NEEDED: $1,000

it was the first time in a while that i had felt that feeling.  that sick at my stomach, this-shouldn't-be-happening feeling.  i was sitting at my computer late thursday night catching up on work when i saw an email from our adoption case worker, patricia, that i hadn't read yet.  we've been getting the thursday update for a while now, so i opened it expecting the typical news of the current happenings in ethiopia as it pertains to their government and adoption.  but what my eyes soon fell on were words that made a lump form in my throat...

"tragedy struck this past week at shashemene (an ethiopian orphanage that our agency works with) as a measles outbreak claimed the lives of four infants.  thought to be carried into the orphanage by a child who had been hospitalized, the crisis sent several more children to the hospital as a result of the accompanying secondary pneumonia."

"claimed the lives of four infants."  that phrase crept down to the innermost parts of my being and painfully reminded me of the phone call we got from patricia on august 13, 2010.   it struck me that after reading her thursday email this week, i now know of five babies within about 150 miles of one another who died from preventable disease.  150 miles.  that's about the distance from birmingham to atlanta.

if you're like me - and i'm guessing you are - you don't know five babies who have died from measles or pneumonia in your area.  in fact, i'm guessing none of us know five babies who have died in a matter of six months from anything.  and certainly not preventable disease.  i imagine that five infant deaths within a short period of time in our area would cause not only a panic, but an uproar.  we would demand answers, and we would demand a solution.

well folks, i'm on a mission to effect change in ethiopia through a present solution, and i'm asking you to please join me.

as most of you know, after judah died we partnered with compassion international to sponsor a child survival program in sadamo genet in memory of our son.  and in february, the lord blessed us beyond measure by allowing us visit that program and spend time laughing with, crying with, and learning from the mothers and children who are served there.  before you read another word here, please read about our trip to sadamo genet if you haven't already.   i can't imagine closing the page of that story and not being changed.  those women are real, their children are real, and their needs are great.  

in light of the obvious, dire, and ongoing concerns within the village of sadamo genet - spiritual, medical, developmental, etc. - i would like to challenge us all to answer the call of 1 john 3:17-18 and spend our worldly goods on behalf of those in need.  let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.  food for their hungry bodies and food for their hungry souls.  it just doesn't get any better than that.

BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY, REALLY EXCITING...

a donor has come forward and has offered to match the first $1,000 that is given to compassion for the sake of the mothers and babies at sadamo genet.

WHAT?!?  count with me, people...that's $2,000 that can literally help save the lives of children like judah and those precious four babies that died this week at shashemene by providing them with proper nutrition, preventative medical care, and needed sick care.  i have hugged these necks and held these babies.  oh please see the true impact of your giving.

this is gadisa (the little guy who's pictured on the main page for the sadamo genet program.) 

on the day that micah officially became our son, this blog received almost 1,400 hits in a matter of hours.  let's be really conservative and say that half of those hits were duplicate visits.  that's 700 people that joined in celebration with us as the lord showed himself mighty in light of some enormous obstacles.  700 people that cared enough to share our story.  now if each of those 700 people donated even the cost of a single meal at a typical american restaurant, we could have the needed $1,000 knocked out in no time.  think about it - this could be so simple but so huge!

so here's what i'm asking you to do:  GIVE to the babies of ethiopia.  do you need to think about it?  pray about it?  i'm going to respectfully answer with a big, fat NO on that one.  you can scarcely turn to a book in scripture in which the lord doesn't command his followers to serve, look after, defend, share with, or show kindness for those in need.  let's give!!

IMPORTANT:  in order to be able to track all giving toward the $1,000, i need to receive the money here and send it in collectively to compassion.  please send your tax-deductible checks (payable to compassion international) to me, and i'm going to send them in to compassion on good friday (april 22), and i'm praying fervently that by the prompting of the holy spirit, i will have a minimum of $2,000 to deliver on that powerful day.  if you are uncomfortable mailing your check to me, please donate online HERE (but comment or email me with your giving amount so that i can add it to the needed $1,000). 

thank you so very much - and i really mean this - for caring about our story, for supporting our family, and for loving the children of ethiopia.  it's truly a marvelous place!  i'm eternally grateful that my heart has been tuned to the beauty and needs of that country, and i'm praying that yours will be as well.

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help me raise $1,000 in twelve days!!