November 2003

Welcome to the First Edition -- November 2003!

Welcome to the first edition of Covenant Mercies’ Sponsorship Program Update! Don’t worry, we won’t be filling up your In Box on a regular basis. However, we want to honor the commitment we made to provide our sponsors with semi-annual updates on Covenant Mercies’ Orphan Sponsorship Program. In November of each year you will receive a general program update, providing you with the latest news about the program as a whole. Then in May of each year, we will send you a child-specific update consisting of a new photo and updated information on the child(ren) you are sponsoring.

As is the case with all our communication to our sponsors, we hope the Update will primarily serve as a tool by which we can express our deep gratitude to you for your generosity. Any impact we are having in Uganda is due first of all to Jesus Christ, the One who has shown us unending compassion, and second of all to you. Apart from the generosity of our sponsors, none of what you are about to read would be possible. May that knowledge encourage you as you read on and enjoy the first edition of the Sponsorship Program Update!

Mercy in the Midst of Affliction
by Doug Hayes

It was a typically hot, sunny, April Monday in Nagongera when the Lord first brought five year-old Roselyn across our path. After word of the sponsorship program reached her village, Roselyn’s teenage aunt loaded her onto the back of a bicycle and rode the three miles to the offices of Nagongera Gospel Centre. There they waited all day for us – hoping to inquire about the program – before we finally arrived in the early afternoon.

Only two weeks earlier, Roselyn had lost her mother to AIDS. Then, after suffering the rejection of her father, she was taken in by her aunt and grandparents. When we first laid eyes on her, Roselyn was experiencing severe affliction from symptoms of syphilis (a disease her family believes she inherited through childbirth). As a result of this illness, almost all the hair on Roselyn’s scalp had fallen out; her head appearing instead as one large scab. Though her face was quite beautiful, the crevices running through the gray scabbing on her scalp were a ghastly sight to behold. That, combined with the strong odor rising from her sores, had prevented this little one from attending school and being accepted by the other children.

Roselyn had been examined by a doctor at some point but, due to her family’s inability to afford treatment, her condition had progressively worsened. Prepared to pay whatever fees were necessary for her ongoing care, we took Roselyn to the local medical clinic. Following evaluation a prescription was written, and I stood with tears in my eyes as I learned that this precious child had been suffering so severely for the lack of 8,600 Ugandan shillings – the equivalent of $4.37.

As a result of this sovereign encounter, Roselyn’s life has been radically transformed in only a few months. The hair has returned to her head as sores have disappeared from her scalp, and she is now enrolled in school. The smile on her face in the photo to the left is indicative of a measure of happiness and hope the Lord has restored to this little girl’s life; happiness and hope we trust He will multiply as she continues to grow up under the care of His church. In addition, Roselyn’s teenage aunt has placed her faith in Christ and has been added into the church in Nagongera. What a joy to see our gracious Heavenly Father using these good works to transform lives not only in a temporal sense, but also for eternity!

While Roselyn is certainly not typical – most children in our program are not physically suffering to the degree she was when the Lord first brought her to us – her story does effectively illustrate the severe risk all of these precious children are exposed to every day of their lives. Diseases we recognize as curable may cause acute suffering or even death – all for the lack of $4.37. But thanks to your sponsorship and the generosity of so many others, Covenant Mercies is positioned to care for them in Jesus’ name. As a result, we all have the privilege of seeing their lives transformed not only for time, but also we trust, for eternity. May God bless you as you have blessed these little ones, with lavish grace and tender compassion; and may the mercy of Jesus be magnified as we continue to reach out to them in His name.

Maximize Your Impact – Tell Your Friends!

Many of our sponsors have commented of their wish that they could sponsor ten or twenty or a hundred children. While we at Covenant Mercies would welcome such a sponsor, we recognize that the Lord has equipped few of us with the funds to personally support so many children. However, most of us have a network of friends who may be willing to sponsor one or two.

We are exceedingly grateful to God that this program, while still in its infancy, is already touching the lives of approximately 370 orphaned children! We also believe the Lord has given us the capacity to care for many more. There are currently 500 children registered in this program, with approximately 130 waiting for sponsors. Once these initial 500 are provided for, we could easily expand to reach over a thousand orphans in this region of eastern Uganda alone. The critical element in this equation, of course, is the need for additional sponsors.

With this in mind, we are asking our current sponsors for help in identifying others who may be willing to take up the burden of sponsorship for one or more of our waiting children. Do you have like-minded friends who could potentially join us in this effort? If so, would you consider forwarding this Sponsorship Program Update along to them? You could also direct them to our web site (www.covenantmercies.org), where they can read more about the program and sign up to sponsor a child if they so desire. Finally, you are welcome to request hard copies of this Update, and/or our Sponsorship Program brochures, to give to friends who may be interested.

Thank you for caring enough not only to invest your time and resources into the life of your child(ren), but also to tell your friends about the impact their investment could have on the lives of others. May God bless you as you seek to maximize your impact for His glory, and for the joy of the orphans of Uganda!

Covenant Mercies Begins Construction of Orphans’ Homes

Most of the children being served through Covenant Mercies’ Orphan Sponsorship Program are living under the care of an extended family member. We have been consistently amazed at the strength of the extended family in Uganda as grandparents, aunts and uncles take additional children in, even as they struggle to provide for their own. Covenant Mercies therefore strives, through your sponsorship, to support the commendable efforts of the extended family and enhance their ability to provide sufficiently for the children.

For a limited number of children, however, no adequate living situation is available within the extended family. In these cases, children grow up without adult supervision, leaving the eldest often with no choice but to assume responsibility for younger siblings rather than attending school and enjoying a normal childhood.

With these children in mind, Covenant Mercies has purchased approximately 20 acres of land outside Nagongera for the construction of orphans’ homes. These small family homes – each large enough to be occupied by two caretakers and eight children – are designed to provide a “normal” family environment in which children can be raised, integrated into the life of the local church and endowed not only with daily sustenance, but also with biblical instruction and a loving, Christian upbringing.

In October 2003, Covenant Mercies sent a team of nine men on a twelve-day journey to Uganda to build our first two orphans’ homes. A third is being constructed this month, with a long-term plan to build at least eight homes on this land as the Lord wills and provides. While it will always be our preference to support extended families in caring for their children, we expect the need for these homes to increase in the coming years as many grandparents become unable to continue looking after their orphaned grandchildren. Due to the generosity of our sponsors and that of other donors who have sacrificially financed this effort, Covenant Mercies now stands ready to care for these precious children in ways commensurate with the severity of their need. Thank you for your ongoing support of Covenant Mercies as together we practice “pure and undefiled religion” (James 1:27) for the glory of God!