Today (Thursday) was a wonderful day.  Again, all of the team was very busy teaching our children in school, playing with children, doing dramas for the children and people in the village and sharing the Gospel with many.

I could type and type forever, but I know that we are all busy people, so again, I will just share two short snippets from our day.

First, THANK YOU for all of your prayers and help.  Today was a very heart warming day.  The many widows that Show Mercy has been helping this past year, surprised us and walked from the village to Hope Children’s Home.  They wanted to meet us and thank us for all the help! (This past year, we have given out baskets of food, holiday meals and mosquito nets)  We are just representatives, so we wanted to pass their love on to you!  The elderly ladies are so precious.  Just seeing their smiles brought tears to both of our eyes.  The pain and sorrow that these women have endured is overwhelming, but because of your help, we have been able to touch them with a tender touch of love and let them know that they really aren’t alone!  We plan to continue reaching out to them all!

Everytime I come back to Uganda, I am in awe of all that God is doing in the lives of the children at Hope.  I realize time and time again just how valuable and important rescuing these children really is!  Today, one of the team leaders from Santiam was sharing a story of one of the chidren from Hope named Mercy. 

We took Mercy into Hope Children’s Home a couple of years ago.  She is flourishing now and today she had a God moment.  If you remember her story, she was being raised by her older sisters who were prostitutes and didn’t know her parents.  She had a twin sister and still doesn’t remember her name.  The neighbors found Mercy cuddled up next to her twin, locked in a house in a fetal position.  Her twin had died. Today, Mercy said that she remembers her sister refusing to eat, because their mother had abandoned them.  It was because of this that Mercy’s twin sister had fallen sick and died.  Barbara, one of the Santiam leaders, shared with Mercy that her twin sister was in heaven.  It was like a light bulb came on inside of Mercy.  Barbara shared with Mercy that one day, she would indeed see her twin again.  Just imagine the grief that has been inside of little Mercy.  From what I have read and heard, twins have a very special bond. She had never considered that she would see her sister again.

This little piece of information about Mercy’s twin has released a large burden from Mercy. She can now have peace, knowing that things are ok for her sister. Without someone sitting down, talking and comforting her, she might never have this kind of peace. This is a simple example of how reaching out in love, changes lives around us.  

Thanks for helping these precious little ones in Uganda.  If you are interested in helping more of the children, we will be posting children on our website (as the internet in Uganda allows!).  Transformation is happening in these little children’s lives.

More to come…..

Lori (and Mike too!)
www.showmercy.org

Many of you have asked about getting involved with specific needs or projects that we are currently working on at Hope Children’s Home and Field of Dreams, so here are just a few opportunites to make a difference:

Real Classrooms for the Children

We are also still in need of monthly child sponsorships for many kids. We are caring for approximately 200 kids, but have sponsorships for only a little over 100 of them. If you would like to touch a heart by sponsoring a child for $35 per month, please look on our website for a few of the kids that need sponsorship. We will be adding many more as we have time and internet capabilities. You can also ask for a girl or boy and we will gladly pick one of the most desperate children out for you. By the way, the cost of food over the past 3 years has risen over 80% in Uganda. Fuel is nearly $7.00 per gallon. Costs of goods are actually higher in Uganda as compared to the US. Additional sponsorships will help us to increase our monthly budget used to provide for the very basic needs of the children we serve.  Click here to meet Jaqueline and Brenda.

Many days have passed since we have sent an update out. Just to recap, here are a few of the things we have been doing….

• Sunday, we went to 4 different village churches to share The Gospel. The Santiam students all shared and for some this was their first opportunity to preach.  We prayed for the sick and people were healed and delivered.   It was awesome!
• Monday, we drove to Jinja and spent the night (about 2 hours away from Kampala). We went to visit the source of the Nile River (by the way, it takes 3 months for the water from Uganda to reach the Mediterranean Sea) and several of the teams members were baptized in the river.
• Tuesday, we prayed for the sick at a hospital and close to 25 people gave their lives to Jesus. Many people were healed!
•  Wednesday, the team went out to visit The Field of Dreams. Things are moving along with this new project. We will be meeting with some engineers next week and begin excavation hopefully very soon! The team went door to door and handed out wind up torches (flashlights) which included radios. The heart of the people in this village is very open to help at this time! We are excited to begin working and helping this community. (Thanks to the donor of the flashlights! A little more “light” was left in Kaliti Village because of you)

Our time at Hope has been wonderful.  Almost all of the children are smiles and laughs. The transformation of the little girl Lynette that we took into Hope last September is amazing.  She is talking, smiling, running, jumping and everyything else that a child should do.  She also now has learned how to receive hugs!  She is precious to say the least.  The thought of getting to see this little one grow up is exciting.  I can only imagine what she will do when she is older! 

About the third day that we were at Hope, Pastor Prossy begin sharing with me the story of 3 little children. She was asking if they could come to live at Hope.  We already have 94 children and the thought of more seemed too much, but Pastor Prossy said that she knew we needed to take these little ones in.  So, we did.

Marvin, Susan and their baby sibling (I have not met yet) were living with an old lady in the village.   Their father died a few years ago and the mother died shortly after giving birth to the baby.  The old widow that has been caring for them has to leave them for days at a time, because she has a job. Marvin might be 4, Susan 3 and the baby is probably 1!  When I first met Susan and Marvin, I could see the sorrow and pain in their eyes.  Susan’s face and body were previously burned.  She had fallen into a fire.  These little ones would not even keep eye contact with us. As the days have gone one, however, Susan is beginning to trust a little.  One of the Santiam team members, Brooke, has been holding Susan almost everyday.  Yesterday, Susan actually began throwing a ball back and forth with Mike.  I know that God is going to touch her heart and help her and Marvin to know that they are safe and loved at Hope. 

We will meet the baby soon.  A mother that lives near Hope Children’s Home has agreed to take care of the baby.  We will help to provide for all the needs of this child.

If you have been considering sponsorsing a chid, any of these three would be great!  We have posted Marvin and Susan on the website at www.showmercy.org.

Thanks for being apart of what God is doing here in Uganda.

More updates soon.

Lori Salley
www.showmercy.org
 

Here is another short update from Steve Bittner:

Saturday we visited Didi’s World with all of the children who live at Hope. Didi’s World was a bit of a surreal experience for us! It is an amusement park/carnival kind of place that we surmise was built in the 1960’s or 1970’s. We walked in and found ourselves the only people present; we didn’t even see any employees! It seemed largely abandoned; perhaps even caught in a time warp!

Nevertheless, for these children who rarely venture out of the red dust-filled village of Gganda, it was a wonderful experience! For a few hours, they were able to be children at the carnival, riding rides (even though no ride operator appearred until the children lined up), dancing, and generally doing what kids do when they visit a fair or carnival. (As a point of reference, think an old county fair, with no food booths or souvenir stands, and no one there but you.)

It was a blessing to us to see them enjoy themselves and, for a little while, simply be children.

Steve B. for Team Uganda