Sonrise Ministries

If you haven't given to a great cause yet, let me tell you about an Urgent need we have at Sonrise Children's Home and the Mirembe Girls Home in Uganda.

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Damali Wattier Manyindo has rescued and taken in about 10 new babies over the past couple of weeks. Praise be to God! To make room for all the new additions, she needs to move some of the older toddlers over to Ivan Mukulu at the Children's Home.

They need to purchase some more bunk beds, mattresses and bedding to provide for the new little ones.  The total cost is about $400. She is also in need of formula for the new babies.This is where you come in. If you would like to help out ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100), please go here http://sonrisebabies.com/donate/ and choose to make a one time gift. No amount is too small and your gift is 100% tax deductible. Don't forget to put in the message box that it is to be used to purchase beds. 

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One of the girls at the Mirembe Girls Home, Monday, has exceded what we had expected for her medical bills as a result of the surgery for her lame leg (from Polio as a child). The surgery straighted it, but it is taking a long time to heal (she still as the pins in her leg), and she may require another surgery. The gas to take her daily into town to have the bandages changed, as well as trips back and forth to the hospital 3 hours away, and medication has been more than anticipated.  Mugoda Awali Daniel had to use some money he had put aside for the girls' first Christmas at the house toward those expenses.

Would you consider helping Daniel out with the expenses or blessing the girls for a special Christmas?  Please go here http://sonrisebabies.com/donate/ and choose to make a one time gift. No amount is too small and your gift is 100% tax deductible. Don't forget to put in the message box that it is to be used for the Mirembe Girls (christmas or needs).

                                                     (There are several missing from this picture)

 

Blown Away!

Can I just say how blessed and blown away we are will all the support we have received from everyone for the trip! We are all allowed to take 3-50lb bags with us on the plane from ATL to Uganda for FREE! But, the flight from Pensacola to ATL was going to cost us about $100 a person to get all that luggage there. Through some great friends and friends of friends the money that we needed for that short flight for all of us came in! God is great! In each of those bags we have collected donations for the Sonrise Baby and Children's Homes, the workers, and the surrounding villages to take with us. Items like: Formula, Diaper, Toys, Blankets, Hats, Shoes, Soaps, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, bottles, Water hoses, etc... Our stuff that we need will be in our carry ons. We still have items coming in! THANK YOU to EVERYONE who has supported us and the Sonrise Ministry! Thank you for the prayers and continue to keep us and everyone we come in contact with in your prayers!

We Will Go

I heard this song the other day and it has quickly become one of my favorites. Mandi Mapes wrote this last year...

Lonely lay a little baby crying for her fathers arms
Sunlight seems to be fading as the smoke rises from the war
Woman thirsting for water watching as her life slips away
Men come falling on their faces praying to a god who cannot save


So we will go, to the end of the world
Bringing good news to the broken and the poor
There is hope, for all who are thirsty
To come to the well and drink of his mercy

The Devil Comes to kill and ruin, But our life is hidden in the Son
So we'll raise our banner cause the wars not over, but it's already won
For He came and died to save and rose up from the grave the King of Kings
So we'll raise our voices, full of truth and justice and let them ring


So we will go, to the end of the world
Bringing good news to the broken and the poor
There is hope, for all who are thirsty
To come to the well and drink of his mercy

All who call upon the Lord will be saved
But how can they call when they don't believe
And how will the believe when they've never heard
And how will they hear unless someone tells them
And how can they tell them if they're never sent?

So we will go, to the end of the world
Bringing good news to the broken and the poor
There is hope, for all who are thirsty
To come to the well and drink of his mercy

It's all for your glory God

For me, that last verse says it all. It's from Romans 10:13-15. Like I said in a previous blog, We are put here on this earth to Love, Serve, and Obey God. God has called us as Christians to Serve Him. We are to go to the ends of the world. To serve in the states and out. Those who go, need senders (prayerfully and financially). Everyone plays a vital part! Without the senders, we can't go. If we can't go, then how will they hear? The Bible says that God will not come back until everyone has heard. It is our job to spread God's word to the ends of the world. Go and Send!

