The mosquitoes that carry malaria only feed at night – so bed nets provide great protection from the disease. It’s the fastest, easiest way to prevent the 3rd biggest killer of children in Africa from claiming more lives.

Today – you can:

• Reduce medical expense for families and the school.
• Reduce absenteeism due to sickness
• Save lives!

Your $10 donation will provide a net that can cover 2-3 children.
We want to cover 1000 families from now through the end of May. 

Malaria Facts:

• Malaria is preventable and treatable
• Every minute, a child dies of malaria
• Malaria kills about 650,000 people a year
• Malaria is transmitted exclusively through the bites of Anopheles mosquitoes.
• There were about 216 million cases of malaria in 2010
• 91% of malaria deaths occur in Africa
• In Africa, 40% of health resources are used to treat malaria
• Malaria costs Africa $12.5 billion annually
• For individuals, personal protection against mosquito bites represents the first line of defence for malaria prevention.

Most of the younger children at TOUCH made Easter cards for you this year and one of our favorite drawings was this one, which shows how some families collect rainwater in a tank beside the home. I like the idea. God sends the rain, and we collect it to use for cooking, cleaning, and sustaining life.

It’s like that with your donations. God provides the money, you help us collect it, and then we use it – mostly for cooking, cleaning, and sustaining life. Two meals a day. Clean clothes, clean hands, medical care, books and pencils and a pat on the back for a job well done.

So far we’ve raised $66,800 in donations and sponsorship commitments – with another $83,200 to go to meet the budget. This year, TOUCH cares for sixty teens in boarding school and 332 students in primary school. The shortfall means food portions are small and aren’t as nutritious as they need to be. It means medical care might not be available when needed, and school fees might be late.

While we know God is our provider, we still need to work together to collect the “rain” and use it well!

Your financial gifts to Friends of TOUCH are used to:

• Pay school fees for children who would otherwise be unable to attend school.
• Provide daily meals for children who would not eat.
• Provide a safe, caring environment for children during the day.
• Teach children about Jesus, and to show them that they are loved.

Young Julius started thinking about God, because they were brought up in a God fearing way. He wondered, “Does God really care about young children?” “Does God really care about us?” and “If he cares, why did he take my Father?”

Julius says:

I could not believe in God again until when Mama Sara met us and took us like her own, loved us and took us even back to school; the three of us.

Thanks every one who gives in hand to support the suffering young children because a lot of things happen when we hear that some one cares for us.

The day I was taken back to school it was turning point of my life, because I stopped waking up every day, sitting at the door of our house, watching other kids going to school.

After four years mother passed away. By then I was 13 years old, and in primary four. By time when my mother passed away I had already expected Christ Jesus as Lord of the Love of our Mama Sara. Am now 16 years old. I joined the secondary grade and this year I have been in senior one. I enjoy life at school, because it keeps me from very many bad company like going to video (halls), taking drugs like other children do in our community. My brother also sat for his O level exams this year with the help of TOUCH Ministry.

I wish to see TOUCH expanding and reaching to many in our community, because many families are suffering because of the killer disease of AIDS. Many children are left out without parents. They are hopeless without, but I trust you and Mama Sara can do it, because you caused joy in our family again.

Thank you so much.

Sponsor a Child Today!

Coming to school!

Aliho, now 6, was very little when his father died and his mother disappeared during the war in Northern Uganda. He first came to TOUCH in 2009, but left last year when his aunt was unable to pay rent. TOUCH worker Rose found Aliho on the first day of school this year, standing at the edge of the school yard, watching as the other children celebrated their new workbooks and a warm meal.

He had just returned from the village, where his aunt had been working hard to raise money for rent and food. So many families face this choice of whether to pay rent or feed the family. There is just not enough for both.

Aliho wondered if he could be accepted back into the school, and of course the answer was “Yes!” Rose talked with his aunt and made the arrangements, and soon he was dressed in a uniform and ready to start.

Jesus told a parable (Luke 15:8-10) about a woman who lost a single coin and would not stop looking until she had found it. It wasn’t that the woman didn’t have any other coins. In fact, she had ten. Still, she lit the lamp and swept the house and hunted relentlessly for the one lost coin. When she found it, she called her friends and neighbors together, saying, “‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin!”

