Ordinary Hero....A Day at the Dump

I was going to post about our weekend and give a bit of an adoption update until this came across my Facebook. I watched, and it brought me to tears. So many times I have wished that we could sell everything and moved to Ethiopia, and once again the feeling swept over me. They have so little and are still so happy.....we have much, and....well, are unhappy and still want more....what can I say? I cannot wait until I am fully immersed in Ethiopian culture and society, I just want to soak it all in.

I'll post about our weekend and tell you all what's going on in "Adoption Land" very soon.  Watch the video....hopefully it will stir something deep within you.........

Double click on it to view full screen mode.





Peace....

The Lazarus Effect

(Red) The Lazarus Effect

In the Bible, in the Gospel of John, Jesus raises a man named Lazarus from the dead, in in essence that's what ARV drugs are doing for people with AIDS.  These survivors are examples of what is being hailed as "The Lazarus Effect".

~Dedicated to providing life saving drugs to Africans with AIDS~

This program would not be possible without the efforts of foundations such as the "Global Fund" who gets most of its financing from world governments....but a growing portion is now coming from Western retailers.

The idea behind (Red) is simple: Participating companies which currently include American Express, Apple, Armani, Gap, Motorola and Converse (a subsidiary of Nike), sell (Red)-branded products. Forty percent of the gross profits from those sales to go providing free ARVs to Africans with AIDS.

Buy a $170 pair of sunglasses and save the world?  What a concept.

From the website Joinred.com:

Red is not a charity.  It is simply a business model. You buy (Red) stuff, we get the money, buy the pills and distribute them. They take the pills, continue to stay alive and take care of their families and contribute socially and economically to their communities.  If they don't get the pills, they die. We don't want them to die. We want to give them the pills and we can. And you can. It's easy. 

"As first-world consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy, or not to buy, can change the course of life and history on the planet."

Approximately 30 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are HIV positive but widespread poverty prevents the majority of them from receiving the anti-retroviral drugs that have improved life for millions who are living with the disease.  On Monday, May 24th HBO premiered "The Lazarus Effect", a documentary by Lance Bangs, that follows four HIV-positive Zambia residents and shows how treatment has changed their lives.

Thanks to the efforts of non-profit organizations, ARVs have become much cheaper to obtain, dropping from $27 day in 2002 to about 40 cents per day today.

I realize that this program is over a half an hour long and you might not have time to watch it. I think they did a great job on it, so if you do happen to have some spare time, I encourage you to check it out.  

I just have to say that this program is amazing considering my post from a few days ago and the growing concern that the funding is running out for all of the many programs in Africa that are helping those with HIV.  

I'm going to start thinking more about where my money is going....

Maybe I could be helping to save a life!

Where is your money going?

Have a great day....

Wendy

Heartwork...Living James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~James 1:27

I ran across this a couple of days ago while doing a YouTube search for a song I was looking for.  As soon as I was done watching the first video, I searched for another, and then I googled "Desperation Band" and "Heartwork" to see if I could find even more information.  While reading and watching just about everything I could about Heartwork and Desperation Band, I sat bawling.  Ok, so pretty much anything can set me off these days but that doesn't mean that this is anything less than amazing!  


**Warning: Stop here if you don't want your heart to be touched or if you would rather not end up like I did....on the floor bawling.

Here is a paragraph taken from Desperation Band's website that explains what I found:

In 2008 God connected a group of passionate young people from a local church in Colorado Springs eager to fulfill God's purpose in their generation, a silver haired, soft-hearted businessman with a vision for orphans, and an organization with a mission to rescue orphans around the world. Something called Heartwork was born.

The challenge God issued to these young people was to live James 1:27. If they could give $60,000 for orphans in Uganda, the businessman would match it dollar for dollar. The end result would be $120,000 dollars, 4 orphan homes built, and countless lives changed. Challenge accepted.

