Because Every Child Matters: Why we do what we do...

There's a funny story of a family that always cut off the ends of the pork roast before placing it in the pan for cooking. One day a visitor asked why they did that, and the truth was, no one really knew. Mom didn't know, and grandma didn't know. They had just always done it that way. Finally someone asked great-grandma if she knew why she always cut off the ends of the roast. "Sure," she said. "My roasting pan was too small." Sometimes it pays to ask questions.

As I begin my travels in Uganda, I must ask the question, "Why do we do what we do?" "We've always done it that way," can simply not be our final answer. Today, barely out of my cramped Boeing 747 mini-seat, I visited four of ECM's nine projects in Uganda, to begin finding out why we exist here. I found my answer while visiting the Kamwokya project in Kampala.

Maria is in her 20's now, and has been a sponsored child in ECM for many years. She spoke with passion and tears about how ECM gave her hope when she had no reason to be hopeful. She spoke with a heartfelt gratitude not only for her sponsor but also for ECM and the love shown to her over the years. Patrick followed with a poem he had written, expressing his deepest thoughts about his troubled past and the hope he has now for the future because of the love of God and ECM's staff. Steven shared from his heart a testimony of a hope that strengthens him from day to day. And the entire group sang a song written by an ECM project volunteer, grinning as they sung the chorus "Every Child Ministries, Uganda, bringing hope and a smile to African children."

At ECM we are not primarily in the business of filling stomachs, providing clothes, and making sure kids get an education. We are primarily in the business of bringing hope. Some hope is for today, and comes from a good meal, a new shirt, and good grades in school. It is a good and absolutely necessary hope. But a better hope is for eternity, the kind that pushes us through all that we endure, no matter how painful, because we know that someday we will see Jesus face to face, and walk with him on the streets of heaven. That is the hope I saw in the eyes of the children today, and that is the hope that we want every child to have!