SUPERHEROES ARE FOR REAL

Mama Thuli is a cook. But that's a little bit like saying Superman was a newspaper reporter, because there's so much more going on than meets the eye. She's truly a real-life 21st century superhero.

Her superpowers? Loving and caring for children who are not her own. Granted, many normal people love children. But Mama Thuli takes it to the extreme.

Meet little John. He's a three-year-old whose stepmother hated him so much that little John's father tried to kill him by throwing him to the mercy of fierce dogs. Thuli actually saw this happening and rescued the boy and took him to the safety of her own home.

Now she takes little John with her every day to the CarePoint where she cooks. The workers at the CarePoint are noticing that he "just flows with joy" and sings songs he's learning from the Bible clubs at the CarePoint. At just three years old he is already learning scripture, too:

"I... chose you... to go.... and and and... bear fruit," he stammers proudly quoting John 16:16.

What an awesome story of redemption God is scripting in this boy's life!

Rosenna is a five-year-old double orphan. That means she has lost both of her parents. She was taken in by her uncle, but his wife didn't want Rosenna there. In fact, she despised the little girl so much that she would strangle her and torture Rosenna by putting a hot iron on her forehead. (If you look closely in the pictures above, you can see the scars on Rosenna's forehead.)

Mama Thuli took Rosenna into her home to rescue her from this unthinkable situation. And as she does with little John, she also takes Rosenna with her to the CarePoint every day, and Rosenna is healing, playing with other children, studying, and learning about Jesus. Most of all, she's experiencing the love of Jesus through Mama Thuli.

We could go on about Mama Thuli. In fact, she has two other children as well that she has taken into her home - both double orphans as well. And they're having the same experience as little John and Rosenna: they live in a home that's filled with the love of Jesus.

The real superhero in these stories is Jesus, and Mama Thuli is so full of Jesus that she's making a life-saving, eternally significant impact on some really precious children.

This is why Children's Cup isn't just your average humanitarian group. We are blessed with a team that understands that feeding kids is just the beginning.

We're in this to give them hope. We work hard to inspire them to dream. And we are committed to seeing them change their world.

Projects like the Back-to-School Backpacks are valuable because when we send a child to school, they know they have hope of breaking out of the poverty they're in now. They begin to see that God has a plan for their lives that's greater than the abuse they've experienced. They're learning what little John quoted - that God has chosen them to go and bear fruit.

When you give to Children's Cup, you're planting seeds that will bear fruit. Thank you for your faithfulness in giving.

Written by: Dan Ohlerking - Development Director, Children's Cup