Shacks with a hole in the ground. A simple bucket to be dumped. A plastic bag to be tied and thrown over the fence for someone else to deal with.

Today we pray for an unlikely subject, perhaps one you haven’t prayed for before: toilets.

In the developing world, sanitation methods come in all shapes and sizes. And yes, sometimes that means human waste flies through the air in a plastic bag.

If it wasn’t already obvious, how people deal with their waste directly affects their health.

In some areas, the latrines available at the Mission of Mercy project are the only toilets in the entire community. In others, several hundred people will share one or two latrines or pit toilets. And in others, there are no toilet facilities at all. (You can get a better idea of what is available here.)

No matter the sanitation method, hygiene is difficult yet so necessary. And often, once a child learns that where they go to the bathroom affects their drinking water and health, they take those lessons home.  

Still there are many issues that affect the bathroom situations for our children.

Let’s pray over these today:

• That the children and their families can understand that how they dispose of waste can affect their health and the health of those around them
• That alternative sanitation methods will become available
• That support for those methods, including clearing out the latrine pits to keep them from overflowing, is also addressed
• That toilet facilities are kept far away from water sources
• That children and adults can understand how simple hygiene like hand washing can make all the difference

Lord, you see all of these issues. Nothing is too gross for you. Please help us understand that our faithfulness in small things can make big changes in the life of a child. May our prayers be worthy of their great need. Please continue to move others into place to meet this most basic need.

In our Latin American countries, most families rely on borehole wells and community taps. Perhaps your sponsored child has mentioned their water source.

Many children spend a large portion of their day hauling water from the community tap in buckets and containers for the family to use throughout the day.

Still, many communities Mission of Mercy serves have no drilled, secure water sources. Instead, streams and creeks that run through the slums or community are their only water source. (Click here to watch a moving video exploring the environment many Mission of Mercy children call home.)

And as we found in our Asian countries, those creeks are also the community’s toilet and trash dump. One of our program goals is to teach children how to dispose of trash and waste in ways that do not affect the water supply. In the meantime, we provide safe water sources and the means to address infections and illnesses associated with the poor water quality.

Today’s Prayer:
Lord, please help the children and families to see that what they cast off as trash may affect them later. Protect their water sources and their health, Father. If you can part a sea, you can purify streams from which our children drink.

Other areas needing prayer:

• For safety of children and adults alike who may travel long distances hauling water
• That they can keep their storage containers clean to ensure better health
• That other members of the community can respect the needs of others and protect the water sources

In Asia, Coleridge’s line from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, “water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink” is most certainly true.

In Africa, it is the opposite: water is incredibly scarce, especially in recent years when an extended drought has taken its toll on several countries in eastern Africa.

Several programs in Kenya rely on rainwater collection for their water source, a method that’s only grown more difficult in the dry seasons.

Other communities rely on nearby rivers or streams, which also creates a scarcity issue.

In other countries, a deep borehole is drilled and a pump installed to create a more stable source of water. These are difficult to come by in many of the African communities we serve because they are so rural. It is difficult to get a truck out to drill a well, and then there is added cost to maintain the pump.

We work hard to ensure our programs have the water they need for the children. In areas where water quality is questionable, such as a muddy river source, we ensure the projects treat the water with a chlorine-based product. In times of great need, we will find sources of bottled water for the children.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, you understand what it means to have so little and how many of the families in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe rely on water sources that might not always come through. Thank you for providing in creative ways, and please help Mission of Mercy find new stable sources of water for these communities. We believe you to be the source of Living Water. Please flow through us to these people.

Other areas needing prayer:

• Continued and strengthened partnerships with organizations who exist to meet the water needs of impoverished communities
• The ability to provide clean water at the project level is one thing – please pray we can provide resources so families have access to filters at home, as well

In most of the countries we serve, there is no clean water. That is due in part to a lack of sanitation. In Cambodia, 71% of the people do not have access to adequate sanitation. Nepal and India are not far behind, with 69% of their population living at risk.

