“What an Incredible Day it Was!”
the following is a blog written by Linda Dodson, one of the Show Mercy team members currently here in Uganda. Enjoy!
“What an incredible day it was!”
The above sentence is all I was able to write on my notepad after my first day at Hope Children’s Home and traveling through Gganda village in Uganda. I was not lacking in words, or images—I was already experiencing “sensory overload” from the sights, sounds, smells and many touches of the day! I had cried several times and was moved beyond what I had even imagined I would be so early on in the trip. My shortage of words was simply my heart’s need to process the events of the day more fully. I was somewhat prepared for the life-impacting experience I was coming to Uganda for and I would have been disappointed had I not already felt something happening within me. But what was this wonderful new place in my heart? I thanked God that although I didn’t really know WHAT he was doing in my heart, I was feeling it being enlarged by what I was seeing and feeling. In the night I awakened and heard the Lord speak the word: “calibration.” When I asked Him to explain what he meant, He told me that He was calibrating my heart to feel as His heart feels. Yes, Lord, that is what I want—your heart for these children, this amazing village and the country of Africa where His kingdom IS coming.
This is a place the villagers call “Paradise.” You might not recognize it as such. There is red dirt and amazing mud, and lots of it used for brick making. There are children with many needs. The village is filled with lack. The classrooms are much like places where we could keep livestock, simply constructed from boards the breeze can blow through with only crude benches and desks and chalkboards in need of replacing. But as we say here: TIA—This is Africa, but here the glass is half full. These children have been pulled from horrific circumstances and life has never been better for them. As Stephen toured me through the school, tears welled up in me again. As I stood in one of the bedrooms where triple bunks had made way for more children I was overcome with a love of this place, of these children. Oh, the beauty that is in the simplicity here. We ARE in paradise! How can this be in a place where there is so much lack and we all want to see so much more done?! It is paradise because LOVE is here and we are graciously permitted to have a greater portion of God’s heart! You must come and experience God here!
Linda Dodson
www.showmercy.org
We want to say thanks to the Santiam team for all of their hard work and service while in Uganda. You always make a great impact on the lives of our kids at Hope. We are very grateful for your service and love. You are, of course, welcome back anytime.
Ronald M (13)… “I came here (to Hope) because my dad died in 2001 and he left us in the house when we were just renting the house. Then my mother had no money and she told me to go live with my aunt in Nansana (district). My aunt told pastor that I should come to school at Hope. The pastor told me to tell Papa Mike my story and I told him my story and he told me to come to Hope. God bless you and give you what you need because you have done a good job to help the children.”
(Betty, Alice, Vanessa) and brother (Samuel) because our parents left us. Some days, when we came here to school, when I didn’t work, we didn’t have money to buy food. At lunch time we begged to the children who had lunch, and they would give me food and I would take it to my little sister Vanessa. When we would go back after school in the evening to home we would drink water for supper. On Saturday, when I didn’t come to school, I went to work and some days I was going to people’s homes and ask them if they would have any job like washing utensils or mopping the house. Some people told me no and some people told me yes. Those who told me yes, I cleaned their places and they give me money and I would buy food and Betty (sister/12 yrs.) would cook. The day when you all came to my home I didn’t know that you would come and I didn’t have any hope that we would come to the children’s home. When you came to the house, I was sick and when Papa Mike told us that you would bring us to Hope I felt happy. Now, at Hope, we eat food, and drink here, and eat what we need. We go to school now and have what we need. I love all of you who help Show Mercy because you send friends and they help me. You send me some things that I need like notebooks. I want God to bless you because you do good things in our lives.”
Resty (14)… “I came to Hope because at home I was suffering ; and I now have a good life. I was not eating food, I was lacking school fees and if I was sick, there was no care for me. I was living with my grandfather and grandmother because my parents died. Pastor Prossy brought me here because in the village were some of her friends and she went to the village and found me and brought me here. I love you all so much. Thank you for helping us and may God bless you. Now we are not suffering because of you. We are feeling well and we are sleeping well; may God bless you. I love you so much.”
My mother went to the village and left me with my grandmother. Pastor brought me here. When I am here, I learn and when I finish learning, I want to help other people. I will buy clothes and food for others because God showed love to me on the cross. You showed me love and you fed me and I love you.”
Fahad M (13)… “I spent five years at Hope so far. I was living with my mother, and my father stopped being with us when I was two years old. My mother was working for us and sometimes when we didn’t get money we went all day without eating. My oldest brother started to go to the village to fetch water and he would bring us food. Sometimes we had no money and no food. When I was ten years old my mother got sick and spent two months in the hospital and died. When she died and had the burial ceremony, our oldest brother started to care for us. He was fifteen years old. He told us that he was tired and said he couldn’t work for us anymore because we couldn’t get enough money. So, Pastor came to our home and informed our brother that we would come to Hope. We didn’t have clothing to wear and the ones we had were very bad. The life was not good. I thank the Lord and the whole Show Mercy team that God brought me here. God bless you and everything you have done for us has been very good. We pray for you and ask that God will give you all you need. Many of us have no one to care for us and you show us the love we need from our parents. God bless you.
These past few days, we have had the honor of loving on a very old widow in Gganda village. She lives right down the rode from Hope Children’s Home. She is close to 100 years old! We have mentioned her in past updates, but this trip, we have really been spending more time with her and plan to continue until we leave on July 1.
her and she was very slow to share different ideas. She finally did allow the team to clean the dead banana tree leaves from her “banana orchard”. (Not sure what you call it). Next she allowed the team to cut (or I should say hack with a machette) down branches from trees that are in front of her house. The team also gave her one of those self-powered flashlight/radios. According to “Grandma” as we will call her, the president in power prior to Idi Amin (late 1960’s) brought trucks through the villages to take the villagers’ personal belongings for his own purposes. It was on one of those sweeps through the village that “Grandma” lost her few possessions. She hasn’t had a radio since.
I asked her what we could bring for her and she said rice. She also mentioned that she hasn’t had any meat since Christmas (Remember when we took Christmas gifts to the widows in the village….she had meat then….so thank you to all that donated towards that outreach!) So guess what we took for her today….a lot of rice and some beef! When we walked up to her, she was overwhelmed. She insisted that we all sit on mats. I was sitting on the edge of the mat and my skirt was touching the dirt. She stopped mid-sentence and said I must move back out of the dirt (of course in her language).
September when we drove past Grandma’s house, I knew in my heart that I (Show Mercy) was to spend time and to help this precious widow. This is where God has called us (a few times a year for now). As I shared my heart about my own grandmother, she said to me that I am now her great granddaughter. Of course this made me cry. I tried to give her a hug, but she refused, because she said she had a cold. I didn’t care and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.