Dear Partners
Greeting in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ; I pray all is well and that the good Lord has kept you well and in a perfect health. The Mercy Link team is filled with gratitude and praise for all the support you have been and still offering to the ministry enabling it to successfully achieve its set goals for the year. We are grateful for your faithful prayers towards the ministry and financial support and counsel that has seen us progress in the different ministry activities through the first quarter of this year. It’s upon this fact that I am actually writing this report to share with your hat your generous contribution to the ministry has achieved. I pray that this report finds you in good health, faith and wealth.
PRISON MINISTRY
The month of March has been entirely dedicated to reaching out to the prisons. With 224 detention facilities at hand through out the country, we are tasked with the mission to reach out to 16 of these prisons to share the gospel, implement our discipleship programs and give humanitarian support and scripture portions to these prisons to which we have been granted free access until the end of the year. “The prison system was not designed for correction, but punishment. Therefore, procedures do not encourage offender correction, yet there has to be more to prison than punishment.” says one of the top prison officials. This therefore accounts for the 32% re-offending rates in the country. For this reason, it has therefore become one of our goals to reach out and add the spiritual aspect onto to the different programs that the prison system is running to curb the re-offending cases and rehabilitation of the inmates among which include formal education, functional adult literacy, vocational training, religious empowerment and counseling plus farming.
Among the prisons visited this month include U.G. Prison Luzira Upper Condemn, U.G. Prison Luzira M/Bay, U.G. Prison Luzira Women, U.G. Prison Masaka, U.G. Prison Mbarara, U.G. Prison Kabale, U.G. Prison Buluwula, U.G. Prison Jinja Main and Women, U.G. Prison Kasangati, U.G. Prison Bulawula, U.G. Prison Kigo men and women, U.G. Prison Buguungu, U.G. Prison Nakasongola, U.G. Prison Maluku Mbale, U.G. Prison Tororo, U.G. Prison Masindi, U.G. Prison Jinja Remand. A total of 12,000 inmates have been reached this month through these outreaches. We have had the opportunity to share the gospel, give humanitarian items like sugar, food items, sanitary items, toiletries, Bibles, tracts and other Christian literatures.
As a result of these outreaches to the prisons this month, 7,137 inmates gave and rededicated their lives to Christ. Over 1,000 bibles were distributed and 13,000 tracts and booklets distributed to inmates and prison staff through these outreaches. We are grateful for this great initiative that has seen the inmates benefiting from these ministry activities mark a beginning of transformation and rehabilitation in their lives.
SCHOOL OUTREACHES
Schools have been another of our key ministry areas this month. Through the school outreaches, we have had the opportunity to share the gospel not only to the children but also the staff as well and establish/revive fellowship groups, distribute Christian literature but also introduce the children’s discipleship programs in these schools. A total of 8 schools have been reached to and benefited from our monthly school outreaches in the month of March. We believe now is the time to reach these children and help them set their destinies at this early stage as we have come to believe that children are the church today. “Plant a word in the mind, and you will reap an act. Plant the act and you will reap a habit. Plant a habit and you will reap a character. Plant a character and you will reap a nature. Plant a nature and you will reap a destiny.” –Unknown. We believe the right word to sow is the Word of God and so have we pursued the dream to reach children in and out of school with the word of God.
These outreaches have been done in different schools in Jinja, Kampala and Nakasongola among which include Shiproy Primary School, God’s Gift Primary school, Help Primary school, God’s Gift primary school, Lakeside Primary School, Masese CDC primary school, Day Star Primary School and Lungujja Progressive. At least 4,534 children have been reached through these programs with 2,134 children giving their lives to Christ and 4,800 children booklets and tracts distributed.
FILM MINISTRY
In our community film ministry this month, we were yet blessed to reach and affect community through the film ministry.
This month we engaged the DANIDA community with the Jesus film show in the community trading centre. This film show was aimed at reaching and impacting this rather unreached community visually. Through this outreach, this community that usually assembles in times of local community meetings, disasters like deaths or accidents had a reason to meet on a cause that was different from any of the usual causes; a cause that did not distinguish between age and sex; Jesus. As we embarked on this ministry outreach in this community that has over 800 households, over 800 people gathered on this community ground to watch the Jesus movie.
As the movie came to the end, through the alter call, about 569 people raised their hands to make Jesus their personal Lord and savior. This was followed with a moment of saying the sinner’s prayer and prayer of commitment. We also made a distribution of Christian literature including 400 children booklets and 600 tracts to the adults. The new converts were encouraged to join the community bible teaching churches so as to be groomed in their Christian walk.
THE COMMUNITY BIBLE CLUB
The community bible clubs have been tremendous registering a huge increase in numbers this month. The clubs at Bulange and Kirinya have born testimonies to this. The other clubs at Makindye, Busaabala, Kitigoma, Mafubira and Kikalamoja. There has also been a tremendous change in the clubs of Nauyo, Bulucheke and Bududa as well as reported by the facilitators in these communities. 
The Bulange Bible Club
Bulange club as the pioneer club has steadily been growing both in numbers and discipling of the children. Today on average 105 children come weekly for the community bible club activities. As the year kick started, with the development of the “Raising Hope” curriculum designed as a rehabilitation tool to help children having psychological, spiritual and physical challenges, we have engaged the children in this curriculum since the beginning of the month and the children have not only learnt but applied these teachings in their lives. Two weeks ago a lesson learnt from one of the topics was forgiveness and the children were tasked to find someone to forgive in the life challenge. The following week the children came back with testimonies of how they had forgiven the people who had hurt them. One such testimony was from Samantha a teenager at the club who confessed of how she got insulted by a friend and on the brink of opening her mouth to insult her back said “all of a sudden I remembered that memory verse we had learnt from last week’s lesson. It was like someone was reciting back to me the same memory verse we had learnt. Instead of insulting her back, I shut my mouth and inside me forgave her and walked away. Interestingly we became friends again. I wonder what would have happened if I had insulted her back.” a testimony to which the rest of the children roared in laughter. It’s because of such testimonies that the clubs have steadily grown as these children are transforming to become young teachers and leading their fellow children.
This month 2,123 children have on average attended the clubs every weekend and 105 have given their lives to Christ this month alone. We are grateful for the tremendous work the facilitators are doing in equipping the children.
PRAYER REQUESTS
As we look forward to engaging new communities and implementing these programs in them, we ask you to pray with us in these areas.
Ø Pray for our mission to Kamuli district this month of April that even as we engage this new community, God will connect us with genuine but ministry hearted individuals. As pray for the grounds that even as we undertake the trainings, they will be implemented and that they will bear fruit.
Pray for our prison outreaches. There is a great need for Luganda Bibles in the prisons. Pray that God will raise partners to support this program and providing the bibles.
Pray also for our follow-up missions outreached scheduled for May 2014to Adjumani.
Pray that God will avail us with finances and the necessary logistics to implement and support the programs in these communities.
We still believe God for a mission’s car. Please pray with us in this area tooWe are delighted to have a partner like you and feeling privileged to have confiding in what we do. We once again thank you for your generous support and contributions towards the success of the ministry. We pray that the good Lord will generously bless and increase you. we cease not to pray with and for you. As you continue to support us, we would like to remind you of a scripture that has continuously blessed us. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
May the good lord bless you