From Darkness To Hope with Mercy

A poem can carry what a person couldn’t say out loud for years. Mercy joins us from Uganda and shares how she went from fear, silence, and a painful childhood marked by hunger, abuse, and child labor to finding safety at Luluanda Children’s Home and building a life shaped by faith and purpose. Her journey is honest about trauma, but it’s even more honest about what steady love can do over time.

We talk about the real hurdles that don’t make it into highlight reels, like arriving with a language barrier so strong she couldn’t ask for help, and the slow work of learning trust. Mercy also shares how her faith grew through Sunday school, Bible teaching, and community, especially coming from a mostly Muslim family. Along the way she surprises herself with what becomes possible: university, teaching phonics, and using her voice as a writer.

Then Mercy reads her poem “My Untold Story,” and the room changes. It’s a clear, brave testimony of wounds becoming scars and scars becoming evidence of healing. We also get practical about calling and impact: Mercy’s dreams include equipping disadvantaged girls and young mothers with skills that can lead to income, stability, and renewed hope, plus showing up as a praying “big sister” for the younger kids.

If you care about Christian encouragement, trauma healing, orphan care in Uganda, and stories of redemption that feel real, you’ll want to listen all the way through. Subscribe, share this with a friend, leave a review, and consider giving to help Luluanda Children’s Home continue to grow and care for more children.

Transcript

Meet Mercy And Her Role

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Okay, now we're on. Okay, Mercy. I would like you to introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Praise God. Um Chequemboy Mercy. I'm working at Luluanda Children's Home as a program coordinator, and I also teach Phonics, which Aunt Mary has been guiding me on how to go about that teaching. And um I'm one of the firstborn children of Luluanda Children's Home. So I'm a big sister, and I've always loved working with children, and I am very happy that I got the opportunity to come back and work at home.

Arriving With Fear And Language Barriers

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Yes, that's that's so awesome that you lived there and now you get to work there uh with children because you know what they have gone through before they came to Lewanda Children's Home because you walked through some hard things. And now you get to walk with them and encourage them to praise God and to trust that they're here for purpose. He's called us for purpose.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yes, sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

So so when you came to Luanda's children's home, do you remember uh how you felt?

A New Home And Growing Faith

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Um, I had a lot of mixed emotions because if you compare where I was coming from to where I came to, which is Luanda Children's Home, beginning from language, we had a lot of language barrier challenges because my tribe in the entire country, um, no one else can understand us apart from ourselves, but the rest of the ethnic groups can understand each other, so it was very challenging for me. How am I going to communicate? How am I going to be able to get help in case I need help? Because no one can understand me and I cannot understand them as well. So it was a bit challenging, and also the fact that I had some fear in me, um, a friend place which is now going a little, but then after settling in for like about I think the first week, I was so excited because everything was now different from how I knew. Life was uh seemingly better, everything was beautiful, so many kids. And life generally was like I got hope. I I had I saw that things ahead are going to be really better for me. I I didn't know really how far I was going to go, but at least I knew the following few days, or for whatever period of time I was to be there was going to be beautiful for me, and I didn't know I was going to uh be in Luluanda up to today. So it has been it has been a very beautiful journey of transformation. It has been uh there's been a lot of growth. I didn't know about God. Most of my family are Muslims, so it's only my mom who was not Muslim, and she made us not to be Muslims, but everyone else is Muslim in our family, so I really didn't know much about God, but then on reaching here, we would do a lot of Sunday school, we would do a lot of uh awana games, they would teach us so much about the Bible, we got to learn about God, who God really is, and I've been growing in Christ from the day I entered this place up to now. My spiritual growth has really improved.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

That's amazing. That um, you know, just that um he rescued you to teach you so that you could teach others. I really love that that he he had this good plan for you. Yes. So uh in I live so far away from you, you live so far away from me, and here we are on a telephone talking like we're next door to each other. I love that. Um so when when you went to you went to university, yeah. Did you get to go to university?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yes, I did.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

And what did you think of that?

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Yes, I got to have it was uh unexpected. I didn't expect to go that far, but it was a very, very, very beautiful. I can't even express how grateful.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

We froze a little bit here, but that's okay. We'll just keep trying. So Mercy, I there they're coming, they're coming back. Good. Yay! Yay, you're back.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Yeah, sorry, about our network.

