Statements
Mission
Sweet Sleep exists to demonstrate God's love and hope in Christ to the world's orphaned and vulnerable children, improving their quality of life. Sweet Sleep accomplishes this mission by empowering caretakers in these children's communities through cooperative businesses and micro-finance savings groups. Originally founded to provide beds to vulnerable children, Sweet Sleep still distributes beds on short term mission trips, through partnerships with US-based churches and engaging VBS curriculum for children.
Background
We are celebrating 20 years of ministry! Founded in 2003, our organization has provided beds to more than 32,000 children and has empowered more than 1500 vulnerable women to nourish, clothe, and educate their young. Inspired by the REST God desires for us in Matthew 11:28, our aim is to provide physical rest, spiritual rest, and economic rest to vulnerable women and children. Join us as we launch the next 20 years of providing True Rest for the weary.
Sweet Sleep CO•OPs unite single mothers, widows, and caretakers through jointly owned, local, cooperative enterprises. We provide Christ-centered business training and startup capital to develop and nurture these local businesses and savings groups. In doing so, individuals are empowered to generate sustainable income that helps them afford food, clothing, medical care, and school fees for their families. So far, we've created more than 133 CO•OPs and financed over 1800 businesses, allowing women to care for more than 8500 vulnerable children in their households!
We believe that God's love is what cultivates true resilience and strength in the face of adversity, so we make it our priority to spread His Word to underserved communities. In early 2023, we trained our entire Sweet Sleep staff in orality discipleship aimed at trauma healing. This seven-month curriculum is designed to heal heart wounds while helping our members restore their relationships with themselves, their communities, and with God. In our first week of implementation, we realized not only do we need to continue counting decisions for Christ, but the program is so effective that we are now also tracking revivals in women's relationships with Christ!
Sweet Sleep's founding mission was to provide beds to orphans. While our mission has broadened to full sustainability among our beneficiaries, we continue to honor the legacy of the past 20 years by continuing to provide beds to vulnerable children through short-term mission journeys. These beds are entire funded by US-based churches who use our children's VBS missions curriculum, through the offerings of their children! It is a powerful teaching opportunity for children in the US and Uganda alike, as we tell them "kids just like you" gave these beds, or are receiving these beds. We believe we are all made in God's image and loved perfectly by Him. Our aim is to link the next generation of His Kingdom through this educational opportunity.
Impact
God has done a tremendous work through Sweet Sleep, and we are thrilled with the outcomes of 2022. Beginning internally, the Board of Directors has worked hard under the leadership of our Chairman, David Howell, to restructure our working committees, and increase membership and involvement. We have been able to continue to keep our overhead low by engaging in strategic contracts to provide support for domestic operations. And we invested in our Ugandan staff by adding four new staff women in 2022.
For eight months of 2022, we worked to design and implement meaningful, useful, and credible evaluations of the impact of our CO•OP program. These findings will help us develop ongoing strategy for evaluation and continuous improvement of our economic development efforts in Uganda. Among our initial findings, we saw a 33% increase in the number of children involved in our programs who were attending school, a 175% increase in the number of our families who were able to provide two meals a day, and a 136% increase in those who could seek medical care when needed. The full findings of this project will be released throughout 2023 and will be used to continue to strengthen our programs.
Our ongoing work in Uganda produced 36 new CO•OPs through the training of 412 women, sustainably impacting 2413 vulnerable children and elderly. The creation of these 36 CO•OP groups yielded approximately 470 unique woman-owned businesses. Our six Ugandan staff women conducted 4768 Gospel conversations with our members, resulting in 506 salvations! By the end of 2022, we saw an 88% increase in the number of members who identify as a born-again Christian after one year in our programs.
Our mission journeys program saw a big boost after the preceding years' travel restrictions. Forty volunteers gave more than 400 hours of volunteer service hours in Uganda, on three mission trips. During their time they distributed 1080 beds and shared the gospel with more than 2000 beneficiaries.
All of this was accomplished with the highest degree of financial stewardship, with 84% of our functional expenses being allotted to program expense, 11% to management and general, and 4% to fundraising.
Ever onward, our goals for 2023 will continue to expand our footprint in Uganda while reaching more people for Christ in new and more intentional ways. We aim to launch 40 new CO•OPs this year, with 50% of those CO•OPs qualifying for our clean water project grant established in 2021. These grants are awarded to CO•OPs who demonstrate a mastery of business practices, an intentional commitment to community discipleship, and remain in good financial standing among peers. They receive advanced business training and, once they raise 50% of the water system budget, Sweet Sleep will give a grant of the other 50%. In addition to the benefits of access to clean water, this program aims to decrease a scarcity mindset and increase self-reliance.
Also in 2023, we are launching our first working farm. This farm, located in Northern Uganda, will serve as a training facility where multiple CO•OPs can be cross trained in several agribusinesses at once, and will also be a place for corporate worship, discipleship, and orality Gospel trainings.
The full Sweet Sleep staff was trained in a trauma-healing orality discipleship. This seven-month curriculum is designed to address heart wounds, restoring vulnerable women's relationships with self, community, and God. In our first week of deploying this curriculum, we saw 10 decisions for Christ and multiple revivals in relationships with Christ. Lastly, this orality discipleship will address literacy obstacles traditionally experienced by our members.