They prepared for their first offering. They talked of sacrifice and fasting. They gave up cups of trendy coffee and overstuffed burritos with friends to feed kids who had no food at all. They refused to buy designer jeans in order to clothe children who dressed everyday in rags. They committed to providing family for those whose families had been ravaged by war and AIDS.

The day arrived and students came with hearts full of hope and offerings in hand. On that first night as worship ascended into Heaven, a group of high school students descended upon the altar and gave over $15,000 dollars. With great excitement they realized what just happened. One orphan home built. 8 weeks to go.

For the next 2 months high school kids worked extra hours. Junior high girls walked door to door to scoop dog droppings out of yards. Seniors drained savings accounts created when they were elementary kids. Public school clubs partnered together with the local church. Students who graduated years earlier sent checks in the mail. Friends and families, inspired by the vision, joined in and gave freely.

After 8 weeks of sacrifice these junior high and high school students gathered to give one last offering for these kids they had never met but already loved so much. The result was $67,000 dollars given freely by a group of 12 to 18 year olds. With matching funds, they gave over $127,000 dollars in 2 months to build 4 orphan homes. But they found that as they gave to rescue the destinies of orphans, their destinies were being rescued as well. Destiny rescuing destiny. This is a story of sacrifice. This is a story of worship, This is a story of Jesus at work in a generation without fathers. This is Heartwork.

And the story has only just begun......

I am in love with these kids and this song!

http://www.destinynetwork.com/


Heartwork and the Destiny Network are working together to make a real, tangible difference in peoples lives.  As focus is shifted away from a self-centered society and towards empowering others, cultural barriers are overcome and students get the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus...

My kids would LOVE to be a part of a youth group that actually DID things on a regular basis that made a difference....especially things like this:

Coming this summer  

Tour 2010

1000--Orphan Projects

1000--Youth Groups

1000--days

And if you spend yourselves 
in behalf of the hungry and 
satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become 
like the noonday. ~Isaiah 58:10

Heartwork from Desperation Band on Vimeo.

I'm so glad that you decided to continue on to learn about this wonderful organization and the unbelievable things that they are accomplishing.

May your heart be broken for the Orphans and Widows.....

Wendy

Inspiration and Excuses

This is an awesome video about a family who has adopted.....3 x 3...

Reasons God Couldn't Possibly Be Calling You To Adopt..

I'm Way Too busy

I Don't Have Enough Money

Adoption Is Expensive!

I'm Too Young

I'm Too Old

I Can't Afford It

I Already Have X-Amount Of Children

How Am I Supposed To Know For Sure That It's God's Will For Me?

Just Not Sure Yet

I Need To Pray About It...Just A Little Longer

I Can't Afford It

What Would People Say?

What Would People Think?

The Adoption Process Is Too Stressful

People Will Think We Are Crazy!

We Really Can't Afford It.

Adoption Would Affect Our Other Kids

It's Just Not The Right Time

I Don't Think I Would Be Good At It

I Need To Wait Until I Get A Better Job

I Need To Wait Until I Get That Next Promotion

The Adoption Process Is Way Too Involved

Our House Is Too Small

I Live In An Apartment

Nope, Can't Afford It

The Last Of My Kids Just Left Home, Now It's Time For ME!

I'm A Grandparent Now, It's Too Late

We Don't Have A Big Enough Car

The Adoption Process Takes Too Long

That Would Be Way Too Much Work

That Would Be Way Too Hard

Did I Say I Can't Afford It?

Yet for every excuse God has the answer-

Him.

It's all about Him...period.

He must increase,

but I must decrease.

John 3:30

We limit God with our excuses.

We limit God with our fears.

We limit God by putting Him inside a box-

A box we designed.

But by doing this we are actually robbing ourselves.

Robbing ourselves of Many Blessings.

Robbing ourselves of True Joy.

Because you see, when we take ourselves out of the picture...

Our worries,

Our fears,

Our excuses,

And we put God in the center of our lives

The possibilities are endless.

He has the way...

