It’s fascinating to watch their little faces as they try to determine exactly what this new aspect of their life is all about.  Do they continue on their current path and suffer the consequences of disobeying “no” or do they obey?  Most of them decide to test this “no” and learn what punishment is but eventually they decide that obedience is better.

This begins a whole new development in their brain about making decisions that not only involve their needs or wants but also involves another person and their needs or wants.

At some point in their life, in order to be an adult they must cross the point of being the center of their own universe to putting others needs ahead of their own.  In Africa I watched as older siblings give up some of their food to make sure their younger siblings had something to eat.

Recently, as I lay in the hospital racked with pain, I had to decide to live or die.  I so longed to be free of the pain that I decided to quit life and go home to the Lord.  I could feel an angel present that would be my escort but then I thought about my family and about my children in TOUCH.  I knew that my family would be ok but my children in Africa have very few advocates to plead their cause and fight for them.  So I made the decision to stay.

Each of you will be making countless decisions over the coming year.  Many of you will watch your own children develop and make decisions of their own.  I encourage you to make decisions beyond yourself.  Plead the cause of the poor and helpless.  Decide to make a difference in child’s life by giving to Friends of TOUCH.  Even with a small monthly gift you enable us to feed, clothe, and educate many poor children,

For those of you who stood with us all year through with monthly gifts we can say no more than thank you for your decision and please don’t stop!  We love you all!

D

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”
- Isaiah 1:17

]]> http://www.friendsoftouch.org/2012/01/decisions-decisions/feed/ 0 http://www.friendsoftouch.org/2011/12/sarah20289/ http://www.friendsoftouch.org/2011/12/sarah20289/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:09:25 +0000 admin http://www.friendsoftouch.org/?p=1341

Sarah found hope at TOUCH.

Sarah and her sisters were always hungry. Though her father worked hard, he could not raise enough money for food and school fees at same time. When he could get school fees, he could not get food, and when he could get food he could not get school fees. By the time he could raise the fees, the school term would be about to close.

But Sarah found hope. “God was on our side and watching over us, and in such  time as that God sent a messenger. That was Mama Sara.”

Sara Sebyala met with Sarah’s parents and registered the children at TOUCH. All four sisters were brought to school, and given school uniforms and books. They received two meals each day at school.

“It was great for us to have breakfast and lunch every day from Monday to Friday,” says Sarah, “We could count days and say, ‘When is Monday?’”

When Sarah passed her Primary Leaving Exams and joined the senior level, TOUCH placed her in a boarding school. Sarah’s study life has improved and she now has three meals a day.

During holidays, Sarah and her sisters are back at home, where there is not enough food for the family. She speaks for most of the children at TOUCH: “We only have what is enough when we are at school.”

“May God bless and expand TOUCH ministry because it has been real source of happiness and hope of studying in our family. Long live TOUCH. Long Live Mama Sara.”

Sarah is sponsored and has been at TOUCH since Primary 2 class. She will continue her studies in Senior 3 next year!

Find out how you can give children the food they need through the TOUCH School Feeding Program!

More about Child Sponsorship
More Stories

Can you give $10 a month to feed a child?

We have over 200 children in Kampala, Uganda who rely on your donations so they can eat. For many of the children we serve, the meals they receive at school are the only meals they get.

We know that regular nutritious meals are absolutely necessary for life and health – and hope. For 60% of our children, TOUCH provides the only regular meals they have. We recently got this in a note from one of our kids:

“My life comes hard during holidays, only because feeding is poor and not good compared to the one at school. We only have what is enough when we are at school. May God bless and expand TOUCH ministry because it has been real source of happiness and hope of studying in our family and the rest of many.” 

Your donation will give life and hope to children today!

* World Food Programme, www.wfp.org/hunger/faqs 

On this day, however, she suffered from malaria. It had drained her energy but it had not weakened her resolve. She had walked from her home to the TOUCH office to pick up her school fees. She collects her school money from the TOUCH office and attends a secondary school nearby.

I hugged her and felt her exhaustion. She thanked us for coming, and said she was glad to see us as well. She asked about the others from the last visit. She said that aside from being sick lately, she was doing okay.

Then Rose broke the news. “I’m sorry,” she said, “It hasn’t come.”

The wire transfer with all of the sponsorship funds had left our bank a week earlier, but had not yet arrived in the TOUCH account in Uganda. Exams started in the next week, and all school fees must be paid. Knowing that a bank glitch was causing the delay was little consolation.

“Come back at the end of the week,” Rose offered, “It will come.”

“It will come,” I repeated, praying that was true. We had a transfer three years ago that completely disappeared somewhere between banks and I was thinking about that.

We prayed for Florence and she turned to walk home. She needed to rest, and she needed to study for exams. Her resolve and determination to complete her studies challenges me. There is more to her story that I cannot tell here. It is her story, not mine. But the fact that there is a girl in Uganda who walked to the TOUCH office three times for her school fees, while suffering form malaria, challenges me to pray more, to speak out, and to work relentlessly on her behalf.

