Love Mercy

After the dust has seemingly settled on the overnight media frenzy that was "Kony 2012" we thought it a good moment to contribute to the mass of online information on the subject. Our aim in this post is to simply inform and empower those who have been moved by what they have seen in recent weeks, to be able to make wise choices about their response. Hopefully we can contribute to the conversation in a way that does not further dilute the real issues. There have been many criticisms of the Invisible Children campaign and video, from those who have chosen to unpick IC's financials, to those who have personally attacked the maker of the film Jason Russell. After the sad events of the weekend concerning Jason, we offer our best wishes and support as he recovers from what has clearly been an extremely draining and difficult period. I personally felt so overwhelmed and stressed by the huge media response that Love Mercy experienced two weeks ago, yet this was compara...

This morning with International Women's day coming up in a month, I am reminded of a story from just a few weeks ago. One afternoon as we were walking through Lira town, going to check on some seed suppliers for our Cents for Seeds project, two young girls approached us in the street. We were with Julius, who is definitely a celebrity in his village given his Olympic status, but also because of the incredible hard work that he puts in to bringing development to his people. These two girls, both called Grace, looked no older than 16 to me. They approached us and told Julius that they knew him, and that they lived in his village, Awake. It was almost 5pm, and the sun was beginning to set. Julius knew that they had a long journey ahead of them. He offered for them to stay the night in his home in Lira, so that they could rest and commence their journey the next morning. They followed us around the market place, where we noticed that one of the girls was pregnant. Julius told us t...

Caitlin Barrett Walter and Myself - my sponsor child. There is always a lesson to be learned in Africa… not that that is the reason that we go, but each time I have been to Uganda I have come away with a clear and distinct lesson that I have learned, and that has changed me in some way. On the plane trip home from our January trip, Eloise and I wrote each other 15 questions and asked for answers then and there. Reading through them on this side of a 30-hour plane trip having overcome severe jetlag, I I have found a few coherent themes. 1.Highlights. (in no particular order) Family The first time we went to Africa, we went with a group of about 13 Aussies. This time, it was just Eloise and myself. The highlight for me of this trip was being part of an African family. We had two babies in our group, and Eloise and I were expected, like everyone else in the family, to play our role and help out with the kids. Luckily we were more than happy (desperate in fact) to cuddle the ki...

Monday 16/1/21-Elzy   It's been a busy week here in Lira town and every night I've tried to write but have ended up nodding off onto the keyboard. I have a few spare moments this morning before we set off for another busy day running errands around town. After last Saturday's long day in the village of Barr we had a rest day on Sunday and went to the local pentecostal church with Julius, Grace, Jayden and Samuel, we were running a little late but as we walked into this huge church with around 1,000 people present they started singing "God is able" which was so great as I didn't feel so far from home! We hid right up the back, but sure enough, when the pastor got up to preach, he called on his "white sisters hiding up the back to come up and greet us". Which we did... and everyone enjoyed. Julius also bid on and won the bag of sesame that they auctioned off to raise money for the church youth. We spent the rest of Sunday catching...

Eloise and Caitlin are spending 2 weeks in Lira, Uganda, to monitor and evaluate the Cents for Seeds project. Here is their first travel journal entry: 8/01/2012 - Elzy It's about 5am here in Uganda and I'm wide awake. I'm trying to tap softy so as to not  to disturb Caity or to rouse the mozzie's lingering outside my mosquito net.  We had a long but safe flight here and we arrived in Enbebbe on Thursday to Julius's welcoming beaming smile at the airport. We had one night in Kampala and we had a nice dinner at the hotel catching up with Julius and Grace and playing with 6 month old Jayden. On Friday Julius and I went for an early training run in Kampala before starting the 7 hour drive North to Lira on a bumpy, dusty road. We had a full car, with Julius, Grace, Jayden, Florence and her 1 year old baby Grace and Caity and I. About 5 hours into the drive, all the warning lights lit up in Julius's car, we were in the the middle of no where so we ...

As Christmas fast approaches, I know I am beginning to panic about what to buy people who seem to have everything they could possibly need and more. This year, we have some great solutions to this problem! A beautiful wall print from our friends at  Blacklist Studio Prints . This beautiful "All is Calm" print is featured in this months Real Living magazine. All proceeds are being donated to the Love Mercy Foundation. The print comes unframed, and is $49.95, plus $5 postage. Alternatively, the print can be picked up from Sutherland or Cronulla. Please email  jaynie@blackliststudio.com if you would like to order a print.

For those who have read a little bit of the bible, our name may seem familiar to you. That is because our name is based on a verse in the bible: "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy    and to walk humbly [ with your God.”  Micah 6:8   So what does that mean? Jesus commands us to love our neighbors. A true neighbor is one who shows mercy. The word "mercy" carries with it both the idea of feeling empathy and compassion, as well as taking action on behalf of, and with those who are unable to do so themselves. The people of northern Uganda have lived through injustice for decades. We exist to empower communities, regardless of their religion, age, race, or political persuasion, to use their voice to demand justice. We see the love of Christ, shown through the local church to be a driving force for change in overcoming poverty.    We seek to love all people as equal, just as Jesus did, regardless of whether t...