OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER!

YOUR MERCY
MERCY FOR CHILDREN INC PO BOX 2124 LAKELAND, FL 33806-2124 (352) 895-2800
www.mercyforchildren.org January, 2011

Dear Parents and Friends of Mercy for Children, Inc.:
Happy New Year 2011! I pray and hope 2011 will bring your way more blessings from God for you and all your families. Please God, we pray for a year of peace and more meanings in living our lives and in helping others. We are very mindful of our families and friends who have had deaths, serious sicknesses and other family trials in 2010 and in this beginning of 2011. We continue to offer prayers for all of them.
MISSION TRIP REPORT
Our October 2010 mission trip was a big success and we want to share more of the details with great joy and gratitude. It was indeed a record breaking and our most exciting mission trip so far. Again, THANK YOU so much for all your supports in prayers and sponsorships.
From October 19th to November 20th, James Studiale and Fr. Gabriel Ipasu sojourned in Congo and spent the maximum of their time with the kids, working on our sponsored summer projects. Two men with 10 suit cases, James and I left and got there very safely. Besides delivering clothes, school supplies, sound system, medical supplies and toys, we worked on several projects: completing the dining room and its minimum furnishing, the sport complex, new toilets for the school, the purchase of a new generator and its' wiring, a motorcycle, a man-pulled chariot, the 5th grade class, some extra school desks, first farming steps on our now 50 acre piece of land, an English class for the kids twice a week and few others.
The top story of our 2010 mission trip remains the rescuing of the little Placide. If you missed little Placide’s story, please refer to our website and go to News/Events and then Recent Newsletter. Thank you again on the behalf of Placide and all our children! Placide and all these children bear the indelible mark of your love and Mercy for Children is the name of your love.
Some of our projects are yet to be fully completed or were launched and now need some more support for them to be fully effective in meeting the needs of the children. The school is growing very fast; I was shocked to learn that our school had over 250 children from 1st to 5th grade. We are desperate for the education of these young souls and need help. Our farming project will be a big blessing if well funded and developed; if you have a special heart for farming or know someone, please help us. We do have detailed information on this and the other projects; please, contact us if you can lead us to achieving one or some of our goals.
Daily expenses for their food, shelter and education are our biggest need and first priority. As we said in our Christmas message, many of our kids are still in need of sponsors or long distance adoption. Please, consider this loving way of raising a child in Africa. It was very painful for James and me to bring gifts to only sponsored or adopted kids; we had to make up some gifts for the others. It means the world to them and gives them greater sense of belonging when they get long distance adopted or at least sponsored. Please, consider embracing this special Joy.
May the God of Mercy and Father of the orphans bless all our 2010 Mission Trip sponsors and their families! May we all keep up with this championship of Mercy and amazing love till the finish line! Special Thanks to James Studiale, our 2010 Champion, and his family.
EVENTS CALENDAR
“BE THEIR VALENTINE”, find out more from us!
Lakeland Moms for Mercy Luncheons:
February 2 - hosted by Kerry Bodalay
March, date TBA - hosted by Annie Studiale
April, date TBA - hosted by Jackie Lyons
SAVE THE DATE! - "April Fools Crawfish for Congo", Lakeland
More on this to come!
MEDICAL CLINIC UPDATE
The recent mission trip to Congo provided an opportunity for Father Gabriel to meet with Sister Bernadette and to discuss her medical education plans. He also had the opportunity to speak with professors at her school. The meetings were informative and very helpful. While Sister currently holds a Bachelors degree it has recently been determined that some of these credits would not transfer, and that she would need to start anew with prerequisite courses before starting medical school. While this was a great disappointment, she was willing and committed to doing this. However, there was an alternative which was suggested by professors at the school: to obtain a Masters in Public Health. This degree, being different in name than what we typically are familiar with in the States, is very clinical in nature, being closely equivalent to a Nurse Practitioners degree here. With this degree she is able to treat patients, prescribe medications, and to do all the tasks usually found in a rural health clinic. She also receives training specific to running a rural health clinic. The degree takes 2 years. Following this she can spend an additional year doing surgical training, and then be licensed to perform simple surgeries, including Caesarean sections. After consultation with a number of people both Father Gabriel and Sister Bernadette felt this was the best, most expeditious, educational course to take to prepare her for her work at the Medical Clinic. We keep the possibility of medical school as an option, and, if helpful or needed, we believe that Sister Bernadette will be better able to pursue this having completed her Masters degree.
The recent Mission trip also included delivery of a supply of medicine and other health care supplies for the orphanage infirmary. These included donated items including antibiotics, vitamins, and clinic supplies.
We are still in need of someone with experience in grant writing to help with the Medical Clinic project. If you, or someone you know, has experience in this area, and would be willing to help in this capacity please contact Dr. Matt Cory at mcorymd@msn.com .
CHILD SPONSORSHIPS
We are very happy to report that since our last newsletter in October we have received sponsorship commitments for 7 more children! This is wonderful and we thank all of our new sponsors for their commitment!
We still have children in the orphanage who do not have sponsors. Want to make a difference in the life of one child? Want to bring basic nutrition, housing, school, and most of all hope, to a child who has had little of any of this. We have 3 sponsor levels, and can even work with groups who want to collectively sponsor a child. Need more information? Please email Nancy Cory at nhccpa@msn.com. We will gladly send you information about our various sponsorship options.
MOMS FOR MERCY GROUPS
Moms for Mercy are groups of women filled with the sense of Divine Mercy and Love; they get together for prayer, light lunch and fellowship at a members’ home once a month. What they would have spent at a restaurant, we they make it a donation to Mercy For Children, Inc. What a blessing to be able to help needy children while socializing with friends! We encourage you to think about starting a group in your community! If you are interested, please contact Katherine Sandifer at mercyforchildren@gmail.com or 863-221-5484.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - YOU TOO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
There is much that goes on behind the scene to fund and operate an orphanage roughly 6800 miles away! Want to help? There are many things you can do here, even from home, that can make a difference in a child's life half a world away. If you would like to get involved we can find a way for you to help. Email us with your name, address, and contact information, and any special interests or skills you think might be helpful. We will find something for you to do. Send us an email to mercyforchildren@gmail.com .
FINAL THOUGHTS...
James Studiale, who accompanied Father on this most recent mission trip, wrote candidly and insightfully in his blog, which you can find on our website under the News and Events heading. If you have not taken the time to do so, please check it out. Over the course of the month he stayed and worked there, he describes the beauty as well as the difficulties present in Congo. The blog of his last day speaks volumes about how he was affected by the trip, and also how the work of Mercy for Children can affect the lives of the children in Congo. THANKS A MILLION, JAMES!

By Dr Matthew Cory and Fr. Gabriel Ipasu