We just finished a 3-day medical outreach where nearly 2,000 people were treated. Salvations, healings, so many incredible moments. But 1 story captured our heart.
She’s 3 years old, but weighs 15 pounds, about half the weight of most children her age. When she was carried in, she could barely sit. She was severely malnourished…fighting to survive.
In 2004, when we began Show Mercy, we had no idea the depth and reach this journey would take. We simply said yes to helping 50 children. That’s it. No grand strategy. Just obedience.
And that’s when I met Grace—a quiet, wide-eyed little boy sitting in a church service. I invited him to sit on my lap, and from that moment on, he had a special place in my heart.
Grace’s story was painful. His father had died of AIDS, and by custom, he was sent to live with his grandparents. At just seven years old, Grace was forced to work in the fields from dawn to dusk, digging for food with his bare hands. He wasn’t allowed to go to school. He slept on the hard mud floor. His clothes were rags. He was in constant pain—his feet and hands raw and infected from living barefoot in the dirt.
When he was finally brought into our sponsorship program, everything changed.
A Heart Transformed
Grace was safe. He had a bed. A blanket. Shoes. Meals. Clean water. Medical care. An education. But more than all of that—he had love.He would run to carry my bags every time I visited. He started dreaming big, bold dreams. He told me with glistening eyes that one day he would be a pastor and evangelist for Jesus. And over and over again, he dreamed of fishing—casting nets—pulling in a catch.
One day, as he wept in my arms sharing the horrors of his early life, he suddenly lifted his head, smiled, and said something I will never forget:
“I now know what it means to be a King’s kid.”
Grace discovered who he truly was—not an orphan, not a slave—but a son of the King. That truth changed everything for him. And it became a cornerstone of this ministry’s calling.
The Final Goodbye
In 2008, we received the heartbreaking news that Grace had passed away. While being treated in the hospital for an injury, doctors discovered he had leukemia. It progressed quickly, and we didn’t even have time to say goodbye.
But then, something miraculous happened. My husband Mike had a dream. In it, Grace was sitting on Jesus’ lap—radiant, whole, joyful. He looked at Mike and said something like:
“Thank you… for showing me what a good Poppa is on the earth.”
He woke up in tears. It was as if Grace had come back one last time to say thank you—and to pass the baton.
Use this form to send a special note to your child in Uganda.
You can upload a few small photos as well.