Moved To Move

For the time being, there's some stuff going on over here at a new blog.

Check it out.

Help Bring Them Home

Some GREAT things have come out of my recent trip to Ethiopia. Many relationships were built, God was glorified (and continues to be), little Baby E received surgery AND there are several former orphans who will soon join their forever families.

One of my OH team members (Kim) and her family have begun the process to adopt two precious girls that we met on our trip.

She has begun fundraising and I'd love for you to go over to her site and pitch in. She has some great t-shirts that you can purchase (I can hardly wait to start wearing mine) and she's doing a great raffle give-away.

Go on over here and do your part in helping to bring two sweet girls home. Every dollar (and every prayer...remember this family in yours) helps.

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you" James 14:18

Update on Baby E

It's been a bit since I've posted an update on sweet Baby E and as is normally the case....thankfully, no news is good news.

E's surgery went well and he had a follow-up appointment yesterday to remove the stitches. Swelling is subsiding and the shunt placed in his little head seems to be doing its job.

It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, this precious baby lie in an orphanage on the verge of death. My fellow OH team member and her family have stepped out in faith for this baby. Not only has LeAnne (successfully) advocated for his care but she and her family have also stepped up and stepped out to raise the funds for E's medical care. And even though his surgery is over, his medical needs are not. Next on the agenda is a CT scan which, hopefully, is being done today.

If you haven't previously read about E, do so here.

The medical expenses for this baby continue to add up and YOU CAN HELP......there is a fund set up through Ordinary Hero where you can make a tax-free donation that will go directly to E's medical fund.

Click here to donate to Baby E's tax deductible medical fund.

Put "BABY E" in the memo line to designate your donation.

Thank you, in advance, for being part of the story that God is writing in the life of this little boy.

He Has A NAME!

Updated to add: GOD IS GOOD....."Baby E" will have surgery THIS Friday (day after tomorrow) in Ethiopia. God has BIG plans for this LITTLE boy.....please continue to pray for his healing and his future!

And his name means "the Lord is my God". (Due to the fact that he is an orphan, I can't tell you his name on a public site....but God knows.)

When we toured the orphanage and played with the children, there in a room full of tiny babies was one...one who didn't seem well, one whose little head was disproportionate and misshapen, one who lay in his tiny little crib...one who didn't have a name.

But that just wouldn't do for one of my team members, now friend's.

LeAnne couldn't live with the fact that he didn't have a name and so she gave him one.

LeAnne immediately began advocating for this sweet baby who was abandoned at birth. "Baby E" was taken to see the doctor this past week. "Baby E" has hydrocephalus. "Baby E" needs surgery. And soon. Without it, he will not live.

Could you pray with me, BY NAME, for "Baby E" and if you know of ANYONE who may be able to help us to get him here (he will need an emergency medical visa) and/or anyone who might be able to help make a connection with a Surgeon and Hospital who would be willing to donate "Baby E's" surgery, please contact me at kelleywms@hotmail.com.

Do You See What I See?

As I was going through some of the pictures from my trip, I was reminded of several things that we saw that, maybe, would make for a fun game of sorts. And so, I present to you eight images from Ethiopia.

OH team members, you are not allowed to participate. : D

I'll come back in a day or so and fill in the blanks. If you care to leave a comment with your guesses, please go ahead.

Item #1: Water Station @ Yezelelem Minch

Item #2: Guard's Sleep Shack (every street has a guard and this is where he sleeps)

Item #3: POTTY !!!!

Item #4: MehKOHtaht Woeff : ) (Angry Birds in Amharic)

Item #5: Injera.....traditional Ethiopian food

Item #6: Monkey eating a Pringles potato chip

Item #7: Laundromat and/or Bath-house....when we first passed, people were doing their laundry; when we came back through, they were bathing

Item #8: Home Sweet Home

Hope Ethiopia

My Daddy loves to ride in the car and take in the scenery. He always takes the backroads so that he can really see the sites. I haven't always been a fan but the older I get, the more I enjoy it.
That newfound love came in handy as we packed up and headed to the Hope Ethiopia site.
We drove approximately 2 hours on the main road and then turned off on a dirt one. Typically, this dirt road meant we were almost at our destination. However, on this day, we traveled that dirt road for another hour and ten minutes.
The drive was absolutely beautiful and our team had the best time. It felt as if we were in a parade of sorts as we waved and smiled and were able to, literally, toss candy out the windows to the waiting children (and adults) on the roadside. We were able to do this here because the area wasn't highly populated and there wasn't much (any) traffic.
A time or two, as children were running as fast as they could out of the fields, our guide Bizzy got out and met them with candy so as to make sure that no one missed out on the fun. One of the many, many reasons that we love Bizzy.