Needs
Our work is fueled by the passion of our champions, and our greatest need is the advocacy and legwork of our champions. You can bring awareness to Sweet Sleep's mission by sharing your Sweet Sleep story with your community. Host a Break Rocks or Break the Cycle event. Or encourage your church to host an event.
We're looking for 40 CO•OP sponsors. A one-time gift of $3500 sponsors a CO•OP and provides business training and startup capital to launch a group business, along with the seed fund needed for their savings group. You will receive a beautiful notebook with information about your members and their families, and periodic updates on your group's success.
We are a tiny team doing a mighty work! We keep our overhead expenses to an extreme minimum so that donations go exactly where you (and we) want them to go - to the beneficiaries in Uganda! Volunteer with us as we celebrate our 20th anniversary! We will be hosting an Anniversary Celebration in September, so join our committee or invite your friends. For those of you who know and believe in this work, we invite you to become a part of Team 11:28, our monthly giving program, and let us know your gift is intended to fuel the operations of Sweet Sleep. A monthly gift of $85 or more will help cover all operational expenses.
CEO Statement
Dear Donor, Volunteer, and Champion,
It has been my privilege to serve this ministry as president since 2014, but an even greater honor to have begun as a donor and volunteer, back in 2008. God has blessed me richly, by working through me, even though I had so little to offer, and I love that testimony - that He does amazing things through individuals who say yes. As you are reading this letter, you are saying YES to a calling to contribute to something that is changing lives. Thank you!
This year, as we celebrate our 20th year of ministry, our sites are set higher, deeper, and wider. We will be increasing the number of CO•OPs we launch by 11%. At our annual meeting in 2022, the Board of Directors committed to going deeper with current and new CO•OPs, deepening our discipleship program and introducing a seven-month trauma healing orality Gospel curriculum. And we are going wider with the approval and full funding of our first ever working farm, in Northern Uganda. This farm will allow us to cross train CO•OPs for efficiently and will also be the backdrop of corporate worship and communal Gospel study.
I am proud of the work the Ugandan staff and I did over the past eight months, as we designed and implemented meaningful, useful, and credible evaluations of the impact of our CO•OP program. These findings will help us develop an ongoing strategy for evaluation and continuous improvement of our economic development efforts in Uganda. Our initial findings affirmed the impact of our CO•OPs, as we now have the data to support that children are being educated, fed, and are receiving medical care. We were delighted to learn that the Gospel is what our beneficiaries coveted the most. And we learned that we still have work to do, to overcome scarcity mindsets and obstacles created by illiteracy. We have already implemented effort to address these deficiencies.
As a donor and volunteer at heart, I'm so thankful for each person who donates, serves, travels on mission trips, or leads on our Board of Directors. I'm prayerful for your involvement in the ministry and the impact you will have!
With gratitude,
Madelene Metcalf
President, Sweet Sleep
Board Chair Statement
Thank you for your ongoing prayer and financial support of Sweet Sleep. Since my first
involvement with Madelene and the ministry in 2019 I continue to be amazed at how God is at
work and using this ministry to break the cycle of poverty in Uganda for so many wonderful,
beautiful ladies and children.
With every bed distributed, every Bible given away, every CO•OP that is launched, every gallon of
water provided through new water cisterns, and as we begin the construction of our business
training center/farm in Northern Uganda this summer, we are becoming the hands and feet of God to a
people group that have so little but who are so appreciative and resourceful with what we provide.
For me personally, it all began on a Tuesday morning in June 2019 in a small village in the
northern province of Gulu when I met a toddler, perhaps no more than 4 years old whose name
was Myron. Myron spent the morning with me, never speaking, but sitting quietly while our
work in that village continued. Myron simply continued to gaze into my eyes and hold onto my
arms with little change in his expression. No words needed to be spoken.
My eyes were opened that day to the work that was needing to be done and the role that
Sweet Sleep had in the lives of so many children and women. Myron's parents were not in
attendance and none of the adult leaders even knew exactly where his mother was. When our
work was completed that afternoon and all the beds had been distributed, Myron was among
those children that did not receive a bed or Bible. That was heartbreaking to me and has
become an ongoing reminder that there are thousands of Myrons in Uganda today whose
physical and spiritual needs are not being met.
With your continued prayer, financial support, and volunteer time, Sweet Sleep will be able to continue
our efforts to positively impact hundreds of new Myrons and their parents each year through
more beds, more CO•OPS, more water cisterns, more business training, and opportunities to
share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Your partnership with Sweet Sleep is so appreciated and vital to what is being
accomplished every day in Uganda. We welcome the opportunity to share with you on a
regular basis how God is at work throughout Uganda.
Blessings,
David Howell
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sweet Sleep
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Economic Development |
| Secondary Category: | Human Services - Children's and Youth Services |
| Tertiary Category: | Religion- Related - Christianity |
Areas Served
Uganda: HIV+, special needs, disabilities, South Sudanese refugees, impoverished communities. Tennessee, all counties: children at risk of entering foster care. Middle TN: children coming out of homelessness.
| International |
| National |
| TN |
