SPECIAL DELIVERIES

We had the special privilege of meeting some kids that have been on my fridge since this summer. One of the best parts about sponsorship is that it's contagious. Once we signed up with Children's Hopechest, we couldn't stop talking about sponsorship and the difference it can make for one child. It's true, we can't solve the orphan crisis or eliminate poverty on our own, but we can change to world for one child through sponsorship and once we knew this to be true, we spread the word. Thankfully, several family members and friends of ours now sponsor kids at Trees of Glory. I love it that we all have kids at the same care point.

So when we decided to go to TOG, we offered to take care packages to the kids of our friends and family. We were also hoping to meet our own sponsor child, Meseret, but unfortunately she was not there that day (second trip and still we haven't met her--we're hoping that the third time will be the charm:). I was also hoping to meet my mom and dad's sponsor child Zewditu and my aunt's new little girl, but they were also absent. Hopefully, we'll get to meet them all next time.

Although we were disappointed about Meseret, we were delighted to meet these next few kids.

Here is me meeting my friend Heidi's little girl Tigist. Her little face just lit up when she saw pictures of her sponsor family. She is a beautiful girl and has changed so much from her initial sponsorship picture.

Here Fikre showed her how to use markers and explained what some of the other things in her bag were (remember this is rural Ethiopia and a lot of these kids have never had things like coloring books and markers).

Or chap stick

This is another one of my friend's girl Hiwot-she's one of the true orphans and lives at TOG

Nick has friends that he grew up with that just got assigned this sweet boy Musse, also a TOG resident. This first picture shows him listening intently to Girma reading him his very first letter from his sponsor family.



His eyes widened and the sweetest smile you've ever witnessed spread across his face as Girma showed him pictures of his sponsor family and named them one by one. Remember, he is a true orphan and he now knows that there is a family out there that is dedicated to supporting and loving him (even if it is from a distance)-just priceless.


sporting his new shirt and sandals (along with his pajama pants:)



And here is Nick's "little brother" Mitiku" who is sponsored by his parents. They sent him a backpack full of love-which he definitely cherished.

If you've ever wondered if $34 can really make a difference, the picture below should answer that question for you. Mitiku swung his arm around Nick as if they'd always know each other and when we were finished giving him his gifts, he said those amazing words again, "God bless you." Such wisdom and faith from these sweet children.

For more information specifically about Trees of Glory, contact Karen Wistrom at kjwistrom@yahoo.com and for information about Ethiopian sponsorship in general, contact Children's Hopechest at http://www.hopechest.org/.

BE THE HOPE FOR ONE!!!