An answer to a quiet prayer and YOU...Letters from Gulu

Dear Sweet Sleep,

My name is David. I am 14 years old and am in primary four. I would like to thank you, Sweet Sleep for giving me the mattresses and mostly the Bible.

Now days I know more about God than I did before because I read my Bible and after I go for a sleep on my soft mattress. Am very happy this days because I start sleep right when I got on to my bed till morning without feeling any pain.

So I again thank God for that special gift which I was not even expecting in my life and not forgetting to pray for you and also the organization called Sweet Sleep.

Thank you so much from David.

God Bless You.



Friends, I'm so incredibly excited to tell you that God has answered the prayers of David and so many others, including myself! Sweet Sleep has just received enough matching funds to double EACH GIFT you make for our current immediate need in northern Uganda.

Yes! You read that right! Sweet Sleep has received matching funds for half of the entire remaining need for our unexpected (and amazing) project in Gulu this November! E-V-E-R-Y gift matters, every day, but right now EVERY gift is TWICE as important! A mosquito net is just $8. Now when you provide one net, you actually provide two! An entire bed (mat, mattress, bedding, mosquito net and Bible) is just $50!

All week I've been sharing letters from children who have already received Sweet Sleep beds and have had their lives changed as a result. These children have gotten beds through our partners, ARC (American Refugee Committee), who estimated they'd resettle no more than 600 children the entire year.

more than a thousand children, like David, who never thought they'd have their own bed, net or Bible before have now asked to be resettled. ARC was shocked, Sweet Sleep is praising God and responding as fast as we can!

Thank YOU, sweet friends. You are answers to prayers....so, so many prayers.

Sweetly,
Jen

Snoring rushes my body....letters from Gulu

Dear Sweet Sleep,

I am glad to send to you my congratulations through this letter. I am very happy with you to have helped me with a mattress, Bible and blanket. I never afforded money to buy these things but God helped me through your kindness. Now days I sleep on mattress. Now my snoring rushes on my body. Even though I am an orphan my friends like to come and sleep with me because of my good things.

Sweet Sleep may you come again?

May God bless you.

I am Mornea, primary 6, age 14 years.

I'm a fan of orphans. I love them. Maybe because Jesus loved them so much. Maybe just because they're so vulnerable. Maybe because it's amazing to be able to bring hope and love into their lives.

She asks, "Sweet Sleep may you come again?"

Yes. In 32 days. Help us bring a bed to Mornea's friends. They too can experience what it's like for snoring to "rush their bodies". I love that.

An entire bed in Gulu is just $50. Give one. Give two. Give just a net for $10. Don't forget we have a match gift right now. Whatever you give will be doubled. Talk about helping orphans and their friends.

Sweetly,
Jen

40 Days of Prayer for the Orphan...begins TODAY!

40 Day Prayer Guide for Orphan Care

Today marks 40 days before National Orphan Sunday, November 7th. Over the next 40 Days Sweet Sleep invites you to be a part of a global movement to become advocates of children who are most vulnerable, the orphaned.

Pray daily. Pray alone. With us. With your kids. Your family. Friends. Bible Study. Church. Whatever you do, just pray for orphans!

This is only a suggested guide. You can add, change, or take out parts to have it
better meet the needs of your church and community. Use the simple suggestion
as it is or expand upon it as you feel led. Let us know what you change or add and help us respond to this better in the future. The most important part is to commit
to 40 days of praying!

Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

1) Today, pray that the Lord would give you a personal sense of responsibility for the next 40 days (and beyond) for praying for orphans, your pastor, your church, and your community. Ask Him to break your heart for the orphans. Ask that He would help
you to see orphans with His eyes and His heart. Ask Him to use this 40 days of
prayer to change you and your church.

2) Today, pray for your Pastor to have guidance and provision as he seeks to
follow the Lord’s commands to care for the orphans.

3) There are 2 billion Christians in the world. If 7% would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be
no more orphans. Ask the Lord to convict the church around the world and show His followers of what we are capable of doing. Together, we are stronger.

I'm praying for YOU as YOU pray for the orphan!

Sweetly,
Jen

"My Best Friend" Letters from Gulu

Yesterday I shared a letter with you from Brenda, a girl who is orphaned and living in northern Uganda. Today I wanted to share this with you:

Dear Sweet Sleep

My name is Peace. I am 14 years old. I like God. Am cery glad to inform you that my bed is now my best friend. I sleep on it when I am tired, when I am sick and when I am hungry then I pray to God.

My bed gives me peace, love and a lot of joy. And God should bless Sweet Sleep to give more children beds.

My bed is so nice and now mosquitoes can not give me malaria with my net.

Thank you very much,
Peace

There's almost always a story behind the name a child is given, isn't there? I can't help but wonder about the story behind the name of Peace.

14 years ago, when Peace first came into the world, northern Uganda was a place of great terror. The LRA was waging a horrific war against the innocent and unprotected people who lived there. I'm sure her mother worried for her own life during much of her pregnancy. As she gave birth to her precious new baby, I can imagine her heart was filled with great love and hope. Hope for peace and hope for Peace.

