I think we start every blog out with…the team has been busy, but honestly that is because we have.  We have been sharing in churches, visiting prisoners and giving them hope, showing the Jesus film to the Gganda village, playing with the Hope kids, shaving children’s hair, treating wounds and sickness with a mini-medical clinic and going door to door in the village to pray for people and share boxes of soap.

I could go into detail about all of these activities and maybe I will sometime soon, but this morning I woke up with a different thought of what I should share.

The more you come to Uganda and other parts of the world, the more you realize that there are areas of your life that seem so trivial.  I am not just talking about material things, I am really referring to the way I think and respond.  I don’t know if I really understand what it means to suffer or sacrifice.  When I talk to the kids at Hope home and they share their past lives with me I just cringe and cry.  They have suffered heartache like I have never known, yet they are moving on and pushing forward towards the life God has made available to them.

My dad is battling cancer right now.  I emailed the kids weeks ago and asked them to pray for him.  When you ask them to pray, they take it to heart and truly petition our Father in heaven for health and life.  One of the older boys at the home came to me on the first day to tell me that he has been and will continue to fast and pray for my dad.  That is a serious sacrifice, because food is so precious to all Ugandans.  To my surprise, many of the kids came to me and asked how my dad was doing. One child drew a picture of Jesus on the cross with a poem.  The poem was to remind me of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross and that “Mamma Lori should not worry”.  I am so touched that they care for me and my feelings!  Love has truly touched their hearts and now they are reaching out in love to others!  That is a life lesson I will hold onto forever!

Another day before church, a woman came to meet with us.  It was Edward’s mother.  Edward currently lives at Hope Children’s Home.  We have shared his testimony many times.  His mother, Annette, was forced to give Edward up, because she is severely crippled.  Edward was given to the father.  The father’s wife did not want Edward, so at the age of 3, she threw him down a deep pit latrine.  A neighbor boy saw her, so he told the neighbors who then rescued him.  As would be expected, Edward was very ill from ingesting feces and such.  He eventually was brought to Hope to live and now he is doing great!

As she continued to share her journey of surrendering Edward, she was sobbing!  I could see and feel the pain in her heart.  She shared in detail the last 4 years of her life with us.  Because she is crippled and partially paralyzed, she has been abused in many ways.  She told us how she was living on the streets with no one to care for her.  Finally a woman took Annette to a place to stay.  Annette was told that she could stay in that place for as long as she needed, but really this woman had an ulterior motive.  There was a man that lived there as well.  This woman told the man that she was bringing him a wife.  Of course Annette did not know that was the arrangement, but before she could get out of the house, she was raped.  As she was sharing this with us she was sobbing.  She shared many other details of living on the street and being rejected.  She shared how her heart was broken because she was unable to care for her son.  She finally shared with us that she became very sick and found out that she had contracted AIDS from the man who raped her.  She will not share that with anyone, because then she will only be rejected more.  She ended her story with, “This is my life”.  I was sobbing right along with her every word.  I didn’t know what to say, so I asked Annette if I could give her a hug.  When I did, she broke even more and cried hysterically.  I just held her and kept telling her that we were now her new friends and that she wasn’t alone.

I wanted to share these two “stories” with you, because I want you to know what we are faced with everyday while in Uganda.  There are stories of hope that are shared with us and there are many stories  of heartache too.  We laugh a lot but we cry a lot too!  It is totally exhausting at times, but oh so worth every minute!

There is a harvest of love that is pouring forth from the children at Hope and it is because you have helped us to help them!  Thank you for being a part of Show Mercy.  Of course there is still so much more to do, but we are taking it one day at a time.  We are stopping for the one that is placed in front of us and doing what we can.  Consider helping us to reach out in love today!  There are many children that are in need of sponsorship still.  If you have a heart for Annette, you can give towards her care as well.  Every little bit goes a long way, because in Uganda, One plus One equals a BUNDLE!

Today (Jan. 20^th) we are heading out to the Field of Dreams to do an outreach to many blind and deaf villagers.  We are excited to see what God will do!

More soon,

Lori Salley
Show Mercy International
www.showmercy.org
541-791-3566