How the World Gets Changed

I'm just giddy today.  One week ago yesterday Tariku started his campaign to raise $5,000 for a water well in Africa for his birthday.  I knew we'd never get to $5,000 and I knew that I just needed to be content with whatever we had raised in the 90 day period of time.  Well yesterday, exactly one week after starting the campaign, the well was fully funded and then some.  WHAT????!!!! 

I've had lots of questions over the past week..."how did you think to do that?", "how did you get that much money raised?" "how did it happen so quickly?".  I've been thinking about these questions and have some thoughts on them...

First of all - "How did I think to do this?".  Well, the journey I've been on over the past few years has brought me to the place where I realize that stuff doesn't matter.  There is incredible need in the world we live in and I am wealthy compared to the rest of the world, even when I don't feel like I am.  I have found greater joy in giving of my time and resources than in any gift I've ever received.  Ever.  I want my children to grow up with that same experience and I want them to start NOW.  What child really needs another action figure or toy??  Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying children shouldn't receive presents.  Mine do and will in the future.  But, what I am saying is that if we have any hope of changing the world we live in, we need to start NOW modeling for our children that giving is a pleasure AND a responsibility we have to our fellow man. 

The other part of why I thought to do this was simply because of Tariku's story.  He likely would have been one of the statistics...4,500 children die daily from water related diseases.  His brother died from diahrrea due to their water source and Tariku was drinking that same water.  That sends chills down my spine.  He was spared, but so many are not.  This is PREVENTABLE.  And we have the resources to do something about it.  I had learned about charity:water over a year ago and had been really impressed with their work and their model of educating and involving people. The connection just seemed natural. 

As to how we got that much money raised so quickly...that's simple.  People WANT to be involved in changing the world.  They do.  I have found that many folks sit back and do nothing because they are paralyzed by the massiveness of the problem and don't feel there's anything they do can make a dent. Haven't you all heard "Well, it's such a huge problem and my little donation isn't going to really help."?  It's really not that people aren't willing to give (although there certainly are those people!), it's just that they don't realize the impact they can have.  I love how charity:water breaks it down...$20 provides 1 person clean drinking water for 20 years.  That makes the person who thinks their 20 bucks won't make a dent see that it will indeed make an incredible impact for the one person they are helping. 

I also think that when people hear a statistic like there are 147 million orphans in the world they say, "Man, that's really sad."  It's overwhelming to them.  But when you share a story with them about one of those orphans like my son, Tariku, there's a connection.  People can connect to a story about a little boy.  They can see that they can help him have a future.  Our community of friends and family GAVE us close to $15,000 to adopt Tariku.  Ben and I were inspired to adopt as we saw friends whose lives were changed as a result of it.  People were inspired to help us bring our son home from Ethiopia.  Others were inspired by us bringing Tariku home and are now in the process of adopting their own children.  And now, people have heard Tariku's story and made the connection that he was one of the people in the world drinking water every day that may have killed him.  And so, once again, they acted.  None of it ever would have happened without telling a story.

So, how do we tell our stories effectively?  We live in the information age.  We have the advantage of social media like FaceBook, Twitter and Blogging.  But for all those folks who aren't technical, there are other ways!  Good old fashioned letter writing is what helped bring in the finances for our adoption.  Share your heart.  Share what you're passionate about and why.  CONNECT at a deep level with the people you are sharing with.  People want to be moved.  It's not about making it a production. It's about being authentic.  Help people understand why you are passionate about whatever the "thing" is.  Once they understand and are connected at a heart level, they may become fellow advocates!  My neighbor, for example, was so moved by Tariku's water project that she sent an email out to everyone in her address book.  My nephew shared Tariku's story at school in his classroom and gave out information.  Friends shared Tariku's story on FaceBook.  All of these seemingly little things mobilize people to get involved.

Stories change our lives.  They compel us.  Find a story and tell it.  Maybe it's your own story...maybe it's someone else's.  If you're feeling today like you can't really make a difference, don't buy the lie.  You can.  Find something you care about and if you don't have a story of your own to tell about it, find one. We all need to hear it. That's how the world gets changed.

   

I Was Not Designed for This...

I was not designed

to be on my own

to author my own story

to compose my own rules

to live with me in the center.

I was not designed

to look for life outside of You

to treasure the creation

to love people, places and things

more than You.

I was not designed

to rely on my wisdom

to trust my imagination

to rely on my thoughts

to igonore Your revelation.

I was not designed

to follow the path of my craving

to be enslaved to my desires

to be ruled by my passions

more than I am by You.

I was not designed

to put created things in Your place

to look to the creation

to fulfill the longings

that only You can fulfill.

I was not designed

to live for the moment

to ignore what is forever

to covet what belongs to others

forgetting I've been given You.

I was not designed

to question Your goodness

to bring you to the court of my judgment.

to be bitter in my assessment

of the things You do.

I was not designed

to let my heart fill with envy

to be constantly accounting

to be jealous and untrusting

instead of resting in You.

I was not designed

to forget Your right hand that holds me

to ignore your good counsel

to not see that You're with me

I will be in glory with You.

I was not designed

to think I am living

to ignore the evidence that I'm dying

to forget that we perish

when separate from You.

So I acknowledge this morning

it is good to be with You

to make You my sole refuge

to speak daily of your workings

Whom do I have but You?

I praise you for rescue

for always holding me near You

for owning my heart's desirings

My life is You.
 
- Paul Tripp

A Gang of Little World Changers

In case you may have missed it, my 5 year old son is raising $5,000 to build a well for the Bakaya people in the Central African Republic for his birthday.  We launched his campaign almost four days ago and so far he has raised $3,000 towards the well!  All of us are blown away.  You can go here to donate if you like.  Or here to read Tariku's own story of growing up with contaminated water in Ethiopia.

One of the amazing things to me is that there have been so many children who have contributed to Tariku's water campaign.  I've had a couple of emails like the following over the past few days:

"Amy, I talked about this with Luke and Anna. Luke is so sad for Tariku and for losing his little brother. That would be like Luke losing Charlie, who just turned one year old. Luke is getting his bank, and we are talking about how to give more! Thanks for impacting my kids, too!"


"So, it's been a few more days, and wow!!! Almost $3000! Just amazing!!! My kids are still talking about the well and asking several times a day what the total is. I feel so grateful that my kids are experiencing this at such a young age."

