Update on The Twins

(Sarah and the twin girls last year)

You may remember the twin, baby girls we met last year in Addis. They had been abandoned and left to die in a field.  Rescued by a local orphanage which we support, I had the awesome opportunity to hold the little girls when they were a few weeks old.  This week, I got to return to the orphanage and check up on baby Ruth and baby Sarah, now almost a year old.  It was humbling to realize that God is using me and you to literally save lives—just like these little girls.

How can I thank you enough for helping? How can I praise God enough for sending us to Ethiopia to rescue these babies?  I believe God has HUGE things in store for us to do…to rescue babies like these around the world. Stay tuned because I know you will want to be part of this great work…

 

(Sarah and the twins this week)

Please visit savingmoses.org to help with this critical campaign.
Thank you

 

greetings from Ethiopia!

Hello from Addis Ababa! I’m really sorry for not posting sooner about the last few days – internet access can be “mildly” tricky here.  Ok, maybe not so “mild” 

Anyways, i posted about everything on www.sarahbowling.wordpress.com so pop over there to read about what’s happened.  i’ll prob post some more here on greenbracelet when i get to istanbul in a couple of hours.  that will also give me some time to digest my thoughts – feeling kind of tired & raw at the moment.  thanks for poppin in!

 

Ethiopia Prayer Points

Exciting doors are open for me to return to Ethiopia this week!

Last summer, we were able to visit Gondor, Ethiopia and view first-hand the conditions of children and families in that region. Thanks to you and our friends, sponsors, and partners who helped us build a water well that will deliver fresh water to families in Ethiopia. We are thrilled to go back not only to follow up, and offer support in building more wells there. I am also overwhelmed at the opportunity to go back to the Bridges to Israel orphanage and check up on my namesake, Sarah and her twin sister, Ruth, the babies who were rescued in a field and given a chance to survive. I can’t wait to hold them and pray for them again…and marvel at what God is doing to save babies in Ethiopia…and around the world.

We will need your prayers for this trip to be everything God wants it to be! Would you please pray with me for:

• strategic relationships to further the Saving Moses campaign
• favor with politicial, religious, social & economic leaders to positively impact this region
• wisdom and clarity in communicating accurately the vision and purpose for Saving Moses
• safety in travel & grace on my family in Colorado

Check back for updates in the next few days from Ethiopia!

 

our mission still matters…

Sarah and young Cambodian girl

Thanks for your support! 2009 is off to an amazing start. God has been giving us glimpses of upcoming opportunities and fresh vision to take worldchild to a new place of impact and outreach. I believe the future has tremendous possibility–and NOTHING is impossible with God. Even when faced with tough economic times, our vision is still strong–and our mission still matters!

Our commitment to reach out with God’s love, power, and Word has not waivered. Our call to care for orphans in Africa, to send food, water, and clothing to children around the world is just as strong as it was four years ago when we began worldchild. We have seen God open supernatural doors of ministry and provide connections with people, churches, and pastors that have taken us to places we could not have even imagined. It’s as if God keeps nudging us to take another step and go a little farther—for Him.

We sincerely appreciate your faithful support. It’s what allows us to keep moving forward in the vision He has given us to make a real and lasting impact in places like Iraq, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Israel. Let me assure you the seeds you are planting today in the lives of children and young people around the world will reap a great harvest…for eternity.

Thank you for staying kingdom-focused even in these tough times.

 

Ethiopia…by Isabell Bowling

Isabell & Banch

I went to see king Menelik’s pic & crown in the museum.  It was very awesome.  I also got to see the oldest, most complete human skeleton in the world, named “skeleton Lucy”.  I hope you will help us raise money for water wells that we want to help drill. In Ethiopia, I experienced Jesus alot! I disovered it was a very poor country because of the people didn’t seem to have very much & the some of the kids didn’t have parents.  My favorite thing about Ethiopia was getting to help other kids!

 

 

 

Together we can stop death for a day…or a lifetime!

Stop Death for a Day for thousands of children!

One of the most moving days was the day we felt led by God to drive into the countryside to learn how the people of Ethiopia are really living. We drove for two hours when we found some children carrying water jugs. We stopped the van and followed them, wanting to see for ourselves what the water and sanitary conditions were. We met a girl about 8 years old who walked over a mile a day to gather water from the river for her family. The full jug would weigh about 50-60 pounds when filled! But that isn’t the worst part…the so-called “clean” water came from a hole dug just two-feet from the river so that it looked clear. In the river, there were oxen, sheep, and goats drinking, swimming, bathing, and defecating IN the water. Invasive parasites have infested most of the children of Ethiopia and 10,000 are dying each day as a result.

