What Will Your Mother’s Day Card Do?

THANK YOU for your interest in the Mother's Day cards. We had an enthusiastic response and all of the cards have been sold! We created a specific number of cards in advance and they have all been designated for specific Moms in honor of Mother' s Day. All of the funds given will help fund a new school building in Ethiopia for orphaned and destitute children! On behalf of the children who will now have an opportunity to go to school - WE THANK YOU!

UPDATE!!  OVER $3000 HAS NOW BEEN DONATED ON BEHALF OF OUR MOTHERS
TO HELP BUILD A SCHOOL IN ETHIOPIA!!

I’m very excited to share that in the past few days, over $800 has been donated on behalf of our mothers to the building project at the Kind Hearts CarePoint. WOW!!! To those of you who have chosen to be a part of this, I can’t thank you enough. If you are just reading about this for the first time, here’s what’s happening:

Outside of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, Children’s HopeChest manages a carepoint named Kind Hearts. Currently, there are 150 children who are either orphaned or from very poor families that are served at this location. They are provided with food, clean water, clothing, medical care, Christian discipleship, and education. It is a wonderful program that is having a life-changing impact on the kids who attend. However, the classrooms are overflowing, the furnishings are in disrepair, and still more children are waiting in hopes of joining the program.

There are plans underway to construct a new school building at Kind Hearts, creating the potential for the older children to advance and making room for new students who will be enrolling. This will allow the carepoint to DOUBLE in size and serve up to 300 children!!! In addition, the plans include bathroom and shower facilities for the kids. For most, this will be their first experience with running water, flushing toilets, sinks with faucets where they can wash clothes, and showers where they can actually bathe. It is hard for us to comprehend the reality of daily living without these things, so you can imagine the excitement this new project will bring.

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, would you consider making a donation to this project in honor of your mother or another special woman in your life this Mother’s Day?

For each donation received, I will send a card to a special mother in your life letting them know that a donation was made on their behalf to help build a school in Ethiopia. What mother wouldn’t be proud to be celebrated in this way?

Here’s what the front of the card looks like:


Inside top of card:


The bottom half of the inside, which I will personalize for you:


And the back:


If you would like to make a donation and order a card, you can use the PayPal button on the left. Be sure to include the recipient’s name, your name, and the address you would like me to mail your card to. I would also be happy to send the card to you (tucked inside a larger envelope) so that you can deliver it yourself. Just send a message to let me know. Absolutely 100% of your donation will be sent to a special account set up at Children’s HopeChest. If you don’t have a PayPal account or you have other questions, you can contact me at davidsonfamilystl@sbcglobal.net and we will make it work! All cards will be mailed to the recipients a week before Mother’s Day.

For many of us, we have a hard time thinking of something our moms will really appreciate. If mom’s kitchen cabinets are already stuffed, she probably doesn’t need another kitchen appliance – even if it does make little baby pot pies. It doesn’t matter if you got the Kohl’s 30% off coupon. If mom already has a stash of scented candles, she might not care if she adds Coconut-Breeze to her collection. If you want to show your appreciation for your mom but there’s not a thing she really needs and you’re looking for a fresh idea, I encourage you to start a new tradition and honor your mother by changing lives.

Maybe you already have a special Mother’s Day tradition and mom has been hinting around for weeks about how much she really would like a magic pan that makes perfect little brownie squares. If that is the case and you still plan to run to the store and stand elbow to elbow with everyone else trying to find the perfect Mother’s Day card, consider presenting this one with your gift. I don’t think you’re going to find a more meaningful card. Plus, I looked and all of the good cards are already taken ;)

To learn more about Kind Hearts, visit www.family-from-afar.blogspot.com

In Honor of Inspiring Mothers…

When our family traveled to Ethiopia in 2010 for our adoption court date, we were able to visit the kids at the Kind Hearts Care-Point outside of Addis Ababa. Kind Hearts is a care-point managed by Children’s HopeChest which provides nutritious food, clean water, clothing, medical care, Christian discipleship, and education for orphaned and destitute children. Our friend Karen Wistrom, who is the coordinator for Kind Hearts, encouraged us to make time in our schedule to spend a day with the kids there. We would be able to meet our sponsor child and see first hand the care-point that we had become involved with.

We had no idea what our visit would be like. However, with the exception of meeting our son for the first time, this was the highlight of our trip. Upon our arrival, the children came pouring out of a small school building where they had obviously been waiting for us. They were running, they were smiling, and they were cheering. Every child wanted a hug. Every child wanted to be noticed. As soon as you would put one child down, another would be reaching up into the air hoping you would love on them next. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. They sang for us, prayed for us, and thanked us for coming. While we had brought donations (food and small gifts for the children), it was clear that we were the ones being blessed that day.

At the end of our day at Kind Hearts, before we piled back into our van, one of the men approached Dave and I to say goodbye. He shook both of our hands and with great sincerity he humbly said, “Please, do not forget about us.” Of course we would never forget this place or the beautiful children we had met that day, but I knew what he meant. He meant, “We need you. We need others to help make this work. We need others to keep partnering with us.”

So, I am incredibly excited to be helping with this year’s Mother’s Day fundraiser. When we visited back in 2010, there were 90 kids enrolled at the care-point. Today they serve 150 children, and Karen said the classrooms are overflowing. There are plans underway to have a new classroom building constructed, allowing the older children to advance and to make room for new students who will be enrolling. The plan includes a new school building with four classrooms. They will also need desks, chairs, chalkboards, and school furnishings to replace the broken and rickety furnishings they are using now. The construction of a new school building will allow the care-point to serve 300 children!

Would you consider making a donation to this project in honor of your mother or another special woman in your life this Mother’s Day? 

For each donation received, I will send a card to a special mother in your life letting them know that a donation was made on their behalf to help build a school in Ethiopia. The photo up top shows what the front of the card will look like. Below are pictures of the inside and back. All cards will be mailed to the recipients a week before Mother’s Day.

If you would like to make a donation and order a card, you can use the PayPal button on the left. Be sure to include the recipient’s name, your name, and the address you would like me to mail your card to. Absolutely 100% of your donation will be sent to a special account set up at Children’s HopeChest. If you don’t have a PayPal account or you have other questions, you can contact me at davidsonfamilystl@sbcglobal.net and we will work it out!

To learn more about Kind Hearts, visit Karen’s blog:

 www.family-from-afar.blogspot.com

Note to Mothers:  Please know that it is completely appropriate to give your family hints that you would enjoy being a part of this fundraiser.  You can leave my blog open on your computer (repeatedly, if necessary.) You can send your husband and children links to this post.  You could also try making seemingly random comments such as, “While I truly love the snow cone maker I received last year for Mother’s Day AND the oversized soup ladle I received the year before, I have always thought it would be amazing to help build a school in Ethiopia!”  Let me know if you need more ideas.