"After reading Tariku's story and watching the video, our kids were appalled that clean water is not available to everyone and amazed that this is really going on in our world right now! They were also effected that someone they knew came from this exact situation. ("Ella's brother didn't have clean water AND he had bugs in his tummy???!!!") It really made it tangible for them.  Immediately after watching your video, Alli went and literally dumped out her "spending" jar and said, "I want to give it all" and Jack came over with a fist full of his spending money and said, "Bam! Give it all, mom!" It literally made me cry!!! How neat to see God working on their little hearts...not to mention mine!"
 
Isn't that just awesome?!  It is humbling to see children understanding the injustice of a world where not everyone has clean water.  And even more so, that they are not just understanding it, but are going to their own piggy banks and emptying them on behalf of others.  I would imagine THAT would bring a smile to any parent's face. It sure does mine.
 
Then today we actually had Tariku's birthday party.  The kids who came were asked to forgo buying a new toy for Tariku and simply bring a donation to the well, and if they felt compelled to give something to Tariku, to bring a used toy from their house. So, with 19 kids from five different families (we had three African countries represented in our little gang of kiddos!), we celebrated Tariku.  And we celebrated the fact that an entire community in Africa will have clean water thanks to them. It was so fun and cool to watch the kids engage. 
 
We sat them all down in front of the laptop and let them watch this video:
 

charity: water 2010 September Campaign: Clean Water for the Bayaka from charity: water on Vimeo.
 
I couldn't believe how they stayed engaged.
 



 
They watched as we explained what they were seeing.
 

 
And they all smiled when Tariku started pointing to the kids drinking clean water at the end of the video.  His excitement was so ridiculously sweet!  I just love my little man!
 

 
Wow.  Kids are awesome.  We are so grateful for our awesome friends who have stepped up to not only learn about clean water, but to give to and to pray for those who don't have it.  I don't know, folks...I think we might all just be raising little world changers.  Maybe it's time we start seeing them as such.

The Impact of Our Stories: WATER

Clean water.  We turn it on in our kitchens to wash the dishes or to get a drink.  We use it to shower.  We use it to cook.  We give it to our pets.  We lavish it on our thirsty grass in the summer.  FACT: My grass drinks cleaner water than most of the people in the world. 

When we went to Ethiopia to adopt our son, Tariku we learned his story more fully.  He had lived for four years or so with his birth father and step mother.  They collected their water from a small dirty pond that was contaminated with God knows what.  His family had no other choice.  They needed water and that was the water they had to use.  Tariku's little brother became very sick and had severe diarrhea from the water.  At the age of one, he died. From dirty water.

When we brought Tariku home from Ethiopia in April he had severe stomach and blood parasites from the water...likely, the same parasites that ultimately took his brother's life.  Of course, here in America he had clean water and access to medication that got rid of the parasites relatively fast.  The same sort of simple care would have likely saved the life of his brother.

Parents all over the world today do not have a choice about the water they give their children to drink.  Their kids must have water and if the only water that is available is contaminated, then that's the water they get.  Tariku watched his brother be born and die in the same year all because there was no clean water available in his village.  As a mother, as a sibling, as a human being...this angers me.  Everyone should have the ability to drink clean water.  Period.  Have you ever taken the time to count how many outlets you have in your house for water?  I counted mine today and I have 10 places I can go in my house at any time to get clean water. Ten.  Most people in Africa can't even get to an unclean water source within a ten minute walk.

I'll never forget that about a month after we brought Tariku home from Ethiopia we took a weekend trip to Washington DC.  We visited the World War II Memorial where there is a gigantic fountain.  We walked down to the edge of the fountain and Tariku got on his knees and leaned over and cupped the water in his hand as if he was going to drink it.  I told him not to drink it because it was dirty and that wasn't what it was for.  In that moment I realized that water was much cleaner than any water he'd ever drank in Ethiopia.  He looked up at me confused after I had told him not to drink the water.  He said "For animals?"  I said no.  Then he said "To wash?"  I said no.  Then he said "What for then?".  What for, indeed.   Here we are in America, where we have the luxury of clean water being simply a decoration to look at.

If we can afford to have clean water as a decoration...if we can pay for it to water our lawns and fill our swimming pools, can we not afford to help a community like the one Tariku came from provide clean water for their families to drink?

Tariku is turning five in just a few days.  In celebration of his birth, his story and his miraculous presence in our lives, our family is going to raise the money to build a water well for a village similar to the one Tariku grew up in.  Isn't it cool that you and I can do that?! 

All it takes is $5,000 to impact the lives of 50 families.  That's 50 families who will be able to drink water without worrying it might kill them.  What an incredible opportunity we have to make a life changing difference for an entire community. 

Tariku's story is heartbreaking in many ways, but it is mostly a story of love and hope.  The hope that one little boy can help make a difference for 50 families just like his birth family.  That is a story I can't wait to watch play out.  And thanks to charity:water you can be a part.  We have three months to raise this money and it's going to happen.  I feel it.

Click HERE to read more about how to get involved or to donate.  Let's help Tariku tell his story so that 50 families can live to tell theirs.  Thank you!

Throw Your Pebble

One of the absolute joys of living here in Colorado has been getting to know Jody and Andy Landers.  They are some of the most authentic people I know.  I knew about Jody because of her work for charity water, and it has just been the biggest blessing that both our families moved to Colorado about the same time.  Not long ago they adopted two precious children from Sierra Leone and I wanted to share Jody's blog post from yesterday.  Enjoy.  Be moved.  Throw your pebble...

our pebble.


On our March trip to Sierra Leone, we had the profound privilege of spending some time in the Kroo Bay slums with Word Made Flesh staff. They focus much of their lives and their ministry connecting with the people who make up one of the poorest areas in the world.  On Saturday mornings, they run a program for the kids of Kroo Bay. We participated while we were there and it quickly became a highlight for all of us.

We watched them dance and sing.

We watched them pray to ‘Papa God’.

David lead them in a memory verse. A story was told. Each child was prayed over individually as they left the building.

Many of the children are sick and hungry and exhausted. We were given the job of watching for the kids who would fall asleep in their seats….and grabbing them quickly before they fell to the cement floor:

We had to do it several times in the hour we were there.
Each Saturday at the Good News Club, the kids are given an egg. Probably the only protein they have all week.  The adults watch to make sure the egg is eaten by the child and not put in a pocket to be taken home to their family.

This precious boy fell asleep in the seats and was gently placed on on of our backpacks…next to the Bible and bread. You don’t have to look very hard to see the Kingdom of God at work here. I’m not sure that I have sensed it anywhere as intensely as I did that day in heat of a crowded room in the center of Kroo Bay slums.

