everything changes.

“Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” 



As I have said many many times in the past several months, going to Ethiopia was life-changing. Not only because we fell in love with N and M, but also because of a million other reasons. Ok, 6 MILLION other reasons to be more precise. We were changed because God not only gave us His heart for the orphan, but because we now had names and faces and experiences that we shared with so many of them. For us, that quote above from David Platt's book Radical became more than just a quote. It is the truth and everything has changed.

There are an estimated 6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. And while there are a few thousand who are able to be adopted into families each year, that hardly puts a dent in the orphan crisis. The goal isn't even necessarily adoption, but reaching the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the destitute with the Gospel. (I guess if you put it that way- the goal is ADOPTION- by our Heavenly Father that is. :) We are not all called to adopt.
Let me say that again: WE ARE NOT ALL CALLED TO ADOPT.

BUT, as followers of Christ we ARE all called to LIVE OUT God's Word. Loving the least of these is a pretty big part of that and I am quite certain that orphans and widows are included in that category. And this is where it gets really exciting and practical!


While I know that not everyone is able to adopt, I wanted to let you know about a wonderful opportunity that gives you the unique chance to provide for a child in need. You can bring HOPE to a child in Ethiopia by being a sponsor family to him or her. Our friends at Starved 4 Hope have partnered with Children's HopeChest to oversee and coordinate sponsorship at the Tullo care point in Awassa, Ethiopia. We spent a week in Ethiopia with these 4 amazing godly men who are on the board of directors for this organization and are so excited about what the Lord is doing in each of their lives. Their current mission is to find committed sponsors around the world that are devoted to feeding the 160+ children of this care point both physically & spiritually.

Because of our shared experience and passion for orphan care in Ethiopia, we have recently partnered with the Starved 4 Hope team to help find sponsors for some of the children at the Tullo Kebele Care Point in Awassa, Ethiopia. 

These children are often orphans, but may still have a distant relative that, while unable to provide for them, is unwilling to relinquish parental rights. Therefore, these children are not adoptable. Instead, these children are trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation, but that is where you can make a difference.

By sponsoring a child, you can provide that child with not only food for his/her belly, but nourishment for the soul. Through your sponsorship, these children will be taught God’s love. They will receive biblical teachings and discipleship, and they will experience first-hand God’s love through your act of compassion.




We have been here to this very location and seen the need first hand. Although they are looking for sponsors for 168 of the children, the day we were there I think there were close to 400! Kids just kept coming from everywhere. And this was one of those places you just could never ever forget. Despite so many desperate circumstances, there was so much joy and singing and laughter that you couldn't help but join in and clap and dance right along! It was incredible! I have many many pictures from our time spent there. Here are just a few of them.

While we recognize the importance of food for those that are hungry, the Bible tells us “…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deut. 8:3).

Therefore, our goal is to provide these children and their community with the sustenance that their body needs while also providing them with the Word of the Lord. Jesus tells us that through Him, our hunger will be satiated and our thirst quenched (John 6:35).

 Sponsorship of the children is only the beginning. The Starved for Hope team would also like to raise money to provide the care point with a well for access to clean water, additional classrooms to school more children, and an education to end the cycle of poverty all while ministering to them and equipping them with God’s word which will provide them with hope.

The Christian-based program is different from so many others that we hear about because you aren't just sending your money off, you are actually being provided with an opportunity to correspond with your child, send packages, receive pictures, and possibly even visit your child is you should choose to! This is the same organization that we sponsor our sweet N through and we know first hand how very important and meaningful that correspondence is!

So before I share a few profiles with you, here are some answers to some FAQ's.

What is the Children’s HopeChest Orphan Sponsorship Program?


The Orphan Sponsorship Program is a ministry that provides the opportunity for an orphan to know God, experience the blessing of family, and acquire the skills necessary for independent life. Specific benefits include the opportunity for orphans to meet and overcome many of the challenges they face. A child who feels abandoned is given special attention from a sponsor who truly cares.

What does it mean to sponsor one of these children?

A HopeChest sponsor is a caring person who wishes to commit monthly support and ongoing encouragement to one child for the duration of his or her time in an orphanage/CarePoint. (In some cases, sponsorship can extend through a child's time in vocational school or college.) Sponsors not only offer monthly support, but encouragement through prayer, letter writing, and relationship.

How much does the sponsorship cost?

Sponsoring a child costs $34 a month. We ask that our sponsors make at least a one year commitment to the child(ren) they sponsor. Payments can be made monthly, bi-annually, or annually (for a total of $408).



