A beautiful story direct from one of our leading grant recipients for Sustainable Med, Henry Mutebi from Uganda. He writes:
"A former NTD (jiggers and Ascariasis) suffering child sharing the word of God during a Sunday school service. He says he is no longer a child to laugh at, but a child to inspire others to come to Jesus.
It's so great, inspiring and promising. I will rejoice this every day and all the time! I remember when we first became aware about jiggers and Ascariasis in my community.... No one agreed with us that such cases are existing and affecting a big population within our locality! To prove this, we had to provide information, evidence and facts about what we were saying we want to address. I and the team from my Church, medical professionals joined with the village health team, we made our mobilization and below is what happened. Almost all the children were suffering from NTDs.We proved to those who were neglecting these children that really the young ones were suffering! And with support from SMM, jiggers were treated, Ascariasis and other intestinal worms dewormed, and life came back to normal for these little children. I will rejoice that forever and ever!
Who knew where these children would be now?
How much pain they would be suffering now?
To confirm that God had placed us to do this work, the fruits are amazing, that even the Sunday school was started as many children were coming, without stopping them, to take their Christ as a savoir.
They had no friends! They had no helper! They had no mentor! But now, I am glad to inform every one there, that that's no longer the song! They have great friends now, good helpers and good mentors...Where I am also one of such people who are there for them.
If one knew that they were shy to stand! It's not the case now. They can stand and share even the word of God a lot. They are the owners of their Sunday school programs. We are only there to guide them. They read the Bibles (still in the local language only). They are also ever smart, unlike those days of being neglected.
I know we have taken so many steps to reach this destination. But always I believe that the end results justify the means that were used.
Also, When you have a desire to get things done, you just begin to innovate because you’re looking at the end and then working through whatever you need to work through to reach that end. Am so proud of my community now, unlike before. Am so happy that am in a medical school so that such great results don't die on the way. That is defined as sustainability, one of our strong holds. I have got three main duties in my Church, which includes being the development head, the Church administrator and also a coordinator of the Sunday school. All this is training to be a leader in the kingdom of God, and this has happened during my connection with SMM, and the only thing I can promise SMM so that you rest assured, is that all this work will be sustained locally.
We have trained the children to seek their God and how to read the Bible. That assures me that ministry work will continue. We have been given a project of sustainable income generation in piggery businesses and that assures me that all our direct health care services will go on once we start accumulating profits.
I know all of us both in the USA and here at home have been key supporters. This is the only great reason why this work has been happening... And will continue. God has been there with us and I honor His love for our community.
Also, if anyone has the ability to provide some Bibles for our Sunday school, please, that will bless our Sunday school children so much. They always have one Bible to share, yet we love to see them grow in the word of God."