It's Getting Close!!

In less than 3 months we will back in Ethiopia!! It's surreal that we are going back to see our Ethiopian family and friends.  We get the opportunity to continue to build relationships with needy and vulnerable kids while giving hope that God does love them.  Derek and I said when we left Ethiopia this past April 2012 that we would be back if God provided. Well, God has provided us with funds in amazing ways.  We are thankful to everyone's hard work to support our commitment to the kids in Kombolcha! 

Several things have changed since we sent out our support letters in the late summer.  We originally had a team of 7 going from Goodwill Baptist Chuch and now it's down to Derek and I.  We will be leaving from Greensboro, NC and meeting the rest of the team in Dulles, Washington.  Our team this year consist of 4 of us that went last year and several others that sponsor kids in the care point.  We have a team of 16 from all around the USA.  This includes our team leader, Rob from Chapel Hill, NC and Joshua David with One Child Campaign.  

There has also been some changes with the care point that we work with.  As you may remember we were praying that Grace Baptist Church would get the license renewed...our prayers were filled but not in the way we expected. 

The good news is the leadership at Grace Baptist Church is transferring the children to another local church- Mesert Kerstose Church in Kombolcha.  This will enable HopeChest to stop the manual work set up in May.  That agreement allowed us to serve the children with "Gifts in Kind" (food, clothing, etc) and transporting it to Kombolcha.  Once the agreements are signed and the transfer occurs  the new care point leaders will be able to purchase food and supplies for the children directly.  In the initial discussions, it appears the Grace Baptist Church's social worker, Rahel, will move with the children to  Mesert Kerstose Church.

In the next two weeks, Children's HopeChest's representatives in Addis Ababa will travel to Kombolcha to lay the ground work for the transition.  Please pray for these meetings, a speedy transition and stress-free transition for the children.  This is not the news many had prayed for but we are grateful for a final decision on the license so we may move forward in order to best serve the children.

Please continue to pray for our team as we get through the holiday and get all the donations organized and packed.  As you can see on our mission fund thermometer, we are $300 from being fully funded.  Any extra funds that are donated will go directly to the care point for food and clothing.  If you would like to donate to our mission fund or to the care point please click on the DONATE button to the left of the blog or email us at dethepedsrn@gmail.com.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Ring in with a Happy 2013!!
Love and Joy,
Deanna and Derek