Waiting for Sponsorship

These beautiful children are coming to Kechene and enjoying the fellowship of the care point! Thank God for the original sponsors who helped keep this care point going!

These children are getting fed at Kechene, but do not have a family who writes them or tells them words of encouragement. They don't have a family who prays for them and all of these children are vulnerable in some way. Perhaps their family is sick and cannot work, or one parent has died and the other parent is left to care for their family. Sponsorship will be the hope that they are praying for...the hope that determines whether or not they continue to go to school.

Let me introduce you to 7 of these precious children...

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Meet Tamirat...he is 9 years old and is a single orphan.

SPONSORED!!

Meet Kazru...he is 11 years old and loves to play sports and write stories.

Meet Temesgen...he is 10 years old and is a single orphan. He loves to dance, read and wants to know more about agriculture.

Meet Asmelash...he is 13 years old, is blind in one eye, and is involved in a sports club. He also loves to sing.

Sponsored!

Meet Betlhem...she is 9 years old, loves to draw and dance and read! What a beautiful smile!

SPONSORED!

Meet Balyo...he is 10 years old and while being very outgoing, also loves to read, sing and write stories.

Meet Mihretu...he is 8 years old, is a leader and loves to play sports and read. He is also interested in agriculture.

Sponsored!

We need all these children sponsored soon! $34 a month with Children's Hopechest (www.hopechest.org) and your communication once a month will change their lives forever...Please contact me to make a difference for a lifetime in one of these children's lives. gretabcg@hotmail.com

Proverbs 31:8-9

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Posts from Ethiopia this week!

I have received several updates from Ethiopia this week during the week that Children's Hopchest traveled with a team of 26 people to our care point and 3 others. They spent Wed. loving on our little ones.

They handed out care packages and read the notes from their sponsors...

They spent lots of time talking with them...

They watched in amazement how so many children in one place can be so orderly...

They observed the joy they have for the little things...

Though I was sad to not be with the team this year and sad to not have gotten the chance to build the relationship with these kids and the staff at Kechene, God worked through each of those team members to bring what He wanted the kids to have this week. I learned a painful, yet valuable lesson this year...sometimes, we have to let go and allow others to do what we really want to do. This is difficult for me, especially after having the feelings of pure joy and pure serventhood I felt last year. The feeling one has when doing this type of work is amazing, but letting it go for others to get to experience while working for Christ is equally important.

Just wanted to share.

More to come after the team is back in the states with all their pictures and reflections.

Angels for Kechene!

Just recently, we were informed that there are 74 more children at our school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on top of the original 56 children. This really threw me for a loop. I have to be honest that I felt very overwhelmed and a little scared. These are all very vulnerable children coming to our care point for help, yet it was so much to do by myself!

I prayed a lot about that and what to do. We had just sponsored all 56 children, and then to have 74 more was a real blow! However, as I asked Matt to pray about it, we stepped back as a couple and asked God to do what He needed to do, even if it meant I had to let go of the reigns. I felt that I needed help and that our sponsors would really help if some would take 10 profiles and match them with families. Not only have a couple sponsors stepped up and really worked hard for these children, but God had another person in mind as well.

Within a couple weeks, I had a phone call from Children's Hopechest asking my permission for someone to join me in my quest for sponsorship of these new children! They had gotten a call from a family in North Carolina who would be adopting 2 children from Ethiopia soon and wanted to sponsor 2 children from our school. Not only that, but they really wanted to do more for them. The staff member at Hopechest told them about our school and how there were 74 more children and that it was a lot right now for one person to take. She told Missy, the mother of 2, that she would talk with me and ask what I thought. Of course, I said "YES!!"

So, since that conversation and that wonderful connection through Children's Hopechest, Missy (also a former teacher) has been working non-stop teach basics of sponsorship with these very vulnerable children who are new to Kechene and getting her first 10 sponsored! In fact, she is on her second set of 10 children. Missy is definitely my angel from above. Thank you God for your help!!

Another child gets a family from afar to write him, love him and sponsor him.

This was Missy's email about how this has impacted her life so far...

Hello to all of my Sponsor Families!

I thank God for each and every one of you every day.

This project has blessed my life and my heart so much more than I could ever put into words - and so much more than I could ever bless these children.
God is so good!

Meanwhile, another sponsor from Florida, Ashlie, (mother of two 1 year olds and one adopted from ET) took 10 profiles for our care point. Just this past week, I am happy to report that she has gotten all 10 of those children sponsored!! Again, another angel that God has placed in His plan to make this school full of children now with families. They now have a place to be fed, both spiritually and physically! Ryan, Ashlie and their 2 little boys.

Closer to home in East Central Wisconsin, we have a sponsor who has also been working hard and has gotten a few children sponsored! That makes 21 signed up and presently "sponsored!"

Wow! We so often have a hard time letting go of something that we think WE are supposed to do all by ourselves. How wrong we are. I just needed to TRUST and let Him do His job. We are only along for the ride.

Follow our climb to all 74 getting sponsored (temp. gauge on the right side of the blog)! If you are interested in sponsoring or in getting other families signed up, take it from one of these "angels" and contact me. "It is an amazing feeling of JOY when you connect one so vulnerable to a family, or when you open another family's eyes to the love they can share!"