This past month of February we had the opportunity to work with Great Mercy, a ministry founded by Judith Mutange and her husband, Evans, back in 2001. The ministry is made up of three parts: an orphanage, a school, and a church. It all began with Judith (known as Mama Mercy) and her husband opening up their home to orphaned children because they simply couldn’t ignore their most basic needs. It snowballed from their joyful obedience to buying land to build a center to house and educate the children that society disregarded. Great Mercy is now home to around 100 kids, some true orphans, others come from families torn apart by post-election violence or domestic violence, and still others from the streets addicted to glue or ostracized by AIDS. You can visit their website created by one of my teammates, Michael Green, during our time there.
You’ll notice as you step on the acre large center that functions as the school, orphanage and church the absolute joy and peace of Great Mercy. Every child there knows the blessing of Mama Mercy and her heart for what the Lord is doing is completely all over that place. Everyone there lives on the favor of the Lord. As an orphanage, there’s no money to be made; only money to be spent. Not to mention providing an education for each child there. It takes both the simple and complex faith that the Lord provides their daily bread every single day.
Over the course of the day, Great Mercy is showered with prayers. After the children wake up at 5:15 a.m. and do their morning chores, there are prayers. When the older children finish classes at 9 p.m. they pray and thank the Lord for the day. At every meal there is a chorus of thanksgiving for the literal provision of food. And every evening at 6, all the children meet together for saying and singing prayers for half an hour.
Praise is always on the lips of the children at Great Mercy, on the lips of the teachers of Great Mercy, and on the lips of Mama Mercy and her husband. They stand on the promise that the Lord hears our petitions and pleas and prayers and answers them in tangible palpable ways. Sometimes the answers to those prayers came in a wheelbarrow full of vegetables for the children. Other times they stand as a literal building where the kids have a place to shower and use the bathroom. And still others are more in the background, like the gift a man gave to Great Mercy that they wouldn’t pay for any of the water they use (and they haven’t paid a shilling).
The title of this blog reflects the simplicity of their faith and their prayers. I often in prayers, ‘in Jesus’ name I pray’ because the Lord tells us to ask in His name. They end their prayers with, ‘in Jesus’ name I do believe and pray’. The profundity of that last portion that’s added hit my heart so strongly this past month. How often do I disbelieve the prayers that I pray? Am I satisfied with just praying and saying the prayers but not believing what I pray and ask for? Do I really trust in the daily provision of the Lord just like the hundred kids and Mama Mercy do every day?
Here's a fun video from our orphanage. We still keep up to date with the latest trends, even across the world