Recognizing that nutrition and clean water are the foundations of good health, Mission of Mercy has continued to improve resources at the project level.

In Cambodia, water is everywhere but very little of it is drinkable. We prefer to partner with organizations that are familiar with the water challenges in country and create filters in a sustainable manner in the country itself. The filters at one of our projects are made from porous ceramic pots treated with colloidal silver, materials all available in country.

Where the water is extremely unclean (where the sanitation method is just to dump it in the lake or river), we’ve tried to ensure that the projects and the children’s families have filters. Although the water in the filter looks murky, it is totally safe to drink and much improved from drinking straight from the river or lake! These filters remove 98-99% of bacterium in the water.

In areas where living on the water is a way of life (in Cambodia and Bangladesh in particular), changing sanitation methods takes time, but filters can address water quality immediately. In Bangladesh, many of the government-dug wells are too shallow and contain high levels of arsenic. Those pumps are marked with red paint, and new, deeper wells with safe water are painted green.

One of the biggest challenges is educating families about their water supply. Children have access to safe water at the project, but they spend just as much if not more time at home, where water quality is a concern. 

Today’s prayer:
Lord, you know the needs of these communities, of the dangers lurking in the most necessary aspect of life on this earth: water. We pray Lord that you can move people into place to fix wells and improve filters. Thank you for Mission of Mercy’s partners which tirelessly seek to improve the water quality around Asia. May they continue to equip the parents and children to address their own needs in a sustainable way.

Other areas needing prayer:
+ In India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, tube wells with hand pumps are expensive to dig and maintain. Please pray that the governments and outside organizations can teach community members to fix the pumps as needed., enabling communities to maintain their water supplies and their health.  

Today is Independence Day for Jordan, a day when they celebrate 66 years of sovereignty from British rule.

Countries like Jordan and Lebanon, where Mission of Mercy has projects, are considered “medium-developed” and thus don’t top the list of most malnourished or disease ridden countries.

Even with a higher level of development, we shouldn’t assume children in these countries don’t have the same health challenges as others.

Some of our programs in Jordan and Lebanon are in extremely rural areas, where respiratory ailments and asthma (thanks in part to prolific dust storms) are quite common. Many children in the Middle East suffer from conditions like rickets (a softening of the bones due to a vitamin D deficiency, which affects absorption of calcium) and anemia due to iron-deficiency, both of which are often caused by poor diet.

We also have programs in urban areas, where apartment living is common; although they may be nicer than living in a thatch hut, these apartments are not luxurious. They teem with refugee families who live in cramped quarters with inadequate sanitation. Their “running” water is siphoned off of water mains pumped into the refugee areas (as the image above demonstrates), but that water is often untreated and quite salty.

All of these factors leave children in our programs in a weakened state of health, but because of your sponsorship, the schools we run in Jordan and Lebanon have the means to feed the children healthy meals to address their nutritional and hydration needs.

Today’s Prayer:
Lord, you are no stranger to the desert and the challenges there. When you guided your people, not even their sandals wore out. Thank you for the way you are providing for children in such a volatile area. May they and their parents see your goodness and provision today.

Other areas needing prayer:
Political stability continues to threaten the region, especially with the continued violence in Jordan and Lebanon’s neighbor, Syria. As so many families we serve are already in tenuous situations as refugees where resources are limited, increased political and financial pressure and an additional influx of refugees makes life more difficult.

It’s hard to believe that something as simple as hygiene could be the difference between life and death, but it was all too clear in Haiti. Our Vice President for International Child Ministries, Jack Eans, wrote upon returning from a cholera prevention training trip that many die due to ignorance alone because cholera is both preventable and treatable.

Within the first week of the outbreak In Haiti, we equipped the project staff with prevention methods and materials. They learned how to purify water with bleach, how to wash your hands properly, and how to recognize unsafe water sources or the poor sanitation that led to the frightening spread of cholera.

Dr. Beyda and other staff traveled to Haiti to ensure both prevention and treatment methods were taught correctly. Then the staff set out in teams of two to visit homes and assess the children for telltale signs of sickness.