He IS the way...

And all you have to do,

is stop making excuses and take that first step.

Stop listening to the world.

Stop being afraid of the "what ifs"

And listen to the One who knows.

The One who has the answers.

The One who really matters.

The truth is,

we don't have to be perfect

because He is.

We don't have to have all of the answers,

because He already does.

We don't have to know how,

because He will show us.

Each day you wait...

is a day that they wait too...

The cost of your excuse is a lot higher than the cost of an adoption~

because look at what it's costing them.

Stop making excuses.

They are waiting

And so is He...

To show you the way.

**Disclaimer: We realize that not every family is called to adopt. This message is for the ones that God has called and they just haven't listened yet.

~Wendy

The Only Ethiopian Competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics

Ethiopia’s only winter Olympian Robel Teklemariam is
giving it second try. The cross country skier is scheduled to compete in the Vancouver Olympics, hoping to improve his "84th-spot"
finish 4 years ago in Italy.

In 2006, Robel said that his motivation to represent Ethiopia comes from the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. The event was filled with unforgettable highlights. Muhammed Ali won the light-heavyweight gold medal in boxing. Wilma Rudolph, the 20th of 22 children in her family, became the first American woman to win three gold medals in athletics in one Olympiad. Clement Quartey of Ghana became the first black African to win an Olympic medal after competing in the light-welterweight boxing category. But it was Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia who stole the show. Bikila ran the marathon barefoot and won the gold medal to become the first black African Olympic champion. Abebe Bikila cruised to victory in world record time, hailing Ethiopia and Africa into the spotlight. Since that time, many legendary runners have emerged from Ethiopia to succeed Bikila as Olympic champions, but Robel is the first winter Olympian aiming to follow suit.

Good luck Robel!! We will be cheering for you! =)

Brooke Fraser

Background Info:      

New Zealand singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser is most well-known for her musical contributions to Australian based Hillsong UNITED, but recently she has been doing some beautiful solo work. Commissioned by the tragedies her eyes had taken in on a trip to Rwanda, she wove an album which is sure to affect change for generations to come. Brooke makes it clear she has discovered things and has something to say.

She traveled to Rwanda in 2005 before visiting her World Vision sponsor children in Tanzania (she is an advocate for child sponsorship). Brooke met Albertine, a young orphan girl and after being told of how she was rescued, she decided to dedicate the album to her and what the girl’s story stood for; being saved because of the love of another. She says, “Albertine is alive today because of the selfless, sacrificial love of another. Funny thing is, so am I [referring to Jesus]. And now I want to know what it’s like to love other people like that, so have decided to spend my whole life on the experiment.”

Brooke’s style is poetic and serene, it dives deep in discovery and isn’t afraid to be honest; this is an album will inspire you to live with a heart of justice, compassion, and humility. Her life over the past years has taken her down a path of experiences, which have led to a deeper maturity, and a compassion which can’t help but seep through her lyrics. Her voice is an advocate in an arena, where at times many have been silent. In the below lyrics from the song "Albertine", she makes the promise to tell the world of what she saw in Rwanda.

“I will tell the world, I will tell them where I’ve been
I well keep my word, I will tell them Albertine”

She followed through with her promise, in her songs she reminds us of our responsibility, to make a difference for our fellow man. We can only hope that with more singers like Brooke Fraser taking the stage, a domino effect of change is going to take place throughout the world.

Her summary? Faith without deeds is dead.

Amazing Family

Meet Jim and Laurel Diacogiannis (pronounced DEE-AK-EE-A-NIS).  They have 10 biological children (ages 7-24) and in March 2008 welcomed 3 precious children from Ghana (ages 7-12) into their family.