What benefits go to a sponsored Children’s HopeChest orphan?

Your sponsorship provides four benefits including:

 Direct assistance for emotional, environmental, educational and medical needs.
 Letter writing between child and sponsor. This includes translation and delivery.
 Discipleship classes providing opportunities for a national believer to share Christ through word and deed.
 Birthday and Christmas gifts and parties.



Perhaps you would like to even visit the child(ren) you sponsor??!!

The Starved 4 Hope team travels at least once annually (sometimes twice), and they encourage sponsors to travel with them to see in person the difference you are making. (Beware- if you do decide to go, it will be amazing- BUT you could end up doing something really crazy like us! Don't say I didn't warn you!)


Here are just three of the precious children in need of a sponsor family. Are you the ones who will make a difference in their lives?

This is Zeritu. She is 7 years old and her birthday is May 23, 2003. Just looking at her sweet face makes me think that she would love to get a letter from a family who cares for her and commits to praying for her.

Is that family yours?

 This precious boy is Elias. His birthday is in 2 weeks! On February 22, he will be 8 years old.

This precious girl is Mebrat. Her birthday is Valentine's Day! February 14, 2004. I can think of no better Valentine's gift for your loved one than to give them the gift of sponsoring this sweet girl in their name. She's even wearing red :)

*** If you are interested in sponsoring one of these children or others or if you have any other questions, please contact me at cwagenleitner@sbcglobal.net and I will get you the information needed to complete the process.


So WHO'S name will you choose to know? WHO's face will you choose to look at and pray for and write to and maybe even one day visit and love on? WHO will you allow God to use to change you?
The choice is up to YOU.

And once you do, EVERYTHING CHANGES.

In 3 days...

We will be on an airplane bound for here.

In 3 days, we leave these 4 sweet babies (yes, they are ALL still my babies!) in the very capable hands of their Papa & Grandma and later in the week their Auntie & Uncle...

And get to travel across the world to meet some sweet babies like her.

Probably close to 1,000.

In 3 days, we will be lugging several large suitcases filled with stuff like this:

to share with beautiful children like this:

In 3 days, we will begin this mission that God has called us to.

And it is definitely only the beginning.

In 3 days, we will join God in the work He is already doing in Ethiopia.

And we CAN'T WAIT!


"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17

Ethiopia photos courtesy of:



 

a sea of faces

Tom Davis posted this on his blog yesterday and I just had to re-post it to share with you. Look at their sweet faces. All of them. Crammed into one classroom.
WOW.
It is easy to just look at this picture and be overwhelmed with the sheer number of kids. But each of those kids has a name and is special and is loved by God...

Here is Tom's post:

This Fall there are two trips headed over to Ethiopia with Children's HopeChest. In Ethiopia, we are working amongst very poor and orphaned children who are often attending very crowded classrooms, like the one in this picture from Awassa, Ethiopia, where one of our teams will visit:

I've posted this picture before, and every time I see it I am overwhelmed by the sea of little faces in this classroom. This picture is today's "deep thought," because I think this is one of the best pictures of what 143 million orphans looks like.

In just two weeks, our teams will be with these kids. Do you know what these little guys need?


- New school supplies like notebooks and pencils


- A new classroom to be built by our team and staff


- Newly painted walls


I want to give each of those little faces the school they deserve. Can you help?


Chip in what you can. Whether it's $5 or $500. Go to HopeChest Giving Page and make your gift today. Just write: Ethiopia School Supplies and Projects in the notes section.


We will use the money to buy back-to-school supplies for the kids, construction materials, and paint to help nearly 1,000 kids this September. Don't miss being part of this.


Thank you for helping

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2010/09/could-you-teach-this-many-kids-picture.html#ixzz0zAj8Tqgo


***I can't wait to be there. As much as I am going to miss my kiddos at home, I just feel so at peace about the whole trip and going to be with all the children there. I can't wait to join God in His what He is already doing in Africa!!!
WE are that team Tom is talking about and SO MANY OF YOU have already played a part in helping the orphans in Ethiopia before we have even left! We have had many friends and family and even blog-readers respond and give and we are SO SO grateful that the Lord is using you to bless the children in Ethiopia! You are awesome!!! This weekend will be full and busy with preparations and prayer and I can't believe we are almost a week away from being on that plane!

10 day countdown!

So we leave in 10 days for Ethiopia and we are slowly checking things off our list of things to do!