When Peace was just 10 years old her mother's dream of "peace" finally came to northern Uganda, but at such a tremendous cost. Peace, and hundreds of thousands of other children like her, had already lost parents to rebel attacks and disease. For the last 4 years, Peace has been living in an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp----just as she had been during the rebel attacks over her lifetime.

Today is different. Tomorrow is even better. You have a chance to give hope to so many more like Peace. I beg you to pray for the children in this region who are living on their own with no family, no one to look out for them or to care, nurture or guide them through life.

This November Sweet Sleep will help restore dignity to 700 orphans as we provide beds, mosquito nets and Bibles to them in their newly constructed homes on their family's original land.

Peace has returned home to the place her mother once loved. Peace has experienced your love through the provision of beds from you...from Sweet Sleep.

Help change another child's life. It's easier than you think. It's more important than you think.

For more information on this, please see the story just below on this blog. And, feel free to share this with your friends and family.

Sweetly,
Jen

Letters from Gulu

As you probably know, soon Sweet Sleep will soon be providing 700 beds to orphans in northern Uganda (Gulu). If you're not sure about what I'm talking about, than check out the blog post just below this.

All week I'm going to share letters from children with you. They're treasures of mine. Enjoy them. Pray for each child and then pray for the others who'll receive beds in November.

Dear Sweet Sleep,

My name is Brenda. I am in primary 5. I like playing. I am an orphan without a mother and father. It's my first time to sleep on a mattress and also cover myself with a blanket. Am so so happy. Every morning most children gather at our door to see my blanket and the mattress. It's so soft and big. I pray that it never grows thin. Amen.

May God bless Sweet Sleep.

Brenda

Be a Part of History this November

Hello friends….

As I’ve probably shared with you on Facebook, Sweet Sleep is doing some amazing things in Gulu, Uganda--where the country's history is being made. If you’re not especially familiar with that, here’s the skinny:

Sweet Sleep has partners in northern Uganda (Gulu) which include World Vision, American Refugee Committee (ARC) and the Child Protection Office. There are still 1 million people living in IDP camps (Internally Displaced Persons) and an estimated 750,000 of those are children in child-headed households. Our partners are working to trace their family name back to their home tribe and then working with the village tribe leaders to determine what land their family owned. They’re then trying to relocate the children into their home land and give them a new chance and hope at life.

The million people in the camps are referred to as EVI’s (Extremely Vulnerable Individuals). They are the poorest of the poor: the disabled, the poor, the elderly, the sick, the widowed, the orphaned. They have no possible way to leave the camps…without outside help. However, even with that outside help, many of them are still greatly fearful of leaving. They’ve been living in the camps for 20 years. These children have been born into the camps, so even as horrible a place to live as it is, it’s all they’ve ever known. They’ve lived with endless experiences and stories of what the rebels have done and are fearful of leaving the “safe” camps to return home. The camps are hardly safe as completely awful things happen to them there.

Our partner, ARC, has shared with us that it has been hard to resettle the last million people from the camps, even though the Government is shutting them down and forcing them out. They fear for their lives and don’t want to move---even with the prospect of getting a new home on their family land. Until….

As I met with World Vision, ARC and the Child Protection Office this past December, they collectively shared with me they hoped to resettle approximately 700 children this year----a number that was higher than what they resettled in 2009. ARC had the bulk of that with 600 children. By the end of June 2010 Sweet Sleep had already provided them with the full amount they’d imagined they’d need for the year. As I sat across from ARC leadership in Gulu this past June they shared with me their amazement over this happening. Other organizations have come to them and asked how they’ve been able to get so many children resettled and they’ve shared with them…..beds, nets and Bibles from Sweet Sleep have motivated them to leave the IDP camps for home. Amazing. Simply amazing.

I’m blessed beyond words to be a part of a ministry which is impacting lives in ways I can’t even comprehend. This is one of the most powerful and incredible experiences I’ve been able to have in the 7 years I’ve been working for Sweet Sleep. You can share in that experience with me.

Because of the tremendous response they’ve gotten with our bedding and Bibles, ARC is going to resettle another 700 children this fall. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You shouldn’t either.

Join me in this November for a once in a lifetime opportunity to help reintegrate orphaned children into their family's land with their new home...their new beds, mosquito nets and Bibles. Trip dates are October 30-November 8, 2010. Pass this along to others who might like to go on the trip. If you have questions, let me know.

And, if you have people who might like to contribute financially to this need, please forward this post as well. Sweet Sleep hadn’t expected to provide an additional 700 beds to Gulu this year. If these children are willing to leave behind their old lives for the hope of a new beginning, then I think I can ask every person I know for $50. $50. That’s what it takes right now to provide one child with a bed, net and a Bible. We need $35,000 total. I know we can do it.

Thanks friends.
Jen

New Sweet Sleep Video -- Pass it on!