On June 17th we were blessed to have an awesome event, "The No Double Yellow Line" where my husband's coffee company, Ground to Cup Coffee officially launched our CarePoint Sponsorship "Warancha" in Awassa, Ethiopia. We partnered our evening with my bestie and the oh so talented and incredible Cindy Foote as she debuted her new EP release of "No Double Yellow Line" that features 7 songs on adoption and orphan care. (Go on over and get yourself a copy ... my adoption friends, you will be so encouraged by her songs while you wait!)
The night was more than we hoped or imagined as Cindy blew our socks off and brought the guests to both tears and laughter as she shared the world of adoption through her own lens ... 3 times over.
Michael Vinson of Children's HopeChest , shared the vision of why we are doing what we are doing ... working to get 150 children of Awassa, Ethiopia sponsored and spurred us each to action as he shared the heartbeat of their amazing ministry ... YOU! HopeChest couldn't do what they do to provide Hope for so many lives without each family who gives of their heart and time to a child sponsor.
Doug Martine, (my amazing hubby) of Ground to Cup called us from a place of complacency to action and asked us each to get involved. The Ground to Cup team is so excited about this partnership with HopeChest and this CarePoint and truly we feel like our motto "bringing other's a Hope and Future" is exemplified through each family who joins us to love big this community.
I shared my heart for the orphan and personal testimonies of seeing first hand stories of children who have been sponsored in Ethiopia from my trip in February. I shared the reality of what life for a child might look like when their is no hope for an education, meals, discipleship and medical care. With a badge of honor, each child hold's your family, their sponsor family, close to their hearts. Even from afar, your relationship is valued and worth far more to each child than any other worldly possession!
An impromptu time of prayer over the Ethiopia program and families had me in tears at the end. Cindy called ET families to the front and as the spirit led, friends (and strangers) from the crowd came to the front to lay hands on those of us in this program ... and prayed on behalf of our families and on behalf of the Ethiopia program at large. As well, during Cindy's song "Bring our Children Home", she asked each adopting family in the audience to stand (wowie, there were LOTS!) and as she sang, she asked those near each family to lay hands on the standing families and sing this song over each of them as a prayer and blessing over their journey and child. Tears! (go check out the song and the lyrics).
25 families picked up sponsor packets that night and so far around 13 of those families have followed up and activated those sponsorships. There is many many more children looking for that hope that you can give. Just think for $1 a day, you can change the future of a child forever.
So, come on, join us as we embark on this new adventure. We're learning it all with you and excited to see what is in store. For sure .... trips to love our children will be on the future horizon! For all my Ethiopia adoption loving friends, you can continue loving the kids of Ethiopia long past the day of bringing your own home. What an awesome opportunity to give your child to bless his/her birth country ... and even one day return with us to love these kids big!
*If you are interested in sponsoring a child ($34/month), leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I will get in touch with you*
Special Thank You's for the night cannot go unnoticed. Without these folks, this event would have never happened!
- Crossbridge Community Church - your willingness to step up and open your beautiful facility to us was a blessing! Thank you Debbie Ashton for all you did!
- David and Billie Gill, Debbie and Paul Graff, Evelyn Demelio, Janet and Bill Gonser - the catering and kitchen team who cooked and served all 220 people that night! Your hands of service were amazing!
- Evelyn Demelio - your yummy cakes! Thank you!
- Ground to Cup Coffee - Briskets, coffee, coordination of the event
- Billy and Cindy Foote and their amazing band! Thank you to each of you for coming all this way to make this night a huge success
- Jennifer Verme - the amazing centerpieces that adorned each and every table. You are talented beyond our imagination!
- Michael Vinson and Children's HopeChest for the opportunity to partner with you in Ethiopia!
- Our community; friends and family who joined the night and made it fabulous!
- Those who have said "yes" to sponsorship! This is only the beginning to the rest of the story!
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