I'll start with something that WASN'T on my list: experiencing nasty side effects from the oral Typhoid vaccine- yuck! Apparently it is rare for people to experience any reactions to the meds, but lucky me has felt like I have had some type of food-poisoning for several days. Not fun. I finished the last dose already and now am hopeful that the worst is over and I am on the road to recovery. Well it is much better than getting the actual disease I guess!

On to better and more exciting things...

So for those of you who responded to the previous post about "coming to Africa" with us by giving and praying, I wanted to shout out a huge THANK YOU to all of you!!! Several of you responded and I know that there were some issues with the online payment thing, so thank you for blessing us and the children of Ethiopia with your gifts! FYI- I am taking the link down because there were some technical problems, in case you were looking for it.

Speaking of gifts, we sold several more necklaces last week and received a few unexpected checks for the trip, so guess what we did over the weekend? Yep we went SHOPPING! And it was all for the children in Ethiopia! We loaded up our shopping carts full of fun things that we know the children will love- things like balls, crayons, stickers, beads, candy, balloons, bubbles, frisbees and more! Pictures to come soon. It was so much fun to put together little goody bags and sort through all the treasures as we pictured the hundreds of little kids who would be receiving them. We are anticipating that we could be interacting with close to 1,000 Ethiopian children in the short time we will be there- Wow I am still trying to wrap my brain around that!

Many of our friends have asked us to explain a little more in detail about the trip and even now after you read that about being with 1,000 children, you are probably wondering why or how?


Well, the simple answer to why we are going is simply this: to visit & love orphans.


But that may be a little too simple for most folks, so here is a bit of the extended version.


As you probably remember reading about, a few months ago we had the opportunity to attend a conference called the Orphan Summit, put on by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. It was amazing and powerful as I shared before, but more than that- attending the Summit confirmed a truth that the Lord had already laid on our hearts a few years before- that God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. (Read Psalm 67)


We who were once spiritual orphans, were adopted into our Father’s family as His children. Randy and I have seen that we experience miracles in our life when we enter into His plan and desire to be a ‘father to the fatherless’ (Psalm 68:5), ‘defend the cause of orphans’ (Isaiah 1:17), and ‘care for orphans in distress’ (James 1:27).


This is God’s heart for the lost and lonely children of the world. This is His desire for us who have been adopted into His family – that we in turn would show the same grace and love for the lost in this world that He showed to us.


We have known that we cannot sit still any longer and have been seeking the Lord for wisdom and to point us in the direction we are to go.

Which brings us to this point in time.

After several conversations with staff at Children’s HopeChest, much prayer, seemingly random things coming together, and the blessing of our pastor and church staff, we were certain that God wanted us on this trip to Ethiopia. It will be Randy and I and our missions pastor as well as 13 others from all over the country.

The purpose of this trip is to visit and share the love of Christ with orphans in Ethiopia and their care-givers as well as to identify a community of orphans with whom our church family would potentially form a long-term relationship with. And this is what we're most excited about. Read their mission statement:

Children’s HopeChest believes that every orphan around the world has the right to know God, experience the blessing of family, and have the opportunity to develop independent living skills.


HopeChest believes in the power of one community of believers making a long-term, transformative impact on a community of orphans.

Don't you just love that?

We can all make a difference for ONE child in God's strength and power. I love that He is the One who is bringing all of this together!

We will be visiting orphanages that have already been sponsored by U.S. churches, and also unsponsored orphanages that may be a fit for our church to partner with. And I am SO excited about this part too- on our way back to Addis Ababa from Awassa, we drive right through the town of Ziway. And do you know what that means? Yes, we get to stop by the Ziway Lifesong school and love on some of the kids there as well!!!
I hear there are around 700 kids at the Ziway schools combined and then close to a hundred at each of the carepoints we will be visiting. Which when you add those up- it's over 1,000 kiddos!

Watch this short video from Children's Hopechest that highlights the beautiful children of Ethiopia...
It is seriously so beautiful- totally worth the 4 minutes of your day! :)




And so now that I have explained the whys of our trip, I am going to leave you with one more challenge!

We still have room in our suitcases for a few more things for the children in Ethiopia... we are going to fill them FULL, so we need your help!
Next time you're out at T*arget or W*almart will you pick up a few of these to donate?

*Pencils
*Erasers
*Pads of paper
*Markers
*Coloring books
*Colored pencils
*Jump-ropes
*Frisbees
*Balls- soccer and playground balls (we will deflate them to fit in our suitcases)
*Small pumps for balls (important, as we will leave them at each orphanage)
*Balloons
*Hair accessories
*Those fun rubber bracelets that come in different shapes

***We need all items no later than next Wednesday night (the 15th) and the earlier the better! If you live in the area and want to donate some of these items, leave me a comment or email and we can arrange pick up. It's kind of last minute, so if it doesn't work no big deal- there will be many more opportunities in the future! :)


Thanks again everyone for all your support! We will update more on the trip as it gets closer if you'd like to know how to specifically pray! And hopefully I will be able to post a few times while we're there... I am hoping to take a few pictures. You know, just a few.... :)

Come with us to Africa!

*** Edited to change the wording a little & add a picture of BOTH Randy and I, just in case you were starting to think I was going by myself or with Elliana! :-)
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Hi friends!

It has been a crazy busy few weeks around here, with coming home from vacation, a special 2 year old's birthday, lots of random things coming up, and beginning our 8th year of homeschooling this week.

But the biggest thing that is coming up right around the corner is our trip to Ethiopia with Childrens HopeChest in just 3 1/2 weeks! Yikes!!!
We will be gone September 19th- 29th!

We have been busy preparing: getting shots, having meetings, being on conference calls, making lists, selling beads, planning donations, booking flights, and praying like crazy.
It has been full in a wonderful way.
In that way that you feel when you just KNOW you are doing what God wants you to do.
When you know you were created for this very thing.
When you feel like you are going to burst from excitement from the anticipation of all that God is going to do!

Some think I'm crazy, but that's how I get when I think about, talk about, plan about and pray about THIS MISSION. About God's heart for the least of these and how you and I can play a part in the BIGGER PICTURE of the Kindgom of God. Yes, I said that right- YOU and I both have a part in this! His desire for those of us who have been adopted into His family is that we in turn would show the same grace and love for the lost in this world that He showed to us.

So on that note, my question for you is...

Will you join us?




Will you "come" to Africa with us?

You can give your heart to this trip by lifting us and the entire team up in prayer as well as through your financial support.
Jesus said "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We have purchased our plane tickets and have paid some of our fees to HopeChest, but are still a bit short. We know that God owns it all and that The Lord funds what He favors, so we continue to move forward in obedience and trust that He will do just that in His perfect timing! We are convinced that we are GOING in just a few short weeks because He has called us!

Will you give $25 for the children in Ethiopia?

Your support would be used to help us with the remaining land fees for our trip (about $1,400) as well as be used to purchase donations and supplies for the children & caregivers while we are in Africa. Your gift could help purchase extra food--like meat--for a special meal. Or new shoes and clothes for kids who have no clothing at all. Sometimes it helps with bigger needs--like beds, mattresses, washing machines, and textbooks. Although the need is great, our resources make an even greater difference.


You can give more or less, but $25 is pretty reachable for most of us. And we wanted everyone to have the opportunity to join us. I hope to be blogging a little while we are there and would love to be able to share with you how your gift is being used to help the children of Ethiopia. We really do want you to come with us! :)


THANK YOU in advance for your prayers and partnership. I will be blogging more about the details of the trip soon. There is so much to do in the meantime!


$25 is not a lot of money to most of us, but if 200 people gave that much- that would be $5,000 raised! That's significant! We invite you to put some of your treasure into the lives of orphans in Ethiopia who need our help. Please join us.


Thank you for coming with us to Ethiopia,

Candice & Randy




(I know, it seems like a random picture. But here I'm sporting my 147 Million Orphans shirt and my African beads- even though you can't really see either- I just wanted to share how easy it is to raise awareness just by walking around with a cool shirt or necklace on! So that's why I posted this seemingly random picture of us.)

African bead party a success!

Wednesday night I had a lot of fun hosting an African bead party at my house to support our trip to Ethiopia! It was kind of a last minute decision to have it, but I am so glad I did. There was a steady flow of friends and family there to purchase beads and hear more about the vision God has given us to love and care for orphans in Ethiopia. It was so much fun and a friend of mine even offered to host another one at her house in a few weeks for her friends and any of mine that couldn't make it on Wednesday- she is SO sweet!

I was able to borrow a bunch of beautiful things from my Ethiopian friend to decorate with and it made it feel a lot more authentic- even down to the smell. I used Ethiopian fabrics and baskets and pitchers on the tables to hold beads in and it was just perfect. I wish I would have taken pictures of all of it, but I was too busy to really stop and do it- you get the idea though. :)

And the party was a success... we raised $966 for our trip and get this, our fees that are due right now are $1,000! What an answer to prayer- and yes OF COURSE we prayed over this party and God is so faithful as He always is! We have another set of fees due in a few weeks and we will cross that bridge when we get there, but it is so amazing when we step out and MOVE forward in FAITH, God's provision is always right on time!

I have lots more to share about our upcoming trip (only 7 weeks away!) and will hopefully have a way for you to purchase beads online soon if you'd like to support us that way. For now I'll leave you with this devotional that Tom Davis of Children's HopeChest sent to those who are or might be going on the Ethiopia trip.

Dear Friends,

I wanted to start your week with a meditation from Proverbs that relates to our mission trip. I hope you will go with us--either in person, in prayer, or in financial support.

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." - Proverbs 25:25




When we approach missions, we often think about traveling into distant lands--lands with names like Ethiopia. They are far and unfamiliar to us.


But for the many orphans we will visit, it is the U.S. that is the distant land. In their minds, it is unbelievable that people who live in the distant land of America would come all the way to Ethiopia just to visit them.


They often do not understand their precious value to God the Father. In some cases, they are seen as cursed or unlucky. A burden more than a joy. A problem more than an opportunity.


These are the things the enemy has done to the orphans of Ethiopia. He has stripped them not only of their earthly protectors and loving parents. He has, with cruel elegance, planted the seed in their minds that they are without value to anyone.




But when you visit them in person, that starts to change.




When you tell a child you are there just to visit them, to become their friend and learn more about them, to exchange letters and have a relationship--it means more than they can even describe. It is like "cold water to a weary soul."


At HopeChest, we build on these mission trips and connect every orphanage to a caring church or sponsoring organization who will provide individual sponsors for every child and missions trips to their orphanage every year. It is the long-term, and these trips are just one part of a larger process. But that first cup of water is so important.




You can be that water. God can use your life to bring comfort and love into the life of an orphan in Ethiopia. Come with us...here's a few ways you can join this team:

1. Visit Ethiopia with the Team

Join us if you can in person. All of the details are on the invitation page, or you can e-mail matthew@hopechest.org and he'll get you everything you need to participate. The dates are Sept. 19-29, and the cost is $1,300 + airfare.

2. Commit to Prayer for the Team and the Kids

Satan does not want us to care for orphans. Our team and the kids need vigorous prayer from a team of people committed to pray. If you would like to commit to pray for the trip, the individual team members, and the kids we are serving, email matthew@hopechest.org to get more information.

3. Give of Your Treasure

Jesus said "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also." Give your heart to this trip by making a gift of any size. HopeChest can use it to purchase even more on-the-ground supplies, and assist others in going on the trip. Make a gift of any size by clicking HERE.  Just put "Ethiopia September Trip" in the note line.

Thank you friends. I know you care about orphans around the world, and I appreciate all of your prayers and support.

For the Fatherless,

Tom Davis

CEO, HopeChest

Praying for India

The organization that we will be going to Ethiopia with, Children's Hope Chest, had a team in India right now. They have actually been there for a week and a half already and will be home in a few days. I have been so distracted these past few weeks that I have not even had a chance to catch up on the blogs that I normally stalk. I have been praying for those that are in India this past week, but I didn't have a moment to actually see what they were up to and read their posts  until this morning. Oh my. Please go to their blog Hopechest India Trip 2010 and read some of the posts right now. It is truly heartbreaking, yet amazing that the Lord has them there for such a time as this. I mentioned a few weeks ago about being excited to read the book Priceless. Well I read it in about 2 days and of course was even more broken for the victims that have been trafficked into sexual slavery and beyond. It is happening all over the world and the team in India is experiencing it as we speak. Talking to women in brothels who have been there for 10 or 15 years and don't even see a thread of hope, visiting the homes of lepers and praying with them,  advocating for slum children in need of food and an education. They are in the battle right now. And knowing them, they will continue to fight long after they have arrived home. Please pray with me for India, all of those who are ministering in the name of Christ there, the hopechest team that will be coming home soon and for the Light to shine in the darkness. We claim the promises of the One True God who is MIGHTY TO SAVE!

God is on the move... Exciting things are happening around here!!!

Remember how I said that I wanted to share something else that happened at the Summit but couldn't just yet because we were still waiting and praying about some things? Well, a few weeks ago we got confirmation about some of these things and now we are ready to begin moving forward!