When we went in March, you helped us to bring a number of supplies. One thing we did was deliver these vitamins:

The staff took these and the past several months have given each child one vitamin with their egg on Saturday. We recently received an email that said: “We need more vitamins. Can you help?”

Um, yes. Yes, we can.  Because we love this. We love any opportunity to think outside of our own picket fences.  An opportunity to do something.  An opportunity to keep our eyes open, hearts soft.

Now I currently have what I would consider a strict grocery budget.  But I still browse the aisles at the supermarket and put oranges and apples and carrots and granola bars and pancake mix into my cart.
And I’m thankful for the opportunity to stop….to stop and pick up a couple jars of vitamins. Not to supplement my already full cart for my own kids. But to pause to think about mothers across the world who struggle every day to provide any semblance of food for their children.

This is simply one of those chances we look for ‘to do something’. Something that will no doubt provide a tiny bit of nourishment to the weak bodies of children in Sierra Leone. And something that will no doubt ensure that our heart stays aware and our hands remain open.

We all win.  And that’s why I love it.  So here’s the plan:  Join us if you want.

Collect vitamins. Do it with your own family. With your small group. MOPS group. Whatever.  And then we are going to stock the suitcases of the next person that travels to Freetown with WMF.  For now, we will make my house here the central location. You can order them online if that’s easier and have them sent here.
Or once your collection is done, you can mail them to me.  Or if you want to forego shipping all together, you can paypal (jodylanders @ gmail . com) me and I will shop for the vitamins. We will collect until Sept. 29..so if you can have them in the mail by then.

And to wrap this up I’m quoting in full here Jaime, a missionary in Costa Rica. She describes this incident where she delivers food to some desperate kids:

“I’m gonna go fight poverty for two and a half hours. Two and a half hours on a Tuesday morning to solve the biggest problem in the world. What a joke.  We will show up with a bag full of bread and an armload of bananas, and the children will clamber around us like ducks at a pond. A bunch of little ducklings, falling all over each other for a bit of bread and a soft pat on the head.

And for 2 and a half hours we will laugh and play and eat, and we will talk about Jesus. And when we leave, they will be just as poor as when we arrived. Poverty taunts us as we drive away.  It’s overwhelming.  The problem is so big, and we are so small. It feels ridiculous… showing up to war wielding a loaf of bread.

Of course that’s how David showed up. Just a shepherd boy with some bread for his brothers, a kid who was quick with a sling shot. He chose for battle against a giant, not a sword, or the kings armor, but five smooth stones. And he won.

He said to the giant:”You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” ~1 Samuel 17

I kind of love that.  I’m going to feed the ducks, now.  And then, with all my might, I will hurl a tiny pebble at their giant enemy. And I hope it hurts like hell.“

And I love that.

So pick up your pebbles, people. Here we go…Thanks for joining us.

Oceans of Justice

My last post was about our stories.  Today marks the one year anniversary of one of the most important stories I've ever had the opportunity to be a part of.  A year ago today I walked into Ngariam, Uganda and encountered God through the weak and feeble frame of an old woman named Mary who I found lying in the dirt. To read about her story go here.  You won't be sorry. 

Mary has never been far from my mind over the past year.  Who knows if she's still alive or not.  I just know that when I get to heaven I'm going to find her and we will talk and laugh together.  I will tell her how God used her to open my eyes not just to suffering in this world, but to the people behind the suffering...to the faces, to the names, to their stories.  Mary may have just been one in a sea of suffering, beautiful faces I glimpsed that day, but God allowed me the privilege and opportunity to stop and truly SEE her, and in doing so, to SEE Him.  And to see him more clearly than I ever have in my life.  

That day in Uganda amidst the heat and the dirt and the suffering, God wasn't interested in my "spiritual credentials".  He didn't care about my involvement at church or how much scripture I knew.  He wanted justice for Mary.  He wanted for one second, for someone to bend down, look in her eyes and see what He saw...His little, tiny lump of a creation crying out for justice and help.  That day, He wanted her to experience the love and care that He had for her tangibly.  He wanted her to be treated fairly, like everyone else in the village...not written off and left for dead because she was old and useless in the eyes of the village.  He wanted her to be seen as precious. 

  

 Amos 5 says:

I can't stand your religious meetings.
   I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
   your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
   your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
   When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
   I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
   That's what I want. That's all I want.   

Living a life that stands up for and embodies the justice that God desires is messy and hard. Not sometimes, but often.  That's the reality.  How many people do you know who want to hear about the injustices in the world?  Likely, not many.  How that must break God's heart.  I think He's pretty clear above that He has no interest in our lip service.  He wants us to allow Him to indwell us so completely that when we walk into a village or the grocery store, or the school that Justice walks in.  That we won't be able to see an unfair or unjust situation and just turn around and walk out.  Oh, that I would be compelled by God's fairness with me to live it out in an unjust and fallen world. 

What would it take for us to be moved the way God is moved by injustice? I think it takes a movement of God in our hearts and a willingness on our part to engage in the brokenness and suffering of others...even others we don't know or who we might not ever meet this side of heaven.  There are millions like Mary waiting to be SEEN.  

Oceans of Justice and Rivers of Fairness...that's what He wants. That's all He wants. 

Our Stories

"My story is important not because it is mine, God knows, but because if I tell it anything like right, the chances are you will recognize that in many ways it is also yours… it is precisely through these stories in all their particularity, as I have long believed and often said, that God makes himself known to each of us more powerfully and personally. If this is true, it means that to lose track of our stories is to be profoundly impoverished not only humanly but also spiritually." - Frederick Buechner

I read that quote by Frederick Buechner today and it made me think about my story.  I don't know if any of you can relate, but I have kept "my story" just that - mine.  Over time as I have found the courage to spit out the words which encompass my story I have found the ability to breathe again.  How many of us hide who we have been and who we are out of fear of what others might think?  I did for years.  It was an ugly prison of my own making.  The freedom came for me in recognizing that God was big enough for my story.  He could handle it.  And in the end, that's all that matters.  There are people in this world who can't handle my story and that's okay because God can.  I've found that as I've spoken the words I thought I would never say, that freedom has seeped in to my bones.  Just like Frederick says above - I don't want to lose track of my story or the stories that my story has birthed.  God shapes our stories if we let Him.  And that, is a beautiful thing.  So, share your story.  Don't profoundly impoverish the rest of us. :)

In that spirit, here are the ABC's of who I've been, who I am and who I long to become... 

Awakened



Beloved. It's taken me years to figure out I am.


