The Mercy Project   Twelve of today’s most popular female Christian, Pop and Country artists joined together on an album to benefit Mercy Ministries. Artists include Darlene Zschech, Amy Grant, Michelle Tumes, Martina McBride, Christine Dente, Point of Grace, Kim Hill, April McLean, Jill Phillips, Donna Summer, Lisa Bevill & Erin O’Donnell.   SKU: SA-MPD-1 [...]

In 2011, after two years of careful planning and continuous prayer, 16 Mercy Ministries graduates had the opportunity to bless those who needed it the most.

Mercy Ministries graduates had the experience of a lifetime when they left the comfort of their newly reclaimed lives for the poverty- and disease-stricken nation of Uganda in August of 2011. The Mercy Ministries girls were accompanied by two Mercy Ministries staff members and spent several days building four additional classrooms for the Watoto Ministry and visiting with some of the country’s forgotten children.

Day one of the Mercy Ministries mission trip began with the girls generously being offered a hearty breakfast. Shortly after, the Mercy Ministries team was excited to learn they would visit a Watoto orphanage known locally as the “bulrushes.” This home, which provides food, shelter, and love for dozens of abandoned children, offered the girls the opportunity to bond with some very special children. One Mercy Ministries graduate described her time there by saying, “There were so many miracles represented in that room… God continues to enlarge our hearts for those we serve here…”

Day three of their trip brought the Mercy Ministries girls to the Watoto church, where they were spiritually refreshed and revitalized for the planned event of the next day: construction. On day four, the Mercy Ministries girls awoke early, ready to tackle the project in which they’d eagerly anticipated for months. After a 45 minute drive, the Mercy Ministries team arrived at their location. Exiting their bus, many of the girls initially were overwhelmed at the sheer volume of work that was ahead. However, without hesitation, and in the pouring rain, the Mercy Ministries girls dug in and started laying bricks and spreading mortar with job foreman Moses leading the way.

For three days, the Mercy Ministries staff and graduates labored alongside of the construction crew. The building process taught them more than just a hands-on skill; the girls learned that God puts people together for a reason. This week, the girls from Mercy Ministries were brought together to erect a symbol of hope and a reminder to all that God is here, He is watching, and He knows that he is needed and He responds at the right time, every time.

The Watoto Ministry was founded in 2004 by Gary Skinner and exists to help rebuild Africa one life at a time. To find out how you can help visit www.watoto.com

For more information about Mercy Ministries visit www.mercyministries.org.

Mercy Ministries resident Julianne: Hi I’m Julianne and today we went to the One Heart Conference at Northridge Church. And God really just showed me a lot about missions. Actually, I’ve never been touched so much by someone else really telling their story about how they got involved with needy kids and orphans. And God really just spoke to me about how thankful I should be to have running water and simple things like that. So God showed me a lot about that and also through Charlotte’s message God just really showed me a lot at this conference.

Mercy Ministries resident Samantha: My name is Samantha and I just got back from the One Heart Women’s Conference. And God really spoke to me there. Last night at the conference I went up to the altar and God told me something specifically He wanted me to let go of. And I kinda disregarded it. And then tonight the speaker talked about how somebody at that conference didn’t let go of something they were supposed to let go of. And I completely felt like that was me. And God was calling me out. So I just went up to the altar again to let go of the thing He wanted me to. And I finally felt like a really big release and I realized that I wasn’t trusting and believing that God can do what He says He will do. So I learned a lot from this conference tonight and I’m really thankful that I got to go.

Mercy Ministries resident Tess: Hi I’m Tess and I just came back from the One Heart Lady Conference and it was really good. The one thing that really stuck out to me is how she said that we have to be planted and we have to stand still sometimes. And what really spoke to me is God telling me that Mercy Ministries is the place where I have to stand still and just be planted and just hear God and be loved by Him and be encouraged by Him through all this stuff because it’s going to be difficult in some points of my life in this period of time. But also what I’m really excited about is that time at a certain point in this time at Mercy Ministries He will tell me to run. So I’m really excited about that. Yes, thank you.

Learn more about Mercy Ministries by visiting www.mercyministries.com

Schermerhorn Symphony Center Hosts Mercy Ministries Benefit Concert Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) June 14, 2012 — Mercy Ministries announces performances by country music talents Darryl Worley and Jimmy Wayne at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on June 18, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now and range from $16.50 to $37.00. [...]