I "met" Laurel through our blogs and have come to admire and respect her very much.  Laurel is a freelance writer and an inspirational speaker, among other things. Laurel writes and speaks on many topics including parenting, homeschooling and "living your faith" topics such as prayer, miracles, joy and hope. This is Laurel's website for anyone interested in learning more about Laurel and/or having her come to speak at an event.

http://ajourneyoffaith.net

The children in the Diacogiannis family have done and are doing some pretty amazing things.  Here is a link if you would like to meet the individual members of the Diacogiannis family and also to see what they are up to.

http://ajourneyoffaith.net/meet_my_family

One of the reasons I am writing about the Diacogiannis family is because two of Jim and Laurel's children, who are serving the Lord overseas, are in desperate need of support.

Here is a little bit of information about Jeremiah and Carissa:

Jeremiah ... 22 years old ... politics, international relations, ministry ... these are the things that make Jeremiah tick.  Along with ministry and politics, Jeremiah loves sports and music.  He played league baseball for 17 years (also playing varsity football in high school).  In addition to taking 9 years of piano lessons, Jeremiah had lead roles in the high school musical productions (including Thernardier in Les Miserables). He studied Political Science at Liberty University, and was on their National Championship Debate Team. Jeremiah taught school for a year before deciding to travel down another path.  He is currently working with Global Hope International in Amman, Jordan, as they minister to Iraqi refugees.  He is also attending full-time Arabic Language School to increase his effectiveness to those in the Middle East.  He is currently in need of funds for rent, transportation, and food for the next 2 months, until he comes home for the summer (to raise more support). 

Carissa ... 20 years old ... compassion is definitely one of Carissa's spiritual gifts, she loves children, ministry and missions.  In addition to these things, Carissa enjoys running (she was a 300m hurdler in high school), and worship ministry (she is a vocalist and piano player). After participating in short-term mission trips to Costa Rica and Mexico, Carissa decided to attend a 6 month YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Discipleship Training School in Mendoza, Argentina.  After completing her DTS, the Lord called her to stay in Argentina on a long-term basis.  She is now enjoying her status as a full-time, volunteer, YWAM staff member in Mendoza and is currently serving for 2 more years. While she is working on the logistics of starting a new ministry at the Mendoza YWAM Base, an outreach for neighborhood children, she is leaving this week to travel across the country to Buenos Aires for 4 months to attend a YWAM School of Children's Ministry, in order to better prepare herself for the  ministry she will begin in Mendoza next fall.  She is currently in need of about $300 per month for support (which provides all food, lodging, and transportation).

If you feel led in any way to help either one of these two young adults as they are being the Lord's hands and feet, please follow any of the links I've included to get a hold of Laurel to find out how to donate.

Thank you so much for reading this!

Forever Family

This is an ESPN video about the University of Georgia's head football coach Mark Richt and his wife's journey to adopt 2 children from the Ukraine. Tear jerker......

A Walk to Beautiful

This is a movie that we recently watched about a problem that so many African women suffer from. Women that have this problem are shunned from their families and villages. It's very sad but there is a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that is helping these women.....but first they have to hear about it and then they have to make the incredible journey to get there. Click on the title to go to the website to watch the movie trailer. This is a Nova/PBS intro to the movie:

Facing Life Head-On

Just a quick update.....I ran across a website that I have never heard of before.  It's actually a TV show called Facing Life Head-On.  They have many episodes on different  pro-life topics but this episode has to do with adopting HIV children.  Click on the title of this post and check it out!

This is a story about a little boy who was abandoned as an infant and wasn't given much hope for survival. The thing that touches me the most about this is how the boy behaves, when, only being with his new family for a day, he thinks they are bringing him back to the orphanage. It really shows that even though these kids are loved by the nannies etc and are well taken care of they still have that desire and need for being in a family. Even though he knew the children and the nannies better he desperately didn't want to be separated from the people that had been loving on him for the last 24 hours.

One year ago today, I finally had my sweet boy in my arms for the first time.

We were in Ethiopia with friends and my Dad. We got up early, had breakfast at our hotel, and then waited out front for our ride to pick us up and take us to AHOPE to get S. I remember being so excited I could barely eat, and then when our ride pulled up and we climbed into the car for the short ride up the road to the orphanage my feelings were all over the place!

