One Woman's Heart

If I were to look back on my life even five years ago, I’m not sure I would have believed myself to be where I am now.  We had three amazing boys. I was a stay at home mom.  My husband loved his job.  Yes, life was pretty good.  But even so, I had an underlying feeling that there was more.

I have had a passion for vulnerable children since I was a kid.  I loved working with children but I always had a heart for those in tough circumstances.  Once our youngest son was born, we never quite felt like our family was complete.  By the time he was three or four, God began really leading me toward adoption for our family.  We made the decision to begin the adoption process in March 2008.  One year and nine months later, we were on a plane returning from Ethiopia with our two amazing daughters.  It was Christmas Day, 2009.

That trip changed my life forever.  Not only was I now a mom to five incredible children, but God had truly opened my eyes to the world of an orphan.  While we were in Ethiopia, we had the privilege of being able to visit an orphanage.  I will never forget that day.

We loaded up in two vans with the families who were part of our travel group.  We traveled through the streets of Addis Ababa and pulled up outside the gates of the orphanage.  The gates were pulled open so that we could drive in.  The kids were anxiously awaiting our arrival.  As we got out of the van, they quickly crowded around our group.  There were so many children.

We pulled out the goodies that the families had brought.  We passed out stickers, bubbles, beach balls, granola bars and suckers.  The kids scrambled around so as to not be left out.  There was one little girl, probably about eight or nine years old, who desperately pushed her way through the crowd to grab on to a granola bar.  I could see in her face the pain of the hunger that she had known.  My heart broke.

We stayed and played with the kids and hugged each precious one.  For just a while we wanted to distract them from any painful memories and experiences they had brought with them.  We wanted to show them the unconditional love of our Savior.

As the time came to leave, I had such a hard time getting back in that van.  So many things went through my mind.  Why was it like this?  It seemed so unfair that we have so much and they have so little.  A child needs a mom and a dad.  I looked into the eyes of these children.  These could have been my children.  In fact, this once was my daughter.  The face of hunger, the face of desperation, the face of pain and loneliness, the face of Jesus.
 

I got in the van in tears.  I was so overwhelmed with the need to care for the orphan.  It was no longer a number to me of over 143 million orphans, those orphans had faces and names.  I couldn’t leave them and go back to “normal” life.  God had given me a glimpse into the way His heart breaks over the fatherless and I had to do something about it.

After spending some time adjusting to our new family, I felt it was time to begin exploring where it was I was being led.  It was during this time that a fellow adoptive mom began posting about an organization she was working with called, Children’s Hopechest.  I began researching more about them.  I attended the Orphan Summit in Minneapolis and had the opportunity to meet with some folks from Hopechest and discuss more about their organization.  It seemed like the perfect fit.

Children’s Hopechest partners with an already functioning location/care point providing services to children in need.  They partner with an individual (like me!) who is willing to take on being a Sponsor Coordinator for the location.  That person helps to find sponsors for the children currently being cared for at the location.  As the financial assistance begins, they are often able to add additional children to be cared for and also explore capital projects that may help the care point such as building a bathroom or kitchen or water well system.  Relationships are developed between the children and their sponsors.  Letters can be sent and updates are given.  Sponsor trips are also planned and care packages can be hand delivered to the children.

After a process of waiting on God’s perfect timing, I have now partnered with Children’s Hopechest to be a Sponsor Coordinator for Kebron in Ethiopia.  This Care Point is about an hour south of the capital, Addis Ababa.  There are currently 12 children at the location with capability of having around 20.  A woman who used her family’s land to build a facility to take in these very needy children started this location.  These kids are all double orphans, which means they have lost both parents, and were literally living in the street trying to survive.  They have now been given a chance at Kebron.  By sponsoring one of these kids, you can be a part of their hope and future.  Your sponsorship money will help to provide food, clothing, education and discipleship training.  Please consider if God is prompting you to be a part of one of these kids’ lives.  You too can make a difference.