Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Wow, that's a lot of shirts!


We are almost there to sending out 74 t-shirts with little items carefully packaged for the extra kids at Kechene as well as the 50+ care packages ready to be sent as well. Unfortunately, we are needing to send them ALL through the mail to North Dakota first in order to get them to the family who are taking them to Ethiopia for us. The great thing is that they will have room for our packages, but it will be expensive to get them all there.

I have changed my thermometer of fundraising to an amount specific for the shipping costs to North Dakota. This will be a minimum of $150 and possibly over $200 to ship. I am sick about this since I know that this money could be used in so many other great ways other than the "Speedy Delivery" business. However, I also am reminded that none of the kids will ever get their packages until this is done so they can safely be sent with the family who is going. This is a hard thing to accept, yet also the only way for them to get there.

If you are interested in sending a small donation for this, please email me and I will send you my address. I have received some very generous donations. A HUGE thank you to those who have given already. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

In Amheric, "Ameseqnalew!"

Monday, September 19, 2011

Care packages being prepared for Kechene!


Care packages coming!

Thank you everyone for sending all those care packages. We are getting closer to having one for every child. If you would like to donate for these care packages, but do not have a sponsor child, this is a great time to do it!

I am collecting t-shirts rolled up like a burrito with little items inside like a toothbrush, hair ties, matchbox car, stickers, neat pen or pencil, or gum. Then, rubber band it and drop it off at my house or contact me to send it here to my house. I will be sending these to Minnesota after next weekend.

These will be presented to the children in Nov. when Karen's team travels to our care point to get pictures and hand deliver these well thought out packages. What a blessing they will be to all these kids!

If you want to make a monetary donation towards the extra t-shirts for the new 70 children visiting Kechene on a daily basis, you may also contact me. We are getting closer to our goal!!


Saturday, September 3, 2011

A new school year...for everyone!






Glad to announce that the kiddos at Kechene will be starting their new school year very soon and are equipped to begin! They have textbooks, uniforms, shoes, health check-ups, food, and families praying for them and supporting them financially to get them to the next grade! Thank you sponsors!

However, there are 70 children from the neighborhood who pass through the doors of Kechene daily to get a meal, and then they are off to the government school not far from Kechene. Thanks to this school, they are getting a meal for the day when otherwise, it would have been impossible to eat anything each day, other than what their parents can provide. This is a blessing, yet they do not, nor have never had anyone sponsor them. They were just old enough to attend the government school, thus missing the cut off to qualify for Kechene (where they could have been sponsored). These children are just as vulnerable and have been hungry for years! They are much smaller in size compared to an American child that age due to their lack of nutrition/food.

We have a new goal set for our special neighborhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 70 children from ages 10-15. These children are also crying out for a family to take them and to invite them into their families. To sponsor, of course, does not mean you are actually adopting a child, but rather giving the love one needs in their own country that we can provide while being a world apart. For $34 a month you are giving a child hope through letters that provide love, support, prayers, pictures, and a relationship. The money gets pooled together with all the sponsors' money from this care point to pay for much needed food (spicy, nutrition packed rice dish), medical care, education from 5 wonderful teachers, Bible lessons, and a community to keep an eye on them. They receive an "education" at the government school when they pass into the 4th grade, but there is lots of free time when they are not in school. That time can be spent at Kechene where the teachers add to their much needed educational appetite as well as their growing bodies' appetites.
This is Tsigereda. She is one of 70 in need of a sponsor.

Please pass this on to others who could possibly help get these kids a family from afar to love and support them like their neighborhood friends have at Kechene. We can do this together! That's what it is all about, after all! Have them contact me at gretabcg@hotmail.com and I will get them linked up with a child needing their support immediately. Thanks.

This is Balyo Gita. He is also in need of a sponsor.

This is Selam! She also began her first day of school at a local community college last Monday! What a great day that was! She has been here working at a farm in a training program for just about a year now and just recently was accepted into the Marketing Dept. at a local community college in Madison, WI. We are happy that she has begun a new chapter in her life. What a blessing it has been to have been a part of Selam's hopes and dreams. As she says, "God is so Good!"

Don't ever underestimate the power of God through your hands and feet! You may be the vessel God is using to help the least of these!! What a blessing that can be!