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Uganda Mission Trip June 2006

We took a team of 21 people to Uganda this past June. The trip was truly one of the most touching and fruitful times we have ever experienced! The expression, "Love a child, Touch a Village, Change a Nation", is becoming a reality in the Gganda Village area where Hope Children’s Home is located. Each day while in Uganda, we focused on ways that we could serve and love on the people.

Here are just a few of the things we were able to accomplish on this trip:

• Love on the Children at Hope
• Give new clot hes for each child
• Give new clothes/toys/shoes to people of the community
• Purchase new school books
• Hand out over 100 backpacks for our school children
• Door to door in Gganda Village to show Love
• Building more personal relationships
• Visited 2 hospitals and pray for sick
• Visited a prison and pray for the hopeless
• Give much needed medical supplies (Thank you Northwest Medical Teams)< /div>
• Dedicated Abundant Life Children’s Home
• Feed the people of Sokolo Village at dedication ceremony for Abundant Life
• Share encouragement at High Schools
• Speak and pray at many churches

This is a picture of the wonderful team that helped to express the love of Jesus

Here are a few other pictures from our trip:

Ann loving on the people in the hospital	Hope kids watching a video with a soda and cookies
Juliett with her first set of new clothes	Hope kids with new backpacks for school

Abundant Life Children’s Center

Along with the people in the village of Sokolo, government officials, and the entire Show Mercy Team, we were honored to officially open Abundant Life Children’s Home. Eventually this home will house 100 kids. Daniel Nkata of Reachout Village Ministries will be overseeing this children’s home and he has agreed to take on the responsibility of feeding the children of this home by using part of the acreage he owns to plant food. By the generous donation of a sponsor, we were able to build a goat pen and buy 7 goats. They will use these goats for food, milk and reproduction of more goats. We have currently provided beds for 100 kids and as the food harvest comes in, the children will be placed into the home.

Dr. James Buturo, Interior Minister of Ethics and Integrity, discusses with Mike his appreciation for the work Show Mercy is doing.

Some of the kids that will be moving into Abundant Life soon.

Completed Abundant Life Children’s Center

The Great Northwest Challenge 2006

We are in the process of planning our only fundraiser, The Great Northwest Challenge. We are still looking for a few more corporate sponsorships. This event was a huge success last year and we are planning on an even greater event this year. For information from last year’s event including newspaper articles, please visit our website at www.showmercy.org.

How can you get involved?

• Sponsor a team. Team donations are $400. You can either enter your own team or we can give it away on KRKT radio mentioning your business as the contributor of the team. Have the team members wear t-shirts advertising your business or decorate their cars with information about your business. Have fun! It is a small price that will make a huge difference in the lives of many children who need assistance so desperately.
• Enter a team in the competition. While it will be a super time for all, the benefits to the children that we are helping will be immeasurable! Team registrations are $200 per individual on the team. Donations are tax deductible. You can register online at http://www.showmercy.org/gnwc_registration.html or you can call 541-905-0791.
• Be a corporate sponsor of the event. If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Mike Salley at mike@showmercy.org. It is a great "cause marketing" fundraiser that has and will continue to generate much interest and exposure for your business.
• Volunteer to assist at the event. Please contact Lori Salley ASAP at lori@showmercy.org if you would like to volunteer your time for the challenge. We will need about 75 volunteers to make this event smooth and successful. You can help by supervising events, take photographs, recruit teams NOW, sell raffle tickets, collect items for raffle just to name a few.
• Make a cash donation. All of the expenses of this event, including the prize are already covered by our sponsors. 100% of all of your donations will be used to directly assist orphans who have nobody else to help them.

Testimonies

This young man is in need of a sponsor. Please email us if you would like to be apart of helping Peter.

Peter "The Painter"

We met Peter in January of 2006. When we went to visit Hope Children’s Home, we noticed beautiful bright paintings all over the walls. We inquired as to who had done the marvelous paintings and we were introduced to Peter "The Painter".

