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Ruth (name changed for privacy) was abandoned by her mother when she was only seven months old. She was raised by her father and step-mother and endured all sorts of mistreatment at her step-mother’s hands. Sometimes her step-mother would starve her for days, refusing her any of the family’s food. On those occasions, Ruth was so hungry she would eat their dog’s leftover food.
One day while she crouched near the dog’s leftovers, her ribs sticking through her dark skin, the neighbor’s young son saw her and told his mother. That evening, the boy’s mother invited Ruth to her house and asked her if what her son had told her was true. Ruth slowly nodded her head, her face clearly showing her terror, and begged the neighbor woman not to tell her step-mother.
“If you tell my step-mother, she will kill me!” Ruth cried, her limbs shaking in fear. “If she knew I ate the dog’s leftovers instead of throwing them away she would kill me!”
Tears began to fall down the neighbor woman’s cheeks and she gently laid her hands on Ruth’s shoulders. And in that moment, she promised she would feed Ruth every day and never tell her step-mother. She kept that promise until the day Ruth left the compound with her family.
As if starving Ruth was not enough, her step-mother flogged her mercilessly until at time she would faint. She would also apply pepper to Ruth’s eyes, armpits and neck, tie her up and leave her in the makeshift outhouse for days without food.
Despite all this abuse, Ruth was very bright academically. She knew that the only way to escape the situation was to achieve educational success, so she set herself to her schooling with a diligent purpose. This diligence has helped Ruth escape her poverty and given her the chance to study law in college.
The little girl on the streets, starving and abused, has grown into a brilliant young woman. But most importantly, she has come to know her savior, Jesus Christ, through one of the evangelical outreaches.
In Ruth’s own words, she says: “I have every right to be hateful, bitter, jealous, arrogant, sad, negative and toxic but I chose not to because of the teaching about the grace and favor of God you have been sharing with me.”
So many children in Twashuka are in similar situations. Some are physically abused while others are neglected, which, in itself, is another form of abuse. Through the school outreach, we want to give children the hope of education Ruth saw and pursued. We want these children to be able to rise above their poverty and achieve their dreams.
Through the sponsorship program, we’re helping children that cannot afford proper schooling to become educated. When trapped in the circle of poverty, so much depends on your education! But we need your help! We're doing what we can with what we have, but your support would help so much to increase the impact of the school. Our goal is to get all 250 children at the school sponsored within the next five years. We know it's ambitious, but the impact of education can truly change lives and we don't want to withhold that from any child.
Would you be willing to partner with us?
Pray With Us...
Please join with us in praying for the following needs this month.
School is off for the month of December. Since many children don't have great living conditions, please pray for health and safety for all of them to return next year.
We planted a huge crop of Irish potatoes at the farm last month, please pray for a successful harvest and that God will provide income through the crop.
So many children need to be sponsored for school. Please pray that God will open doors for us to expand awareness of our sponsor program so that we can better support the basic needs of the school teachers, feed the children and provide school books.
One of our efforts is to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ in the political arena. Aaron is in the process of meeting with the new administration members in government offices. Please pray that we obtain favor in this.
Please pray the Lord will provide a new ministry truck. Our current truck is on it's last legs and it is always breaking down. "newer" trucks (that are used) are very expensive and costs around $20k. Please pray the Lord will provide for this need soon.
If you've read this far, thank you. I hope Ruth's story touched you as much as it did me.
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