Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hope has a Face


Many of you know in less than one month I will be climbing aboard a plane to Africa. What you are about to read is a part of the vision of Run Ministries, whom we will be partnering with while in Kampala, the capitol city of Uganda.

There are more than 2.1 million orphaned children in Uganda, most of whose parents have been ravaged by HIV/AIDS. Many of these children, some as young as three years old, are suffering from the same disease. They live in impossible conditions, foraging for food in landfills.

They're hungry, alone, and sick, struggling to survive in a world that has only shown them death and loss. And every five seconds, one of them dies from hunger-related causes.

These are not merely nameless, faceless victims at the crossroads of the world's most destructive medical, economic, and geographic pandemics. Each of these Ugandan orphans is somebody's child, no different than your own. They have hopes and dreams and unique personalities... and, unfortunately, fears of the inevitable.

For these 2.1 million boys and girls in Uganda, death is a harsh reality.

Just outside the capitol city of Kampala, Uganda sits beautiful Lake Victoria. There on 20 acres is a site designated to bring hope to orphaned children, a local church-sponsored orphanage, grade school, and medical facility called Hope Village.

The centerpiece of Hope Village is its five family-style homes accommodating ten boys and ten girls each, as well as custodial parents who foster a home environment of care and belonging. They play like children are supposed to play. They're provided nutritious meals every day and receive the medical attention they desperately need. They receive a Christian education and they're raised up to be leaders who impact their corner of the world.

How much is it worth to save the life of a child? How important is it to plead the cause of Uganda's 2.1 million orphans? If you could put a price tag on hope, how much would it be?

In order to make Hope Village and Hope Clinic available to Uganda's orphaned children, they need your help. Each of Hope Village's five homes are being built at a cost of $50,000 USD each. When you consider what Hope Village and Hope Clinic will mean to the children of Uganda, hope really is within reach. Your financial contribution will change lives. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift - or sponsoring a complete home - to help make Hope Village a life-saving reality.

During the approximately one minute you've spent reading this blog, twelve children in Uganda have died from hunger related causes. Please don't delay another minute.

To find out how you can help, click here.

No comments: