Eva Moreen

I was given the nickname “the wanderer” on my first trip to Uganda in 2010. I would either be ahead or behind the team or off on some other road J I didn’t want to miss an exciting opportunity, meet someone or hold a baby. Mama Kiki always gave me a hard time for this….but because I was “the wanderer” I was able to meet my precious Eva Moreen!

Eva lived right outside the green gates of Canaan’s Children Home. Her mother had a little shop selling whatever items she could and they had some mattresses in the back that they slept on. Eva would come over to Canaans and play with all of us when the team was there. I instantly fell in love with Eva and her mother. I began to learn more about her story and that her father was absent quite often working in another town. I learned from the school administrator that Eva’s family struggled to pay her school fees and most days she did not get lunch.

God completely worked it all out so that I could sponsor Eva. It is a very special arrangement because she does not live at Canaan’s Children Home but she does go to their primary school.  They have made an exception for me to assist her for that last 3 years and help her attend school and be able to eat lunch while she is there.

I have now been able to spend time with Eva for the past 3 summers! She continues to grow every year and last summer when we were reunited her mother popped out a baby boy! I have now fallen in love with baby George!

When I met Eva’s mother when I was at Canaan’s Children Home last week, she came to me with tears streaming down her face. She told me that she could not wait for “auntie Kari to arrive” because they were suffering. She shared with me that her husband has now left her and rarely returns home. He has multiple wives and multiple children. Her shop only had juice and water to sell and her new neighbor is a cruel man who is trying to drive everyone around him away. He has speakers that he faces into Eva’s home that screams music at all hours of the day and night.

She looks at me, eyes full of pain and wants me to help. I know she is real, I know she is not playing me. My heart aches to be able to fix their problem, get them into a new home and help her make some income. I wish it was that easy. All I could do in that moment was reassure her that God sees her and all her suffering. He was near to her and He would help both of us try and find a solution.

Every day on these trips you are faced with so many needs. Your heart becomes so full of wanting to change, add, take away, bless, give, fix…you name it….for all that you encounter. But at the end of the day, most often, the one and only thing that I can be sure of is that at least I could touch them with the hands of God, I could kiss their forehead, I could bless them with words and encouragement, tell them they are loved and reassure them that God knows…..He sees…..and for now that has to be enough.

Aida's New Home!

I couldn’t sleep. I was tossing and turning all night. My heart was so anxious to start the day and to get to see my precious Aida! Aida is 12 years old and I have the privilege of being able to sponsor her to be able to send her to school. The coolest thing about my sponsorship with Aida is how my family has been able to get involved. Last summer when I visited Aida I was able to meet all of her 9 siblings. My Father’s House was helping them rent a room in a warehouse type building. Rebecca Sorenson (founder of My Father’s House) contacted me after I left and told me that the family was now on the street because the landlord did not want that many people in his building. Aida is the oldest and her father died a couple of years ago.

(Old home)

My parents were able to help send money so that Aida’s family could have their very own two room house built! Rebecca already had land that they could use…so the building began! It was so special to be able to visit their new home, a place that is their own. They do not have to worry about paying rent or being kicked out. When I visited they were so grateful and even though they have very little they still wanted to give to me. The mother made sure that I left her home with a sack of banana’s, pineapple and hand-picked flowers.

(New Home)

Aida has the most beautiful smile that I have ever seen. She absolutely glows. Her heart is pure and I could gaze into her eyes and see her pearly whites every day! I am amazed at how each year she understands English more and more. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up and I made sure to communicate to her that, “Yes, you absolutely CAN!” I wrote her a letter and she was able to read it all in English without any assistance! She is so brilliant!

Rebecca communicated to me that Aida has not been the same since I visited her. She has had more confidence to speak English, has a glow to her face and personality and appears so happy. This, my friends, is what happens when you sponsor a child. YOU can radically influence their life! If you want to change a life and develop a life-long relationship with a child and in the end have your heart be changed….please sign up!

Ethiopia

We just finished our time in Ethiopia and it was such a wonderful experience. This was my second time in Ethiopia, and it was so great to return and to experience more that I did not see the first time.

 We started at the Fistula Hospital. You need to watch, A Walk to Beautiful. This is a documentary about these women and how the Fistula Hospital completely and radically changes their life. We were able to walk around and pass out small gifts to all of these precious women. They are so lovely, and to think of all the pain that they have been through and how some of them have walked for days to be there to get healing just hurts my heart. They are so strong. Stronger than any one of us.

Next, we visited a large catholic orphanage in Addis. So many kids and so many with special needs.  It makes me so sad that there are so many of these babies and kids up for adoption, and yet so many American families do not want a special needs baby. I held the most beautiful baby girl in my arms and she had lost all of her limbs except one arm. She was absolutely stunning. Her eyes would just gaze into yours and I’m sure that deep in her soul all that she is longing for is a mommy to love her and hold her every single day. Think of all the potential that she could have in the states with prosthetics, and yet….if you do not go, do not hold or do not see with your own eyes you will not understand. I know that this has been true for me. As I held this little baby that felt like a little ball due to no limbs, my heart just ached to bring her home and to give her the love and the life that she deserves.

We then spent some time with Project 61. I visited this ministry 2 years ago on my first trip to Ethiopia. This is where there is a HUGE trash dump and a family started a ministry to get these kids off the dump where they were living and searching for food, to a new life and the chance to go to school. Hands down, Ethiopians are absolutely stunning. The children cling to you and are some of the best huggers I have ever met.  There was this one little girl…maybe five years old. She would not let me put her down. She hugged my neck so tight and when I had to say goodbye she just squeezed me and gave me the biggest kiss!! They are so precious and so joyful—yet they live in a community that is the lowest of the low, filled with leprosy, HIV and AIDS and no money. They are shunned…outcasted…not wanted. We visited one family of 3 that lives in a room that fits one double bed and a dresser. This is their home.

 Project 61 has done an incredible job of rescuing these children, getting them sponsors and then sending them to a very prestige boarding school in Shashamene. We were able to make the trek there and I am so glad that we did! It was a 3 hour drive from Addis and we were able to spend some time with the kids there from Project 61. We led a “gold” themed talk with the girls using Britt Nicole’s song “Gold”. We were able to validate and affirm them. We talked about how sometimes pain in our lives does not make us feel beautiful and it is hard to understand how God views us. I had them listen to the song “Gold” and then draw whatever image came up for them while they were listening. A few of the girls shared their drawings and they were filled with pictures of what they felt they looked like and how their heart felt before understanding the true love of God.  It was such an honor to work with them and to be able to encourage them.

Lastly, Chuko! This is a very special place for our leader, Julie Neal. One of her adopted sons is from this rural, remote village. God led her family to bring clean water to this village. They are still in the process of getting everything built, but we were able to see 4 of the completed water sites, the water reserve and where the pump will be built. We made the walk that the women have to do twice a day to get water. Let me tell you, those water jugs are heavy! I carried a toddler on the way back and I know he was not comparable to the large water jugs and I was seriously dying! I had to put him down! Such strong women!

Every time I come, I am always humbled by the way these individuals bless and encourage me. We spent our last couple of hours with some women in Korah (The throw aways) with Mission Ethiopia. We watched them make jewelry and we wanted to encourage and love them.  They ended up singing and dancing for us and then praying for all of us. The Holy Spirit was ever present and I want to pray like them….fervently, unashamed, bold, loud and with great passion. I was overcome with tears and amazed at how once again…..

My heart needs Africa.