Writing Gifts And Creative Skills

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Yes, no, that's fine, because we're gonna we have an editor and she'll piece the pieces together, but mercy. I've I okay, there's some things that are alike in you and I. I began my teaching as a phonics teacher, teaching kids to read many years ago because I'm old and you're young. But the other thing that is like that we are alike in is that we write. You write poetry, and I write poetry. And your poem, when I heard your poem uh a few months, a couple of months ago, it made me cry. It was so awesome. It was so amazing that God has given you such a voice. And as a teacher, but also I believe your words are going to reach a lot of people and help them to know that God can redeem them, that he can pull their lives from hard, hard places where they feel hopeless to have hope, like you were talking about earlier. And, you know, I love the verse that says, faith is the evidence of the things we hope for. So we hope, and then God does it, and then we have the evidence, and then our faith grows. And and I feel like I see that in your story that I know a little bit more than the these um other ladies know, but um uh I I'm just so excited to meet you. I feel like I'm meeting someone famous. And I believe you're gonna write and publish, and uh your words are gonna go already. They've gone across the world. They've gone across the world, yeah. So small, and your words are reaching others. So, how do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Would you like her to read the poem?

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Oh, I would love that. I would love that.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Okay, she's going to pull it up. Okay, yes, mercy.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

How old are you?

SPEAKER_00 8:37

I'm 28.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

28. Bless your heart. You are a baby. I am almost 68. So we are 40 years apart.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

That's a very big gap.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

It is, it is. Oh, yes, yes, and then I can also send you the video with the poem.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Yes, yes, I love that. But I would love her to read her one now.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yes, she's gonna read it. Yes, right. So the other thing that Mercy is very talented in, she is talented in creative things. Uh, she makes. She crocheted this vest. This oh, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Love it, she's a model too. You're great, mercy. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yes, so she makes purses and dresses and sweathers, and she's uh crochets, and then I also do makeup, braidone makeup and hairstyling.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Oh my goodness. Well, you look gorgeous. So if I were there, I would want my hair styled. I got once years ago, I got my hair like I went on a trip and I got it braided like this down the side, kind of out of my face. And I kept those braids for months, and I loved them so much. So if I do come one day, you love to do my hair for me.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

I can say you should come, it will make sense. And also, I've been uh doing uh we've been going on missions and I've been teaching women the word of God, I've been preaching. So oh, praise God on the other side of the world.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

We we've walked through it, then we are mighty with our storytelling, and um and there again, you're you're a writer, you're a communicator, um, and it has impact when we tell our stories, our books of remembrance, they matter because God wants to do what He's done for us, for these other women that are listening and hurting out there and just needing hope. Okay, are you ready to read?

Mercy Reads My Untold Story

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, okay. Just a little bit nervous, though. That's okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Don't be nervous, you're just saying it to me.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

All right, my untold story. In the depth of my heart lay so much darkness and sorrow. In the shadows, I wandered alone, a soul forsaken, hope overthrown, the world went cold and silent. My heart was torn and hungry, hungry for something I didn't know. My story, one of pain, untold, unknown. In my search for love, I was met with despair, a life of suffering with no one to run to. Hunger gnawed, my belly tight, tears became my food, dreams of a better tomorrow, washed away. Darkness crept in, in forms unseen, abuse and shame, a haunting dream. Child labor's weight I could not bear. A life of toil with no one to spare. The scars left on my body were like tattoos screaming, help! The pain every scar holds tells my story, one of pain, untold, unknown. But then a glimmer, a light inside, the wonder, a refuge, safe haven where love and happiness reside, a chance to heal, a chance to let my soul be loved with no strings attached. My wounds started healing. Sense of hope gave me a little adrenaline rush. How my life was rushing with grace after crashing. So souls to a pair of shoes I could never imagine. My wounds held, scars sealed with love. From wounds of a past to and to a hope anew, a story unfolding with a heart so full and grateful, so loved, educated, medicated, and told God's love. I got born again to a new family. My untold story, now told with so much happiness, testimonies, and love. Now I praise God, my heart full, head held high.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Oh, praise God! Ah, it's so good. Are you still are you writing more? Have you written since then?

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, I've written a little bit, just a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Would you like to share another thing that you've written?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Uh I could maybe I don't think I can, I don't think it's possible right now, but maybe it's later, right? Yes, another time when we talk.

Dreams To Equip Young Women

SPEAKER_02 14:15

That would be so good. So, what are your dreams, Marcy? What dreams are in your heart? Because our father tells us that he gives us the desires of our heart. What are your desires?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Um, right now I desire to reach as many people as I can to uh encourage them, tell them more about God, teach them the word of God, and also mostly like the young girls that are, I would say, disadvantaged. They are young mothers, they're unable to go back to school or they can not get jobs. I would love to share with them the skill that I have because it has helped me and I believe it's going to help them also, at least they will be able to find for themselves, take care of their families, and not yeah, just to give them hope, to show them that this is not the end, there is still better ahead of us. So I want to spread love through the skills that I have by sharing with everyone that I can come across that needs help.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Oh, praise God! I believe he's gonna use you too. I mean, he's already used you so much, but uh, I do believe that he will continue to use that gift that he's put in you as a teacher to equip these women so that their later days are greater than the former days. Um, Father God, I just thank you that you have taught mercy, that she doesn't have to have a spirit of fear, but power and love and a sound mind. And with that sound mind, you are expanding her influence, you're expanding her impact. And I'm just praising you for her life, for for the the um light that is in her and the words that she speaks and the way that she speaks them, father. Let it just reach so many that are lost and uh restore to them their hope, Father, in Jesus' name. Um, what else do you want to tell us about? Is there something else?