Peter was living with a family in the village, but spent much of his time working in order to pay for his high school education as well as food. Since both of his parents died, he was doing the best he could to survive. School fees are about $600/year for high school, so that meant Peter would spend much of his time working, just to go to school part of the time. When he would not hav e enough to pay for school, he would have to leave until he could make enough to go for a few more days. We found him making bricks by hand out of clay and straw. He would then sell the bricks to get money.

Peter is a very tall and slender boy. His clothes were very worn out and the shoes on his feet were too small. We immediately went to buy him some new clothes and shoes that he could wear.

It is obvious that Peter has a talent in the area of creativity and art. Our hearts were so touched by his drive to do something with his life, we offered to pay for his school. He is a very bright boy!

On this last visit in June, we found out that the family he had been living with kicked him out. They told him that if Show Mercy could pay for his school , then we could pay for the place he was staying. He then began to sleep under a tree. We knew he had to stay at our home, so we purchased a new bed for him. He is like a big brother to all the kids at the home and he takes such good care of them all.

One of the painting on the wall at Hope Children’s Home

Peter riding is brand new bicycle!

Peter also told us that he had been walking 4-5 miles o ne way to school, so he was not getting home until very late at night. We were happy to be able to give him his very first bike. All of the kids were very excited for Peter. We had to show him how to ride, but he was a very quick learner.

Here is a portion of a letter he wrote to us:

…I am a tree that has been planted in mercy. And here in Uganda they have a saying that, "the younger bird learns from it’s mother to fly." So you have taught me how to have mercy on others. The other thing is that I love you, not because of the things you have given me, but because of the love you showed me. That love gave me a thinking that I am not alone in the world.

Love,
Peter

Reaching out i n Love…One Child at a Time

While in Uganda, we added 2 more children to Hope Children’s Home. We had originally planned to have only 50 children in this home, but the need is so great, and we are now up to 58 kids. The two newest children are Rose and Mercy. We were able to rescue these girls from very dangerous situations. We really are making a difference, one child at a time. You will find their personal testimonies on our site.

Brenda, Lori and Rose

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers! By partnering together, we are making a difference in each one of these children’s lives.

We had a wonderful and productive trip to Uganda in January of this year. We traveled and had a chance to visit Hope Children’s Home as well as Faith Children’s Home. We also were seeking to find some property to build two more children’s homes. We found two pieces of property, but only one was ready for us to build on, so we are happy to announce that we have begun the construction on a new home.

Abundant Life Children’s Center Underway

This new home will house approximately 100 orphans. It is located in the village of Sokolo about 25 miles from downtown Kampala. It is a very poor village with many orphaned children. There is only one fresh water well for nearly 20,000 people. The other water source is very dirty, a long distance away and dependent upon rain. During the dry season, this water dries up.
Progress on Abundant Life Center

This new home will be named, Abundant Life Children’s Center in memory of Henry Johnson of Florence, Oregon. We were overwhelmed when we returned from our trip to Uganda to find that a donation was made by many people in memory of Mr. Johnson for the children in the Kampala area. We were very saddened by the news that Mr. Johnson had passed away, but we know that his memory will live on through the children and people of Uganda for years to come. People will be moved to hear the story behind this home.

The Abundant Life Center is also the fruit of our fundraiser last year, The Great Northwest Challenge. We are excited to be able to build a home for twice as many children as compared to our last construction project, Hope Children’s Home. When we visited this village, we were excited to see that a government approved school was already in place and the one fresh water well is actually on the property where we are building. Because of these factors, the adjustment for these orphans moving into their new home will be much easier.

We are excited to be working with Pastors Daniel and Margaret Nkata. They own the property where the home is being built and they have big plans for their land.

Oregon Business Gets Involved

PizzAmore, located in Albany, Oregon, has really taken on the heart of Show Mercy. The operator, Aaron Leget and his team have been turning change from a tip jar into help for the children. He was able to gather enough funds to purchase 20 brand new soccer balls for the children at Hope Children’s Home as well as other homes in the area. We were able to take the balls with us on our last trip. Below is a picture of some of the kids with one of the balls. The children were so excited!