The projects and the staff became a resource in the community. That is our goal at Mission of Mercy – to bring life and hope where there is little. Cholera was still present, but the result was not what it could have been.

Once cholera is present in a country, it is almost impossible to eliminate it. Haiti, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Kenya have all had outbreaks recently. Thankfully, with the training and resources available at Mission of Mercy child development centers, cholera no longer has the reach it once had.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, there is so much about this world that we don’t understand. You see those who are struck down by preventable diseases, and you know what can make all the difference in their lives. Help us to see past the problem to the part we can play in the solution.

Other areas needing prayer:

• That the staff be ever vigilant for signs of cholera, and that families continue to use preventative measures
• That Mission of Mercy can continue to work toward more permanent clean water sources (all projects have water filters, but we are working toward drilling more secure wells)
• That we can implement what was so successful in Haiti to other countries at risk of cholera

For a powerful example of the difference proper training can make, read Edmond's story here.

A child’s health is often affected by elements outside their control: they have little input on how their parents spend money or what types of food they receive at home.

Because those elements are outside of the Mission of Mercy program’s control as well, we focus on ways children can engage their own health outside the project walls instead.

From an early age, children in our programs learn basic hygiene practices such as hand washing, finding a clean water source, and how to go to the bathroom in a way that keeps their immediate environment clean. 

How do you teach children about germs they can't see? On a recent mission trip, the team found a creative way to demonstrate how germs spread to help reinforce the importance of hand washing. One woman poured glitter into her hand and pretended to sneeze. Then she grabbed the arm and hand of another trip participant, who then shook the hand of a child.

Soon, glitter was everywhere – an easy and effective way to remind children why it is important to wash their hands multiple times a day. The children were taught to wash their hands while singing a song to make sure they soap up thoroughly.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, thank you for the creativity you have instilled in us to help teach others. Please continue to inspire the staff to teach simple tasks that will improve a child’s health. Thank you for the means to provide soap and clean water at the projects and sometimes even the child’s home. Lord, we pray these lessons spread even faster than the germs that affect so many.

Other areas needing prayer:

• That the lessons can counter act common misconceptions or cultural myths, like the idea that the water is fine because everyone uses it or soap is unnecessary
• That other topics, like teeth brushing, find favor so children’s health will be affected for years to come
• That entire families adopt better hygiene practices

Another way Mission of Mercy hopes to build a solid foundation of health is by encouraging and equipping staff to create alternate sources of nutrition or income.

One fantastic example is a garden at one of our projects in Kenya.

Although the Maasai people in this region are primarily herdsmen, they were eager to learn how to grow fruits and vegetables to feed the children in the projects.

They soon learned they had several components for a successful garden: abundant sunshine, a somewhat consistent water source, an eager labor force, and copious amounts of fertilizer thanks to their herds of goats and cows.

With assistance from our Kenya country directors and a consultant from the University of Nairobi, the women of Emarti began their garden. They amended the soil and secured materials for a greenhouse with the help of a donor.

Last October, the Women’s Circle of Caring trip was able to plant the first seedlings of spinach, tomatoes, and chives – simple crops for first-time gardeners:
Just two months later, it was evident that the seedlings had found good soil – the spinach leaves were enormous, and the first harvest allowed the women to feed the children and sell extras for a profit!
The garden is already well into its second harvest; the goal is for the community to gain experience with new types of fruits and vegetables so the women can create their own garden plots as their confidence grows.

The success of the garden reminds of us the promise in Isaiah 58:11, that when we meet the needs of others and free them from oppression, we will be "like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." What a joy to see the fruit of ministry in such a tangible way.  

Today’s prayer:
Lord, we thank you that you are a creator God who enjoys surprising us all with new growth where things once looked barren and dry. Thank you for delivering beyond what this community could ask or imagine. Please help other staff to duplicate their success at our projects all over the world so all of our children can benefit from more nutritious food.  

