When a child becomes the parent....

There are many families in Uganda that are headed up by a child. The father of the children below was a bigamist with two wives.....all three died of aids, leaving the children alone.

Distant family members came.....not to care for them......but to steal what little worldly goods those children had....a goat or two, some spoons and a pot maybe.  They were left with nothing.......just the corrugated tin roof over their tiny shack.


But then the relatives returned.......to steal the roof!  This time the grapevine in the village was working full force and all the villagers came out and chased them off with machetes.  Yea for the calvary!!!


You noticed that they are smiling in the picture below?  Some of the team brought them a few necessities of life.  Once again the village grapevine was in place and the villagers came out, not with machetes this time, but applauding! 

This simple little graveyard is almost in the backyard of these children.  Their parents are buried there.  No one seems to know who made the headstones.  Probably some villagers hauled the stones and carved them. 

Below is Kefa Sempangi with a child.....look closely and you'll notice the child has a few crackers in a bag.  What a treat!  Kefa Sempangi has long worked with the people of Uganda.  

He had returned to live in Uganda and was there with his wife when Idi Amin started the mass murder of many.  He saw the many orphans there and began working to help them.

His book A Distant Grief is a real eye opener!   We need our eyes opened!

We ask for your prayers for the orphans of Uganda. 

Enock's Story

Though we do not yet have a picture of Enock to post, I wanted to go ahead and send you this letter I receive yesterday from my friend Rev Dr Kefa Sempangi.

Kefa is a former member of parliament and has written 2 books, "A Distant Grief" which chronicles his life, his work with orphans, and his many narrow escapes from death at the hands of Idi Amin.  His second book "From the Dust" is a sequel to the first book and is about his work with street children in Uganda. 
Enock's story is one that will touch your heart and change your life.....


Laura,
One of our children at the orphanage died last week 7th Nov and was buried yesterday.  There was a huge gathering for burial.  Enock Sebanga born 1988 became a national concern in 2000 through the media and was among the first children to attract government intervention.  Sebanga was almost starved to death by his own parents at Kalerwerwe in Kampala. 


During Sebanga's brutal torture his left collar bone was broken and exposed to the surface.  It was restored to normal position at Mulago Hospital in 2000.  It is two and a half years that Doctors at Mengo Hospital found out that this bone had generated cancer in Sebanga's body-Leukemia.


In 2000 Sebanga's parents stood trial and were charged and sentenced in the courts of law.  From the beginning of 2009 Sebanga had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the Kampala international Hospital, until about a month ago when his blood count could no longer contain the tough chemo treatment.  Sebanga was terminally ill and given 28 days to live, the exact time he died.


He died a born again strong Christian.


Yours in Christ.
Rev. Dr. Kefa Sempangi

Just one child

Each time a child receives a sponsor, we will be featuring him/her on our blog!  It is exciting to see God at work in the lives of these children.

Frank is 12 and goes to Bethel Junior school.  He's a bright and serious student who understands the value of education.  His mother died and when not in school, he lives with his dad.

Frank was abducted last February by some local witch doctors who wanted him for a child sacrifice.  Try to imagine the terror he must have felt....the knowledge that this was the end of his life and that it would be a horrible death!

It once again leads me to think about my own children and what it would have been like to send them to grandpa's house and wonder if they would make it there safely.  Frank didn't make it that day.  How his grandfather and his father must have worried.  How they must have searched and questioned everyone they met to see if anyone had seen him.

I would always worry if I was late getting my children from school, worry that they would be scared and think I wasn't coming.  I can't imagine the fear if they had been picked up by strangers and targeted for murder.

By the grace of God, Frank has a scar on his stomach, from what I don't know.  That scar saved his life.  When the witch doctors saw the scar and realized Frank wasn't a perfect sacrifice, they released him to return to his family.

If only those witch doctors could know that the perfect sacrifice was made on the cross at Calvary!  That Jesus is the one they need, not a child off the street.