Compelled by the compassion of God


Desperate for love.


Entrapped by my craving for comfort


Freedom found in forgiveness of myself.


Grateful. Ridiculously so. Nothing I have do I deserve.


Hoping in what I do not see, but what I know is real.


Insufficient.  That's me. 


Justice...learning how to stand for it, live it, and weave it into the fabric of my being.


Known...truly known by a few


Low Self Esteem


Married to the most amazing man on the planet


Night. So many dark nights...but light has always come.


Orphans. They have changed my life.


Prayer and lots of it has carried me through


Quitting my safe life. Trying to let go of the things I hold to tightly.


Rescued from my painful choices.


Sliver of who I long to be.


Tariku. My Ethiopian son whose story has shaped the course of my life.


Used.


Vulnerability...it's a word that has changed my life. Tell your story. Someone needs to hear it.


Whole because God stooped down and poured out His grace on me.


X- rated - My heart in all it's ugliness.


Yearning to be the woman God created me to be


Zealous wanna be.

Just Wow.

With all of the needs and urgent, important things going on in the world, does it ever just make you stop and wonder that God cares about the stuff our lives?? This past weekend was spent saying good-bye to friends and church family we've knows for years and years now.  It was hard.  REALLY HARD.  And there in the middle of all the emotion I realized something.  I am loved.  My family is loved.  And God made sure that I knew it this weekend.  He didn't have to, but He did.  Cuz that's how our God rolls. :)

Our pastor asked us to share the story of how God led us to this point. (You can listen to it HERE if you like). So, we had the privilege of telling the story God is weaving with our lives to our church family.  It was so encouraging to tell about the process and the goodness and faithfulness of God.  Oh, and speaking of faithful...we received several random donations from people at our church that completely covered our moving costs TO THE VERY DOLLAR!!  Nobody knew how much money we needed and I just had to laugh as I counted it out.  Only God.  We had wondered how we were ever going to afford the moving truck...and the trailer...and the gas...and then God provided.  As He ALWAYS does.  Amazing.  And if He cares so much about little things like moving expenses...imagine how much He must care about the bigger things.  I just don't think I can really even imagine. He is so GOOD!!!

This is it

I have neglected my blog lately...not because I don't have things to say but because I have no time to write them! I hate that! So much is going on right now. We are getting ready to leave this:

Good old Cincinnati where I've lived for 30 some years...

and move to this:

Beautiful Colorado Springs where there is no humidity (thank you, God!).

With this move comes quite a bit of excitement, a lot of loss and the overall sense that sacrificing what's comfortable for us will be the beginning of a beautiful adventure.  (I know, I know...it doesn't look like much of a sacrifice, does it?!) The moving truck comes next week so I'm back to packing.  Next blog post will likely be from Colorado!  Thanks for all your prayers and support, guys!  THIS IS IT!!!!

If you could RESCUE, would you?

I know that so much clamors for our attention. There are so many things to donate to, so many organizations doing great things. Many of us have our budgets laid out each month to support organizations that are making tangible differences in the lives of people all over the world. And, many of us don’t. For many of us, money is tight.

I’d like to challenge our view of “tight” however. Please know I’m not making light of anyone’s financial situations. I view my financial situation as tight right now too. BUT…

I still find money for Starbucks runs, eating out and a few other things that cause me to realize my financial situation is NOT tight. In fact, according to www.globalrichlist.com I am in the TOP 0.61% richest people in the world!

Um, excuse me???? I’d encourage you to check it out and see where you fall on that scale. I think what you will find will give you reason to pause. It gives me reason to stop complaining. It gives me reason to think about the situations of other people in the world and recognize that even if I am struggling…I AM WEALTHY. I have a roof over my head, a car, food whenever I need it (and then some!) and everything I “need”. I think that it’s too easy to come up with excuses NOT to give. I’d like for you to consider laying aside those excuses today because there are ten girls in India who need RESCUED from a life of rape and abuse. Please go HERE to read more about their unthinkable situation. We are hoping to raise enough money by the end of the day TOMORROW. Just think…you can help rescue little girls from their abusers with your Starbucks money and eating out budget. Are their lives not worth our sacrifice??

My friend, Tom Davis wrote earlier this morning that “We cannot stretch out our hands and arms to serve the poor when they are clutching tightly to our things.” Ouch. That hurts because I know that I clutch my things. My cable, my hair products, my shoes. I CLUTCH them…you’d be hard pressed to pry my hands from them. But I have been forced to stop and pray and think this morning. All of those things bring me fleeting pleasure. Being able to rescue little girls from a life of torture and darkness gives me GREAT joy. For their freedom I will give. Will you consider joining me?

Spent Extravagantly

I just got the email below from Vince Giordano, Ben's new boss and our dear friend.  I was challenged by his words and thought you might be too...

Those of us who spend our time focusing on the poor, the oppressed and those who serve them are sometimes confronted with grim realities. The fact is that there are too many problems out there...there are too many children that need help...there are too many women and children who are stuck in sex-trafficking and too many people starving. So, you read a book or you adopted a child or you went on a trip and you were overwhelmed with poverty and injustice. You never imagined that things were so bad. You couldn't believe how cheap it was to solve individual problems - medicines for less than $10, mosquito nets for $5, school fee that are less than your monthly starbucks budget. You thought to yourself - I have to do something - I am GOING to do something.


You return to America or you finish your book and your mission begins. You start telling your spouse or your best friends. This is unbelievable - we have to do something now. We have to act. Some of them seem interested but most of them try to wait it out hoping you will get over this latest obsession. But you know in your heart this is not an obsession - it's a calling. It is a new awareness that the kingdom of God has to extend out from you and reach the least of these. You keep going.


Your friends initially tolerate you and then some just quietly phase you out but you are undeterred initially. You press on KNOWING people will want to make a difference. You start reading the Bible with fresh eyes and asking yourself why you had never seen that or read that before? Why did I not hear this in church? You listen to sermons with fresh ears and you hear the repetitive beating of a drum that seems to resound with a self-centered rhythm. It isn't supposed to be all about me is it God? Why are we only focused on making our great lives even better when kids are starving, when young children are being prepared for sexual exploitation every two minutes? I guess that will all just go away if I can truly develop the purpose driven life right? Or if I just keeping doing more bible studies with my accountability group?


For some of us, the hard reality is that we simply need to move on from some of our old ways and old friends into the fullness of the gospel. The true religion that we know He is calling us too. You won't be popular but quite frankly neither was Jesus among the religious crowd. You may find yourself test the patience of some of your closest friends who would just rather plan their next big vacation and not hear about the sexual exploitation of children or starving kids or children who are alone and with love or hope. That stuff is just too hard and depressing and doesn't fit with the trajectory of my life that God is making so pleasant and easy.