Other areas needing prayer: 

• Pray for perseverance and success for the other sustainable gardening or income-generating programs at Mission of Mercy schools and projects
• Pray for creativity and commitment as the staff find new ways to supplement what the children already receive thanks to sponsorship
• Pray that these new projects allow the staff, parents, and children to gain skills and knowledge to help them for the rest of their lives 

When levels of malnutrition reach dangerous levels, Mission of Mercy has the means to respond thanks to generous donations to our Children’s Crisis Fund.

One of the more pressing crises Mission of Mercy has had to address is the famine in eastern Africa. Many of the areas we serve in Kenya are rural, and families largely depended on their cattle and livestock. As the rains failed and grazing became more difficult, the livestock struggled; their ill-health meant less money at market. The dwindling herds -- essentially the savings account for a family in Kenya -- meant less money and food. As the drought stretches on for several years, the health and future of the children diminishes.

To meet the immediate needs of the projects who serve these beleaguered communities, Mission of Mercy has partnered with several organizations who have the resources and know-how to meet this specific need.

Right now, one container of protein-enriched rice meals from Stop Hunger Now has traveled from the port in Mombasa, Kenya, to distribution areas around our Turkana projects thanks to the logistical and delivery support of DHL. The container also contains Edesia's Supplementary Plumpy, a highly enriched peanut butter paste which will allow Mission of Mercy to address acute moderate malnutrition in even the youngest children.

Another container is still on its way from Atlanta to Mombasa. This is the 5th container to make the journey to help us meet the immediate needs of our children.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, thank you for the way you connect organizations to address the specific needs of the children we serve. In this cooperation, we see the body of Christ. Lord, please make a way through Customs to allow this food to reach the children quickly. Protect the drivers as they travel thousands of miles to take these precious loads to the projects.

Other areas needing prayer:

• Continued funds in the CCF to send such supplies
• The knowledge and connections our staff need to work out the logistics of delivery to such rural areas
• That all of the supplies will make it into the hands (and bellies) of those who need it most without bribes or tariffs being paid from the supplies itself

What are some of the most common illnesses and ailments that children in our programs face? We will address certain diseases individually so you can know how to best pray against them, but first let us focus on one issue that contributes to almost every other sickness: undernutrition.

Several of our countries have frighteningly high rates of undernourishment (when the food intake is insufficient to meet a child’s minimum energy requirement).

In Kenya and Zimbabwe, one third of children are undernourished. In Mozambique and Ethiopia, around 40% of children do not receive the nourishment they need – and in Haiti, a shocking 57% of children deal with this insufficiency every day.

Some studies estimate that one-third of all child deaths under the age of 5 can be attributed to undernutrition. This is why nutrition is one of the first areas Medical Mercy addresses in the assessment of a project area: what percentage of children are underweight or stunted, and what is needed to supplement what they are already receiving?

Often times, children might not receive enough protein, and the answer is as simple as a hard-boiled egg added to their meal or as a snack. This is an area a Health Care Worker will monitor: given the initial levels of undernourishment, are the children’s health and weight improving? What can this program do to keep the children healthier? When nutrition levels rise, incidents of disease drop.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, thank you for what you are enabling us to do for children. Your word says that you honor those who see the needs of others and respond (Isaiah 58:10-11). Please make a way for the children in Mission of Mercy programs to have access to improved nutrition. If it’s as simple as adding an egg, please create the connections needed to secure those resources.

Other areas needing prayer:

• Pray the HCWs see the children who need to be seen and can evaluate the needs of a community effectively
• Pray that parents’ trust and commitment to the Mission of Mercy program grows as they see their child’s health improve with access to the project
• Pray for creativity and ingenuity to help address the chronic needs of the communities we serve

Programs like Medical Mercy and the Health Care Worker system help Mission of Mercy stand in the gap for the children God has entrusted to us.

But what if these programs did not exist, if God had not moved in people's hearts to ensure necessary care is accessible and equipped others to volunteer to give it?

What medical care is available in the 16 countries developing countries we serve?

Take a look at the resources -- or lack thereof -- against what is available in the US. Perhaps this helps explain why we are so thankful for the Medical Mercy and the Health Care Worker program and the safety net it creates in countries where there obviously isn't one.

