Good news! We are so excited to announce that we have begun the digging of the first bore hole(fresh water well) that Show Mercy will be providing for the children and village people in Uganda! The digging began yesterday by hand! These men will dig about 50 feet down with a pick axe and shovel hand until they reach the water table. They will then fill the hole partially with rocks to filter the water and the cement around the top and install a hand pump. As they began to dig the well on the property of Hope Children’s Home, people from the village began to come over and watch as the men dug. They first thought that the well would only be used for the children in Hope Children’s Home but we told them that they were free to use it as well. Their faces lit up with excitement. This is just another way that we will continue to reach out in love to the people in Uganda. I am told that this well will benefit close to 4000 people!

Clean water is a commodity that most of us take for granted in the Western World. It is hard to imagine but many people experience constant sickness and stomach pains all of the time because of drinking contaminated water. Not only is the water that they drink dirty and filled with bacteria, they have to fetch it from sometimes quite long distances. One day, one of our young girls at Hope Children’s Home was going down the trail into the woods to get a drink when she was attacked by a man. He began to try and rape her. Fortunately, someone heard her cries and stopped the attack. With this new well, our kids will be not only healthier because of the quality of the water, but they will be able to gather it from the very home that they are living in. They are sooo very excited about that! We are also excited about being able to reach out to the villagers showing them that we don’t only care for our kids, but for them and their situations as well.

Thanks to those of you who have expressed an interest in helping us drill these wells. If you would like to partner with us and help sponsor a project like this, we welcome your participation. God bless you! 

Mike
www.showmercy.org

Today we had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed by a television program called Top Teens on the Top TV station in Uganda. It is a Christian program that is run by youth and watched by well over a million people in Uganda. They tell me that it is one of, if not the most watched program in Uganda. Daniel, a young man that we met a few years ago now works at this station doing interviews for the Top Teen show. He invited our team to come and talk about the topic of "Celebrity". Cassi, Britini, Seth and Jeremy were all interviewed and did a great job talking about their lives in the US and what celebrities they looked up to.

Then, to our surprise they wanted to go and visit Hope Children’s Home where we are working to do a story on the work of Show Mercy International! I had just told someone yesterday that I thought it was good for us to keep a low profile. God had other plans. Honestly, I was a bit nervous, not knowing how they would respond seeing so many kids running around the home.

The camera crew loaded into our van and headed to Hope. When we arrived, they were lead around the home being shown where the kids sleep, the mosquito nets that we have provided for them, the food they eat, the books that have been provided, the clothes, the medicine and everything that we have to care for the kids. They especially liked the television, VCR and DVD along with the many educational DVDs that have been provided to the kids. They were very impressed and were expressing that to the camera as they spoke about the Home. It was a very positive experience. They also interviewed several of the kids in the home and asked them about their situation before coming to Hope and how their lives have changed. Again, the testimonies were wonderful. The interviewers actually encouraged the Ugandans to support this ministry by sponsoring children. That was a new one for me. They told the people of Uganda that these kids are orphans and yet they have a wonderful life now because of the work that YOU have partnered with us to achieve.

Later that afternoon after the camera crew had left, we spent an hour or so just dancing up a storm in the front of the home! That Bose sound system that Santiam brought, otherwise known as "Steve" did an amazing job. I think the kid’s new favorite song "Me and My Gang" by Rascal Flatts! After the celebration, it was time to say good bye. This team would not be seeing the kids from Hope again on this trip. Tears of sadness and joy were flowing from both the Ugandans and the visitors. Many relationships were built and love expressed on this trip.

One more day for this team and they will be heading home to the US. They have been a true joy to work with, the most humble, fun servants that I have had the priveledge of working with. I think the Ugandans have grown to really love them. Soon another team will arrive and we will begin again pouring out more love on the children of Uganda one child at a time. However, there is still one more day for this team. We are believing for it to be the best yet for the Santiam team!

Mike

After our wonderful day of rest and relaxation yesterday, we decided to return to Hope Children’s Home. Our mission wasn’t over by a long shot. The good news is there were several children who spent their first night in a long time away from the abuse that they have suffered for so long. The smiles on their faces showed the changes on the inside. However, there was more work to do.

We decided to sit down and hear from more of the kids. When you see a mass of kids running to your bus as your arrive, you see just that; a mass of kids running to your bus. However, when you sit down and speak to these kids and really ask the tough questions, the smiles on the outside change to begin to reflect the hurt and pain that is on the inside. This is the case of Brenda.

We just decided to let Brenda move into the home. I think we have added 11 kids now since we arrived and I could add another hundred if the facilities and sponsors were available. Brenda is 8 years old. Her father died and her mother remarried. When that happens in Uganda, it is extremely common for the existing children to be utterly rejected. Brenda’s case is no different. She began to tell us how her step father would only give her a small amount of food. He would also go into rages where he would destroy the house and beat Brenda with sticks. She would run from him and he would tell her "go and run to your father’s grave and see if he will help you". She told us this as she had broken down crying. She had asked us to stay at the home and we agreed to let her.

We then saw her limping today at the home. There was an infected cut between her toes. "Brenda, why are your limping? What is wrong with your toes?" She then told us the following story. "I went to the well to get a drink of water. When I returned my mother was very upset at me and asked me ‘why did you go to the well to get water?’ That night when I was sleeping she came into my room and took a knife and cut me between my toes." Yes, you read correctly, her mother who has already rejected her cut her between the toes so she would not be able to walk properly. I asked the teachers in our school about this and they told me that it is common for that to happen. Some abusive parents even burn their kids just to give them pain. I was shocked. 

