I have been looking for blogs on foster care, so I checked out my friend Amy's from an adoptive mom yahoo group I belong to. They have just been through a trying foster ordeal! But since John and I are praying about it, I wanted to read more about it. I process things so differently than John, and it makes times like this very stressful at our house!
When Amy's blog came up, I looked at her title bar and saw this quote. It has haunted me ever since:
"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it...but I'm afraid God might ask me the same question." -Anonymous
wow! That says it all!
Go check out Building the Blocks, you will be blessed!
Showing posts with label Red Letters Campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Letters Campaign. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Lord, He is God!
"The Lord, He is God!" This is what the people cried after Elijah prayed for and God provided fire to fall down on the alter that was drenched and surrounded by water! That is what the people of Liberia will pray when they hear of what God has done through the faithful servants working with our ministry!
We have a team of 11 people in country right now...$25,000 in plane tickets (that doesn't include shots, visas, etc for all 11 people). Most of the team are just faithful servants of God on mission to make His glory known. They are not adopting...they have no agenda other than to server the "least of these" in Liberia.
But once again, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Deputy Minister Joseph Geebro to be exact, is putting a stop to it. We need a letter from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to write a letter of clearance for our container to leave port. Without the letter, we will have to pay $5800 in duties. $5800 that could serve the people of Liberia, but instead will go to duties that will probably pad some officials pocket instead of educating these faces!
The injustice is too much to just sit on! The intent of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must be known! Elijah took on 450 prophets of Baal because he knew his God is Lord! I know that too! I never make a move with out thoroughly praying through it, and that includes posts to my blog...for all those naysayers who think I should be silent about these injustices! It is because too many people have been too silent for too long that these injustices are allowed to continue!
We now have the Liberian government, Senators, Dr. McClain (Chief of Staff/Minister of State) standing by while humanitarian aid to the Liberian people is blocked! Yet, we, US tax payers, are going to allow our government to send millions on top of the billion already sent to this government? For real?????
Please pray for our team over there! They are great! They are keeping their eyes on God...there are moments when they think they are going to sink, but then they refocus, and they are doing an amazing job at seeking God at each wall they hit and seeking the direction He woudl have them go! As I type they are trying to figure out how to pay that $5800 and still make the home and school all that God called them to. We know God can do it! He reminded me this morning that paying the $5800 now doesn't mean He will not provide for all that is needed later! Pray that encouragement for the team also! Pray for our poor country director and Pastor who have to deal with this daily! I don't know how they do it! Pray for the people of Margibi county who are already using ou water well because theirs is broken, and now know that their own government is stopping a container of necessities that would benefit them!
Pray for me...I hate to sound selfish, but all this wears me out! I am geared up and in the Spirit right now, but it will take all of 10 minutes after the kids wake up for me to lose focus and get in the flesh! Then the depression and despair hit and I want to quit it all. But that is not what God is telling me...but sometimes it just seems easier to walk away than to walk with God...I know that is a lie from the pit of hell, but so easy to believe in my weak times!
I promised transparent steps as I walk this journey! So there ya go! :)
Oh, did I mention that by 7 am this morning I had already drank a whole pot of coffee...somethins I don't usually do all day?!
We have a team of 11 people in country right now...$25,000 in plane tickets (that doesn't include shots, visas, etc for all 11 people). Most of the team are just faithful servants of God on mission to make His glory known. They are not adopting...they have no agenda other than to server the "least of these" in Liberia.
But once again, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Deputy Minister Joseph Geebro to be exact, is putting a stop to it. We need a letter from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to write a letter of clearance for our container to leave port. Without the letter, we will have to pay $5800 in duties. $5800 that could serve the people of Liberia, but instead will go to duties that will probably pad some officials pocket instead of educating these faces!
The injustice is too much to just sit on! The intent of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must be known! Elijah took on 450 prophets of Baal because he knew his God is Lord! I know that too! I never make a move with out thoroughly praying through it, and that includes posts to my blog...for all those naysayers who think I should be silent about these injustices! It is because too many people have been too silent for too long that these injustices are allowed to continue!
We now have the Liberian government, Senators, Dr. McClain (Chief of Staff/Minister of State) standing by while humanitarian aid to the Liberian people is blocked! Yet, we, US tax payers, are going to allow our government to send millions on top of the billion already sent to this government? For real?????
Please pray for our team over there! They are great! They are keeping their eyes on God...there are moments when they think they are going to sink, but then they refocus, and they are doing an amazing job at seeking God at each wall they hit and seeking the direction He woudl have them go! As I type they are trying to figure out how to pay that $5800 and still make the home and school all that God called them to. We know God can do it! He reminded me this morning that paying the $5800 now doesn't mean He will not provide for all that is needed later! Pray that encouragement for the team also! Pray for our poor country director and Pastor who have to deal with this daily! I don't know how they do it! Pray for the people of Margibi county who are already using ou water well because theirs is broken, and now know that their own government is stopping a container of necessities that would benefit them!
Pray for me...I hate to sound selfish, but all this wears me out! I am geared up and in the Spirit right now, but it will take all of 10 minutes after the kids wake up for me to lose focus and get in the flesh! Then the depression and despair hit and I want to quit it all. But that is not what God is telling me...but sometimes it just seems easier to walk away than to walk with God...I know that is a lie from the pit of hell, but so easy to believe in my weak times!
I promised transparent steps as I walk this journey! So there ya go! :)
Oh, did I mention that by 7 am this morning I had already drank a whole pot of coffee...somethins I don't usually do all day?!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
My son's home
Today was an exhausting day! I rode the four hour one way trip to Nimba with roads that are far less then pefect! Pot holes everywhere! But it was so worth it!
I made a promise to the parents who came with Toben's biological parents that I would some day go to Nimba to see where they lived. Today I made good on that promise. Nimba is in the interior. It is away from Monrovia, so the poverty increases. This is where a lot of the kids that we have brought home came from.
The first stop was the home of 7 of the children. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all came out to see the pictures. When I showed them to an older lady, she didn't hardly see them before she started dancing and praising the Lord! It was amazing! She was so excited to see her grandchildren and how they were doing! She started saying, "I sell my children? I will never see them again? Look here!" She had been chastised for placing her children for adoption. As the common mindset here in Liberia is that 'adoption' means the children will be sold in slavery or taken for their organs or sent to Iraq for war. A big part of what God has allowed me to do this trip is to use the media to educate people on what adoption is! She was so excited to have proof to her naysayers that her grandchildren were happy and alive, and thriving!
We went to a couple of other homes. One of the mother's had cooked lunch for us. So I ate field rice with meat & cabbage stew. I really ate the stew! However, it was so hot that I had to eat mainly rice with a little stew! I'm not fully Liberian yet, evidently!
Next we went to Toben's village. It was off the road just a litte, surrounded by greenery. And in this little expanse in the greenery is a grass hut kitchen and eight to ten mud huts with grass roofs. There is no water well, no bathroom, no shower, no school, no access to medical care. But there are children everywhere, most only with shirts on as pants are a luxury here. The girls nursing babies look to be not much more than 13 or 14. Each one had a baby on her hip or at her breast. I just sat in the "kitchen" watching it all as they went to get Toben's birth mom from the farm where she was working. I was trying to take it all in, but the more I looked around, the harder it was. It was as if I had no where to file in my American brain what I was looking at! Eventhough this is my fifth trip to Liberia, the poverty and way of life of so many Liberians just doesn't compute. I can't imagine that a place like this really exists in 2009! But it does!
I hear Toben's mom saying, "Welcome, welcome!" as she comes down the path. As soon as she emerges from the brush, I get up and go around the group of people. When she locks eyes with me, she throws the bucket she was carrying on her head to the ground and breaks into a dead run! She nearly nocked me down as we embraced. Then her laughter turned to sobs as she said over and over, "Thank you, Father! Thank you, Father!" The faith of these people still amazes me! It shines a light on my lack of faith as I live a life of luxury and want to stop each time it gets hard! But hard is a daily reality for this lady just to survive! She saw the album I brought her of Toben, and she just wept! It was such a sweet moment! I saw Toben's 12X12 mud hut that he called home before he came to Addy's Hope. I met the children that were born around the time he was. I could not grasp that if Toben was not in my home right now, this is where he would be! Walking around, probably with no clothes, dirty, hungry, smiling (as all the children are so happy!), but sentenced to a life of poverty and hardship simpling because of where he was born!
So there we were! Two moms, a world apart, sharing the love of a little boy! It was a magical moment really! Something that trying to explain would just ruin.