Medical Mercy provides an initial level of care and trains the Health Care Workers, who can continue monitoring and addressing the conditions that can so easily limit the quality of life and hopes for the future. Then in cases of emergency, the donations made to the Children's Crisis Fund can secure medicine and other treatment as needed.

Today's prayer:
Lord, you are more than aware of the needs in the communities. We thank you that with you as the Shepherd, we lack nothing. Thank you for creating a new, sustainable safety net for children with so little. They are walking through the darkest valleys, but we thank you that you are with them. We pray that you fill their physical and spiritual cups to overflowing.

Other areas needing prayer:

• Many kids, once freed from the restraints of poverty, dream of becoming doctors and nurses to help others


• Pray that God continues to raise up doctors and nurses with a heart for Him


• When the children need urgent care, pray the HCWs or project staff can find a bed or doctor or nurse -- one of Medical Mercy's goals is to form agreements with local clinics or hospitals so care can be all but guaranteed

Dr. Beyda, our Medical Mercy director, just returned from assessing our Ethiopian Health Care Worker program and then took a medical team who worked alongside Health Care Workers serving in Kenya.

Kenya and Ethiopian HCWs have had several rounds of training, and Dr. Beyda makes it a point to keep in contact with the HCWs, in part to answer questions and provide consults if necessary, but also to continually evaluate the health of the kids, the program, and even the staff.

His trip to Ethiopia and Kenya focused on answering several questions:

Do children in our programs benefit from having a Health Care Worker close at hand?
Does an HCW’s training prepare them to be effective in such remote, under-served areas?

Dr. Beyda’s Ethiopia trip revealed some encouraging results:

The intent of the HCW program is to ensure sustainability of healthcare needs of the children after our medical teams leave. The HCW becomes the one source for healthcare needs in their projects.

There are now trained HCWs in Cambodia, Swaziland, Ethiopia and Kenya. The question is, has the HCW program been successful? That's why I went to Ethiopia. To see if it has made a difference.

I spent several hours the first day reviewing the HCWs’ knowledge base, gave them some advanced lectures and quizzed them. No need for worries there. They were sharp, inquisitive and motivated. I then went to the projects and did a medical standards assessment on the healthcare of the children.

We have 11 projects in Ethiopia with about 3000 children in our care. There are 9 HCWs here, having completed their training just over a year ago when we came here to do clinics. They worked with us for 5 days and were seeing patients on their own most of the time, making the right diagnosis and starting the right treatment. In one year since they have been on their own, here's what I've found:

1. Referrals to outside clinics are down by 55%
2. Healthcare costs for the projects are also down by 50%
3. The HCW sees 10 children a month on average
4. 32 children were identified with potentially life threatening illness, were treated, and did not need to be hospitalized
5. Children with chronic illness such as TB, malnutrition, and anemia have been identified and are checked on a regular schedule of physical exams and treatment by the HCW
6. Medical records for all children are now in the child's respective folder

Outcomes that are positive, fruitful, and successful. I hope you see the effect of this HCW program; the Mission of Mercy kids are in good hands.

We agree with Dr. Beyda -- the children are in good hands because the Lord is guiding and shaping and creating opportunities to equip the adults with a heart to make a difference, both here and in your sponsored child's country.

Today's prayer:
Lord, thank you for the effectiveness you have built into this ministry. We praise how the faithfulness of the HCWs reflects your faithfulness to the welfare of the children. Lord, we know this is a harvest field where the workers are few. Please, Lord, continue to raise up laborers and multiply this important ministry.

Other areas needing prayer:

• The harvest fields are ready, the needs are great (we'll look at that in more depth tomorrow)
• Endurance for the HCWs and encouragement -- may they see the fruit of their labor on God's behalf
• That God continues to develop the medical hearts and minds of the HCW staff to address unique situations in their countries

Tomorrow we'll look at the lack of resources and what that could mean for your sponsored child if Medical Mercy and the HCW program did not exist. Thank you for choosing to pray for this harvest field. Like Jesus discovered in his travels, sometimes the most effective ministry is one of healing and care.