I pray that all the children will get sponsors.  That those sponsors will pray diligently for their child to come to know that perfect sacrifice and to then spread the gospel throughout their world!

Thank you God for each person who sees one of these children and recognizes him or her as their child, that bonus child that they can help in a world of poverty that we can never even begin to imagine!

I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy,for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now;  being confident of this very thing, that he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offense unto the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.  Philippians 1: 3-11 

Simple Things

I was thinking about the people in Uganda this morning as I was sitting in my PJ's having coffee.  I am here this morning typing this and it is already 4:45 in the afternoon there. Since the time change this weekend, they are now 9 hours ahead of us.  Most of them did'nt get up thinking about that first cup of coffee, rather, they thought about traveling by foot to get water in jerry cans so they could prepare food for their family.  They considered a new day where they will probably, if they have a job, make about 50 cents today, some may make a little more, but nothing by our standards here in America where even with our economy and job issues, we have more than them.  I thought back to Paul, the young man who recently had spinal surgery, recovering.  I thought of the over 500 children we are working on sponsorships for....over 300 of those children can be sponsored for only $150.00 a YEAR. The other nearly 200 can be sponsored for $350.00 a year because they
also have to live at the school as boarders because they either have no family or live too far from the school.  I thought about the Kalangaalo Water Project we have going, trying to raise $10,000.00 for a well that will tremendously help that precious remote village and their overall health.  I couldn't help but think of the Little Boy at the Gate....Lawrence, and how God is so mightily working in his life and his circumstances.  God sees those "forgotten" people, the poor, helpless, lost.....He not only sees them, He loves them and He is working amidst their struggles, their circumstances.  More often than not, God works in peoples lives through other people...what a blessing for both!  I can tell you as a very inadequate sinner, how humbling it is to know that God has somehow chosen to use me in another person's life.  He is allowing me to be involved in His kingdom's work.....He doesn't need me, that is for sure.  For some reason in His grace and mercy, He is blessing many lives through Mercy Uganda, my life, Lawrence's life, those who are sponsoring children, the sponsored children, our board members, and the list goes on.  If you will notice, when God opens a door for us to minister to others, we end up totally blessed and ministered to ourselves.  I praise Him for that. I thank Him that He is allowing me to get to know some awesome people and work amidst some spiritual giants.  He is helping me grow in all of this.  My prayer is that He will be honored and glorified.  I pray, too, for an obedient spirit, a willing heart, for strength in serving Him, and for courage always to do the hard stuff that He wants me to do.  Well, if you are reading this over your cup of coffee I pray that you will also reflect on what God is doing in your life. I ask that you say a prayer for Mercy Uganda, and for the women, children, and whole villages that God has placed before us.  Perhaps you too would like to be a part of this work.  We would be honored to have you!.

Lawrence....the very latest!

I know you will be interested in this newest information received over the weekend!  Here is what my dear friend Henry had to say about Lawrence's appointment on Friday:
"Lawrence went through a series of tests.  His retina, orbit, and the entire back of his eyes seemed okay.  He was fighting during most of the examinations but doctors did their best.  In fact they had suggested putting him to sleep but this would mean theater" (this is the term Ugandans use for operating room).
It seems too, that Lawrence is far sighted and will need glasses.....but praise the Lord his eye condition can be corrected! An appointment has been made for Lawrence
to see a children's specialist in vision.  He will also visit a children's specialist to assess his heart, lungs, etc to make sure he is healthy enough to be put to sleep
for the eye surgery.  Today (Monday, Nov 2) Lawrence will see the children's specialist regarding his vision.  Please pray for him, for his grandmother, and for the specialist who will be working with him.  I ask you to pray, too, that God will provide whatever funds will be needed for Lawrence to receive the surgery......don't forget, too, that he has an appointment with the speech therapist on the 6th, which is this Friday.  This precious little boy has much going on that will drastically and positively change his little life, and as a result, make life more hopeful not only for him but for his grandmother as well.  God is so awesome!  We give Him all the praise and glory!