I shipped these treasures to my friend Julie this week, and I wanted to share two very specific ways I saw God working yet again in this project.When I was asked to gather these donations, I had NO idea who would deliver them. I trusted the organization, FOVC, that would deliver them and was not concerned about whom the exact deliverer would be. So, you can imagine my surprise and delight to find out my friend Julie would be the deliverer!
I have never met Julie, but Joshua has! Julie was in Ethiopia picking up her twin sons at the very same time that we accepted Joshua Gebeyehu's referral. I had never heard of her or her sons. However when she met and loved on my Joshua, she was so enchanted with him that upon returning to the US with her boys she asked our adoption agency if she could visit with Gebeyehu's family. Imagine my total delight when I received an email saying someone who had HELD my son wanted to tell me all about him. It still makes me teary! God reached out to me, through Julie, and allowed me a personal connection with someone who was holding, photographing, and loving on our Joshua Gebeyehu at the exact time he was born into our family.
I was able to visit with Julie on the phone and she told me everything she could remember about our Gubs. She also sent me photos of him AND video. One of the videos was of Joshua Gebeyehu sleeping while Sister repeated his name over and over. This video was the first time we had heard his name. Knowing we were pronouncing it correctly was such a connection. (You maybe have to be an adoptive parent to totally get this connection, but it was miraculous to us!)
I absolutely treasured each piece of information Julie sent my way. They were invaluable.
So, you can imagine my JOY to find out that Julie would be the one to deliver the gifts to our Dale kids! I have experienced her thoughtfulness and caring in the past, and I could not pick anyone better to deliver the backpacks to these kids!
If that personal connection was not enough, God surprised me one more time (so far) with this project.
A few months ago I was invited to talk about Ethiopia and orphan care at my Grandparent's church. When I had completed my talk they presented me with a check for $100 to use as I saw fit. I had been praying over this money, wondering where God wanted to use it. I had nearly used it a couple times, but someting stopped me.
When no one had offered a donation to pay shipping on the Dale donations, I decided that the money from my Grandparent's church must be meant to pay for shipping. But just how much would it cost to ship 3 large, heavy boxes from here to there? Would that $100 be enough?
Are you ready for this?
Shipping cost $100.34!!!!
So cool! So God!
I have also posted that our 9 Dale kids were in need of sponsors. You can read more about that here.
The good news is that 6 of the 9 kids have sponsors!
The bad news is that there are still 3 girls in need of sponsors! I would really, really LOVE for these princesses to all know they have sponsors by the time they receive their backpacks! $35/ month ensures that these girls will attend school, have school uniforms and supplies, have shoes, and other basic needs met. It will also provide a stipend to assist their foster families in providing nutritious food.
Could you, would you provide for one of these girls?
Z needs your help.
W. needs your help.
T needs your help.Can you imagine what a relief it would be for these girls to not JUST receive gifts for the first time ever, but to ALSO know that there is someone, somewhere that is going to continue to love and support them?
Are you up for the challenge?
Are you ready to BE a source of hope and stability for one of these girls?
Email me. I'll get you set up!
Email me. I'll get you set up!
aliciad(at)bis(dot)midco(dot)net
***FOVC has committed to supporting 16 additional orphans in Dale, Ethiopia. So in case you think with only 3 kids left needing sponsors that the project is nearly complete, think again. The need in Dale is great and FOVC is committed to continue reaching out to as many children as possible through child sponsorships and many other projects. You can read more about FOVC at http://www.fovc.org/
