The team just arrived back from another incredible day at Hope Children’s Home. Five more children were rescued today and brought into Hope Children’s Home. To say we have outgrown the home would be an understatement. The good news is that each and every one is already sponsored! When the team arrived back at the hotel, they each shared with tears in their eyes the incredible things that they had experienced today. Each person shared about the heartache that they saw and also the lives that they are seeing changed. Tears were flowing as the team shared. Not only are kid’s lives being changed, but their lives are being changed as well. They have come here not as tourists, but as vessels of love.

When it was Brynne Sapp’s turn to share about the part of the day that touched her the most, she said something very simple, yet very profound. She said she liked looking at the eyes of Grace, one of the kids in the home. She took this photo that I wanted to share with you. Then, I felt that it was a picture of the progression of our ministry with Show Mercy International in Uganda.

When we first begin to travel to Uganda, we would see the mass of children running to our vans. We would see 100’s of kids running around, but they were just the faces of many. As time has progressed, we have gotten to know these children much better. We know their names, we know their stories. This trip, we have gotten to know even more about them as individuals. We are not just looking at the "thousands" or "millions" who need help. We have gotten to know "the one". Today, Brynne took another step and began to notice the individual characteristics of the children at Hope. She recognized that each child is a unique individual. That is the way God sees us. We are all unique. He knows our eyes. He knows how many hairs are on our head. He knows everything about us.

When you stop and consider "the one" and really dig into their lives you feel true compassion for each of these kids.

Mike

Why Sponsor a Child?

What a blessing to be able to be here in Uganda and help to be an advocate for children of Uganda. My heart has really been touched on this trip because we have really been involved in tdiggin deep and really finding out their stories. It has also a privilege to see the difference that you as supporters of Show Mercy International are making in the lives of so many. Just ask those who have come with us and seen first hand the miraculous changes in the children that have been removed from dangerous situations. It is humbling to see the response of so many who have helped us do so much over the past few weeks.

I keep adding more kids to our Website that need sponsorship each day. (By the way, all of the kids on this page and more, still need sponsors.You can click on their photo to find out more information about them and other kids.) All of their stories are a bit different, but contain some important similarities. Most of them have been orphaned or abandoned by their parents or caretakers. Most of them have been abused physically, emotionally and sometimes sexually. They are so excited to go to school each day and learn, but the sad reality is that most of them have to go home to people who basically treat them with less respect than we would treat our animals. While that is true, God is also setting them free one child at a time! The great thing is that he wants to use you and me to play a part in that process. What an honor.

When you sponsor a child, a couple of things can happen. First, if the child is in a dangerous situation with abuse or abandonment, we are doing our best to take them out of those situations and move them into our children’s home. We are currently remodeling the home to provide another room for between 12 and 15 more kids. We even ordered 12 more beds for these kids yesterday. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon how you look at it, we have already offered to add more than that amount of kids to the home already. I can’t seem to say no; not that I am supposed to. These kids will receive a place to sleep in safety, a blanket, three meals per day, a free school uniforms, clothing, medical care if needed and free education. That is what your $35/month helps us to provide.

The other thing that can happen is if the child is not being abused, but are living in a situation where they just are not being cared for properly due to extreme poverty, we will provide them with free schooling, two meals per day, medical care if needed, and recently due to your support, free uniforms as well!

As most of you are aware, we will soon begin building our "Village of Hope" on 20 acres that we have purchased that will provide homes for many of these children that we basically don’t have room to add to the home at this time. When we are able to complete that project, we will begin taking in many more children away from the abusive situations that they are in. God has and will continue to bless this ministry so I am confident that we will be more than able to provide care to hundreds more children in the near future.

Thanks again for your support and prayers! Trust me when I tell you that you are making an impact that is literally affecting hundreds of kids and over a million people in Uganda through radio and television that we have had the opportuntity to participate in. I encourage you to come with us on a trip to Uganda, not to tour the country and our ministry, but to be a "hands on" expression of love to a child. It means more to them than you can imagine. I think it is safe to say that everyone who has come with us and focused on the mission has been changed forever in some way or another. 

Mike

Show Mercy International
PO Box 607
Albany, Oregon  97321
www.showmercy.org