Thad Cox is a Texas native, currently living in Hoima, Uganda.  Ministry work led him to Africa 8 years ago, where he works with the Diocese of Bunyoro-Kitara. Here he tells of a little girl named Sharon, and the miracle that changed her life.

My story begins last September, during a visit to the Hoima Regional Hospital. I was taken to meet a new patient, a very small and very broken five-year-old girl. Sharon had been admitted with fractured ribs, two broken legs, two broken arms, a burst ear drum and a fractured scull; her stepmother had nearly beaten her to death for nicking a bit of extra food from the cupboard. Sharon had untreated AIDS, she was covered with jiggers, and she was terribly malnourished. The hospital cared for her, but had decided that there was nothing that could be done to correct her injuries - they had simply casted her badly bent arms and legs. 

Time passed and after five weeks in the hospital with new friends, good food and proper medication, Sharon was becoming a happy and bubbly little girl. She could sit up on her own and had some use of her hands. Best of all, a new mother appeared for Sharon! Veronica stepped forward and agreed to take Sharon into her home to love and care for.
 
We were able to purchase a few essentials to help Veronica out with the expenses, but I still had to find a wheelchair for Sharon. This might not sound like much of a problem to people who live in the United States, but here in northwest Uganda it is overwhelming. I talked with several local sheet metal workers about trying to construct a makeshift wheel chair, but they really didn't want to try to build one.
 
Finally, I asked our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Nathan Kyamanywa if he could help, but he believed all the diocese’s donated wheelchairs had already been given away. We were too late! I can't tell you how distressing this news was to me. However, when I went to search the storage container for myself, there inside was one last wheelchair, just waiting for Sharon. The Lord is truly great.
 
My friends, I know you must have many donors in America who give money to make this possible, and I just wish that they could have been there that day to experience the joy.  It was a gift of love for Sharon, for all of the nurses and all of the other patients who had grown to love this little girl, this child who had never before experienced the love of God and of wonderful strangers like you.

Thank you for loving us enough to make your love felt here in Hoima, Uganda.
~Thad Cox