Children getting their care packages

Price of one t-shirt- $8.00

Price of one toothbrush- $3.00

Price of one pair of underwear- $3.00

Price of one picture- $.25

Price of a pair of barrettes- $3.00

Price of a matchbox car-$2.95

Price of sponsorship / month- $34.00

Price of watching Kechene children open their care packages from their sponsors- PRICELESS!

The stories behind the Sponsor...

We are fortunate enough to have lots of helpers throughout the country who shared the same passion and desire to help the kids of Kechene with getting sponsors! We have a leader in the southeast part of the country, one in Florida, one in West Central Wisconsin, and one in our area. Just recently, our leader in North Carolina contacted me with a new idea to get 10 for 10. This would be great. It would be kind of like her getting another leader to get 10 more sponsored. I was excited about this, but more excited to hear that she and her husband were going to be praying over her 8 more to get sponsored.

The day after she and her husband prayed over her profiles, they had phone calls and emails wanting to sponsor! I shared this story with another leader here in Wisconsin. She was touched by the story and prayed over her profiles she had. She still had 8 left to get sponsored. I got an email from her this morning that the next day she got emails wanting more information for sponsorship! She now has 3-4 more sponsored and more interested!

This is the story I hear over and over with this project. The great thing is that this is only one desire we have asked for. How many prayers are God answering daily that we don't even see yet? God is so good! He wants His Kingdom to be blessed and to see that through all of us. He wants US to be the ones to show His love and His kindness. It doesn't have to be through sponsorship or even something overseas. What can we do this time of the year that shows His love in ways He wants us to show it? I guess that is only known when we ASK!

Praise God for all that He has done!!

The Next Need...

The next need at Kechene is UNIFORMS! We have 74 children who are enjoying the ability to visit our care point at Kechene. They may be going to school already at a government school, however, their uniforms are not provided there and are very tattered, if they have one at all.

These kids are new to Kechene and obviously need a uniform. They LOVED their blankets and care packages, but still do not have a uniform.

Each uniform will cost $17.50. If you would like to donate a uniform to these children, you may contact me at gretabcg@hotmail.com and I can get you more information. Or, you can go to the Children's Hopechest website at www.hopechest.org and click the GIVE button. Give the specific amount you wish to donate and make sure to include the reference number ET2101000 UNIFORMS in the reference # field. That gets the funds to OUR location and then to the kids.

This is Balyo. He is also needing a uniform. He would love to be walking to school after Christmas with a uniform that shows he is a student at Kechene!

Medical supplies fill the shelves at Kechene Care Point!

Medical Supplies have been bought!

Remember this summer when we raised about $500 for medical supplies? The supplies that were donated were sent over with a team in early Fall, while the money was wired to Ethiopia for the staff at Children's Hopechest ET to purchase in Ethiopia items still needed.

Well, I am happy to share the following pictures with you! The money was well spent. We now have a very well stocked "clinic" at our school. This is so great for the children at Kechene since the staff would have to wait, when they didn't have the supplies, to send children with cuts and scrapes to the dr. because they didn't have transportation. By that time, the wounds were infected and needed more serious care.

Here are the pictures of the supplies that the staff in Ethiopia bought with the money that was raised.

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!"