We pulled through that familiar, bright blue gate at AHOPE and didn't see any kids right away.

As we entered AHOPE, we quickly found all of the little kids in the "pink room", getting dressed and ready for the day. I spotted S. right away, and scooped him up. He was smaller than I expected, but looked pretty good overall. It felt completely surreal (and wonderful) to finally have him in my arms!

He did not resist me holding him, but he was very stiff in my arms and would not interact with me either. Several people who had visited AHOPE and met S. told us that he was very quiet, didn't interact with people, etc. so we were a little worried on how he would attach to us.

We had to rush out because we had to take him for his embassy medical appointment. I laid him down on the couch to change his clothes and put a diaper on him. The nannies laughed at me and tried to tell me he didn't need a diaper, but they had told me the same thing about B. but she had peed on me within 20 minutes. I had learned my lesson! :) (In S's defense though, he did keep that diaper dry and never did have any accident, even though he was only just over two years old).

As I laid him on that couch I got to really see him for the first time. I saw his beautiful soft skin, his fat thighs, his many scars... He still wouldn't look at me at that point, but he let me pick him up again when we were done and we got into the car to head to the doctor's office.

As he sat in my lap in the car, he slowly started to warm up to me. At first he was just sneaking quick looks at my face. Then I pulled out a little container of Cheerios and a sippee cup with juice in it, and those definitely impressed him. By the time we got to where we were going, he was smiling at me and playing.

And from that moment on, he has been my baby.

Here is a clip from my blog, from a couple of days after we got him.

"Today we got up and went over to little AHOPE to play. My Dad and my friends have favorite kids there now, and all of the kids adore them. When we got there I had S. in my sling, and when we walked up to the kids and nannies, his face stayed emotionless (and he wouldn't make eye contact with anyone), but tears started to fall down from his eyes in silent, steady streams. He was so sad thinking that we were bringing him back, and it literally hurt my heart. He wouldn't interact with the kids or the nannies and just clung to me with his sad eyes. After a while he finally seemed to understand that we were going to stay there with him and he started to warm up a bit (but would NOT go to any of the nannies or AHOPE staff). When we left together, he was absolutely giddy... laughing, kissing me, hugging me, etc. This poor baby has gone from his birth family, to the place he was abandoned, to a government orphanage to Layla House to AHOPE to us, and it makes me so sad to think that he thought he was being left again. I keep promising him that I will never, ever leave him."

There are people out there that don't believe that miracles still happen. Well I am here to tell you that they do. I know, because I have seen one. This little boy had been discarded by the world. He was found on the side of the road, alone and extremely sick. When I saw him shortly after that, it was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. He was extremely malnourished and sickly, he could barely sit up, his eyes were glazed over, and he had the look of one who has given up on this life. We were told they didn't think he'd survive.

I look at him now and it is hard to believe he was ever in such awful shape. He is in good overall health, he is growing, he is developmentally on target and he is super smart. And the most amazing thing is that despite all the loss he has suffered, despite being abandoned, despite suffering way more than anyone should have to, and despite "changing hands" at least five times in two years... despite all of that... he is the happiest little boy I have ever known. Despite all of that, he is loving and trusting. He brings an amazing amount of joy and love to our home and our family. I am grateful every day that he is here. I am grateful every day for our little miracle boy.

If you would like to see this boy, click on the "Full House, Full Hands, Full Hearts" blog link on the bottom right side of this page.  This family is amazing.  

Wendy

This is an amazing story about Liberty University, a Michigan family and an older Ethiopian sibling group that needed a forever family....you will need klenex. Click on the link, read the story and make sure you watch the video!

http://www.liberty.edu/libertyjournal/index.cfm?PID=15758&section=8&artid=612&CFID=32364137&CFTOKEN=37310168

I added their blog link to the "Blogs I like to peek in on" section of our blog.