We have much to be grateful for... and looking ahead, a lot to look forward to! Do you know how you can take your ministry to the next level in 2012? Check out this timeline to learn more.
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We have much to be grateful for... and looking ahead, a lot to look forward to! Do you know how you can take your ministry to the next level in 2012? Check out this timeline to learn more.
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As you may have heard in news reports, a large 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines. The epicenter was on Negros Island, to the southwest of Cebu Island, where many Mission of Mercy programs are located.
Our staff reports that the earthquake was “so strong. Everyone went out of the building to an open space. But everyone is alright.” Thankfully, a social worker was present and was able to provide counseling to children who were frightened by the event.
A dental team is also in the Philippines providing dental care to children in our projects. They experienced the trembler and several aftershocks. They will travel to another city tomorrow and ask for prayers for good weather, as much of the travel between islands involves ferry boats.
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We have two very different mission teams leaving this weekend.
THE PHILIPPINES
A dental team is traveling to the Philippines to provide much-needed cleanings, exams, and other services to our projects there. This may be the first time some of our children have seen an actual dentist. Please pray for a spirit of trust to form between the team and the community, and for an absence of fear for the little ones getting their first cleaning!
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
On Sunday, a very special team of elementary and middle-school aged kids (and their parents and grandparents) are leaving for the DR. In response to the need in one of the communities we serve, the team raised funds to build a library.
The project expects to use the space to help children (like the sweet little girl pictured above) study and help their parents learn to read and gain new skills. We are quite excited to share more about their trip with you when they return. In the meantime, please pray for their travel and the work ahead!
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Encouragement in sponsorship can be found in unexpected places. This sponsor heard God speak to her -- powerfully -- in a worship song.
Cyclone Funso's projected path as of 5pm January 24th may avoid areas our programs serve. Image courtesy of the Pacific Disaster Center's Global Hazard Atlas.
UPDATE: Cyclone Funso's path is taking it out to sea. Praise God with us that our friends in Mozambique and Swaziland were spared more storms.
When it rains, it pours. And that’s definitely happening in Mozambique and Swaziland. Less than a week after Tropical Storm Dando made landfall and ruined both church buildings and homes in the communities we serve, now Cyclone Funso is threatening.
Today it strengthened to a Category 4 storm with winds over 130 mph. Thankfully, it seems to be drifting along the Mozambique Channel and has not veered inland.
We are praying Cyclone Funso continues on its projected path and skirts past Mozambique and Swaziland. Still, bands of intense storms are raking across southern Africa. Even Bulawayo, Zimbabwe is getting large amounts of rain. (You can see the general location of our projects in the white dots on the image above.)
As the ground is already saturated from Tropical Storm Dando, the aftereffects of Funso can still cause major damage. Please join us in praying for the safety of the children and staff in Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe, especially those who may be staying under damaged roofs.
The weather reports show another round of storms brewing behind Cyclone Funso -- please pray with us that those storms also miss these beleagured countries. But if they don't, we pray that God will be making a way for those in the storm's path to find shelter and hope. And may His church continue to move to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
You can help Mission of Mercy respond to crises like cyclones and floods with a donation to the Children’s Crisis Fund. In the past, funds have been used to rebuild homes, provide medical treatment, and allow the staff to meet the most pressing needs in a community. Thank you for your continued support of our friends and the children they serve!
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Fernando, a Mission of Mercy sponsored child, was inside his home when it collapsed but escaped without major injury.Friends, we are so thankful to tell you that the children and staff at our Xai-Xai program were not injured in Tropical Storm Dando.
We do know, however, that many of the children's homes were severely damaged. Many homes in Xai-Xai are built of reeds and thatch and could not withstand the wind and rain.
The lightweight nature of the materials was also a bit of a blessing for children like Fernando pictured at left, who was inside his home when it collapsed. Thankfully he escaped with little more than a few scratches.
As you can see, much needs to be done to help rebuild the Xai-Xai community. You can help by making a donation to the Children's Crisis Fund, which is available for children whose homes were destroyed. As we reported earlier, we are also raising funds to repair the roof of the Xai-Xai project's building (which also acts a church).
We appreciate your prayers and support for the residents of Xai-Xai. These difficult times also provide an opportunity for the love of Christ to become tangible for those who have so little. Thank you for all you do.
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Weather as of 1pm MST, January 17. Image Courtesy of TerraMetrics via Weather Underground.We are asking for your urgent prayers for the children we serve in Mozambique, as they recover from the effects Tropical Storm Dando.
More reflections from the Medical Mercy team in India. Although the internet is too intermittant to allow for many pictures, we are grateful to nurse Anne Braudt for the word-pictures she paints. Here are a few haunting glimpses into the clinics and the surrounding environs.]]>
As the team walked through the community, they were immediately smitten with the beautiful children with their deep eyes and yet horrified by their living conditions. One team member wrote,
"…what we saw should never be. No one should have to live in the filth that we saw. No child should have to play in the garbage. But then again, the children we saw had smiles on their faces as they played barefoot in piles of garbage. Maybe they know something about life that I don't know. I'd sure like to find out."
The children they saw. Children like the young boy, standing in what most would consider a dump, in his ironic and immaculate “Preserve the Future” shirt.
Because of the two-year anniversary of the massive earthquake in Haiti, today is a day of reflection in Haiti. It is a day of mourning, of remembrance. For others, it is a day of examination – have we helped? Have we made a difference for this country?
It is far too easy to get lost in analysis. So instead of focusing on our own efforts and their impact, we want to focus on the children. Like the young boy who paused during his day to let some visitors take his photograph.
Or these children with the beatific smiles as they are first enrolled in a Mission of Mercy program.
Or those who pray and sing to God before class, or those who eagerly make their way to school.
Much can be written of Haiti, of its continued status as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere,” a phrase that Haitian-born journalist Joel Dreyfuss considers a cage of words – “a box, a metaphorical prison” – that lends little to true understanding other than emphasizing the numerous tragedies and challenges it faces.
Instead, we will continue our work with the children of Haiti. We will continue to pray for dignity, for creative solutions to issues and continued growth in our partnering faith communities. We will pray for these children to find their identity as a child of God and not as a resident of a nation with a reputation.
And we will pray that we can have God’s eyes and ears and heart for this country. And we will claim the promise of our faith – we are new creations, the old has passed away, behold, new has come – for the children of Haiti, today and every day. 
“Brokenness is the bow from which God launches the arrows of healing.”– Louie Giglio
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. If you're looking for inspiration on how you can get involved in the fight against this evil industry, we recommend looking toward the very girls who recently escaped its clutches.
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