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that everything we do will have an eternal impact in the lives of individuals and it matters. Your small choices can make a big difference in the lives of the hurting. The bad news is that you will not be popular, it will not be easy, you will lose friends, people will tire of you constantly beating the drum for the cause of justice. People will avoid you and criticize you and tell you to lighten up. But, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to be a louder voice than you have ever been. I want to challenge you to scream for those who have no voice. I want to challenge you to ask God to use you in places and in ways that others don't want to. I want to challenge you to fight against the apathy that plagues our churches and society. I challenge you to be His hands and feet to the least of these. I challenge you to allow your life to be a seed - which falls to ground and dies and in so doing it produces much fruit. I challenge you to swim against the current of our church culture that seeks to find comfort in a personal gospel and personal salvation and passionately pursue God with a reckless abandon for those that are helpless.  I pray that we would have the spirit of a warrior that has counted the cost and said with boldness - Lord I give you my life today - ALL of me - spend me extravagantly on the poor and the oppressed.

Jonah and I

One of the hardest parts of the changes that have happened in my life over the past year or so is the PAIN that comes from engaging with those who suffer. Well, maybe I said that wrong. It’s not the pain itself that is hard to handle, but what to DO with the questions that the pain raises. It can just be so confusing some days. I was telling my friend that this past year has been filled with so much personal and spiritual growth…that I have been grappling so much with exactly what my faith means…that I have been stretched more than ever before in my life. I feel more aware of God’s presence in my life…more alive, and yet I have felt so doubtful at the same time.


It’s been this mixture of finding TRUE life in loving the broken, the hurting and impoverished, while at the same time feeling angry and confused about why they are in the situations they are in to begin with…why God seems so silent sometimes.

Then this week we got word that friends of ours in India were getting ready to take the police on a raid to rescue 8 GIRLS from different brothels where they were being sold for sex. YOUNG GIRLS. The police, however, said they would only rescue two of them. Not all eight. WHAT???? I can’t wrap my mind around that. So, they went on the raid but when they got there they discovered there had been a tip off and the two girls had been moved. There would be no rescue for them after all. Not even for two of the eight.

So I of course started my musings…”But, God…there were so many people praying for them to be rescued. Why didn’t you answer? I KNOW that you want them to be rescued because that’s your very nature. You LOVE. You PURSUE. You do not RELENT. Could you not just smite the creeps who sell these girls from the earth? Would you? PLEASE??? Why must they continue to be allowed to even live??”

Then I read the story of Jonah today in the car. It goes something like this: God told Jonah to go to Ninevah and tell the people there that God hated their wickedness. Jonah didn’t want to go to Ninevah so he went the opposite direction, got on a boat, there was a big storm and Jonah got thrown overboard, got swallowed by a big fish, got vomited out on the beach, then went to Ninevah and did what God asked. (He sorta took the long way to get there). But the thing that hit me today was that Jonah wasn’t necessarily afraid to go to Ninevah. He didn’t WANT to go because he knew the very nature of God…he knew that he was going to tell the people of Ninevah that they were wicked and that they would change their ways and God would have compassion on them and not wipe them from the face of the earth like Jonah wanted. Jonah wanted them to get what they deserved... a lot like I want the “bad guys” to get what they deserve so often. Jonah got angry with God that He didn’t just wipe them all out. In fact, in chapter 4 verse 2 Jonah says to God essentially “This is why when you told me to go to Ninevah I went the opposite direction to Tarshish – because I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity”.

Nice move, Jonah. You’re ticked off at God for being gracious and compassionate.  Smooth. So, Jonah goes outside the city and sits there in the sun to see what God does. It gets hot and God sends a vine to grow up and give him shade. Jonah was happy about the vine. But then God sent a worm to eat the vine in the night and Jonah was ticked off that the vine had been destroyed. Then God says “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Ninevah has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left. Shall I not be concerned about that great city?”

Whoah. That hit me. Who am I to question God? I didn’t create or care for those 8 girls who didn’t get rescued. God did. He made them. He knows every second of their pain. You know who else’s pain He sees? The people who hold these girls in slavery. The people who violate them. And His nature is to have compassion on them, not to wipe them off the face of the earth. In my finite human thinking this ticks me off sometimes. I too, feel like Jonah. Just get rid of them, God! Please! But God LOVES the people He made…even (and especially maybe?) the ones who are SO lost in life. And let’s face it…I’d rather have a God who abounds in love and compassion any day than a God who doesn’t. Where would I be if it weren’t for that???

God’s awfully good to put up with me thinking I can give Him a hand with running the world. I’m sure He is sitting up there shaking his head at me thinking “Amy, if you only knew even a fragment of what I know…”

There’s so much I don’t get about this world. And let’s face it…so much I don’t get about God. But I know that He’s good. And I know that He knows every child by name who is suffering tonight. I know He can meet their needs in ways I cannot. So, tonight I am asking God to give me a compassionate heart…not just for the people who suffer needlessly in the world, but for the people who cause the suffering. They hurt too. God, help me to ABOUND in love and compassion just like you.

Opportunity Knocks

Every day there opportunities to help all around us. Some days we allow ourselves to see those opportunities and other days we shut our eyes. We shut our eyes because we are busy. We shut our eyes because it hurts too much to look. Or we shut our eyes because it might cost us something, financially or otherwise. I want to share an URGENT opportunity to help with you today and I would like to ask that you not shut your eyes but that you choose to read on.

Meet Sanju, who lives in India.

Meet Lily, who lives in my house and is my daughter. 

They are about the same age and enjoy many of the same things. Yet there are some striking differences. Lily lives at home with me, her mom. Sanju lives in an orphanage and sees her mother only occasionally, which is difficult and confusing for her. Lily has always lived with me. I am always available for hugs, kisses and playtime. Sanju has not always lived in the orphanage. Before arriving there, she used to live in the brothel that her mother works in. Her mom was not available to her since she had to be available for her clients. Sanju's mother is poor and desperate for income and so she subjects herself to life in a brothel. Work comes easily for me and the worst thing I subject myself to is sitting in traffic for twenty minutes on the way to the office.

