Ndola, Zambia


The 18 children of Mercy Touch (as of June 28, 2010)
Admission photo on left, current photo on right
 


The Children of Mercy Touch (when they were younger)
 

 
Mercy Touch update Feb. 2010

Weeding corn in Dec.

Corn on Feb. 2, just tassled
Bananas growing on the farm Christmas Party Dec. 25, 2009
 

Click on these links
 

Elijah

Age: 5 (when he sang this song)
Height: 40” 
Weight: 40 lbs
Grade: preschool

Elijah loves singing and dancing.

“Deep in the Jungle where nobody knows
A big fat woman was washing her clothes.
This is how my story goes!
With a rub, rub here and a rub, rub there (x2)
And  this is how my story goes!

Click to hear Elijah sing
his little song for you
First turn your speakers up
Follow the lyrics above

Note from Patricia Mulenga
Mercy Touch Mission International
 


Garment of Praise Singers
Oct. 16, 2005
The Orphanage
Mercy Touch is an orphanage in Ndola, Zambia, serving a critical need for 18 children. Founded in 2001 by Rev. Bernard Mukwavi, it provides shelter, food, clothing, education (both Christian and secular) and a loving environment to children who are orphaned or have parents unable to care for them. The orphanage is located in two homes:
• Garment of Praise
• Oil of Joy

Each house provides for 8-10 children, a house mother and a manager. When finances allow, Mercy Touch also maintains
• A feeding program for other malnourished children in the area
• A Christian sponsorship program for area children providing for school needs and bible study
• A farming project for growing vegetables to supply the homes

 The Need
The cost of caring for these children is approximately $1030 monthly at each home. This provides for food, clothing, medicines and school supplies. This amount also covers the house mother’s salary, cleaning supplies, transportation and utilities.

The other ongoing need is for basic household equipment. One home has an immediate need to replace a failing refrigerator, and both homes dream of a freezer and a washing machine.

My Opportunity
Here I can make a difference by becoming a part of the growth and education of these 16 children. Is this a "drop in the bucket" in the worldwide need to help children? For sure! So do these children really count? Absolutely!

Donated funds go directly to the Mercy Touch account in Ndola, Zambia. Call the church office at 203-235-5704 for additional information.

  • The donation of $1 per day ($360) would be a major gift to help provide for one of these children for a year.

  • The donation of a needed appliance would be a blessing to the children.

  • Gifts in any amount are most welcome.
 What's Next?
Please make check payable to First Congregational Church ("Mercy Touch" on memo line). Mail or bring to First Congregational Church, 62 Colony St., Meriden CT 06451. Thank you for your support of this important mission.

Printable flyer and donation form

Garment of Praise Home with housemother
2007

Oil of Joy Home with housemother
2007

An open letter from the Rev. Dr. John Clarke

Mercy Touch - YOUR Orphanage...

I recently had the good fortune to talk with my colleague in ministry and founder of Mercy Touch, The Rev. Dr. Bernard Mukwavi. We were discussing where we had been in our short history and where we hoped to be in a few years. But, our entire discussion kept coming back to the fact that Zambia and surrounding countries in that part of the African continent are being decimated by the AIDS Pandemic.

In parts of Africa the life expectancy has sunk from 65 to 37 years of age! Researchers predict that in some countries half the people under 15 will die within ten years. Bernard made the observation that a teacher walking into a freshman class of students knows that half will soon be dead! Bernard told me that the stigma of having this terrible decease is so great that when free medication was offered in Botswana, a country with the highest infection rate in all of Africa (38%!), only about 1 % of those who needed the medication showed up. .

Why do I bring this up? I bring it up to once again point out the good work we are doing in terms of helping our orphanages to help some young people find life. I bring it up to communicate again that the AIDS crisis in Africa is a crisis of compassion that requires changed lives, not a bunch of new laws. Mercy Touch provides the love and nurture that young children need in order to discover there is a better way to live and a safer way to live.

We are able to feed both physically and spiritually. It is that combination that quite literally allows these children and those watching to see that life can be lived and lived fully when human life is valued.

As Philip Yancey says in a recent article in Christianity Today, "We can look at the children with stolen futures, at an entire continent whose future hangs in the balance, and ask questions of God. Or we can look at the same problems and realize these are God's questions to us. Who cares about AIDS in Africa? "

I am happy to say, The First Congregational Church of Meriden cares.

Soon we will have an all church collection for our Mercy Touch Orphanage project. Be sure to prayerfully consider what you can give. Remember, I am Mercy Touch USA. Every dime of your money goes to the children, every penny! There is no overhead cost. NONE.

Yours His,
 
John Clarke
Pastor, First Congregational Church of Meriden, CT

Africa Report by Alexandra Szpakowski
from "Into His Harvest News" May, 2002
"While we were in Ndola, it was also a great blessing to meet the children at the Hillcrest area Mercy Touch orphanage. Those children were all so precious! The smiles on their faces were such a testimony to God's goodness - words can't really describe the impact they made on us. Just realizing how those kids were orphaned and mistreated until they were put in that home made a lot of us take a second look at what we would have called "injustices" in our own lives. We have it so good!"

Return to homepage