The whole day was kind of that way! I don't stop and think enough about the lives that we have touched. Pastor Paul, our staff Pastor, has reminded me so many times this week that we have changed the lives of 37 so far! There are another 59 waiting in our home. Then at each place we stopped, they asked us to please take children with us today! They longed for more children to be removed from the circumstances that so many are in, with no help from the government or any other organization. UNICEF is not helping them, yet they are against adoption. Save the Children are not helping them, yet they are against adoption. I am not against what they do. I still believe it will take all of us! But until they can feed and educate and clothe and provide shelter for ALL children, then adoption should be one of the options available!
I was reminded today that only but by the grace of God was I born in America and have the freedoms, joys and abundance that I am blessed to enjoy. Toben's mom didn't choose to be born into a country that was in the middle of civil war with bullet riddled houses and light posts, no infrastructure and no education system. It could have just as easily been me! But since I am the one with the abundance, then I have an obligation to do something to help those without. And because of that, I have to keep going! I have to keep fighting the battles and caring for the children! God used today to cement in me the calling He has on my life! It may get tough, but quitting is not an option!
I made a promise to the parents who came with Toben's biological parents that I would some day go to Nimba to see where they lived. Today I made good on that promise. Nimba is in the interior. It is away from Monrovia, so the poverty increases. This is where a lot of the kids that we have brought home came from.
The first stop was the home of 7 of the children. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all came out to see the pictures. When I showed them to an older lady, she didn't hardly see them before she started dancing and praising the Lord! It was amazing! She was so excited to see her grandchildren and how they were doing! She started saying, "I sell my children? I will never see them again? Look here!" She had been chastised for placing her children for adoption. As the common mindset here in Liberia is that 'adoption' means the children will be sold in slavery or taken for their organs or sent to Iraq for war. A big part of what God has allowed me to do this trip is to use the media to educate people on what adoption is! She was so excited to have proof to her naysayers that her grandchildren were happy and alive, and thriving!
We went to a couple of other homes. One of the mother's had cooked lunch for us. So I ate field rice with meat & cabbage stew. I really ate the stew! However, it was so hot that I had to eat mainly rice with a little stew! I'm not fully Liberian yet, evidently!
Next we went to Toben's village. It was off the road just a litte, surrounded by greenery. And in this little expanse in the greenery is a grass hut kitchen and eight to ten mud huts with grass roofs. There is no water well, no bathroom, no shower, no school, no access to medical care. But there are children everywhere, most only with shirts on as pants are a luxury here. The girls nursing babies look to be not much more than 13 or 14. Each one had a baby on her hip or at her breast. I just sat in the "kitchen" watching it all as they went to get Toben's birth mom from the farm where she was working. I was trying to take it all in, but the more I looked around, the harder it was. It was as if I had no where to file in my American brain what I was looking at! Eventhough this is my fifth trip to Liberia, the poverty and way of life of so many Liberians just doesn't compute. I can't imagine that a place like this really exists in 2009! But it does!
I hear Toben's mom saying, "Welcome, welcome!" as she comes down the path. As soon as she emerges from the brush, I get up and go around the group of people. When she locks eyes with me, she throws the bucket she was carrying on her head to the ground and breaks into a dead run! She nearly nocked me down as we embraced. Then her laughter turned to sobs as she said over and over, "Thank you, Father! Thank you, Father!" The faith of these people still amazes me! It shines a light on my lack of faith as I live a life of luxury and want to stop each time it gets hard! But hard is a daily reality for this lady just to survive! She saw the album I brought her of Toben, and she just wept! It was such a sweet moment! I saw Toben's 12X12 mud hut that he called home before he came to Addy's Hope. I met the children that were born around the time he was. I could not grasp that if Toben was not in my home right now, this is where he would be! Walking around, probably with no clothes, dirty, hungry, smiling (as all the children are so happy!), but sentenced to a life of poverty and hardship simpling because of where he was born!
So there we were! Two moms, a world apart, sharing the love of a little boy! It was a magical moment really! Something that trying to explain would just ruin.
The whole day was kind of that way! I don't stop and think enough about the lives that we have touched. Pastor Paul, our staff Pastor, has reminded me so many times this week that we have changed the lives of 37 so far! There are another 59 waiting in our home. Then at each place we stopped, they asked us to please take children with us today! They longed for more children to be removed from the circumstances that so many are in, with no help from the government or any other organization. UNICEF is not helping them, yet they are against adoption. Save the Children are not helping them, yet they are against adoption. I am not against what they do. I still believe it will take all of us! But until they can feed and educate and clothe and provide shelter for ALL children, then adoption should be one of the options available!
