Oh me oh my–how the Lord DOES work wonders…STILL TODAY. Wanna join Him? Wanna be used RIGHT now to make a HUGE difference?
There is no way I can put into words how God has orchestrated these events leading to this post–but just know the Lord is working…in Korah. We have a beautiful 16 year old sponsored child…our “5th child”…who will leave in just a couple of weeks for school. He is being pulled OUT of the Addis trash dump in Ethiopia where the beautiful people of Korah live. Yes, you read that right. A trash dump. It is known as a lepar colony–and as these lepars had children–a community grew…and it is Korah. To make a beautiful and long story short that you can read more and stay up to date more on here at Project 61’s blog, they had a dream to get 75 kids sponsored…MAYBE 100–out of the dump–and into school. WELL…GOD had BIGGER plans! More than 230 kids are sponsored and will leave in a couple of weeks for school outside of the city!!! PRAISE GOD!
They will leave the ashes and dirt…
And they will get to go to school for the first time…
Many of them teenages…many of them orphans. AND most thinking they have been forgotten. BUT–our GOD IS NOT A GOD WHO FORGETS! No sir!!! His HEART BEATS for these people…for the orphan, the widow, the lepar, the poor. THIS IS WHERE HE IS WORKING MY FRIENDS!!! Do you want to join HIM?!
Now…these 230+ kids leave in a couple of weeks for school–and a sweet mommy friend of mine, Sarah Titus, emailed me to tell me the city the children will be at boarding school in is a malaria zone. NOW…what a privilege to take them out of the dump. What a privilege to sponsor them. (they are officially all sponsored!) BUT…to take them out and risk getting malaria…which you all know how I feel about malaria. SO, I asked Sarah to email Sumer…(pictured below)
and just ask how many nets they need. Because I BELIEVE God wants to provide for every last one!!! Because they will be sleeping in bunks which ONE net will hang and cover 2 beds–Sumer requeted 120 nets. Now…my role–to get them there. This is where it turns into a GOD STORY…
I just happen to have an Ethiopian friend. SO…I email my friend to ask about nets there. We have a supplier in Zimbabwe that we were getting quotes from for our nets for Wiphan. BUT of course buying them locally would save on shipping. I guessed we would need to raise $1,500 or so for 120 nets. I thought we would run a fun little fundraiser on my blog and it’d take a few weeks to raise the money and then we’d slowly send nets over or have them shipped and JUST MAYBE the kids would AT LEAST have nets for half of the school year. GOD HAD A BETTER PLAN…
I emailed my friend who misunderstood me and instead of quoting me a price for 120 nets…HE BOUGHT THEM…and DELIVERED THEM. SO…the kids now have the nets…in 24 hours this happened…and they were just under $5 each. SO…while my plan would get them there in a few months–THEY ALREADY HAVE THEM! Now…to pay my friend back…I realized I just happen to have a friend picking up her baby in Ethiopia to spot me! Melanie Strobel–thank you for allowing God to use you in this amazing way…and for overseaing this project! Seriously–doesn’t God BLOW you away?! So…we have until Friday to raise the money to cover the cost! Because…my friend is cool like that;).
You think God made my friend misinterpret the email? ABSOLUTELY! You think God put my other friend in Ethiopia this week to spot me? ABSOLUTELY! You think God loves those 230+ orphans and wants them out of the dump, safe in school and protected from malaria? ABSOLUTELY! You think God just MIGHT want to give us the honor, the privilege, the opportunity to JOIN HIM in what He has ALREADY done and is doing?! ABSOLUTELY!
Here is the deal. ONE net is $5. $5 will save TWO CHILDREN from getting malaria. Malaria mosquitos ONLY bite at night. These nets are high quality and have the treatment that will kill the insects and if everyone in an area uses them the malaria mosquito population decreases by 90%. The treated nets are effective for 4 years—and this is how long MOST of these older kids will be in boarding school! SO…your giving $5 will save 2 children for this year…and 2 more children that sleep in that same bunk for the next THREE years.
How beautiful these children are! And how much HE does love them!
On a crazier note–Sarah emailed me and told me that she has been raising money that would cover the nets cost. BUT–she has a bigger vision for the TEENAGE GIRLS of Korah and we want to use that money toward clothe feminine pads to keep the girls in school. Can you believe that the areas and schools where the girls have these the drop out rate drops from 40% to 8%. Ok…that post and fundraiser is TO COME. BUT thankfully–we have a stash started! I told Sarah I believe that God wants to use MANY OF YOU to help save the children from malaria. Many of YOU have children whom you have adopted–whose birth families were effected by malaria–and this epedemic is something near and dear to YOUR heart. Many of you maybe can’t sponsor a child or go do what Sumer is doing…but you CAN give $5. And GOD CAN USE THAT IN A VERY BIG WAY TO SAVE A CHILD’S LIFE!
If you would like to buy 1, 2 or 3…or even 10 nets…you can donate here:
ANY extra money over the amount we need will be put toward our NEXT fundraiser for the clothe pads for the girls leaving Korah in a couple of weeks for school.
These are the faces that keep me up at night…
Because I CAN do something.
Because it IS OUR responsibility.
Because saying NO to just ONE drive thru THIS week will not only save ONE life—BUT TWO.
Will you join us?
Will you join where God is already working?
Will you make a difference in this BIG way…for just $5?
If you missed this video last night I posted it about Korah…it is a must see…
The Village of Korah from ReFocus Media on Vimeo.
I think I might officially be on a mission…
We all need one. And boy is life so much more exciting when you join one–or when you find your own.
Thank you for considering helping the children of Korah in this way!!!
P.S. Thank you Kelly of Ordinary Hero and Melanie Strobel for the amazing pictures!!!
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