They have now set up a display in their establishment and are helping to raise money for the beds that will be used at Abundant Life Center! We are needing to purchase 100 beds and linens for the children at this new home. If you would like to purchase a bed, the cost is only $40.00 per bed. There are many children who will live in this home who will have never slept in a bed until this time. You can be the provider of that first bed! If you would like to donate a bed, click here.

We are excited to announce that we will be organizing the 2nd Annual Great Northwest Challenge. Last years event was a huge success. You can check our website out in the next month to find out the dates, times and more details. We will again be raising money for children at risk around the world! If you are interested in volunteering or know of a corporation that would like to participate in this great event, please email us.

CONGRATS TO KRKT’s Scott and Angie!

We were so thrilled to hear that Scott and Angie, morning radio personalities for KRKT, were nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award! They were nominated for best radio personalities in a small market. WOW! We are very proud of them. They were absolutely instrumental in helping us with the Great NW Challenge last year. Without their support, we would have never had such a wonderful and successful event. They have a heart for the poor that is demonstrated in more than words. Their support of Show Mercy has been demonstrated in action as well. Join with us to pray that they will win the award!!

Hope Children’s Home

Our visit to Hope Children’s Home in January was wonderful! The children were all smiles. We spent alot of time with the children and we played games (the Twister game is their new favorite), watched movies and even had "a sleep over". We normally stay in a hotel when we go on our trips since they are not set up to accommodate visitors, but we decided to set up a bed and mosquito net in the house, so we could tuck the kids in at night as well as see them in their morning routines.

We were thrilled to see all of the children working together to prepare for their day. Some of the children were in charge of going to get water down at a spring. Others helped to mop the floor of the house. Mopping as we know it in the USA is not quite the same for them. They get a bucket and cloth and wipe down a 2500 square foot house by hand. My back was aching just watching them work! Some of the children helped wash and hang up clothes. Imagine washing clothes everyday for 50 children. Others helped with breakfast by mashing the corn into a fine meal. They did this by "dancing" on top of the corn with their feet!

My favorite thing that morning was to watch the children climb the trees to gather branches in order to make a broom. They used the broom to sweep the yard. There is alot of dusty dirt there, so every morning they sweep up all the trash and debris that gathers from the previous day.

We also spent time going through the children’s clothes. Their clothes wear out very fast, so we sorted the ones that needed to be repaired and those that need to be discarded. Many of you were gracious enough to give us clothes to take for the kids. We almost had enough for everyone to get 2 outfits. They were so excited to have new clothes!

Orphans Get A Home

We have added 5 new children at Hope Children’s Home. When we originally opened the home, we had 54 children. Since that time, some of the children were able to go and live with a relative. Those children are still eating at the home as well as going to school free of charge.

In January, there were 5 empty beds, so we were excited knowing that we would be able to help 5 more orphans. Pastor Sanyu found the 5 new children and invited them to come live at the home. Their names are: Juliet, Peter, Stephen, Willy and another Stephen. The first four were totally orphaned and Peter was living on the streets. We have more information as well as pictures that we will be posting on the website shortly.

Upcoming Mission Trip

We are in the process of planning our next mission trip. We are scheduled to leave June 15th and will be returning June 29th. If you are interested in this trip, we might still be able to get you a spot, but you will need to let us know as soon as possible. The airline prices are increasing almost daily!

We currently have 19 people signed up to go, so we are very excited. We should be able to help serve in more areas with this number!

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers! We are truly making a difference by reaching out in love…one child at a time.

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We are so excited about what we have been able to accomplish this past year due to your generous support and look forward to an even better year in 2006!

Thanks again for joining with us to help the abandoned children in the world. This is what Christmas is all about! Giving life and hope to those less fortunate than ourselves.

We look forward to your continued support in 2006! Begin praying about going with us to Uganda in June of 2006 to see first hand what your contributions have provided.

Blessings to you all!

Mike, Lori, Sarah and Katelin Salley