Our Amazing God!

Believe it or not, this summer (July 30th) will be our 1 yr aniversery of leaving for Ethiopia to pick up our kids! We feel so incredibly blessed that God has entrusted the upbringing of Garrett, Ash, Mekie, & Ethan into our parental care. They are our true blessings in life, and we desire nothing more than to see them grow to love God and love others.

We are studying the book of Esther at our church and the topic is God's providence. Looking back on the last several years of our lives, it is so amazing to see how God's divine providence has played out at every twist and turn. Even when we make selfish choices or flat out wrong choices, God can turn them around and weave them into His ultimate plan. We serve a God capable of anything and everything, and all that's required of us is faith. However, true faith is a faith that produces fruit in the lives of the people we come in contact with. God has placed us on an amazing journey and where it ends, only he knows, but we're so excited that he has chosen to use us (even if it's in a small way) to impact His kingdom. Through the events of our adoption and contacts we've made, we've had the priviledge of becoming involved in this great organization (Starved4Hope). God has formed this organization by taking several likeminded families from around the country and connected them with a common vision to serve Him through caring for the "least of these" around the globe. A couple weeks ago we agreed to formaly partner with Starved4Hope and commit our time and resources to growing this ministry. Not because we want to see this organization achieve success by human standards, but because we believe in the biblical backing and foundation for this ministry. On top of that, there are countless lives who our counting on us (the global church) to be the hands and feet of God and meet them in their time of need. We are grateful to be able to serve with this incredible group of people, and we are are constantly amazed at God's power on display as people step up to make a difference in the world. God can use each and every one of us to accomplish His purpose if we only release control to Him.

We're also excited to let you know that S4H is taking on the administration of a 2nd carepoint near Awassa, Ethiopia called the Warancha carepoint. More to follow on this exciting news, but the focus again will be on finding sponsorships for the nearly 270 kids supported by this carepoint. Please don't misunderstand, the work at Tullo Kebele is not done. More sponsors are needed, as well more capital for the building projects. However, God has opened this door for a 2nd carepoint and we're excited to step through it! Please keep the children of Ethiopia in your prayers, as their needs are severe. Please also consider if God would desire you to step out on faith and invest in the lives of these children, either through sponsorship or giving towards a capital project.

God Bless,

Derek