We cleaned her wounds and bandaged them and bought her a pair of shoes. Brenda is now a happy 8 year old girl who will soon begin to experience love like she has never experienced in her life.

While these stories are hard to read, they are a very common reality where we are working. There are MANY more children just like Brenda who need your help. I sat down with many children like Brenda and had to tell them that we didn’t have room to add any additional children in the home at this time. I tell them to pray for support that will enable us to help them get out of these types of situations. I tell them that they will be alright, but as they walk away, I know in my heart that the possibility remains that they will suffer another night of torment.

I have added more children like Brenda to our Website for sponsorship. If you have a heart to help us support these children or many others like them, we could use your help. If you have a heart to help us build more facilities to rescue more children, we need your help as well. I have never been one that likes to ask for money and I still don’t like to do it. However, I am offering your the opportunity to be the answer of prayer of hundreds of children who are praying every day and night that God will provide for their needs and remove them from the hurt and pain that they are experiencing. Would you join us?

If you want to help, you can sponsor a child or make a donation at www.showmercy.org or feel free to call Lori at 541-905-0791 and she will be glad to assist you. You can also mail a tax deductible donation to:

Show Mercy International
PO Box 607
Albany, Oregon  97321.

Thanks in advance to all of you that have already responded. The children are rejoicing because of you. James 1:27

Mike 

Today we spent our entire day in Jinja visiting the source of the Nile river and Bujagali falls for some much needed rest and relaxation. We first went to Bujagali Falls where we witnessed some Ugandans swimming down some big time rapids! We then took a boat ride to an island where we hiked through trails leading to some large rapids entering the Nile River. After the boat ride we left and went to visit Jinja town for some lunch and a little shopping.

We then drove to the source of the Nile River. This is where Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, pours into the Nile River. It is an amazing place to visit. Hannah Bittner had asked the day before if we would have a chance to baptize her in the Nile River so we agreed that this would be a great place and time to do just that. Steve and I entered the water carefully, trying to not slip on the rocky bottom. A couple of times, Steve showed his flexibility by almost doing the splits in the water. We were so close to having him fall completely into the Nile. I am laughing as I write this. With the exception of the slight fear of crocodiles the setting was wonderful. There were monkeys jumping in the trees behind us and fish jumping in the water around us. Birds were diving searching for food, fishermen were fishing by hand lines in the distance and there we were, standing in the Nile river. We then baptized Hannah in the river. I know that it was an amazing time for her that she will never forget. Then Jay decided that he too wanted to be baptized in the Nile so we then did the same for him. Memories that will last a lifetime were created today.

It was fun filled day for a team that has been working very hard for the past week. It was also a super day to enjoy the beauty of Uganda. There is no place like it. Tomorrow we will be heading back to the reality of the situation with so many orphans in the surrounding areas but for a day we experienced why Uganda truly is the Pearl of Africa!

After rescuing the 5 abandoned children the other day, I wanted to meet more of the 188 kids that are attending our school but that are not living in the children’s home. I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out more about these individual lives that we see running around the home playing with our team. Could their possibly be stories that are similar or even worse than the ones we had just encountered. We sat down in the office and began to bring children into the room, one at a time. What would happen next would tear my heart in two.

The children in Uganda are accustomed to always telling you that they are fine. You ask the question "how are you?" and they respond "I am fine". I knew that there must be some issued with these kids. Could they always be "fine"? As the interviews began, we got the same responses. However, we then began to dig deeper and ask some hard questions about the true conditions that they were living in. One after another we began to hear stories that broke our hearts; stories of repeated rape, beatings, slavery, rejection, abandonment and the list just goes on and on. Tears were streaming down the faces of some of the children as they shared the torments that they are going through every day.

One girl who’s name is Fazirah began to tell us her story. She is an absolutely beautiful girl who told us that she was 11 years old. She is obviously closer to 14 or 15. She didn’t know the year or month that she was born. Her father died when she was young and then her mother remarried. At that moment, she was totally rejected by her mom and her new step father as well as his 4 children that were brought into the home. 

Fazirah’s "parents" pay school fees for her other 4 step brothers and sisters to attend school. However, they will not pay for her. That is why she is attending the Alpha and Omega school. They know that we will not reject children because they do not or cannot pay any fees.  She told us that her mother was very cruel to her along with the rest of her new family. Then as tears began to stream down her face, she told us that when she leaves to go home from school, not only is she hated by her family, but things are happening to her by her step father. You can use your imagination. Barbara and I couldn’t hold our composure anymore. We had been hearing stories like this again and again and again!

I looked at her and told her that she would not have to suffer anymore. We told her that God loved her and would heal her heart from all of the pain that she was feeling. She was also asked if she would like to come and live with the other children in Hope Children’s Home. With her head hung low, she nodded in agreement. Fazirah is moving into Hope today along with 3 other kids in very similar situations. 

We have added 9 children in the past 3 days to an already overcrowded home. We need to begin building additional homes on our new land to accommodate these and so many more children in similar situations. These children need our help. While we cannot do everything for everyone, when situations like this are brought to our attention we cannot turn our heads and ignore them. I think Jesus summed it up very well when he said, "As you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me."

If you would also like to sponsor one or more of the children that we interviewed yesterday, you can find them all with as much information as we have about them on our "Sponsor a Child" page.  You can also make a donation to help us begin constructing these additional homes in the Village of Hope.  Thanks in advance for partnering with us to save many more children in situations like Fazirah’s.

Mike