Mark Watkins, of Davidson County, traveled with ekissa on a short-term mission trip in June 2011 and his life was forever changed. It was there that he met four-year-old, Mercy, and her mother, Annette, a widow and single parent, and Mark felt a calling to respond to a need and share with others the blessings his family has received from God. Here is their story in Mark's own words:
"This is a ministry that was formed simply out of following the Holy Spirit and trusting God was using me to facilitate His greater plan. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that God crossed my path with the path of a little girl in Bweya Village that day in June. Mercy was four-years-old at the time and she found her way to me, and we connected. I thought her to be an orphan living at the children's home, but she was actually there with her mom, aunt and siblings attending the VBS ekissa was holding. Toward the end of our time at the children's home that day, I had an opportunity to meet Mercy's mom, Annette. Annette had seen the connection I had made with Mercy and actually offered Mercy to me and asked if I would take her back to the states with me. I have to be honest, I was completely caught off guard.
A few days later I had an opportunity to talk to Annette in detail and hear a little more of her story. Her husband was killed a month or so prior in a tragic construction accident. Annette assessed her situation and saw no options for how she was to provide for her family as a widow. She told me she felt giving Mercy to me would give Mercy the best future. This offer to me was not an act of abandonment, but an act of deep, deep love. I gently pressed to learn what her immediate needs were and what would have the greatest impact on their situation. I left her that day telling her there was hope in God and He had a plan that would provide for her needs and keep her family intact.
After evaluating all of the needs she expressed, I resolved to leave money for her that would hopefully change the course of their future. For a mere $175, I was able to pay their two-months back rent, give them two months forward rent and cover rental of a shall for two months, from which they would run a business and capital to purchase goods to sell. The goal is that this would jump start their road to self-sustainability and allow Annette to provide for their needs through her efforts. During this time I also paid for Mercy's school fees so Annette could focus on making her business successful.
It wasn't long after establishing their business, that Annette & Mercy began to acknowledge how good God had been to them. Annette went from being sad and feeling hopeless to being alive in Christ as she saw a bright future ahead because of God's love and provisions. Annette had such a change in disposition that neighbors began asking about the God who had changed her life. She was a living witness.
Over the following months, there were many opportunities for my family to bless them in ways that multiplied blessings in Bweya Village. Today, Mercy is ready to enroll in a new and fantastic school when the new term begins in January 2012. Annette and her sister have a thriving roadside business selling vegetables and roasted fish and are looking at ways to begin making crafts to diversify their income.
Annette has also taken strides to witness to her late husband's family who is Muslim, which while it has been a hostile relationship, she has continued to show God's love to them as it has been shown to her. After trusting Christ with her life shortly after her husband's death, Annette is now a regular and active member of the Bweya Community Church and is even hosting mid-week Bible studies in her home.
God has clearly blessed Annette and her family, which has transformed their lives and given them a hope for the future previously not even visible to them. But God has transformed my life as well, showing me that my responsibility is to just be obedient to God's call and to respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, regardless of whether or not I can see the big picture. There have been many, many stories that have played out over this past six months, which God revealed one page at a time. It has been a tremendous lesson for all of us to trust God when He's only illuminating the next step, even though we want to see the entire staircase!
I know this story will go on for years and years, and I can't wait to see the woman Mercy will become and how God will use her to do mighty things."