I was reminded today that only but by the grace of God was I born in America and have the freedoms, joys and abundance that I am blessed to enjoy. Toben's mom didn't choose to be born into a country that was in the middle of civil war with bullet riddled houses and light posts, no infrastructure and no education system. It could have just as easily been me! But since I am the one with the abundance, then I have an obligation to do something to help those without. And because of that, I have to keep going! I have to keep fighting the battles and caring for the children! God used today to cement in me the calling He has on my life! It may get tough, but quitting is not an option!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Why I do it!
Ok, after my last post, I am renewed! The fight is the same! The struggles and obstacles are the same! But the faces....these faces.....
This is why I do it! God has placed a burden on me for these people as they have no voice right now! They are the forgotten of Liberia. There are many more than just those in this one village, but this is where God has called Addy's Hope. Our new building can be seen as a beacon of hope across the street. The foundation with the pillars....it is a sprititual site to see walking up. It represents beginnings, firm foundations, and progress!
This is why I do it! God has placed a burden on me for these people as they have no voice right now! They are the forgotten of Liberia. There are many more than just those in this one village, but this is where God has called Addy's Hope. Our new building can be seen as a beacon of hope across the street. The foundation with the pillars....it is a sprititual site to see walking up. It represents beginnings, firm foundations, and progress!We talked to Moses again. He is so excited to see us back...all of the people were! I got to see Patricia again and her baby boy. She is only a child herself, but she has this child to care for. Based on statistics, she has a 1 in 5 chance of losing him before he turns five years old. There were many more girls like Patricia. I held a baby that was a month old or so. I asked the mother how old he was, and she replied, "One year." They just don't have a concept of time...and why would it matter in a life like this?
Just a different world! I can get overwhelmed looking at all these people, but then I have to remember that I only have to walk in obedience! God hasn't called me to save Liberia from poverty, He has only called me to obedience, and through my obedience, and your obedience, and the obedience of the Body of Christ called to Liberia, God will save Liberia from the current conditions! And then He will recieve all the glory for it!
So tonight as I lay my head down on a bed in a home filled with children, I am thankful that God has placed this call on my life. It is hard, it is stressful, but it is so important! I love the people of this country, and I am thankful for the opportunity to serve them!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Same Song 5th Verse
This is my fifth trip to Liberia...the story is the same. A few have much while many have little. Those who have much don't seem to care that many have little. I have talked to so many who agree that what we are doing is a good thing. I ask them, if we don't take care of the 59 children in our home, who will? The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare does not have the money to take care of them. Their parents don't have the money to take care of them, that is why they are here! Do these people who are opposing adoption wanting the children to just starve? Is that ok? Why should I be ok with that? Should you be ok with that? But how do I fight it? God has called me to adoption. I have contemplated many times if I can just fund raise and help the people. But God has said no! Adoption is my calling! My passion! But we use what we make in adoption to change the lives of children and adults who are left in Liberia. Why is that a bad thing?
Our opposition is far and wide. Most are "Christians" that we fight. Both in Liberia and in America. How is that? How do people who call themselves followers of Christ work against us when our desire is to feed children and help them. The list of things we have done for Liberia goes on and on...and I hope it continues to go on and on some more! But right now, I have to worry about where the next month's meal and salary money will come from. Will the Ministry of Health help me if I can't feed the children? NO! Will President Sirleaf who put the ban on adoption feed the children next month? NO! It is up to me, ok, not really up to me since God is in total control, but you get the drift. I have to make sure the money is there. And if it is not, find the avenue that God wants to use to bring the money.
But the money is really just a small part. It is also the children who sit here with out a mommy and daddy to tuck them in. I am Mother HollyAnn here at Addy's Hope. When I come to the home at the end of every day, the kids bombard me. They want a hug..they want to hear someone say their name! Their little eyes light up every time I use their name! They want to be someone special! Doesn't every child deserve that? There are 18 families waiting to tell them just how special they are, but because of government and politics, they are not allowed to.
UNICEF and Save the Children would rather see them starve than go to another culture. I have always said, and still believe that the children should reaming with a family member if at all possible! But sometimes, that just can't happen. And with the poverty that is in Liberia, families cannot take in all the children that are in need in this country.
