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.

Encouragement in sponsorship can be found in unexpected places. This sponsor heard God speak to her -- powerfully -- in a worship song.

May your heart for changing the lives of others be refreshed by this message! Click to read more.

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.

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  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.

A new update from the medical team in Orissa, India, who are seeing just why one child matters.

Expect the unexpected. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. It’s never what we think. And that is what the day was like. Not the flow of the clinic, nor the attitude of the team, or the dynamics of seeing another 300 patients today, but it was the patients.

Smaller in stature than yesterday, a little sicker, and their stories that were far from the norm. There were a lot of wonderful ones, children being seen, hugged, sung to and with, prayed with, and played with. That was the majority. The evidence of compassion and love for the children we saw was everywhere.

But like it or not, it is the occasional unexpected encounter or worst case scenario that puts the whole day into perspective. That things happened and whether we like it or not, we are faced with it to deal with. Three children stood out:

One child whose only complaint was that he was depressed. He lives in boarding house for children who are single or double orphans (one or both parents having died). He received news in the manner of a letter addressed to him that his father died recently.

Another child had with him a picture of his parents taken a while back. He was 10 years old. He showed me the picture and asked me if I had seen them or knew anything about them. He hadn’t seen them in 5 years. He woke up one day and they were both gone. He lived in the street until he found a home in the village that we were in. He was taken in by a kind family. I looked at the picture and couldn’t find the words to speak. I simply shook my head no. He shook his head as well as he silently cried. I hugged him and prayed with him. He left, the picture still clutched in his hand.

And the third child 6 years old. I asked her if I could take her picture and if I could show others to witness to her that she was as much a child to be valued and recognized by all. She was hesitant at first, but then said yes. Burned by falling into a pot of boiling water at the age of 3, she survived as you see her here. She told me that she won’t look in the mirror. She is the daughter of a fisherman and his wife, the lowest class of a caste system in this region. Poorer than poor.

She was not a Mission of Mercy sponsored child, but one of the children in the village who came to us for medical care. I realized that if she wasn’t embraced and surrounded by a loving community, she would be lost to the world. Never marrying, being ridiculed, and maybe even worse -- being taken advantage of, or even taking her own life later on.

Mission of Mercy has a vision and mission to care for those children who are less than fortunate, to prove that one child matters. This child is one of them. She is now a Mission of Mercy child, and sponsored. I am humbled to be able to be part of her life from now on.

In all things give thanks,

David

Another update from Dr. Beyda on Medical Mercy's first day of clinics in India:

Sometimes we’re focused on the big picture…and lose sight of the details.

The big picture: 300 patients today, day one of clinic. Due to the incredible pre-planning of the India support staff, we set in motion a medical clinic with both old and new members getting into the swing of things very quickly.

Dental hygiene, water filtration, first aid education on one tract, nutritional assessment in another. Medical exams in a third tract, and pharmacy dispensing meds in their tract. A total of 50 people making this happen. The US team, Indian support team, interpreters, teachers, and helpers all working together to see 300 children. That was the big picture.

Now focus. Stunting affects over 60 million children India. Stunting is when the child’s height does not match the age. Short, small, little growth, and nutritionally depleted. In this picture you see Jeremy on the right, a healthy 13-year-old US boy. The Indian boy next to him is also 13. He is one of 60 million children in India who are stunted. Can we help? Not in the sense of getting him to grow anymore, but we can simply assure him that despite his size, he is as valuable a member of the community as anybody else. We did that. He smiled, became animated and we focused. On him.

Polio is still prevalent in India despite the availability of vaccines. Poor compliance and a lack of awareness and education yields what we see here. A brace, old style, bulky, uncomfortable, worn for life. No physical therapy. She asks if there is a way to make her leg stronger. The hard answer is no. What we can do is make her life more comfortable by getting here a new brace, one that is light weight, comfortable and less obtrusive. We’re working on that.

Focus. We did alright for the first day. The big picture is clear. There are a lot of children here who need to be cared for. Mission of Mercy is doing that. It is the details of the picture, the areas of the picture that are difficult to see that Medical Mercy is focusing on. The individual child, their needs, and how they live as it relates to their health care.

We’ll stay focused the rest of the week and look closely at those who we come to serve. Our eyes will be strained as a result, but our hearts will be filled.

In all things give thanks,
David

Medical Mercy is starting the new year right where they left off: bringing hope and health to children in our projects around the world. Dr. Beyda is asking for prayer for this trip. Here are the details:

Tomorrow we leave for India. A team of 18, medicines, equipment and excitement.

We’ll be in the southern part of India along the coast off the Bay of Bengal based in a small town called Puri, population 150,000. Puri is well known as a pilgrimage site for Hindus with their many gods. That will tell you something.

We’ll be going to 4 projects seeing the children and the villagers, expecting about 500 patients a day, diseases and illnesses common to the areas in an underdeveloped country.

We’ll be running simultaneous “tracts of care” in each: nutritional assessments, first aid training, implementing a water filtration system, medical examinations and treatment, and vitamins and de-worming medicines for all. It’s amazing to see the tracts running in parallel, patients moving from one tract to the another, and finally exiting with an opportunity for spiritual counseling.
 