Yesterday we prayed for our staff in general, so today we’ll go a little deeper and focus on staff who receive training to provide a special level of care for your sponsored child.

In addition to what the Children’s Crisis Fund and our Medical Mercy program provides for children in our programs, we are able to train select staff members to become Health Care Workers (HCWs).

The training covers basic first aid and diagnostic skills; our Medical Mercy director, Dr. David Beyda, assesses each region to determine the most common health concerns and equips the staff to address them.

These HCWs provide continued care after a medical team leaves. They help monitor the nutrition levels of children in our program and can also refer children for more specialized medical treatment when necessary.

Jesus told his disciples when he was sending them out to minister to others, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8). The Health Care Workers are trained in the same manner -- they have been given a ministry of healing and are to use it to give back.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, thank you for equipping these men and women with hearts that love You and love the children in Mission of Mercy programs. We praise you for the training and supplies we can extend to them and the children. Thank you for continuing to provide the means to address the most common, treatable, and preventable diseases. Please continue to help the HCWs see the children’s needs as you see them.

Other areas needing prayer:

• For the safety and protection of the Health Care Workers as they travel to serve other projects
• Unbroken supply chains for the essential medicines and products they need
• That current HCWs sustain their high level of commitment and invest in the children and projects
• That God continues to reveal the staff with the potential to serve in this unique way

For a look at how a Health Care Worker is making a difference in the most rural communities, check out Ethekon's story.

Your sponsorship enables your child to attend programs with many benefits: nutritious snacks or meals, fun activities, educational support, and most importantly, a spiritual component.

But we could not care for 40,000 children without the help of the amazing project workers and volunteers.

These caring, Christ-loving adults understand the pressures of poverty and the importance of investing in children who are often overlooked by society.

The tender, nurturing care the project staff provides is a key component to your sponsored child’s success: even if their home life is difficult or their health worsens, your sponsored child is in consistent contact with an adult who cares and can intervene if necessary.

In fact, it is almost always the staff and volunteers who respond first, securing the care a child needs or helping a parent find important resources.

We believe that praying for the staff who are fighting for the heart and health of your sponsored child is just like Aaron and Hur holding up Moses' arms when he grew too tired to pray in Exodus 17.

Do you believe you can play such a role?

Other areas needing prayer:

• the health of our staff and the health of their families
• consistent income source (many of our staff are volunteers)
• that their own faith would deepen as they help the kids learn about Jesus

Tomorrow will have a new prayer focus and request. Thank you for praying with us for your sponsored child!

Few things are more encouraging than knowing someone truly cares, especially when poverty creates such unstable living situations: one parent may leave in search of work, or economic pressures may mean a parent falls into substance abuse. More than 25% of children registered in our programs are in the care of a single parent.

Whether or not your sponsored child lives in an unstable situation, you are a point of stability, a light in a dark place. You can play a vital role in strengthening their heart, allowing them to fight the cycle of poverty.

Your love, acceptance, and prayers can be one of the best defenses against disease and despair.

Today’s prayer:
Lord, thank you for providing for my sponsored child. May you strengthen my sponsored child’s family as you bring them into your own family. Lord, help my sponsored child feel my love and acceptance as strongly as I feel yours. 

Other areas needing your prayer:

• a stable and consistent income for your sponsored child’s parent
• a home life filled with love and support
• a neighborhood with role models and positive influences on your sponsored child

For more suggestions on how to pray for your sponsored child and his or her family, go to our website and download our new prayer guide. We even have desktop and phone wallpapers to help you remember to pray for your sponsored child each day!

Next week we're starting a new campaign focusing on your sponsored child's health and the power of your prayers and intercession: 32 days of sustained prayers. 

This could be life changing, for your sponsored child, and for you!

We are so eager to see how God responds to our focused prayers on this very important issue. Few things are as essential to a child's success and confidence as health.

