying, so, we need to improve.’ And I was honestly just awestruck, I was like, 'Wow, he's right. Who am I to judge? This is their country, and this is their work, and we need to adapt to their needs.'”
Siena Johnson is another BYU graduate who has helped Smith with the Ashraf Ability Centre.
Smith serves others in a hands-on approach in a way that amazes and brings joy to those around him, Johnson said.
“One of my favorite memories of him is him reading with the students, watching him just sit there with these pure hearts of gold. They just love him,” Johnson said. “It just shows who Tim is, that he would give his life for serving others and just making others smile and making them happy, that's just who he is.”
Smith has seen many miracles in the course of his work in Uganda and has started to take note of them, keeping a list of 42 miracles to date.
Smith experienced one of these miracles when his acquaintance with a professor helped him be able to teach at the Uganda Christian University in 2010, he said.
“It was really him visiting the Uganda Christian University and convincing them that they should give me a chance,” Smith said. “It was kind of a miracle that he was there to be able to pave the way for me and my family to be there.”
Another miracle occurred when Smith “happened” to run into this same professor 12 years later in the same town where the Ashraf Ability Centre was being opened in 2022. He saw another miracle when he discovered one of his patients with Cerebral Palsy, Ashraf, was the son of a woman involved with the Mabira Collective, he said.
“Out of the maybe 1000 kids with disabilities in that area,” Smith said, “the center was named after the one child who we were both working with.”
Many of the miracles Smith spoke of consisted of finding and meeting the right people at the right time.
“It seems like a lot of these things are connecting people in a way that we are at least noticing,” Smith said. “There's probably thousands of other ways that we're not noticing, but it becomes very obvious when people are involved. And so, with this divine guidance of bringing people together, I'm not joking when I say God is in this.”
Smith said he believes God delights in blessing his children by bringing them together.
He also called for others to be aware of how present God is in their lives.
“The tone that I try to convey is that this happens to all of us,” Smith said. “This has nothing to do with me. This is what everyone can receive in our spheres of influence. We can't help everyone, but we have access to the one who can.”