We all know the saying “what are we bringing to the table?” when we talk about negotiations and relationships. What is it that we “bring” that will be valuable to the other person? In this case, it’s obvious. Medical care, pure water, vitamins, first aid kits, and prayer.

But here’s where I like to go a little off the path. I am always aware of “what we bring,” but I am more acutely aware of “what we leave behind.” It is the memories, the interactions, the changed lives, the improvement of what sometimes is just an existence for those we meet.

It is the power of prayer, the introduction to a God who is singular in His reign, and at times the new believer that we leave behind. And so it begins tomorrow. We’re bringing much…I’m excited to see what we leave behind. Be with us.
 
In all things give thanks,
 
David

2011 has been an exciting year! We’ve launched an app and a new country, but judging by the Top 11 blog stories, it is the stories about daily life that speak to you the most. Check out the most-visited stories of 2011.  

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In the past few weeks, we've been as eager as kids waiting next to the Christmas tree full of presents... and now we finally get to unwrap our favorite features, designed just for you!

There are so many great things to choose from, but let's start with the biggest change to sponsorship ministry in a long while: writing letters from your phone!

Here are a few tips that will definitely change the way you approach letter-writing.

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Did you know you are a fighter in the battle against HIV/AIDS? Here's how we -- because of your help -- are moving to address the needs of children in countries devastated by this disease.

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In addition to Thanksgiving, this week was International Girl Effect Week. We've written about this before -- about how powerful even an extra year of education can be for a girl, and the challenges girls face in the developing world.

But it's not just girls -- simply encouraging a child to stay in school, to work hard, to emphasize that you believe in them has tremendous power. For young boys with few positive male role models in their community, your words may have more weight than you know.

Which is why we are so thankful for you. Your support and commitment to changing the life of a child creates a new dynamic for their growth and development. Your prayers give hope and encouragement, and your words proclaiming their worth in your eyes are treasured.

Your sponsored child may not have developed the eloquence to fully express their thanks, so we want to do it for them. THANK YOU. Thank you for the effect you have on the children of the world.

This may not make a typical Thanksgiving list, but that's no reason not to be grateful for the way you've helped us improve the lives of children!

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Each mission trip sponsored by Mission of Mercy has a special purpose, and none more so than the Women's Circle of Caring trip to Kenya.

The theme of this year's Circle of Caring trip was LOVE -- and God's love was certainly evident in this experience. To learn more about the trip, watch the video below. And don't forget to check the upcoming Mission Trip list on our website to learn how you can see God's kingdom in a whole new way!

When Jack Eans, Mission of Mercy's Vice President of International Child Ministries, traveled to Zimbabwe to train the new project staff, God spoke to him in a surprising way.

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There are so many countries in the world that could use our help...

So how did Mission of Mercy end up in Zimbabwe?

We followed God's lead and found the children of Zimbabwe to be beautiful, hopeful, courageous children. But the threats to their future are very real.

The statistics show the challenges the children face, but do they tell the full story?

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Ever wonder what our offices look like?

One sponsor came to visit and was struck by what she saw...

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In the upcoming months, we are going to be focusing on getting you more information about the countries we serve and the work we do there. We want to be able to give you a clear picture of what life is like for your child -- and we don’t mean facts that you could get out of an encyclopedia.

Since the Medical Mercy team is in Bangladesh this week, it seemed very fitting to start there…

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Another update from Kate on the Women's Circle of Caring Kenya trip:

I don't even know where to begin. After three days of serving alongside the Emarti Maasai, we left for a brief respite in Amboseli State Park.

All I can say is that Kenya is filled with beauty. The people with their instant smiles, their sincere greetings, their love of color (oh, how the Maasai love color!) and then of course the land itself. We truly gloried in God's creation today as we drove south toward Amboseli National Park.

I am glad for this time to reflect because the days have been so full. On the first day of working at Emarti, we focused on the women. It was rainy and cold, but nothing stopped them. The same could be said for the children, some of whom walk several hours to the project.

One thing we were eager to see was Emarti's new beautiful building, which doubles as a church and community center. I was constantly grateful for this provision as we experienced rain and wind and the intense Kenyan sun. To think the children at this project used to meet under a tree!

The second and third day we played with the children. We taught them how to sing "Jesus Loves Me" with sign language; we reemphasized how to brush their teeth, wash their hands, and cough into their "bird wing" (elbow) rather than their hands. We brought puzzles and taught them how to play tic-tac-toe, both of which they loved.

And then there was the parachute. At all times there was a group playing parachute games, and at all times there was an audience. Sometimes little ones, most of the time their mothers clutching their babies and laughing at the evident glee in the children as they whipped the parachute up and down. The Maasai love color, so the parachute was an instant hit.

On the afternoon of our last day there, the community held a special ceremony and gifted us necklaces... but they gave us so much more as they sang over us with tears of joy streaming down their faces. I can't even begin to describe the sound -- all I could think of is that this is a taste of heaven, all voices uplifted and praising God.

There is so much to write but internet is spotty right now. We are doing well. No one has gotten sick, and we are encouraged by what we have seen and done. Thank you for praying for us! Tomorrow we return to Nairobi. I'll try to update more then.

Do you have a favorite story on this blog? Here's what other sponsors liked to read... if you're new to this blog, here are the top 10 stories from the past few months! Some are stories, and others are photo galleries, so click away!

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