Saturday was a wonderful day!  I think I keep saying that, but really it was!  We went back to The Field of Dreams, to the village of Kaliti.  We met up with the town chairperson and Pastor Fred (a local pastor).  Fred works fulltime at a university as a Vet Technician as well as pastoring a church.  I didn’t get a chance to inquire more about his job, but it sounds very interesting. 

We separated into two groups and my group was with Fred and Defense (the town chariman).  We were trying to decide if we should go house to house to hand out mosquito nets or if we should go to the poorest and neediest people.  We decided to go house to house, because we didn’t want anyone to feel left out.  Our heart behind this outreach was to show love to our neighbors.  Our moto is that Love Never Fails and this was our motivation.

Just a side note….we had some bracelets made for the children at Hope Children’s Home that say, Love Never Fails.  The point of the bracelets is to help identify those children who are currently living in the home and those that aren’t.  We brought some of the older children from Hope with us as we went door to door in Kaliti village.  One of the young men, Vincent, was wearing his bracelet.  I told him that today we are going to reach out in love, because love never fails.  He said he didn’t understand. How can Love never Fail?  I began trying to explain that if there is a hard situation, you can make the choice to extend love or hate.  When you give out love, you can trust that you have done what is right and good.  From this posture, you will never fail and I believe you will eventually see results from the love you are giving.  Personally, I know this is what is transforming the chidren at Hope as well as Gganda Village where Hope is located.  This is what has transformed Vincent.  He then said he began to understand some.  I knew then that what we were about to do was going to be a testimony not only for me, but for him (and all the others with us that day).

As we went to the first house, there were a ton of people.  Now you have to remember, this village has not been touched by a consistent hand of love.  You can see hardness and survival on their faces.  I wish you could have been with me, to see and feel this firsthand.  This village has been bound by the traditional idols and witchdoctors.  The people have been desperate for help, but a snake can not help you.  They worship snakes and other idols, but with no results.  Only death and poverty continue to reach out to them.  But this day, Love was walking down desperation lane!

So back to the first house.  The people began to yell and say they all wanted a net.  Our plan was to give only 1 net per house.  As I handed the net to the lady of the house, I told her that Jesus loved her.  Boy did that set off the fireworks.  The moment I said Jesus’ name, you would have thought I put hot coals into their pants (like that picture?)   One man began to yell and scream at us.  I thought I messed up then!  I then thought to myself and wondered if I shouldn’t even say Jesus’ name.  I had just stirred up a hornet’s nest.  It was a true statement, so I just prayed to myself and asked God to really show His Love.  The man was yelling that he would never take anything from Jesus. 

We continued walking down the road and stopped at another house.  This house was the home of a lady and four children.  Her "husband" lived part time at this house and part time at another house.  He has two wives.  This family looked terrible.  My heart hurt for this woman and these children.  We handed them a net and you could see the thankfulness in the ladies eyes.  We told her we loved her and moved on from there.  We encountered many old widows that were having to care for themselves as well as grandma’s who were left alone to care for infants.  It was hard to see on one hand but such a great chance to show that we care about them.  We have been handed a wonderful opportunity to come along side this area and help to bring Hope and Life!

We arrived at a ladies front porch and offered her a net.  She refused and told us that a man had run down the road yelling to everyone that would hear, that we were handing out nets and that we believed in Jesus.  They were instructed not to take the nets.  Better yet, he warned them to watch us as we just gave to those that already believed in Jesus only.  He said we only cared for "the born agains".  My heart was sad that this lady would not take our net, but all I could do was pray.  Fred said that now we know what we are up against!  I again wondered if I had messed up our opportunity this day by saying His name.  I prayed and asked the Lord to touch the heart of the people that we would meet at the next houses. The look on Vincent’s face was one of wonder.  I could see he was watching this entire event unfold.  I reminded him that love never fails and we will not stop showing love. 

We continued on to the next house.  As we approached the house, Fred informed us that we were at the house of the uncle to the boy who was running wild down the street.  My heart was hopeful that something would happen and it did.  Fred and Defense began to explain that we were going door to door to show love to the people.  They also explained what we are going to build at The Field of Dreams.  You could see that they were processing this all.  When we asked if they would take a net, they agreed.  They then began to share with us.  After the boy ran down the way telling all to reject our gift, they began to watch us.  They had decided in their heart that if we passed their house by, then they would truly know our motivation, but if we stopped, they would know that we were really in the area to help.  They were excited as we walked up to them.  They were so thankful and appreciative.  They said that if we were to build a school, they would take their children out of the islamic school and put their children into ours.  These people are desperate for help!  I was so relieved and excited as these things were unfolding before my eyes.  They welcomed us and were almost rejoicing that help had come. 

The rest of our door to door was much of the same.  I met many orphans along the way and saw many people that were living in hard situation.  AIDS has ravaged this area as well as war.  The area is so ripe for His Love and I was so excited to see the opportunities that lay ahead.

I could see the encouragement on Fred and Defense’s face.  Defense was the town drunk 1 1/2 years ago.  He had an encounter with Jesus and was changed suddenly.  What a testimony!  These two men were excited to see what happened that day.  Fred said he has gone to greet these people often, but they have slammed their doors in his face.  He said we accomplished more that day by showing Love than his congregation has been able to do.  He knows that something is going to happen in this area and soon!

After spending the afternoon in this village, I can really understand why we are calling our area The Field of Dreams, because when we build it He will come.  I should say, He has come and the building has already begun.

Brian, Susan and their boys (Show Mercy Uganda Missions Directors) will be organzing the construction of our guest house, children’s cottages and in the future a health facility and possibly a school.  Their heart is to move from the city of Kampala out onto this property.  We are excited to begin constructing these buildings, so if you would like to be apart of this project, please click here.  PLEASE help us spread the word!

Lori Salley
www.showmercy.org
P. O. Box 607
Albany, Oregon 97321
541-905-0791