I could go on and on. I just don't understand. I know this is my call...I know there is no walking away from it. I entertain the idea now and then, but I know down deep that God has not released me, and probably will not for quite some time! So I must press on! I must draw closer to God so that I can lean on Him and rely on His wisdom and protection and guidance.
If you are reading this, pray for me. Pray that I would have the perseverance to sustain me even when it seems that nothing is happening. Pray that I would believe with all that is within me that God is working behind the scenes even when I don't see anything happening.
On a lighter note, I had a first this trip...well many firsts, but this one was surreal. I was walking down the hall at the capital and a guy said, "Hey, I saw you on tv last night!" It took me a minute to register, then I said, "Yes you did." I am never quite sure which side of the fence anyone is on with adoption so I didn't know if I was about to get slammed or congratulated. So I just started praying for the right words and attitude whatever remarks came. I am not sure he was totally pro-adoption, but he did say he enjoyed the porgram. I had another press conference, and this time the tv station was here. It was mainly on adoption education. There is still so much ignorance here about adoption. As the Liberians say, we have to change the mindset of the people. We will be traveling to some villages to help do just that while I am here. I am excited about that as I can meet more Liberians and get out of the Monrovia area to where the real need is.
I also had another first. I did a live radio interview. That was a little unnerving, but God was so faithful and gave me the words I needed. I even saw one of the government officials that I had talked to the day before in an elevator after the interview and she said she heard it. I kind of held my breath, but let it out when she said, "I was pleased with what was said!" Yes!
Headed to bed! I am going to take tomorrow to visit with some of the people I am trying to help...the people who have nothing in Liberia! I so want to improve their quality of life!
By the way...as I type this, I am listening to Barney as 30 some-odd Liberian children sing, "Clean up, Clean up, Everybody, Every where!" Got to love it! :)
Our opposition is far and wide. Most are "Christians" that we fight. Both in Liberia and in America. How is that? How do people who call themselves followers of Christ work against us when our desire is to feed children and help them. The list of things we have done for Liberia goes on and on...and I hope it continues to go on and on some more! But right now, I have to worry about where the next month's meal and salary money will come from. Will the Ministry of Health help me if I can't feed the children? NO! Will President Sirleaf who put the ban on adoption feed the children next month? NO! It is up to me, ok, not really up to me since God is in total control, but you get the drift. I have to make sure the money is there. And if it is not, find the avenue that God wants to use to bring the money.
But the money is really just a small part. It is also the children who sit here with out a mommy and daddy to tuck them in. I am Mother HollyAnn here at Addy's Hope. When I come to the home at the end of every day, the kids bombard me. They want a hug..they want to hear someone say their name! Their little eyes light up every time I use their name! They want to be someone special! Doesn't every child deserve that? There are 18 families waiting to tell them just how special they are, but because of government and politics, they are not allowed to.
UNICEF and Save the Children would rather see them starve than go to another culture. I have always said, and still believe that the children should reaming with a family member if at all possible! But sometimes, that just can't happen. And with the poverty that is in Liberia, families cannot take in all the children that are in need in this country.
I could go on and on. I just don't understand. I know this is my call...I know there is no walking away from it. I entertain the idea now and then, but I know down deep that God has not released me, and probably will not for quite some time! So I must press on! I must draw closer to God so that I can lean on Him and rely on His wisdom and protection and guidance.
If you are reading this, pray for me. Pray that I would have the perseverance to sustain me even when it seems that nothing is happening. Pray that I would believe with all that is within me that God is working behind the scenes even when I don't see anything happening.
On a lighter note, I had a first this trip...well many firsts, but this one was surreal. I was walking down the hall at the capital and a guy said, "Hey, I saw you on tv last night!" It took me a minute to register, then I said, "Yes you did." I am never quite sure which side of the fence anyone is on with adoption so I didn't know if I was about to get slammed or congratulated. So I just started praying for the right words and attitude whatever remarks came. I am not sure he was totally pro-adoption, but he did say he enjoyed the porgram. I had another press conference, and this time the tv station was here. It was mainly on adoption education. There is still so much ignorance here about adoption. As the Liberians say, we have to change the mindset of the people. We will be traveling to some villages to help do just that while I am here. I am excited about that as I can meet more Liberians and get out of the Monrovia area to where the real need is.