Sanju loves her older brother and sister. They are all she has. Lily loves her brother and sister, but they are not all she has. She is surrounded by a community of people who love her and are invested in her future. Lily is getting ready to go to Kindergarten in the fall. I simply had to fill out some forms and she is all set. Sanju is supposed to start school THIS THURSDAY, but she will be unable to go because the people who run the orphanage she lives at do not have the money to send her. Lily will start school effortlessly while Sanju's future is unknown.

What is known is that without an education, Sanju is likely to end up in the same profession as her mother. But we have an opportunity to change that. We have the chance to give Sanju a life that is different than her mother's. There are 12 other children in the same boat as Sanju. School is starting in two days and they will not go unless you and I can help.

Children's HopeChest (the organization my husband is going to work for next week!) is trying to get funding for all 12 of these children in the next two days so that they can go to school. It costs $407 per child to send them.

I have the incredible privilege of simply just sending Lily to school. Sanju needs help. If she is to have any future at all, she needs US to help her. There are few things that I fundraise for on my blog, but this is urgent and oh so important. The life that she will lead without an education is bleak. What if it was my Lily stuck in this situation. Would we not run to her aid? Would we not sacrifice to give her a hope and a future?

Sanju and her eleven friends need a miracle in the next two days. What would seem miraculous to her is really quite attainable for us.

12 children's education for one year (including tuition, uniforms and supplies) X $407 = $4884. There are 75 people who "follow" this blog. If we each gave just $64 we could pay for 12 children to have an education this year. We can do this. If you feel like you can contribute to this in any amount, please go HERE to give and put "India School" in the notes section.

Thanks for considering this.  Sanju thanks you. 

All The Difference

With 147 million orphans in the world I am acutely aware that not everyone grows up with a father. And certainly, not everyone grows up with a GREAT father.


This weekend as we celebrate Father’s Day, my heart aches for the children who have never known their dads. It hurts for the children who are watching their fathers die from diseases that are preventable. And I hurt for the fathers who have had to give up the children they love because they can’t afford to feed them. As the mother of one of those children, I am sobered.

There are plenty of heart wrenching stories I could tell just from two trips to Africa in the past months about children who have been abandoned by their dads. Stories filled with abuse, neglect and pain. I won’t take the time to tell those stories now, but I have to say they have led me to realize something I’m afraid I have often taken for granted. Having a father is a gift. Having a loving father is an incredible gift that fewer and fewer people on the planet seem to get the privilege of enjoying. Ask 17 year old Elizabeth who lives in Otoboi, Uganda. Her father was an alcoholic who almost killed her and her sister. Ask the little girl who lives in fear at night that her daddy is going to come into her room. Ask the 11 year old who was sold into sexual slavery by her father. Yes, loving daddies are hard to come by. I hate that the word “Daddy” conjures up such terrifying memories for so many.

Yet somehow, out of all the families on the planet, God chose to set me in a family with one of the great dads. Oh, he wouldn’t say he’s great...which is sort of what makes him just that. :) It’s not the fact that he baked strawberry strudel pastries for us every Sunday before church (and by baked I do mean took them out of the frozen package and placed them in the oven!), or that he built us the coolest treehouse ever in our backyard. It isn’t that he took us fishing and went on God knows how many bike rides with us. It isn’t that he took us swimming or opened our home to foster children. It’s the heart behind all those things that makes him great.

My dad isn’t perfect. Funny thing…turns out he’s just like all the rest of us – broken, needy and in desperate need of a Savior. Thankfully, he recognized that many, many years ago. The decision he made to love his family like Jesus loves him has made all the difference in my life. I am incredibly grateful for his gentleness, his servant’s heart, his loyalty, his steadfastness, his wisdom and his love.

I’m about to move over a thousand miles away from my Dad. It’ll be the first time in my life I haven’t been within a 20 minute drive. (Gulp.) What I love about my dad is that he chose to invest in my life in a way that even though I’ll be far away, I’ll still be living out the things that he taught me and more importantly, SHOWED me really matter. My children will be laughed with and snuggled, my spouse will be hugged and respected, my prayers will be many and my life will be lived not for myself, but for the glory of God. Thank you, Dad. There aren’t words to say how much I love you.

...And God, be close to those who have no daddy to love them. Heal the hearts of the children who have been mistreated by their dads. Whisper your words of comfort and value to the girls who are being sold for sex multiple times a day. Bring rescue, God. Let your light flood the darkness. Let these children know that they have a Heavenly Father who knows their name and sees each tear that falls. Reveal your love, Jesus. Thank you for being the best Dad ever.

Transition

My last blog entry was all about stopping to remember what God has done.  This blog post is to celebrate what God is currently doing!  Just a quick recap of the past two years for those of you who are new around here:

Ben and I decided to expand our family through adoption back in 2008.  We pursued an adoption of a little baby boy from Ethiopia (up to 12 months old).  As we embarked on this journey we started reading more about Africa since we basically just knew what we saw on tv. The first book I picked up at the store was "Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds" by Tom Davis.  I admit...I picked it out because it had a cool cover. :)  Turns out that book with the cool cover started a transformation in me that is going on to this day.  In it I read about the AIDS crisis in Africa, about the millions of orphans in Africa and about the Church's poor response to these things that God cares so much about.  I was broken.  I started asking questions about my life and the way I live it.  I started evaluating my love of "stuff" against my love for the least of these.  I started wondering why I insisted on living my life so safely.  I've just got this one life, right?  What am I doing with it? How had I ignored this crisis?  How had I closed my eyes and ears so tightly so I wouldn't be bothered? 

That book led me to check out the author, Tom Davis.  I looked him up online and found out he's the CEO of Children's HopeChest, an orphan advocacy organization.  Through his website I ended up going to the blog of a woman named Brandi, who is now one of my best friends.  We ended up exchanging emails and I found out more about the organization.  The more Ben and I found out about HopeChest the more we liked it.  We ended up driving down to Louisville to meet the new COO, Bob Mudd. He was leaving a very lucrative job to run HopeChest. We learned more about the organization and how we could volunteer so we decided to get involved. 

Throughout this time I can't begin to describe what was going on in me.  I was losing sleep, I was dreaming of Africa, I couldn't get the pictures and stories of the African orphans I had read about or watched videos of out of my head.  My life as I knew it was over.  Then came the opportunity to go to Uganda.  The way God paved the way for our trip is CRAZY.  What we saw there changed us.  It shattered us into a million pieces.  It gave us vision and the hope that people like you and I can make a difference in the world. One of the things that haunted us about Uganda was the number of child headed households.  Children raising children.  There were four and five year olds holding their younger siblings on their backs.  We were heart broken for these kids.  After seeing these kids we decided to change our age range for our adoption.  We felt like we needed to be open to adopting an older child.  Two days after we made the change we received a referral for our son, Tariku.

