Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Time to Celebrate!


The April/May 2013 Mercy Touch Mission team has left to go back home. The following are some remaining updates of what we did as a team.

The last week of the trip we had a family night with all of the team members and the children. We created a panel-like discussion with representation from the housemothers, the children, and the mission team. It was a very enjoyable discussion and a question and answer period for the children and the team members.

The team also participated in the weekly feeding program ran by Mercy Touch every Friday morning. At this program malnourished and underweight babies and toddlers are fed weekly to help increase their health and body weight. These children are referred to Mercy Touch by a nearby clinic. Furthermore, the mothers of these children are taught safe and healthy methods of taking care of their young ones. The team really enjoyed participating in the feeding program. We played games with the children, handed out small bags full of goodies and other necessities, and also helped give out the food to those who attended the program. Since Mercy Touch runs a micro-loans program for some of the ladies involved; the team members participated in handing out chickens to these ladies from the community, who will then be provided with opportunities to learn how to be independent and be able to provide for themselves and their families.

The team visited certain homes and experienced some Zambian dancing and traditional food. It was a lot of fun for all of us!

As most of you know, we launched the new children's home on May 4th, 2013. It was such a wonderful celebration and milestone for Mercy Touch and all those who were involved in this long but rewarding process. Many members from the community and Child Welfare were invited to this event. There was a time of praise, testimony from our current Mercy Touch children, a powerful word from Rev. Dr. Bernard Mukwavi, and also a time to honour and appreciate the Mercy Touch Ambassadors who were present, for all that they have sacrificed and continue to do for the Ministry. After the program we enjoyed fellowship and food - of course! Those in attendance were provided an opportunity to tour the house. Photos will be uploaded to our Mercy Touch facebook page very soon!

As a team we enjoyed having dinners with the children. On Sunday May 5th we celebrated one of the girls' birthday. Prior to the birthday celebration we went swimming after church. This is a treat for the children as they do not always have the opportunity to go swimming.

As always, it was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone. The trip seemed short; but we really got more out of it than we were expecting. It has been such a great experience and we cannot wait to be back in Zambia again!

Thank you again for your continued support and prayers. Don't forget to keep up with our facebook page for more updates and photos. Also our Mercy Touch app for android, iPad, and iPhone!

-Mercy Touch 2013 Team

No comments:

Post a Comment