And just to satisfy your curiosity right off the bat, I am going to tell you that no, we have not started the process to adopt again.
Not YET anyway.  :-)

But for Randy and I, this is something that is just as thrilling and has been just as much of a God-calling on our lives as adoption has been. We have known from scripture that just like Abraham, we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. He has placed the plight of the orphan, the widow, the poor, and the stranger on our hearts in such a way that we have found it hard to forget. And that's a GOOD thing!

Because God's heart beats for "the least of these." Actually according to Jesus' words, whatever we have done for the least of these we have done to Him.  And if we are true followers of Christ, then I think we should start taking His words a bit more seriously than most of us have been. We are called to get off the couch and get moving. That is true faith. It is a call to open our hearts to those who are so important to God and become an agent of change, an advocate, and to start practicing true religion (James 1:27).

And those of you who know us well know what I mean. This is what we were meant to do and until now have felt as if we have had this dream/vision for several years yet had no idea how or when or through whom it would be accomplished.

And slowly God has been revealing His plan to us and slowly we have begun to take steps in the direction we feel He is leading us.

As we came home from the Summit, we were completely overjoyed about all the things God had shown us and amazed at how many opportunities we were presented with to partner in God's work of caring for the fatherless. We felt like it was exactly the jumping off point that we knew was coming! As I shared a few weeks ago, at the conference we were encouraged to dream big, huge, God-sized dreams and then obediently begin with small steps each day. Well, we have been doing just that. Small steps towards the bigger picture... things like prayer, Bible study, research and phone calls with different organizations, and inviting others to join us on this exciting journey.
And SO much has happened in the past month that we are having a hard time keeping up!

There are many different facets to the vision that we feel God has given us and I won't go into all of them right now. But the bigger picture is that Lord willing, we plan to start a ministry whose purpose is to share the hope and love of Christ through the care of orphans and vulnerable children, both locally and globally. It is a dream we have had for some time, but God is the One who has been fitting all the pieces together more recently to lead us down this path and we are so excited to say OK! :-)

One of the aspects of this ministry that Randy and I will be directly involved in will be the forming of a long-term, strategic partnership for the care of an entire community of orphans and at risk children. We feel strongly that this partnership will unify our entire church body in caring for the least of these and not only transform the orphan community that we partner with, but transform our church community as well. There is a lot more I could say about this, but I am running out of time and there is one more thing I have to share or else I'll bust!

So, it is with great excitement and anticipation that I share with you that:

Randy and I will be headed to AFRICA this September!  

We will be going with another couple from our church to ETHIOPIA on a vision trip with Children's Hopechest.  They are an AMAZING organization and Lord willing they will be facilitating our "community to community" partnership with a carepoint of orphans in Ethiopia. During this vision trip we will have the opportunity to visit several sponsored and unsponsored communities while we are there and our hope is that one of the yet unsponsored communities will soon find a partner in our church. We are beyond excited for this opportunity!

I wanted to share a little part of a letter that Randy wrote to the staff at our church about this opportunity. I thought it was a beautiful summary of what we envision happening with this part of the ministry.

Imagine seeing the face of a child. Beginning to support that child and their community financially. Beginning to pray regularly for that child. Developing a relationship with that child through letter writing. Supporting projects in their community. And then a year, two, or three years later being able to meet that child in their community which has become dramatically different since the time you first saw their picture. What a blessing that will be. What a transforming effect such a partnership could have on a child and a community. And, possibly even more so, what a transforming effect such a partnership could have on the community here at Trinity.


While this is only one aspect of the ministry that we hope to launch, it is an important one and we have much to plan and prepare for. The timing of it couldn't be better as we will have all summer to raise prayer and financial support before we leave in September. Would you consider partnering with us? I will be posting about the different ways you can do that in the coming days and weeks. And trust me, there will be a lot of opportunities! For now I just wanted to get the news out so you can consider your partnership in this mission as well as be praying for our family as we start planning for this exciting adventure!

This is a BEAUTIFUL video of several different orphanages and carepoints in Ethiopia that Children's Hopechest works with. Such beautiful, precious faces will melt your heart. I can't believe in only a little more than 3 months, I will be there. Maybe even meeting some of the very same children. And oh how I pray that this will only be the first of many opportunities in Africa for our family and church family to see lives transformed by the power of the gospel and obedience to the Word!  

Whoo hooo! I am SO excited that God is on the move and we are ready to jump right in and join Him!