The land in this part of Ethiopia is beautiful and Hope Ethiopia has a reforestation program going on in this area (as well as other things) but, as we arrived in the village, we quickly learned that the children had great needs.


Only 14 teams have ever ventured to this remote area and, we were told, we were only 1 of 2 that came specifically to work with the children. The children were horribly dirty and covered in flies; many of them had a scalp fungus and open sores. As we gathered them together to do some crafts, I was shocked to realize that they had no idea what a marker was (oh the simplest things that we take for granted). I had to physically show them to remove the cap and then color onto the crosses we'd given them.




One of the hard things about this visit was that the people in this village do not speak Amharic. They speak their own tribal language and we did not have a translator.

After we'd played for a while, we headed back down to a fenced area and had the children line up outside so that we could clothe as many children as possible. We also had backpacks filled with school supplies (there is a new program at Hope Ethiopia that is allowing for some children to attend school through sponsorship), food packets and mosquito nets.

Once again, not only did we begin to run out of some items (mainly larger sized clothes and shoes) but the crowd began to push down the gates into the area. We got really good at seeing the "it's time to pack up" signs and could quickly and safely get ourselves to the vans.

On the way out, all along the roadside, we tossed out all of the leftover items that we had that day. It did our hearts good to be able to give until we, literally, had nothing left to give on this day.

Wonderful! Sad. Great! Depressing.

Things I don't miss about Ethiopia:

• Toilets that can't handle toilet paper
• Peanut Butter Crackers being my main source of nutrition
• Inability to wear flip flops (without getting cold, wet and muddy toes)
• No water pressure in the shower
• Sharing one bathroom with 15 other women
• Smog
• Daily headache as a result of the smog
• The indescribable smell
• Being scared of swallowing the water, by accident or otherwise
• Squatty potties (for those of you who've never experienced this....that would be equal to a hole in the ground)
• Carrying my HEAVY backpack
• Flies on faces
• Children in ratty, torn, ill-fitting and dirty clothes, with bare feet and bare bottoms

And, so, with a list such as this WHY, I ask myself, am I already wondering when I can go back? I mean, seriously, I just got home.

It's weird being torn between the blessings of home. My home, my family, my life. And the people of Ethiopia who I've just met.

So many things in this world seem different now. I look at everything and try to process the discrepancies. The water runs while I brush my teeth and I'm ashamed at how much I just waste without even giving it a second thought. (For that matter, I brush my teeth. With a toothbrush and toothpaste; not a stick.) I go to fix a bowl of cereal and that last part...you know, the part that's all tiny little crumbs that just turns to mush in your bowl? I would normally just toss that in the trash but now, after Ethiopia, I can't. I fill my watering cans to water my geraniums and I consider just letting them die. I break a sweat outdoors and think I'm miserable. How dare me. I fill the car with gas and imagine what that amount of money could do for a family or a street child in Ethiopia.

The faces of the children are etched into my memory. I hope that they will remain that way. People ask, "how was your trip?" and I find the answer stuck there. Somewhere between "wonderful, amazing, life-changing, fabulous" and "sad, depressing, awful and did I mention sad?".

It is so hard to put into words but God reminds me of my own words to Jordan (as he returned home, broken at what he'd seen in Mexico)......"God knew what He was doing when He blessed us one way and them another. He didn't make a mistake when He made us Americans and them Ethiopians (or Mexicans)". And, again, I go back to some words that I wrote in my Bible many, many years ago (probably 20 years ago), "He blesses us so that we may bless others".

And my focus must be on HOW He wants me to use my blessings to bless them.

And that should keep me busy.....until I get to go back. : )