Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Ocen.
Jordan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My journey to Gen House started at four years old. At that age, I would wake myself up every morning at 5 am to watch a show about children in Africa. They were in desperate need of food, shelter, and, most importantly, parents. In fact, they were orphans. I remember the compassion I had for them at that age, staring at the brokenness in their worlds and wanting so badly to do something about it.
Five years later, my dad died. I remember the day as if it was yesterday, especially because my dad was an incredible father. At that point in my life, still having an amazing mother that provided everything for my brother and I, I felt just as deprived as those children on TV. I missed my dad more than anything.
A few more years after that, I was in a World Cultures class in the eighth grade. I attended a predominately white Christian private school at the time and we happened to be studying the continent of Africa. Each student was to choose a country to present on and ultimately create a trip to that place. However, after four or five of my choices were rejected, I assumed my teacher was racist and with frustration, picked my final country, Uganda.
That single class presentation, specifically on Gulu, Uganda with emphasis on the former LRA War in the North, changed my life. For years, I became so wrapped up into the happenings of that war and the condition of that land. I was determined to get there and realized that I had finally identified the place that my heart craved.
In 2014, I made my first steps onto Ugandan soil via a study abroad trip there. According to my major at Spelman College, I was supposed to pursue a program to fulfill my Spanish minor but I quickly dropped it because there was one being offered to study the impact of the LRA War in Gulu, Uganda. I knew God had called me to that place so with boldness, I approached my Department Head and kindly demanded that she sign off for me to go!
That trip, coupled with the following year when I served at an orphanage there, was almost every green light needed for me to go back long-term. But in 2016, I realized my WHY. Every other year had been out of that four-year-old girl’s compassion for the burdens of children here in Northern Uganda. Except this particular year, I revisited the pains of missing my dad and being what Ugandans call a ‘single-orphan’. That led me to create my organization called Gen House, out of the empathy I shared with fatherless children alike.
Now, together with my native Co-Founder, we are building Gen House with so much deeply rooted care for our mission. By no coincidence, I met him during that 2014 study abroad trip and our first conversation was about many things including orphanhood, Jesus, and his time growing up in the LRA War as a double-orphan. Today, we are happily married, live in Gulu, and are overjoyed to offer our individual journeys to Gen House. Like the meaning of the Acoli word ‘GEN,’ this work is truly our ‘HOPE’ to extend.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No! When I founded the organization in 2016, I was in a very low place. I remember crying out to God about the pain of missing my dad and from that, He reminded me of Gen House. He took me back to the place of compassion at four years old and then narrowed the vision to my own story of growing up without my dad. Now, through the lens of great empathy, I see that God has built true beauty from the ashes of my life. He created Gen House out of my story, Ocen’s story, and our orphaned children to come.
Still, it wasn’t easy getting here. With much determination to come back for a second time, I returned to Uganda in 2015 as a missionary to serve at an orphanage. The other missionaries I came with were incredibly racist towards me and the Ugandan children we cared for. I remember being so hurt and angry while I was there and even having a near-death experience because of them. I couldn’t believe that in 2016, there were still white people traveling to Africa as missionaries but with actions quite contrary to the title.
That time in Uganda, although extremely painful, opened my eyes to the need of debunking the myths of modern missionaries, urban ones, and ultimately correcting the hurtful actions of them in the past, but most importantly today. It also helped me realize that I’m not the typical missionary now and I am committed to never being the imperialist. I’ve laid down my entire life to serve God, my husband, and Gen House here, with no strings attached to my life back at home. I live WITH the people and this is for the healing of US, not the aid of THEM.
Another challenge is being a Black American here. It’s definitely a reuniting experience to be a part of the returning African diaspora until you start feeling more like a distant cousin rather than close family. Because of the language barriers and other overall cultural differences, it’s sometimes hard to fit in where you want to feel at home.
Finally, connecting to the network of black women alike that are serving around the world out of their same hearts of compassion. The work gets lonely at times when you feel like not everyone can relate to the shoes you fill. But for women and girls just like me, that have the urge to go and the right heart for this service, I encourage you to read the stories of Black women abroad, pray about your decision to travel, be present locally and exist ethically while you’re there, and remember to go with an open identity that realizes the culture you serve has something to offer you too!
We’d love to hear more about Gen House.
Well, I’m the Founder of Gen House. My organization is a community development program that serves orphaned children and our rural village in Northern Uganda. Simply put, the umbrella is Gen House and the projects under it, fulfill the missions of caring for vulnerable children here and creating a sustainable cycle of development for our village. I personally believe that if we can improve the conditions of the community, then we can radically transform our village and improve the lives of our children.
As an organization, we are much different than typical orphanages that exist. In fact, I’m always stressing that we are NOT an orphanage. Their work is noble, but not always culturally sensitive to the upbringing a Ugandan child is entitled to. Gen House is very different in that our commitment is to the needs of the child and everything surrounding them. Their villages, the circumstances of them, and their extended family that exists should be included in the equation of how to care for them.
Hence, our coming children’s home (to be built prospectively in 2020) is a transitional home for the long-term care of orphans that need certain resources to be successful in life. They need family, not just to be removed from it. And they need to do chores too because according to Ugandans, they don’t see the world as the locals do if all they have is Heaven fencing them in and sheltering them from their true identities as natives.
To date, I’m most proud of being a wife to Ocen and a mom to Ketty. Yes, it’s incredible that in just three years, we’ve raised for 15.5 acres of land and drilled a borehole to supply clean water in our village. Yet, this work is about the intimate moments of building a family out of orphaned stories. Ocen and I are being healed through this work and simultaneously today, caring for our first child, Ketty which allows us to be a part of her healing too.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
My favorite book is Crazy Love by Francis Chan! Right now, I’m in love with the “When Everything is Missions” podcast “and “Southside Rabbi” by KB!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.genhouse.org
- Email: info@genhouse.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/genhouse_/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/genhouseinc/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/genhouse_
Image Credit:
Jordan Ocen (formerly Sharp), Founder of Gen House
Ocen Francis, Co-Founder of Gen House
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