Thankfully, the money did make it in time. Florence was in the hospital a while before recovering from the malaria. She was able to take her exams. Malaria kills 2,000 children every day in Africa. 

Look at his eyes, that empty gaze from malnutrition, the wasting of his mind and body because of a lack of food and abundance of disease. Discolored hair, distended belly. Snotty nose, and flies drinking from the well of those huge eyes.

What if we could see past that to what could be?

Eyes with a spark of childhood imagination and adventure. Effortless wave to shoo away the fly. Dreams beyond the world as it is now. Energetic, alert, quick in mind, body and spirit. Funny and smart and healthy and strong.

Can you see?

Would you help by packing lunch at least one day in the coming week? Instead of eating out – buy food for a child that really needs it. The $10 you would have spent for lunch can feed a child for a month!

Posho and beans - currently served without beans

Even with high food inflation in Uganda, and famine in the horn of Africa, TOUCH has consistently been able to serve two meals each day for students.

As the food crisis continues, TOUCH has been forced to reduce portions for school meals. We have committed to increase funding so that portion sizes can be restored, and so that more nutritious foods can be served. The current diet of posho is nutritionally inadequate. Your donation will allow TOUCH to add beans, milk, cabbage, and other vegetables and proteins.

Will you help today?

You can give securely online or mail your check to:

Friends of TOUCH
P.O. Box 510
Gloucester, VA 23061

More Information:
Hunger Facts
Food Budget Activity

Class welcomes visitors this Summer

We are excited to tell you about the newest initiatives at TOUCH to have a greater impact on young lives. We have always said that children have unlimited potential, and we want to actively encourage and enable them to become everything for which they were created.

In October, Executive Director Kay Helm, board member Denise Ouellette, and Dr. Lyn Westman are heading to Uganda to help launch new services at TOUCH.

Mental Health Training
Dr. Lyn Westman will lead a five-day children’s camp to provide counseling for 30 children and training for selected childcare workers. This camp lays the groundwork for children to know how to express and heal their emotions in a safe environment, and to educate them on basic abuse and neglect. The overall goal is to improve self-esteem, increase prevention of emotional trauma, and to provide intervention if needed. Lyn has served as Mercy Ships Mental Health Program Administrator, where several nations are adopting this training. She is a licensed Psychologist with a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and holds a Masters degree in Psychiatric Nursing. She is also an ordained minister.

Tools for Teaching Money Management
TOUCH will use games to teach money management. Both children and adults will benefit. The team is bringing the materials to begin this program.

Media Skills Mentoring
Students at TOUCH will learn to tell their own sto- ries through photo essays, video, and news articles. Thanks to Hampton Christian Elementary School in Hampton, VA, the team will deliver cameras for the project. Since the local church and Africa Harvest Mission has a number of willing people trained in various areas of media production, this program offers ongoing opportunity for mentoring in life and marketable skills.

Pilot Business Program
With small investments of up to $50, students will start a business – raising chickens, for example. Through this activity, they will not only learn business skills, and gain practical experience, but they will also help feed families in the TOUCH program and in the community.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

We thank God for giving us this opportunity to equip youth with the skills they need in so many areas. Most importantly, they will be able to see that God’s love for them is real.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support!

Please support these programs by making a donation – your gift of any amount helps!

Through a late change in scheduling, I ended up traveling to Summit alone, driving ten hours each way with just me and God and my mp3 player rolling through the beautiful mountains of West Virginia and the green horse country.

I picked out an audio book to listen to on the way -Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich. I knew only a little about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I knew he was a preacher, and I knew he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler. I figured there would be enough intrigue at least to keep me awake.

What I did not know, was that Bonhoeffer’s theology was largely shaped while working with children. While serving in Barcelona, he built the children’s ministry from the ground up.

“…in Bonhoeffer’s first Sunday, the children’s congregation consisted of one girl. In his diary, Bonhoeffer wrote, “That will have to improve.” It did. His winning personality made a good impression, and the next week fifteen students came. He visited the homes of all fifteen that week, and the next Sunday, there were thirty. From then on, there were always thirty or more in every service.”

Bonhoeffer involved himself in the lives of the children. He visited their homes. Back in Berlin, he did the same with a tough, hardened group of teen boys who had run off all their previous teachers. With all of his formal training, his work with children helped develop his understanding that faith is more than a mental exercise.

“I discovered later, and I’m still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One of the many great things about Summit is that it helps equip us to live our faith. Each year, the Summit grows in attendance and in the wealth of information offered. Ministries, non-profits, churches, and individuals unite with one purpose in mind – to honor God by caring for the fatherless.

Hands-on, dirty, time-consuming, costly, committed, sacrificial faith is at the core of ministry to children. We are “Throwing ourselves completely into the arms of God” – what a wonderful place to be.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on a weekend getaway with confirmands of Zion's Church congregation (1932)