So in addition to the mailing you'll soon receive asking you to write out a prayer for your sponsored child's health, we're going to post daily topics and prayer requests to create a constant wave of informed prayers for the children we serve.  

If you'd like more ideas on how to pray for your sponsored child, check out this prayer guide. And join us next week as we post stories, stats, and the steps we take to ensure your sponsored child has the best chance at the abundant life Jesus promises.

Dr. Beyda and a Medical Mercy team of 18 are in Kenya, serving alongside 18 Kenyan Health Care Workers (HCWs). Internet is sparse, but he provided a short update:

Monday
It's the rainy season here. Therefore it rains. Rivers flood and washes overflow. You'd think we'd know better....wouldn't you. Not us. We forged ahead. The internet is sporadic so I can send only one picture, but it will give you an idea of what we went through.

We walked across and took all our med over in a small truck, making it across okay. Coming back we didn't. The truck got stuck in the middle of the wash. No 4-wheel drive but a lot of pulling and pushing the truck worked. We spent just 4 hours in the village before we had to leave since the clouds were gathering and we were afraid to get stuck there overnight.

The children sang and danced for us and we then worked with the healthcare workers examining them. We go back there today. Hopefully it will be better. We are well and thankful for being able to do His work.

Tuesday
50 kilometers from Kajiado is a small village called Kiburro. It took us 2 hours to go the distance. 30 miles. It gives you a sense of how deep into the bush we were. This is Masai territory, traditional in dress and culture. Beaded jewelry on the women, rhythmic dancing, leaping men with long sticks, and machetes. We were greeted with that and blessed with it when we left.

I looked out from where we were holding clinic and could see for miles, the valleys of the Masai territory. Umbrella trees giving shade to acres of bush and then open plains. We saw gazelle roaming freely and small herds of goats roaming under the watchful eyes of young Masai boys. I grew up in Somalia and being here in Kenya brings back so many memories of my years there. I feel at home. I'm back fulfilling a dream of being a doctor and practicing in east Africa. I was 6 years old when I made that my goal. God is amazing.

We saw all of the Mission of Mercy children and then some. The Health Care Workers shined as they examined the children, their skills becoming fine tuned under the guidance of the US team. We are a total team of 36, Kenyans and US. We have one purpose: to care for the children where no one else wants to go. And that is Kiburro. The Mission of Mercy children were so much healthier than the children in the village who are not Mission of Mercy children. A testimony to a HCW program and sponsorship which ensures food, clothing, education, and love. Perhaps one day we will have all of the children of Kiburro under our wing.

The US team is powered by a spirit of love and grace. We move to another village tomorrow, distant as well. We are not weary. We are privileged and blessed.

In all things give thanks,
David

The care your sponsored child receives can impact so many areas of life. Dr. Beyda traveled to Ethiopia to look at the Medical Mercy's Health Care Worker program and what it means for children there:

Fruits of our labour. Plant a seed. Teach them to fish. All are familiar phrases that address doing something for someone in order to make them self sufficient and show their success, to give them an opportunity to succeed, and to put in place a plan that will grow. It is what we strive to do for those who are less fortunate than most, and who are willing, dedicated, motivated, and driven to make the best of what they have been given.

The Healthcare Worker (HCW) program I developed 7 years ago, is that seed, that teaching to "fish," that opportunity, to give those lay persons who are responsible for the welfare of our Mission of Mercy children, the knowledge and the tools to ensure that our children are healthy.

The intent of the HCW program is to ensure sustainability of healthcare needs of the children after our medical teams leave. The HCW becomes the one source for healthcare needs in their projects. There are now trained HCWs in Cambodia, Swaziland, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The question is, has the HCW program been successful? That's why I'm here in Ethiopia, to see if it has made a difference. I spent several hours the first day reviewing their knowledge base, given them some advanced lectures and quizzing them. No need for worries there. They were sharp, inquisitive, and motivated. I then went to the projects and did a medical standards assessment on the healthcare of the children. Here is a summary:

We have 11 projects in Ethiopia with about 3000 children that we care for. There are 9 HCWs here, having completed their training just over a year ago when we came here to do clinics. They worked with us for 5 days and were seeing patients on their own most of the time, making the right diagnosis and starting the right treatment.

