It has taken me days to write this as I finally felt like after months that I had something to say. But I still feel completely inadequate to take on this task. I compare myself to the others in my group that have been off and running since before we left and that makes me feel less than able. But the Lord keeps reminding me "It is not yours but my will be done...in My timing and under My circumstances." So, here you go. This is my offering...

Life is different. I am different.
While I was in Ethiopia I couldn't write about it. I am typically and have always been a very emotional person. But I wasn't while I was in Ethiopia. God protected me from not being able to see clearly through literal tears. I saw, smelled and experienced things that can't be done justice by pictures or words.
Do you remember holding your baby in your arms and dreaming of who God has made them to be? As they grow dreaming with them of becoming a doctor or a nurse or a pastor and seeing in them the gifts God has given them to be those things. For many parents in Ethiopia they will never be able to see the hopes and dreams they have for their children come true. Poverty brings with it death, hunger and lack of opportunity. Imagine something taking away your child's hopes and dreams. You would do everything you could to keep that from happening! I'm asking you to do that for someone elses child. My breath is taken away when I put myself in the place of my daughters first mother. Not knowing what would become of my child after my death. I have now seen both sides. I have seen what my daughter has described and experienced. Children going hungry for days, maybe having one meal a week, if you can even call it a meal. A piece of injera(bread) and some tea. Being alone in a home while a parent or care giver is at work making pennies a day. The home that a child stays in is nothing like the US. Corrugated metal, dung and sticks, dirt or rough wooden floors, rats and no in door plumbing( bathrooms or water spickets). Or taking care of a dying parent at the age of 3 or 4 years old. There is very little hope of school because even public school costs money. So, do you feed your family or send your child to school. Families make decisions both ways. Many have one set of clothing and not a complete set according to our standards... maybe no shoes(or very worn and ill fitting ones), no undies or socks or even pants. Can you imagine sending YOUR daughter to school in her fathers old big shirt and nothing else because you wanted her to have an education so badly and that is all you had. This my friends is all reality just a 17 hour flight from here!
But, I have seen how God can change all of that. When God's people give these children hope there is no telling what they can do. When you sponsor a child for just $34 a month they will go to school, eat twice a day!, have clothes to wear, have access to medical care and most importantly be told of and see the love of Christ! If you are interested in changing a life please leave your email in the comments section and I will contact you.
There is a very special place in Ethiopia that our sponsorship program will touch and it is the town of Shone. We will be working with an organization there called Look development. In the posts to come I will be giving you a clearer picture of what the partnership looks like.
If you are thinking that sponsorship isn't enough and God is calling you to something in addition and it is adoption, that YOUR child is in Ethiopia(or anywhere else) and you want him/her home, I would love to talk with you .Do not be afraid for whatever He calls you to He will provide.