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Let me see. Um, what else haven't I spoken about? Um recently I I think I found my one of my purposes. Okay, so I feel like God has been trying to tell me and show me that one of my purposes is to be there for my siblings, the Lolanda children, like support them as much as I can in case they need uh someone, a big sister. I am their big sister. Uh I pray for them every single day. Like once in a while, God is going to drop someone's name in my head, and I'm I have to pray for them for about a week or whatever where God has uh directed me to do. So I feel like uh it's one of my purposes that I've just found out recently, and also they feel blessed after sharing whatever they are carrying on their hearts. So after emptying everything to me, by the end of our conversation, they go back feeling light, they feel happy. So it brings me joy being able to talk to someone who came with a heavy heart, and they are smiling on their way back, and the following someone is going to be like, Thank you so much. Uh, talking to you was very helpful. So, yeah.

Support Luluanda And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_02 18:06

I I feel that too. And I in my own life, it it feels and so I'm saying to you, like, that is our purpose. Like, we are called to pray, to bear one another's burdens, to lift them up when they're weary and help them to walk in the way that they need to go. And I just think it's so it's so awesome that the I, you know, I already said it, but I'm just seeing so many parallels in our lives. We're more alike than we are different. We may be 40 years apart, and yet God has put in us some of so many similar things that um are able to help others. And when we're doing that, we feel that we're walking where we're supposed to be walking. We're we're helping one another, you know. So I'm so excited that I've gotten to spend a little time with you today and just getting to know you a little bit better. I just want to encourage you to continue to speak, to continue to pray, to continue to write, uh, because these are um they're they're things that God uses to make the His light presence in the earth. And from two sides of the earth, all of us are spreading that light. And, you know, one of these days you're gonna look up and Neri's gonna come and we're gonna be ready. But in the meantime, it's really important that we're spreading that light to each other. So I appreciate you spreading your light today for me and for all the women that will listen. Um, yes, I just I just want to pray for those women. And if you want to join in after, I pray if you all want to add something. Um, first of all, though, I do want to say uh girls, Luana Children's Home is an amazing place, but it cannot continue to thrive if there are not those that will give. And so I just am asking that you will give. Uh there's so many children in Uganda who don't have families, they don't have a family, and a little bitty part of um changing that is in Lawada Children's Home. Uh, it's small compared to the need, and the need is overwhelming, but I know our God can meet the need of those children. Um, and so I'm praying for the ability for Luana Children's Home to grow, uh, for them to have more places for children to stay, more teachers, for the children to be taught with, more uh people that will care for the children, uh, for those beautiful children that we saw earlier. Um, and many, many more. Um so let me just pray for them. Uh, Father, I just thank you that um you see us, you see us, you see us where we are, you see every one of those children that does not have someone to love them and hold them and protect them and feed them. Uh, Father, I just pray that you would pour out blessings on Uganda, uh, that you would uh pour out blessings on each one of those children to raise them up in the way they should go. So when they're old, they won't depart from it. And that as you do, that they will become the um the ones that uh lead and guide and know your name and seek your face. And Father, I just thank you that um even now, those that are alone and afraid and being abused and hurt, Father, that you would just deliver them out of that in Jesus' name. Father, I pray for the women that are watching this program today. If you are one that is hurt and abused and uh alone, I pray that you, Father, would just deliver them out of. That adversity, too, that you would give them light for their darkness in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Amen. Okay, girls, we're mighty in the land. I'm not kidding. Kings of armies flee when these women pray. And so let's just keep praying and we'll pray together. And uh we'll have to talk soon. Yeah, okay. Now that you've done this with Mary, Marcy, you and Irene, you guys can call me. Just get on or text me, and we'll play in the FaceTime. You can update us on what you guys are doing and how things are going. And Mary can be back with me when we talk, and that would be fun to show the world. Mary, you stay safe, you stay safe, and keep yourself rested and no falling.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

No falling, no more falling.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

No falling, strong and mighty in the land. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Thank you for doing mercy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Thank you, Tweet. What's May is talking to you, Denise?

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Yes. It was nice talking to you too. I'm looking forward to reading your books. Yes. Okay. And seeing more of your beautiful things that you're making. And I'm thankful that you're sharing it.

unknown 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Okay. God bless you guys. I love you. Love you. See you later. We did it.

unknown 24:06

We did it.