Sorry it has been so long since we have posted an update.  We have been so busy! 

Our Show Mercy team of 29 is AWESOME!  Each person has so much love in their hearts and they are an answer to prayer.  They have been showing LOVE to so many people.

Yesterday (Wednesday), we had a wonderful day out in Kaliti Village (where we are building The Field of Dreams).  Here is Linda Dodson’s description of the day:

We pulled into Kaliti in front of a building with a big wide porch and pretty front lawn filled with luscious trees and shrubs and even several kinds of pretty flowers—a welcome sight in this land with no garbage service and unpleasant signs of poverty. There was a festive feeling in the atmosphere—this was obviously a special occasion for the village people. Gathered on the front porch were several village officials and a woman pastor. The most colorfully dressed Ugandan widows were spreading lovely cloths on the ground and sitting together in small groups. They had anticipated our arrival and were absolutely, stunningly beautiful! The team walked among them, shaking their hands, sharing names and trying out short Ugandan greetings. It felt like a family reunion and we were blessed to be God’s representatives with about 65 lovely new blankets–gifts from Show Mercy.

We were given a warm greeting read by a Kaliti leader. Then Mike gave a short greeting, with the help of his interpreter Simon, our bus driver, and assured the people of this village that our intention in coming was to love and bless them. He also thanked them for welcoming us  and then introduced themselves with their new Ugandan names: Mike is “Mukessa” (blessing) and Lori is "Kiskye" (God’s grace). One by one, each of the widows’ names were read. The ladies were greeted by Mike and Lori and then we shared our words and hugs and gave them their new blanket. We were told some of them didn’t even have a blanket! It was so fun to see how the randomly held blanket perfectly matched the colors in a widow’s dress! God is in the details.

Mike happily commented to me later that there was such a new peace in the atmosphere. The favor of God is a wonderful blessing!   In the midst of an oh-so-sweet ceremonial gifting, three white doves flew just above our heads three times! One white dove lit on a nearby rooftop, sitting next to a white and black dove. We didn’t question that God was in our midst, but the confirmation brought a rush to our hearts! 

 Linda’s description is so perfect!  It was so touching to be able to give a token of love to these ladies.  When they go to bed at night, they will remember that they are loved and not forgotten!

Thank you for helping us to share hope with the widows in Kaliti! 

Reaching out in LOVE…one widow at a time.

Lori Salley
www.showmercy.org

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1

On Sunday afternoon we drove through beautiful countryside to a prison which held 126 men. I guarantee you that our prison experience was unlike any in the USA! As team of Americans and Ugandans entered the courtyard, all of the prisoners were just sitting on the concrete floor of the front porch in several long rows. We were escorted to a grassy knoll only about 20 feet from them, where Josh, Heather, Virgil and Steve shared the message God put on their hearts. He used each one powerfully to minister His love, His redemption and His salvation—even they themselves later commented they felt a new boldness and anointing as they shared. Our leader, Ugandan Pastor Simon Peter, extended a salvation call and 42 prisoners raised their hands—a much greater number than usual!

What came next were personal ministry time and my deepest experience of God’s love to date. Imagine there were only two guards with machine guns standing about 30 and 50 feet from the prisoners and we were allowed to walk right up to the prisoners, touch them and pray for the sick. Though there was obviously some risk, nobody seemed afraid. Instead, we were overcome with God’s love in a way that completely broke my heart open. God’s love overwhelmed me, like I have never experienced before and I started weeping and calling out to them. “I came 9,000 miles from America to tell you I love you!” As I wept and cried out, at least 50 prisoners looked straight into my eyes and were locked in. I continued in a stronger tone as I cried: “God wants to break the chains off your hearts right here in this prison so that you can feel free. He wants you to know him deep in your hearts!” Their gaze never left me and tears began to well up in many pairs of black eyes. What I saw before my eyes, was the response to the love of God which melted hardness on their faces and brought an instant spirit to spirit connection. It was a God moment.

As the team continued to minister to the prisoners, I saw another member at the back row of prisoners pray. So I also climbed over two rows of men, touching many of them on the head, to get to pray for two in the back row. I felt absolutely no fear, only God’s powerful love pulsing through me I continued to pray with warm tears rolling down my face. It was then that I heard one of my team members say: “Linda, get out of there. You’re not supposed to be back there.” Oops! The men actually extended their hands to help me back to the front where I was “safe.” I then tried to take every hand I could to say: “I love you,” “God loves you,” “God wants you to give Him your heart,” or “You’re my brother and I’ll be praying for you.” They eagerly reached for my hand like true gentlemen often saying: “I love you too, Mom.”

We ended our time at the prison passing out rolls and bars of soap just before the guards ushered them back to their dark cells with no heat, no blankets and living in cramped spaces. I tell you again, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for ministry is to ask God to give you His heart for the people. His love never fails.

Reporting from Uganda for Show Mercy….

Linda Dodson