Here’s the thing – as I look at this parable in commentaries, I find that this coin was worth about 17 cents. It was equal to a day’s wages for a soldier or a laborer. The woman was evidently poor. She lit a lamp, which may have cost her more in oil than the coin’s value in the market. The parable is about Heaven’s joy as one lost sinner comes to know Christ as savior. Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Aliho wasn’t received at TOUCH out of abundance. There are 392 children to care for this year – and at this moment only 120 are sponsored. His name, Aliho, means “God is present” – and so it is when we do what Jesus did. Let’s seek the lost – whether they are lost in poverty or sin, and bring them in. Let us preach the gospel with words and deeds, always showing the love of Christ. And let us rejoice together when one who was lost is found.

Sponsor a Child
Fight Hunger

We can’t do it without you!

Here’s how:

Vote. Take this opportunity to cast your votes for Friends of TOUCH. And then invite everyone you know to vote. And then invite them to invite everyone they know to vote.
And then . . . okay, you get the point. That’s what you can do to get started.

Pray. Pray that this process will be rewarding and valuable to every ministry and individual involved and that God will receive all of the glory.

Share. Share your vote via twitter and facebook. It earns you more votes, and spreads the news about us and about Giving of Life. The more you share, the more votes you get to use. Last year, we had about 70 people who had never heard of us visit the grant site. The exposure is good for us, and your friends’ votes could be just the ones we need!

How Does it Work? Anyone can vote for a ministry – and we hope you’ll vote for us. The ministries with the top five number of votes in each category get grants. A total of more than $150,000 will be given away by June 4. Each grant recipient will receive a minimum grant of $10,000 – but only the top five ministries in each category get grants. That’s why we need your vote now!

Cost to you = NOTHING. Ok, a few minutes of your time, a little space on your facebook and twitter feeds (you can put us next to the cute kittens, we don’t mind), and great enthusiasm! Share with your friends to get more votes. It’;s a great way to introduce your fiends to us – which we really appreciate! Nobody gets contacted or solicited by us or by Giving of Life – unless they choose to be.

Thanks for your support – and don’t forget to Vote!

Sara Sebyala

Overwhelmed by God’s calling on your life?
Sara knows the feeling well, and she comes with an encouraging message to help you overcome fear and take hold of God’s plan and His promise.

In 1997, Sara Sebyala saw the need in her city of Kampala, Uganda – children without food or shelter, households headed by children, families overwhelmed by poverty. She started by taking one little boy into her house. When there were too many for the house, her church built some temporary classrooms, and TOUCH ministry was born.

Today, TOUCH serves nearly 400 children, providing meals, education, and basic needs. The mission: to nurse, equip, and release Ugandan orphaned, impoverished, and vulnerable children to be leaders and professionals and to excel to the maximum potential that God has given them.

Sara is available to speak to your church, school, civic group, or a group of friends.
Call 804-684-1790 today to set up a meeting or to book Sara to speak.

Sara’s Message:

Are you overwhelmed by the call or mission for your life?
Sara brings an encouraging message to help you respond to God’s call.

Your children may have a call to missions – give them an opportunity to start and to be encouraged.
Think it’s too hard in africa? We want to connect and help you see opportunity there.
Partner with the ministry: Pray for each other, Keep in contact, Pen Pals for students, Encourage one another

Sara’s Schedule

• February 13 – 19, Dallas, TX
• February 20-28, Orlando, FL
• February 26, Markham Woods Church,  Longwood, FL
• March 2-3, W.I.L.D. Thing Women’s Conference, Abundant Life Church, Stephens City, VA
• March 4 – LifeHouse Bethel, Hagerstown, MD
• March 5-14, Middle Peninsula & Hampton Roads area, VA
• March 8, Meetup – Gloucester Main Street
• March 11, All Generations Church, Newport News, VA
• March 15-18, Freedom Valley Church, Gettysburg, PA
• March 20-22, North Carolina

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
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