I also had another first. I did a live radio interview. That was a little unnerving, but God was so faithful and gave me the words I needed. I even saw one of the government officials that I had talked to the day before in an elevator after the interview and she said she heard it. I kind of held my breath, but let it out when she said, "I was pleased with what was said!" Yes!
Headed to bed! I am going to take tomorrow to visit with some of the people I am trying to help...the people who have nothing in Liberia! I so want to improve their quality of life!
By the way...as I type this, I am listening to Barney as 30 some-odd Liberian children sing, "Clean up, Clean up, Everybody, Every where!" Got to love it! :)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Please help the starving children!
I have a dear friend whom I have never met face to face...in fact, I wouldn't know her if she walked up to me right now. However, she is a kindred spirit! She has pulled me up out of the pit many times in the work that I do, and I am thankful that God brought her into my life.
She is the Ghana country coordinator for AAI. She is leaving later this month for a trip to Ghana. She has become aware of an orphanage there that has many children and no food. The children are literally starving! Can you help? Go to her blog for all the details and instructions on how to make a donation. Five dollars doesn't sound like a lot, but in Ghana, it will go a long way....so even if you can only give five or ten dollars, please do it.
"the righteous is concerned with the rights of the poor" Proverbs 29:7
"He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered." Proverbs 21:13
"
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Would you help?
I love the Red Letters Campaign motto! I totally believe that living out my faith will help end poverty, and I REFUSE to believe that I can't make in impact. One life at a time I am determined!
Today, the lives that haunt me are Patricia and Jennefer. Here is the story of these two girls as told by Matthew. Matthew is a young man who has been taken under the wing of one of our adoptive families. He was living in a church compound, but is now on his own and attending school thanks to this family! Now he is trying to help other people because of what God has given him. He met these girls when he went to the airport to pick me and the adoptive families up on our arrival in July. He has visited these girls and kept up with them to get this information for me. I missed the opportunity to talk to them on his phone because I was not home when he went to see them. Here is their story exactly as Matthew relayed it to me. WARNING: Not easy to read!
Today, the lives that haunt me are Patricia and Jennefer. Here is the story of these two girls as told by Matthew. Matthew is a young man who has been taken under the wing of one of our adoptive families. He was living in a church compound, but is now on his own and attending school thanks to this family! Now he is trying to help other people because of what God has given him. He met these girls when he went to the airport to pick me and the adoptive families up on our arrival in July. He has visited these girls and kept up with them to get this information for me. I missed the opportunity to talk to them on his phone because I was not home when he went to see them. Here is their story exactly as Matthew relayed it to me. WARNING: Not easy to read!
Hi Sis.Hollyann,
This is the story Patricia told me about her sister and herself.Their father died in 1994 when she was about 4years and Jennifer 2yrs.Their mother took over to Ivory Coast for refuge.They were there as refugees.Later in Ivory Coast a lady called Etta took them from their mother who was suffering and struggling to take care of them.This lady took them to Ghana(Bujuburam Refugee Camp)where they lived with her until she was leaving from Ghana when she decided to leave them with her sister,Victoria. She said after about a year living with Victoria and her husband,one day she came from school and was raped by Victoria's husband,Joshua who threatened her that he will make her to follow her father(death) if anybody got to know what he did to her.At this time she was ten years old.She said out of fear she could not tell anybody,and he kept abusing her until she was 13years old when she and her sister ran away from their house to live with other people as they continued their schooling sponsored by UNHCR.They lived with these people,Ghanaians,until they were recently repatriated to Liberia.And now they are living with hospitable family along the Roberts Field Highway,but the family cannot afford to send them to school since the family has to her children to send to school and times are so difficult in Liberia.She also said since Etta took them from their mother they had known her to be their mother until recently when they were told that their biologcal mother is in Ivory Coast.Presently,they do not have a sleeping place,school fees and food.They are sleeping with this family's children in one room and eating from their pots.This is why they asked me to assist them which I myself am facing hardship and in school.
For the pictures,Patricia is in a green t-shirt and her sister in white t-shirt with white head-tie.Sory for the delay in sending you the information;I was out of funds to get the pictures and to scan them.