In one year since they have been on their own, here's what I've found:

1. Referrals to outside clinics are down by 55%
2. Healthcare costs for the projects are also down by 50%
3. The HCW is seeing on average 10 children a month
4. 32 children were identified with potentially life threatening illness, treated and never hospitalized
5. Children with chronic illness such as TB, malnutrition and anemia have been identified and are followed on a regular schedule of physical exams and treatment by the HCW
6. Medical records for all children are now in the child's respective folder

Outcome measures that are positive, fruitful and successful. There is more that I've found in addition to what I've listed above, but I hope you see the effect of this HCW program. The Mission of Mercy are well cared for.

I leave for Kenya tomorrow to do the same there, except this time, I'll have my medical team with me. 18 US team members. We will have 5 days of clinics and the HCWs will work with us. Fruits of our labour. Planting a seed. Teaching them to fish. The children are better for it.

In all things give thanks,

David

Please pray for our ministry partners and friends, Charlotte and Mitch Hildebrant, who oversee our child development centers in Swaziland.

We rarely request prayer for individual staff members, but this is an exceptional case. Our dear friends and partners in ministry, Mitch and Charlotte Hildebrant, need your prayers.

Mitch and Charlotte are the directors for Children’s Cup – Africa, our partner in Swaziland, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. (Before that, they worked with Mission of Mercy and Bethesda Christian Broadcasting!)

***UPDATE: Mitch has had a second abdominal surgery and is recovering well. Praise the Lord, he has not needed another chest tube. We are praying for cotinued healing. More updates in the prayer requests below.

In the middle of March, Mitch went to the hospital in Swaziland with appendicitis. During the appendectomy, the surgeon discovered a (thankfully benign) tumor in his intestines. Since then, however, Mitch has had serious complications, including pneumonia, dehydration, and several severe infections. (You can read more about that here.)

He was eventually transferring to a hospital in South Africa with better medical resources, but doctors are still struggling to address these pressing health issues, and they face several more weeks of treatment and recovery.

Our heart aches for our friends, because we know their hearts long to be on the field ministering to the kids in Swaziland.

We also know we have some serious prayer warriors in the Mission of Mercy family (after all, the last time we asked for prayer, God stalled a major cyclone and sent it away from southern Africa)!

Please join us in praying for Mitch and Charlotte. Here are a few specifics:

• Please pray against a second intestinal leak, which could lead to major infections and another surgery. Also pray that Mitch’s wound from the first surgery would heal supernaturally fast.
  UPDATE: There was a second leak and a second surgery the 3rd week in May. Thankfully Mitch has responded well and it looks like his intestines are functioning. We are praying this will be the last major surgery and he can move on to healing from here!
• Please pray for minimal pain during dressing changes, that his oxygen levels will be high and his blood pressure low. Please pray against the multiple infections, especially those which have settled in his lungs.
  UPDATE: This is still an accurate request. Keep praying against infection!
• Please pray against the anxiety this situation naturally produces in Mitch and Char, and in their families who are so far from them during this scary time. Please pray for peace and solid rest for Mitch and Charlotte. Please also pray for the Children’s Cup staff who continue to serve the children in Mission of Mercy projects.
  UPDATE: Mitch's mother is now in South Africa with Mitch and Char, praise God. Please continue praying against anxiety, which is affecting Mitch's breathing. Please continue to lift up the Children's Cup staff as they are short-handed and still trying to serve the children faithfully.

Friends, we are grateful for your partnership in prayer and for the children. We trust that the Lord, who made healing a major focus of his ministry on earth, will continue to provide for Mitch and Charlotte.

As we reflect today on the actions of Jesus in his last hours, we consider the way we approach our own lives. Can Jesus' sacrifice also affect the way we approach sponsorship?

One sponsor shares how meeting even the simplest need during a mission trip to Kenya gave everything new meaning.

Click to read more ...