Nancy Alcorn, the Founder and President of Mercy Ministries shared her vision for helping young women. After several graduates shared their stories, Nancy Alcorn thanked friends of Mercy Ministries who came together to celebrate another year of mercy at the Merry Mercy Christmas 2011 Benefit.

Mercy Ministries Founder and President Nancy Alcorn:

You know I wish we had time for you to hear from every single Mercy Ministries graduate who honored us with their presence here tonight. We actually do not but I do want you to at least see some of those, and so I’ve asked some of my other heroes, along with these that you’ve met, to join me on stage because I want you to be able to see them. So as they come up now I just want to say how much I appreciate each and every one of our supporters at Mercy Ministries, those of you who support and are a part of every changed life. If you want to make an investment in the next generation of leaders, this is an opportunity for you to do it because God is transforming lives at Mercy Ministries. Last year Dave and Sharon Ramsey, my dear friends sitting down here on the front, did such a great job of being our hosts last year and headed up this event for Mercy Ministries. And Dan and Cherie Hammond have done such an amazing job this year. And I just want to honor you as these Mercy Ministries girls come and thank you for all your hard work and all you give and we just appreciate you guys so much.

You should be proud. You should be proud of them. I’m so proud of them too. And these young women, I tell them this all the time, they’re the reason why the Mercy Ministries waiting list is growing and I’m glad. Because they get the numbers of all the people they’re in the treatment programs with and they call them up and go, “You need to check out of there. There’s a place you can come and really get help.” And it’s free. And you guys make a way for these young women to walk through the doors at Mercy Ministries. If they had to pay, they wouldn’t be able to get the help they need because most of them are drowning in bills from the treatment programs they’ve already tried to go to that charge so much to go. But they walk in free of charge because you make a way for them where there seems to be no way. And I love to tell the girls this: God is giving you an opportunity.

He’s setting before you life and death. Deuteronomy 30:19. Life and death. And you can choose which one you want. So all this stuff about you don’t have a choice, there’s nothing you can do about it, not true. We’re gonna take you to the truth of what God’s Word says because it’s that truth that sets you free. So you have a choice whether you believe it or not. And they’ve chosen to believe. And I tell them this: You need to choose life because it says choose life. I set before you, God says, life and death. Choose life that you and your seed may live.

Mercy Ministries is a Nashville, Tennessee-based residential program serving young women who are struggling with eating disorders, unplanned pregnancies, substance abuse, self-harm and physical or sexual abuse. Faith-based and totally free of charge, Mercy Ministries has helped thousands of young women find the path to freedom in Christ.

Here, two Mercy Ministries graduates, Camillia and Janice, share how their lives were transformed by the love of God demonstrated through the staff of Mercy Ministries.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: I was a preacher’s kid. Everything looked great. Behind closed doors it was different.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: When my father was drinking he was violent. And he chose to drink his life away and wasn’t a part of my life. My mom put me down and said I wasn’t smart enough and I wasn’t gonna make it. She walked out and abandoned me.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: He was very critical of me and I felt like the way my father treated me was the way God viewed me.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: I wish I was loved. I wished my mom would care for me. That love led to a lot of hurt and pain and abandonment became a huge part of my life.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: I saw him choke my mom with a telephone cord. Two weeks later my mom told me that he hung himself. I thought it was my fault.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: I would purposefully just not eat just because I knew it made me feel better because I had control over it.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: I started smoking marijuana and I started drinking and partying.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: And I got really sick. I was losing my hair. I was just really malnourished. And the first thing that came to my mind was to harm myself. By cutting I thought it would just relieve the pain.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: I was in a mental hospital three times. I didn’t know who I was.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: I was a waste. I was garbage.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: I ended up pregnant. So I had an abortion.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Janice: I just thought that it would be easier for everyone if I just took my life.

Mercy Ministries Graduate Camillia: And so I tried to kill myself.

Founder and President of Mercy Ministries Nancy Alcorn: You know I spent the first eight years of my career life working for the government. And the first five years of that I spent working in a juvenile correctional facility for girls ages 14 to 18. And those young girls would go back to the same environment they came from and we would begin to hear of girls dying from drug overdoses, girls getting killed in street gang fights. Many of those young women passed the age of 18 and ended up going to the women’s prison because they never got the help they needed.

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