Dreams

Had a dream today that Dan was back in the "Adoption Boat." Yes, he 'fell out.' To be honest, we had only.. maybe a couple people give us rosey pictures of their transition period. Almost everyone told us that it was excruciatingly hard, often for many months on end, or even a year. The children in Africa are suffering. *To be fair.. we have our hands full with Hunter a lot of the time and he's not good with change. This is a concern!* They come home with severe food issues and traumatic backgrounds a lot of the time. We want to do something for them, and I will continue to pray for them and look for a way to do just that. Until then we pray and learn about the country, the children, and organizations there that are helping. I found a great organization looking for volunteers but you have to commit to a 3 week stay. I can't do that right now with my kids and I can't bring my kids with me due to the lack of adequate health care. (Caleb is an asthmatic.)

We still have yet to recieve our initial sponsorship package on Efrata. I hope we recieve it soon as her birthday is coming up in less than 2 months. I would like to be able to help her pay for something special to celebrate. (I hear that many children buy a sheep or a goat with thier birthday money. What a different world it is over there. It's all about survival.)

Ethiopian Orphanages

Children's Hope Chest Video

Do Something Now from Children's HopeChest on Vimeo.

HIV + Orphans in Ethiopia

You are 5 years old.
Today your mother died of aids.
You are HIV+
You have no home, no food, no medication, no hope.
Who will help you?

www.ahopeforchildren.org

I bought 2 shirts from A Hope today to wear on Worlds AIDS Orphans Day, May 7th, 2010. Proceeds of the purchases from their store also help these children.

http://www.worldaidsorphans.org/

In sub-sahara Africa 12 million children are orphans due to the AIDS epidemic.

Mingi Children (cursed)

A tribe rich in tradition and very fearful of evil spirits. They drown children who they deem cursed ("Mingi.") Something as simple as the the top teeth emerging before the bottom will deem your precious infant cursed and will result in her death. What a terrifying reality that happens regularly here.

You may wish to turn the music player off at the bottom of the screen.

"It Began with Bale" from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

You can find more HERE

There is a tribe in a Africa that has a culture rich in tradition. However, this tribe lives in fear of evil spirits who they believe bring ill fortune to their villages. They use the word “Mingi” to describe persons they consider cursed or otherwise imperfect. Those deemed Mingi face severe consequences, as they believe the presence of these children on their land curses the tribe. Their solution to this perceived threat is to drown Mingi children in the river. Last year, 7 percent of the children in this tribe were associated with Mingi, resulting in the deaths of at least 77 children. If the two other nearby tribes practice the Mingi tradition at the same rate, then combined 3,000 children would have their lives at risk

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Adoption tax credit increased & extended

News on the Adoption Tax Credit: it has been recently increased (for both 2009 and 2010!) to $13,170. It has been extended though Dec 31, 2011.

Efrata's Name

Efrata's name means Honored. (WE are honored to sponsor her!)

In the Bible, Efrata was the 2nd wife of Caleb. (Caleb is my oldest sons name!)

Her name is pronounced (according to google) ef FRAY tah

The Forsaken Children

*You may want to turn the music off at the bottom of this page.*


There are 100,000 street children in Ethiopia.
This is a project in Addis Ababa to help these children.


**Double click the video to bring up the full screen version on You Tube.