A long overdue update…
The Mercy for Mamas team had a great summer and did a lot of work! Our mission team worked non-stop during our July trip. We had such a great team. Everyone jumped right into the work and found the place they could be used the most. It was great to see! The teenagers on our team played non-stop with the kiddos. This is a blessing because it allows the moms to really sit and listen to our teaching and not have to worry about their children. Other ladies helped with teaching, held babies, helped to organize supplies, serve food, and pray with the women.
We hosted eight different outreach events around Uganda. We focused primarily on Eastern Uganda, working in Kampala, Jinja, Mbale, and Soroti. We were able to serve more than 1500 women. We had some great times of teaching and the women asked really great questions at each place we visited. It’s always interesting to see what topics seem to be most pressing to the women. It really can vary from place to place depending on their education, access to medical care, experience, etc. This time we had lots of questions about UTIs, danger signs in pregnancy, and breastfeeding. Every pregnant mama received a mama kit. They were so thrilled to receive them. It’s always humbling to realize that these women often walk miles, wait for hours, and shout for joy to receive a mama kit. It always help us to remember the importance of these supplies and what a relief it is to each mama that receives one. We were also able to provide many of the mamas with cloth diaper sets. They were thrilled to receive them. These sets will help to keep their babies healthy and save these mamas a lot of time on laundry!
We encountered several women and children with medical needs beyond our capabilities. It was such a blessing to be able to help these women and children get the care that they needed. Several people on our mission team had money set aside to help when such needs came up. These donations covered the costs of bloodwork, ultrasounds, medicine, and several visits to a specialist.
We visited with some of our ministry partners and were able to encourage them in their on-going work. It’s always a pleasure to get to bring them supplies and encouragement to let them know how much we appreciate and value the work they do. It’s also great to hear testimonies from them on how our mama kits are truly helping mamas in need.
During one of our outreach events, a small group of us got to lead a special seminar for teenage girls. We talked about puberty, hygiene, and all of the changes going on in their bodies. We also talked about how much God values them and loves them. Realizing that many of these may have faced some sort of abuse or will in the future, we talked about how to deal with those situations, their power to say no, who to tell, etc. It was a great conversation. We were also able to provide those girls with reusable menstrual pad sets. These sets are a simple way to show these girls that they are valued and loved, and it relieves a big financial burden for them. We are grateful for the group at South Shore Baptist Church that helped to provide these sets.
We also had the privilege of hosting two dinners for missionary women serving full-time in Uganda. We had close to 100 missionaries attend our events. These dinners are always such a delight. The evening includes dinner, fellowship, door prizes, goody bags, worship, and prayer. It is amazing to see these women network, encourage one another, and form new friendships. Thank you so much to all of you that contributed towards the items for the goody bags and door prizes.
And do you want to know what is really great news? The work of Mercy for Mamas is on-going. Some people may not realize that we are able to pass out mama kits, help with prenatal education, and support our ministry partners all year long. It’s not just when we have a mission team on the ground. Recently, we’ve been to help a new work starting with mothers and babies in the NICU of a large Ugandan hospital. We’ve hosted more outreach events, especially in Western Uganda. We’ve supplied mama kits to mission teams, churches, pregnancy centers, and those working with refugees.
Every week we get more requests for mama kits. The demand is great. The good news is that your continued, generous donations allow us to provide these life-giving kits to women in need. Thank you for providing the funding we need for our work. Every donation matters.
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