Let the Stories Begin...

The 2018 Venture Interns are now serving in several countries around the world. Below is a story from the Journalism Team, traveling in Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi to record and share stories like this one to God's glory.

Pit latrines, trash piles, gutters, and jungles. What do these four things have in common? To an average person they would mean nothing, except a place you would deposit waste of various kinds. But to Susan, a Ugandan national, these four locations are places where newborn babies are often abandoned by their mothers.

With one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, Susan has heard heartbreaking stories where young mothers are unable to care for their children. Maybe it is an unwanted pregnancy. Maybe the child has special needs. Often times the mothers themselves are still children and are not physically able to care for a baby. Feeling they have no choice but to abandon the baby to die, these mothers leave them in places no human should ever be placed. Take a second to think about that. A desperate mother feeling she has no choice but to throw her newborn baby down a pit toilet. Into sewage. Hearing these stories broke my heart. It is easy when hearing stories like this to become overwhelmed by the tragedies in our world. Yet amidst these tragedies is a story of hope. God placed a deep longing and desire on Susan's heart to start a babies' home. She has seen the need and is choosing to do something about it. Even now she is in the process of creating the plan as to what it will look like for her to open a safe haven for unwanted babies. It will become a place in the community that offers training for mothers, protection for unwanted babies, and a safe place for babies to be left if the mother feels they cannot provide for them. Each child found is given medical assistance, a home, food, protection, and lots of cuddling and hugs. This is just one of many stories we have the privilege of hearing as we travel this summer. Stories of hope amidst the destruction, redemption from ruins, and the Gospel shining a light in even the darkest of places.

Read more about the interns' ministries at mobblog.nmsi.org where they will be posting throughout the summer!