Would you miss one gift? What about a gift that could potentially
save a life or a family? Will you give up one gift this year to make a
difference…a birthday, anniversary or anything else you would normally spend
money on? So far we have matched gifts up to $10,000. It has been amazing to see people giving up gifts and making a difference in the world. The people of Ethiopia need your help to finish the fundraising to build the health outpost they so desperately need. Please help in any way you can in this final push to break ground. Any amount will help and be appreciated more than we can express.
Imagine a child only a few weeks old on the street abandoned and
alone. This was the beginning of our daughter Imani’s life in the Bisheftu
region of Debre Zyet, Ethiopia. Abandoned in the first week of her life she
became one of the 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. Now Imani is in our house here
in the United States receiving the best healthcare in the world and secure
knowing that she will be housed, fed, clothed and educated. These are the norms
that we take for granted every day but many in Ethiopia view as luxuries. We
knew early on that adoption was going to be part of our family and it was
always Ethiopia. What we didn’t know was how much our hearts would break seeing
the poverty that these children live in. Imani is one of the lucky ones that
made it. We have no idea if her mother lived and abandoned her or if she was
one of the many that die during childbirth. In Ethiopia, according to the
Factbook, Worldbank as many as 1 in 5 woman die during pregnancy or childbirth.
Many times when a women in Ethiopia is asked how many children they have they
respond with two numbers, the number of live children and the number that did
not live beyond birth or early childhood. That answering in this manner is
commonplace speaks to the prevalence of infant mortality. A recent study states
that 13% of children will die before the age of five. The infant mortality rate
is almost 10%.
We have been blessed beyond measure to have birthed two amazing
children and then God upped the blessing by allowing us to adopt Imani and in
2011 we have been blessed with another child from Ethiopia. We hope to bring
him home by summer. Having spent time in Ethiopia throughout this process and our desire to maintain a connection with Imani’s birth country we are partnering with A Glimmer of Hope to give back to
the country that gave us Imani. A Glimmer of Hope is an amazing organization
and we have complete confidence in partnering with them to help those in
Ethiopia that cannot help themselves.
Our goal is, with your help, raise the money needed to build a
health outpost in the village of Hadawe in Senale, Ethiopia. This will allow
the local village access to medical care they have never had. In Ethiopia when
a woman dies during childbirth not only that child becomes an orphan but many times
others in the family because the father cannot tend to them while working the
fields. With your help we can save lives and reduce the number of orphans and
broken families. All we ask is that you give up one gift. However large or
small you feel on your heart will make a difference. It really is true that ANY
amount helps so if you give $5 or $50,000 it will make a difference. Tell your
family and friends that this year you want your gift from them to help build a
facility that can really make a difference in the world. Give them the link to
this page and tell them that there gift will also be tax deductible. If you
want to give a gift of hope to someone else then either share with them what
you have done or provide us with their contact information and we will send
them a personal note sharing with them your generous gift.
Our Story… We would like to thank you for reading about our
campaign and would like to share with you a little about our family and how the
Lord put Ethiopia on our heart. We were married in 2006 and having both really
wanted to see Africa decided together that we would not spend any money
celebrating our anniversaries for the first five years. We would save this
money and on our fifth anniversary go on safari in Africa. As they say if you
want to get a laugh tell God your plans. We are celebrating our fifth
anniversary February 25th and got so much more than a safari in
Africa. We have a beautiful child adopted from Ethiopia and are in the midst of
adopting another one. While adoption has always been part of the conversation
for us it really took on a life of its own after the birth of our second son.
As it says “to whom much is given, much is required.” We have been blessed with
so much and while it may not seem so much to many in the US, what we have is
wealth beyond imagine to many around the world. We embarked on the adoption
process in Ethiopia and new right away it was what we were called to do. The
process went smoothly and we have been blessed with a five month old, Imani. We
are now beginning the process to adopt a second child from Ethiopia. Please
join us in building the infrastructure for the village of Hadawdi to make a
lasting difference in their lives.
Watch this video to learn more about A Glimmer of Hope.