This is the story Patricia told me about her sister and herself.Their father died in 1994 when she was about 4years and Jennifer 2yrs.Their mother took over to Ivory Coast for refuge.They were there as refugees.Later in Ivory Coast a lady called Etta took them from their mother who was suffering and struggling to take care of them.This lady took them to Ghana(Bujuburam Refugee Camp)where they lived with her until she was leaving from Ghana when she decided to leave them with her sister,Victoria. She said after about a year living with Victoria and her husband,one day she came from school and was raped by Victoria's husband,Joshua who threatened her that he will make her to follow her father(death) if anybody got to know what he did to her.At this time she was ten years old.She said out of fear she could not tell anybody,and he kept abusing her until she was 13years old when she and her sister ran away from their house to live with other people as they continued their schooling sponsored by UNHCR.They lived with these people,Ghanaians,until they were recently repatriated to Liberia.And now they are living with hospitable family along the Roberts Field Highway,but the family cannot afford to send them to school since the family has to her children to send to school and times are so difficult in Liberia.She also said since Etta took them from their mother they had known her to be their mother until recently when they were told that their biologcal mother is in Ivory Coast.Presently,they do not have a sleeping place,school fees and food.They are sleeping with this family's children in one room and eating from their pots.This is why they asked me to assist them which I myself am facing hardship and in school.
For the pictures,Patricia is in a green t-shirt and her sister in white t-shirt with white head-tie.Sory for the delay in sending you the information;I was out of funds to get the pictures and to scan them.
Will you help? Can you help send one of these girls to school this semester? Would you give one dollar to do it? John and I are sending Patricia to school. Her total school bill is $265 (this includes tuition and fees, uniform, text books and notebooks). Jenefer needs to go to 9th grade. Her total bill is $210.00. I will put a thermometer up on the side of my blog (as soon as I figure out how!) to show the progress. I will also put a donate button. If you can't give one dollar, give one cent! EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
With much sorrow....
With much sorrow, I present my nails. Yes, they are fake! There is a post forming in my mind that will hopefully be published in the near future which will help explain, but for now I will leave it at, I thought I deserved them! Ouch! That hurt to write! I have been justifying why I can keep them. I won't go through the list of justifications as it will only increase my sorrow. (I use sorrow because of a teaching my Pastor does on sin that is phenominal..as Chrsitians, we are not guilty, but we have Godly sorrow for things we do that we shouldn't, for sin - don't crucify me here...I am not saying fake nails are a sin! I am saying when we put our desires before God's commands we are sinning....this is my conviction and I am not pushing it on anyone else, just sharing!)
What brought this on? Well, I started reading Red Letters by Tom Davis. I have heard much about it and have even added my blog to the Red Letters Campaign adoption blogs, but I haven't actually read the book, so I picked it up. I am devouring everything I can right now on walking closely with God, and everything I have read says this will change me forever. I am also reading The Shack. That is amazing as well! There is another reason I am reading Red Letters. There is a pretty good chance that I will be meeting the author of this book the first part of August. It would probably be best for me to have read his work before I have a conversation with him! :) There is another cool thing about Tom Davis's rightings that I will share another time. I swear if this world gets any smaller, I will no longer fit in it!
So I read a little tonight (or this morning..whatever you want to call 12:45 am!). He talks about hoarders, people who keep what they have "safe" for fear they will not have enough. John and I have never been hoarders, shoot, we can't even save the "Dave Ramsey Emergency Savings Amount", but we are not what I would consider generous people with our resources either. We have recently met a couple that has really challeneged us by their generosity and we are being convicted. As I read Tom's explanation of the usual "if you give up your Starbucks for one day you could...." analogy, I felt a pain go through my heart! That was the Holy Spirit hitting me right on target with His arrow! I don't buy Starbucks but once every other month or so, so that little analogy usually lets me wipe my brow and say, "whew! I am safe there! No conviction needed for that! We are doing the best we can...." Well, not this time! That little arrow had a note attached to it. It read, "For what you have spent on nails this month, you could have sponsored two children in your very own orphanage!" Yikes! So needles to say, the nails will be coming off! I can grow nails for free! Fake nails are silly for me! Ok, so growing nails requires not biting mine, which is a digusting habbit anyway, right, so what is the problem? Well, we'll leave that challenge for another day! For now I know that the two girls that God has laid on my hear to disciple every time I go to Liberia will be receiving monthly support instead of my fingers getting fake nails! I will live my faith in the hopes of ending poverty in at least two lives that I know I can impact for Christ! What a privelege to walk this life with Christ! Nails are silly, but the closer I get to him, the more all the sacrifices I have made seem silly in comparison to the knowledge of knowing Him more!
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