They called him Uncle Jaja (grandpa), a name Grand Junction resident Mike Berry wore proudly. His jolly smile, graying hair and whiskers were mesmerizing, as men aren’t part of the lives of most orphans in Uganda.

For Mike, 61, and his 19-year-old daughter Kayla, serving others is a way of life—it’s not just something they do once a year or during the holidays. Giving to others is a special experience they share together all year long.

Living a servant’s life

Mike and Kayla are compassionate and share an interest in travel and other cultures. Mike and his wife, Debbie, started the nonprofit Kids Aid Backpack Program in 2007 when Kayla was just 10, providing packages of food for the weekend to underprivileged families. They served 10 families in their first year. In 2015, the number of families grew to a staggering 2,300.

Kayla was just 14 when she went on her first church youth group service trip, which involved connecting with the homeless population of San Francisco.

“Something we’ve wanted to instill in our kids is to be more globally oriented,” Mike said. “Getting out of your comfort zone is how you grow.”

Mike didn’t grow up testing the waters outside his comfort zone, but it’s always been a part of Kayla’s life.

“These trips have taught me not to go with a lot of expectations, but to just let life happen to you,” Kayla said. “You’ll make connections and gain new perspectives that will blow you away.”

When she was 15, Mike joined her on a mission trip to Eleuthera Island, which recently had been hit heavily by hurricanes. Their goal was to reach out to the people while rebuilding roofs and painting homes.

“I was painting a house for a man I called Mr. Bruno,” Mike said. “He ran a grocery store before a hurricane wiped him out, and he had health issues. It made me feel that there was really no difference between him and me. He lives there and I live here. We both want to provide for the needs of our families. We both want to work. I can, but he can’t. It made me feel sad for him, blessed for me and I still pray for Mr. Bruno.”

At 16, Kayla went on a service trip with the Center for Student Missions in New York City, which primarily focused on inner-city projects, such as soup kitchens and after-school programs. A year later, Mike and Debbie traveled to Manchester, Tennessee on a service mission that raised their awareness of poverty in the U.S.

Now a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, Kayla has a passion for human rights, specifically combating human trafficking.

Spreading love in Uganda

Last March, Mike asked Kayla if she wanted to go to Uganda with a group from Grand Junction’s First Presbyterian Church.

“I had decided to go and as her life was getting busier with friends and school, I knew trips like this were going to get fewer and farther between,” Mike said. “I decided it was now or never, so I sprang it on her.”

Kayla agreed, and soon they were making travel plans to Africa.

This would be the fifth time the church took a group to the Amani Baby Cottage, an orphanage in Jinja, Uganda.

The group’s mission work began before they departed from the Grand Junction Regional Airport. Delayed and canceled flights left a young woman and her 2-year-old daughter, who were escaping an abusive relationship, stranded at the airport and terrified. Kayla and others in the group took steps to get them help from Latimer House, and they were able to fly out safely the next day.

After a three-day delay and with 12 large trunks of supplies in tow, the group was off to Uganda.

Mike was shocked by the country’s poverty but was amazed by the joyfulness of the people. Prayer and praise sessions after lunch were filled with song and dance. Any one person would have five or six giggling children piled on top of them at a time.

“Our goal was just to love people, build relationships and show people they are worth being loved and cared for,” Kayla said.

Uganda is the size of Oregon and is home to 40 million people. Half of the population is younger than 25, and the mortality rate of women bearing children is 30 percent. The average life expectancy in Uganda is 54, and there is a cultural lack of support by fathers, resulting in over four million orphans.

During evening debriefings, the volunteers discussed if it was possible to fix something this big. They determined that making a significant difference would realistically take a change in leadership—a change in Uganda itself.

“It’s a hard mindset to be content helping one person at a time; one child, one mother, one family,” Mike said. “You can’t do everything and have to focus on the joy of the success you did have. It was a teary goodbye.”

It was a life-changing experience for both father and daughter.

“There are things I will never look at the same again,” Mike said. “I will try and take things more one day at a time. That’s what those people do. And I’m trying to be more relaxed about things I can’t change.”

The trip also had a significant effect on their relationship.

“On this trip we reached a place where we were both adults,” Kayla said. “He’ll always be my father, but this trip took our relationship to a new friendship level and [it was] a connection of experiences we will always share together. We’ve gained a mutual respect for each other.”

Mike said these trips they’ve shared are important because they’re full of memories they’ve built together.

“I’ve been able to see her become an exceptional young woman over the years,” he said.