The Hole in Our Gospel - Richard Stearns

I decided to re-read "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns. I read it last year just before I went to Uganda. It's a great book and if you have not read it before I highly recommend it! As I was reading it today I came across these quotes from Stearns that made me think a bit.

Why did God make me? To love, serve, and obey Him. Very simple, yet extremely profound. If we all woke up every morning asking, “How can I love, serve, and obey God today?” it might change everything-it might even change the world. -Richard Stearns

How often do we really think about why God made us? How often do we wake up wondering how we can love, serve, and obey God today? I don't think it is as often as it should be. We should be asking those questions and then fulfilling what God wants every day but we don't. We get so busy in our day to day lives that we don't think about it! He didn't put us here to sit around and do nothing. God puts us on this earth to Love, Serve, and Obey Him!

When we say that we want to be His disciple, yet attach a list of conditions, Jesus refuses to accept our terms. His terms require unconditional surrender. - Richard Stearns

How many times do we put conditions on things God wants us to do? God doesn't want our conditions. He wants us to COMPLETELY surrender to him. Following Him. Even in Matthew 8 it talks about the cost of following God. A disciple told God He would follow Him but then he said "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said, "Follow Me, Let the dead bury their own dead." That disciple tried to lay out his own conditions first but God said Follow Me. Unconditional surrender. It's not and won't be easy! If we all Loved, Served, and Obeyed God...If we all Fully and Unconditionally Surrendered Everything to Him - it might could completely change this world, like Stearns mentioned. If we did all that, just imagine what our relationship with God would be like! I think it would become stronger and we would learn to trust, and lean on Him for more than we ever have! More people reaching the Nations. More people reaching the lost and the needy.

Well, that's my thoughts for now! (:

Remember to keep my team in your prayers as we prepare to head to Uganda! A few people have asked for the names of who is going, so here they are!

Me
Dana Whitton
Nathan Whitton
Audrey Hofer
Lynn Patterson

We leave in 8 days!

Uganda

I am so excited about the upcoming trip to Uganda! A team of 4 will be leaving for Pensacola, FL on the 8th of July and then we start our journey to the far off land of Africa on the 9th! It's hard to believe that it is only 12 days away. I didn't think I was going to be able to go back this year, but God had other plans. I usually plan a mission trip a year in advance and send out support letters to let people know what I am doing and to ask for prayer. Well, that didn't happen due to moving to a new state, new job, and moved again to a new home. Things just got so busy I figured that was God saying I am to stay home front this year. I was of course upset that I wasn't going to be able to go because I miss Africa so much. I have left my heart there. In April, an opportunity came up out of the blue to go back and then a small team formed! I was excited but at the same time wondering how I was going to raise $2,000 for a plane ticket in 3 weeks and another $800 before I leave! Finding that much money in such a short amount of time when I am used to collecting 10 months in advance was crazy! People didn't even know I was going. I mentioned it on facebook a few times but that not a letter. That's where I believe God said "trust me". It wasn't easy. The plane ticket date came up and I still needed that $2,000! Through lots of tears and prayers the money was provided! God is good. He wants me to go but it is not going to be easy. He is making each of us come to Him and rely on Him for everything! NOTHING will be easy. Plane tickets are bought and the packing begins! We are each taking 3 - 50lb bags full of items for the Sonrise Baby/Children's Home, Children's Choir, Village Children, and Sonrise Church. I look forward to going back. Pray for the people we come in contact with through hut to hut evangelism, the village schools, orphanages, islands, building huts, and the markets. No matter where we meet them, pray that we show Gods love to them and that they may come to know Him. Pray for the team as we prepare to go. Pray for us as we are gone. Trip dates are July 8-26th. Keep watching the blog while I am gone! I will post every few days to keep you up to date on everything that is happening! Love you ! Phil 4:13