My heart just cried out to God as I though of our cushy conditions back home and how we take clean drinking water for granted. God brought this home as I went into our bathroom and happened to notice the water in our toilet. I thought: our toilet water is cleaner than the water these children drink. I have a real problem with that! I feel God calling us to do more for Ethiopia…

 

Today, we have the opportunity to rescue 10,000 children in Ethiopia!

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of something like this??  We can drill wells IN Ethiopia that will provide them with clean, disease free water for a LIFETIME. With the help of our friends, sponsors and partners, we can literally Stop Death for a Day for thousands of children. We have provided a lot of things for people in need, but a lifetime of water is possible the greatest gift ever. Pray about being part of this significant outreach…and do all you can to help us drill these lifesaving wells.

 

 

 

The Ethiopia video is here!

Here is the Ethiopia Trek video update! It is available on GodTube and YouTube as well, so feel free to post and share…thanks!

 

worldchild “adopts” Ethiopian orphanage

“God put Ethiopia on my heart many years ago but after our recent worldchild trek, the beautiful people there completely captured my heart.  The unspeakable conditions they endure—unclean drinking water, starvation, disease—it all broke my heart.  worldchild can make a difference there…”  -Sarah

Bridge to Israel in Ethiopia Orphanage is committed to bringing help, hope and blessings to many hopeless and impoverished children in Ethiopia where poverty, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDs are common.  They provide help to the most vulnerable members of society—the children—and strive to raise them up to become healthy, responsible and productive citizens. 

Sarah and her worldchild team spent 8 days at the orphanage while on their trek to Ethiopia in July. They got to spend precious quality time with the 120 children the orphanage cares for.  To learn more about Bridge to Israel and the great work they do for the children of this region of Ethiopia, click here!  Our sponsors are the reason we can help Bridges to Israel and other orphanages across Africa.  Join us in saving children through this outreach and the many orphanages we support across Africa and around the world.

 

Backpacks filled with HOPE

Sarah handing out backpacks

Here in America, stores are flooded with aisles and aisles of back-to-school supplies. Pens, pencils, binders, laptop cases, notebooks with speakers and plug-ins for mP3 players, locker mirrors—even back-to-school Kleenex in a convenient 3-pack.  We spend hundreds of dollars to prepare our kids for school, to help them get a good education.

Yet, in Ethiopia, it only takes a few dollars to give children a chance at a future.  A plain backpack with a few basic supplies is the difference between whether a child stays in school and gets an education…or is forced to leave school and denied an education. Children in Ethiopia do not have the privilege of staying in school if they don’t have a pen to use.

 

One of the highlights of the Ethiopia Trek was the distribution of 1500 backpacks filled with school supplies.  They weren’t decked out with the latest fad or cartoon character; they didn’t light-up or play music.  They did however contain the essentials that will give children in Ethiopia an opportunity…for an education, for a future.  Inside those backpacks was their hope for survival.

Their list was simple:

·         School paper & pens

·         Toothpaste and a toothbrush

·         A small bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap.

Even the basic hygiene items can make the difference between life and death to a child in Ethiopia. This simple act of kindness was our way of sharing the love of Jesus through real, human contact in a tangible way. More than just art and hygiene supplies—these items will allow the children to stay in school! Each backpack was an investment in their future…and in the future of Ethiopia.

 

worldchild/onegreenbracelet was able to personally distribute 1500 backpacks to three different schools. We may never know the total impact we had, but 1500 children are smiling now because of your generosity!  Thank you for sending worldchild to reach Ethiopia and make a difference in these children’s lives.

 

Let’s get real about poverty

 

When you travel to an undeveloped country, you really get what poverty is.  You get what it means for children and young people to have little or no hope of ever living their own future.  You get the heart of God as it breaks for the “least of these.”

 

This poignant post by Prodigal Jon about a conversation he had with his 5-year-old daughter shows exactly why we do what we do!  It’s why worldchild was formed; it’s why we’ve trekked to Cambodia and Ethiopia; it’s why we support orphanages in Africa…to stop the “unreal” impact of poverty and starvation wherever and whenever we can.

 

When my mom was in Egypt recently, she visited Garbage City in Cairo. Her heart was splintered with compassion for the children living in these conditions.  She’s developing a mission of mercy to help the children of Garbage City-to give them daily food, clothing, and school supplies. God broke our hearts for the children of Gonder when we were there last month. Seeing the filthy water they are drinking…it was simply tragic.

 

Not only is poverty and the death that surrounds it REAL…it is a foul smell in God’s nose. It stinks to heaven…and He is wondering what we will do about it.  God takes us to these places to break our hearts—to snap us out of our “comfort coma” and make us realize we MUST do something. We can’t live our lives as if we’re unaware of the suffering in the world.

 

Thanks Jon for this compelling reminder…that these things are real—and it’s up to us to make a real difference.