Our family went from this

to this

But our journey isn't over.  We have our son home, which has only further reminded us of all the children in the world who do not  have anyone to care for them.  Our hearts are now wired to give our time and energy to helping provide orphans with a hope and a future.  We have been praying seriously for the past year about what our next steps as a family should be. 

Through this time we've had to grapple with what we value and what is really important.  We've been brought face to face with the question of what we are willing to sacrifice.  It's been a crazy important journey for us.  One that has brought us to this conclusion: We are willing to go wherever He wants us to go to serve His children.  In the end, that's all that matters.  The American Dream doesn't matter.  How much stuff we have doesn't matter.  But giving our all for the dream God has for us does.  After years of running from the sacrifice that God requires of us, we are finally willing.

So today, my husband is quitting his job of seven years where he has done community development.  We are leaving the city we have lived in for the past thirty years.  We are leaving both of our families.  We are leaving our friends.  We are leaving our church.  We are leaving our children's comfort zones.  We are moving to Colorado Springs to work for HopeChest.

Are we scared?  Heck yeah.  Do we still need to sell our house desperately?  Yep.  Are we crazy?  I'm sure.  Are we excited?  Completely.  Are we in awe of what God has done in the past year?  Totally. 

Are we totally relying on God to continue to lead us and get us through this massive transition? Oh my, yes.  The really, really great news as I was reminded yesterday is that "The One who calls you is faithful and He WILL do it".  - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Let the FUN continue!

Stages in the Journey

A few days ago I was reading Numbers 33...yeah, not the most exciting chapter in the Bible I know.  But verse two caught my attention. It says "At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey.  This is their journey by stages...".  Then the chapter goes on to list how the Lord led the Israelites from one place to another during their time in the desert.  I thought it was so interesting that God commanded Moses to record each place that they went.  You'd think that people who had been rescued from slavery and been promised a land flowing with milk and honey would remember the journey.  The other chapter in my Bible reading plan that day had me going to Psalm 78. Verse 11 is talking about the Israelites and says "They forgot what He had done, the wonders he had shown them."  The verses that follow that list out the miracles that God performed on their behalf - amazing stuff!

It got me thinking...there are so many times when I start to question God or His timing.  I start to get anxious and want to try to control my situation or circumstances.  I wonder why the heck God is being so slow or so seemingly quiet.  I start to doubt.  I become like the Israelites who had forgotten what He had done.  So, this week especially I've been taking time to REMEMBER what He has done and where He has brought me.  As I really reflect on all that has happened even in just the last year it is unbelievable to me.

I actually ran across my journal from 2008 and thought I'd share a portion of it with you. 

August 25, 2008:
Well, I'm now picking up the journal I bought a year ago. :) Too much is going on not to start writing it down. Where to start? I guess with what I'm feeling. I'm feeling like I'm experiencing God's heart for what seems like truly the first REAL time in my life. The process of our adoption is turning out to be much deeper than just bringing our son home. God is opening our eyes wide to the plight of those in Africa. God's children there are in such need of the very basic things that I take for granted on a daily basis. Food, clean water, shelter, basic medical care....these things are luxuries there. The struggle runs deep in me as I try to figure out how I can live with so much while entire nations live with little to nothing. How does God feel about it? That's what really matters. My life is about more than living the American dream. It has to be. I feel God shouting that it's about more. Maybe He's been shouting all along and I just haven't wanted to hear. God forgive me for clinging to my possessions and my narrow view of the things You care about. What I feel is about more than just supporting a child, giving aid money to organizations etc. although I definitely will continue to do these things. I feel God calling me to something deeper...something more sacrificial...something where His power can be made known because I have come to the end of myself.

I feel done with life as I know it, which is what's really strange. I have a really great life! Great family close by, great church, great friends, great job - but it doesn't feel right anymore. What exactly is God calling us to? A move to Africa? A change of careers? Something I can't even begin to imagine? I don't have a clue. I just know I feel so deep in my being that change is coming. I'm petrified, excited, prayerful, desperate for God to reveal more of Himself and His plan. I want to lay it all down. I want to make a difference. I want to see Jesus come in His power and touch the sick, heal the brokenhearted, give water - both flowing, real water and His streams of living water - to those who are thirsty. I realize I'm thirsty too. For the first time in a long time. Thirsty for more of Jesus...thirsty to touch those living with AIDS, thirsty to feed the hungry, thirsty to meet the needs Jesus would surely meet if He were walking in Africa. And yet He IS walking in Africa - through His children who are feeling His heartbeat and being compelled to love those people around them who are hurting and desperate - the orphans, the oppressed, the outcast. Jesus, give me your eyes so I can see, give me your eyes for humanity.

Lord, I want to be where you want me to be...doing what you want me to be doing. Help me to be open, to be discerning, to surrender. Help me not be afraid but to trust you in everything. You are good and faithful and will care for us every step of the way. I love you, Lord. I desire more of your presence, your peace, your leading and your power in my life. Come, reveal yourself to me in new ways. I want to continue to see people the way you do. Don't let me get comfortable, God. Stretch me, build my faith even stronger in You. Help me to love you with all that I am, even when it hurts. For now, I will be still and know that You are God.


Wow.  To think that just months later I would meet a group of people who God would use to change the course of my life.  To think that I would be in Uganda just one year from when this was written.  To think of all that God has done in my life since that journal entry not even two years ago.  Yes, I think God was onto something when He told Moses to record each place that they went. Stopping to remember what God has done gives me hope that He is moving in ways I cannot see at this very moment.  I wonder what I'll think when two years from now I look back at this time in my life. I pretty much can't wait to see. 

Crevasses

My computer screen is blinking at me waiting for me to type.  I'm not quite sure what I want/need to write tonight but I know I must write so here I go.  Since being home from Ethiopia for the past month I have been filled with so much emotion.  So much, in fact, that I haven't really been able to verbalize it to anyone.  I told a friend today that I feel paralyzed in a way.  I guess that explains my blog silence. :) Our three weeks in Ethiopia were filled with so much.  So much good and so much that is just painful. 

Obviously, the highlight of our time in Ethiopia was meeting our son, Tariku.  I can't tell you what an amazing kid he is.  He is just pure JOY.  We had braced ourselves for so much difficulty but honestly haven't had any trouble since we've been home!  We are just eating up every delicious moment with him (as I know the difficult part will come!).  I marvel at him.  His smile.  His belly laugh.  His sense of humor.  His ability to pick things up so quickly.  His sensitivity to others.

