At the age of 18, Renee went to Uganda on a calling to serve God there. At the age of 19 or 20 she started the ministry Serving His Children. In addition to a feeding program for children in the area, she has started a malnutrition rehabilitation program. She takes the children that have been cast aside by hospitals and doctors and said to have no chance of survival. Sometimes already given up on by their own mothers, she takes these little ones and loves them and tenderly nurses them back to health. Sometimes this means getting up every hour, 24hrs a day, to feed the small amounts that their bellies can handle. I was so excited to catch a glimpse of the day to day of the ministry while we were in Jinja.
Here is Renee (left) and a good friend, Shanna that comes whenever she can to help out.
The little boy they are holding was a child that had just come to their ministry a couple of days before we got there. His name was Andrew and he was four years old. Unfortunately, he got to their door too late and he passed away the day after we left. This completely broke my heart. To know that this little boy had to suffer and die in such a way. Not from an incurable disease, but from starvation. NO child should have to suffer like that. I know he is with our Lord now, and in pain no longer. Sweet, sweet rest Andrew.
I hope that Renee's story can be an inspiration to us all that we all have something we can offer these sweet children. Whether it is to be extraordinarily brave like Renee and move to a foreign country at the age of 18 or to be one of the many people that God is calling to support people like Renee. WE ALL HAVE A PART TO PLAY. And I hope the images of these precious children will help you realize that we can't deny that any longer. If you would like to support Renee's ministry, Serving His Children, you can find a link here http://www.servinghischildren.org
These three images are of 18 month olds that are the size of newborns. They are improving daily under SHC's care.
This little boy is Robert. He has an amazing story that you can read more about here http://servinghischildreninuganda.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html He has come so far under Renee's care and is showing amazing signs of recovery.
And finally, this is Betty, who captured my heart while we were there. Betty is 14yrs old and also suffers from CP. She has done so well under the program that she is almost to a point where her mom can take her home. The great thing about Renee's program is not only do they nurse the children back to health, but they also use the time with the mothers to teach them about nutrition and how to grow food so that the children will not end up back in these conditions.
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