What I think I hadn't expected so soon was that I am grieving for my son.  I know...weird, right?  Why am I grieving for my happy, seemingly adjusting son?  His story is his to tell and I won't go into detail about it.  Suffice it to say he has gone through quite a bit in his first four years of life.  It's hard just having small tidbits of information about his past.  I want so badly to know it all so that I can help him in the way that he needs.  Our little guy is a fighter.  A survivor. 

I think my heart is just heavy with the knowledge of what he has had to bear...things I can't imagine.  Our world is so, so broken.  I can't fix it.  You can't fix it.  All together we can't fix it.  I'm just so thankful that one day it will all be whole and right and that God will make all things new.  Only He can bring full restoration.  None of us can make our past go away...both the mistakes that we have made and the hurt that has been brought on us by others.  But we can let God into those spaces to bring healing and hope.  That's my prayer for Tariku...that God enters those crevasses I'll never be able to fit in and fills him up and meets him there.  That He heals the broken places in his heart and that somehow God uses Ben and I to play a part in that. That as we love him with abandon Tariku will catch a glimpse of just how wildly, crazy in love his Heavenly Father is with him.

For now, I just get to sit with the searing pain that threatens to tear me open some days and also the utter joy that my son brings wherever he goes.  Psalm 30:5 says "Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning."  I know there's a legitimate place for the "weeping" right now in my own heart.  And the joy has already come in the form of a 48 pound little boy who has changed my life.  I am just so thankful for him...and for the story God is going to tell with his life. 



  

Kolfe

Many of you generously donated money prior to our trip to Ethiopia for a pizza party for the teenage boys at Kolfe.  Because of your huge hearts and generosity, Ben and I had the absolute pleasure of throwing a full blown pizza party for around 100 teenage orphans who live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at Kolfe.  I have many friends and family members who sponsor boys at Kolfe through Children's HopeChest so I was excited to go and see first hand what it's like.

Let me just say it was really fun to go to the pizza place and see them whip up 70 pizzas.  And by whip up, I do mean about two hours later, which I still think is crazy fast for that many pizzas in Ethiopia. :)  We hung out on the rooftop of the pizza place waiting with the awesome folks from HopeChest where I snapped these pictures:

Then we started to carry the 70 pizzas down the four flights of stairs to the van.  You can only imagine the looks we got.  Only the crazy white people would need that many pizzas. :)

We made the relatively short drive to Kolfe and pulled in. Many of the boys appeared quickly because they had been told pizza and fresh fruit were coming. I have to say, I didn't know what to expect and found myself a little nervous. Most of my interactions with orphans have been with little kids and so this was a whole new ball game. Teenagers. Boys. Lots of them. What to do? What to say? As it turns out, you need never worry about what to say at Kolfe, as the boys just started asking questions and talking easily with us.

I admit I was a bit distracted at first. My friend Erin in Maine sponsors a sweet Kolfe boy named Biruk and I SO badly wanted to get my hands on him and hug him I could hardly stand it. Erin's experience with Biruk has been incredible. Talk about what a meaningful role a sponsor can play in a child's life!! Her family skypes with Biruk... he has watched her kids do gymnastics and crazy stuff in their living room from Ethiopia. I LOVE that. I feel like I know Biruk as I have watched Erin's relationship with him develop. So, I went to ask someone if they could find him and as soon as I turned I saw his face right by the van. OH. THAT. SMILE.

I said his name and he beamed. He knew I was going to be coming at him fast with some hugs from his sponsor mama. :) I'm fairly certain I smothered the poor boy but he didn't seem to mind. I had my arm around him for the next hour or so. Seriously??? How lucky am I???  It was AWESOME.

He showed me the dorm where he slept.

He wowed me with his typing skills in the computer room...

He was not any different than any other child on the planet in that he loved that someone took an interest in him. Somebody (Erin!) loved him enough to send me with hugs and kisses and questions and love from his sponsor family.  I know that Biruk's life didn't get any easier because I spent an hour or so with him.  But I bet he went to bed that night with a smile on his face and joy in his heart because he was reminded he was loved.  I know I still can't wipe the stupid grin off my face when I think about getting to meet him!

There are still boys at Kolfe who do not have sponsors.  (If you are interested in changing that, please click here for more information). The ones who had been sponsored were eager to ask me if I knew their "mom and dad" in Texas or Florida or some other state.  They were rattling names off at me more quickly than I could process what they were saying.  I wanted to say so badly that I knew their sponsors but I couldn't.  A few boys couldn't hide their disappointment.  It was heart wrenching.  Let me tell you, these boys LOVE their sponsors.  If you think sponsorship is just writing your check every month you are sadly mistaken.  These boys have no family to speak of.  It is not an understatement to say these kids consider their sponsors family.  They are hungry for relationship.  It was really quite beautiful to witness.

As was the boys putting down some much anticipated pizza and fruit! :)

Then we got to give these sweeties their packages from their sponsors...

The little guy that Ben is with above is my in-law's newly sponsored child.  How cool is that?  Ben got to tell him that they were like brothers now.  He liked that. :) 

I am so thankful that we got the opportunity to give these boys a fun evening! They LOVED the pizza and fruit and each boy was also given a new t-shirt. I couldn't believe how many of the 100 came up and shook my hand and thanked me sincerely. How humbling. So now I pass along their thanks to you, who truly made it happen! You all are so awesome and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring about these boys.  Wish you could have been there.  You would have loved it.  Please, PLEASE continue to pray for them. Pray that they feel loved...that they know God created them for a purpose...that they grow into the big dreams they each have and pursue them with all their hearts. 

P.S. My friend Erin just emailed me some comments from the boys after the party.  I'm adding them to the post now to give you a feel for just how much something simple like pizza and fruit means to them...

Ephrem wrote to his sponsor mom:


Yes mom we eat pizza, mango, banana and orange at Wednesday this day is our fantastic day because we don’t eat pizza and orange before. We are very joyful in that day.

...and this one is from sweet Solomon to Erin:

Yes we have wonderful day today. Lots of boys tested pizza for the first time. I knew this party before a month ago but all boys didn't know that so they are very surprised and the same time they are so happy. I don't know how we can say thank you all you God people. You are a blessing for us. now we know that we are not alone. We have lots of people that praying and thinking for us. Thank you Erin very very much and I would like to say thank you all people who helps us and care about us everyday. I haven't seen before such kinds of smile faces on Kolfe boys. I would like to say thank you again and again.