Dipper or Diver? Africa-Part 3

I use to be a dipper. A toe dipper. I would ease into the pool, slowly lowering myself inch by inch, foot by foot, until finally submerging myself.

Then, I became a diver. I hurled myself off the diving board, into the abyss. I stepped off, on this journey, and fell...HARD.

I fell in love, with Korah, Ethiopia, with a ministry called Project 61. With children who live in a dump, who dig in the trash for food. Yet, they have so much JOY, so much LOVE, were so protective of me.

Meet Askele. (A-skal-ah) She is our sponsored child, age 13. She is leaving the dump, leaving Korah, in September, to go to a Christian boarding school. I love her dearly. She called me mother.



I treasure the extra time in Ethiopia when I got "stuck" for nine days due to the volcano. I spent this time with Askele, with her friends, teaching them English, playing with them, loving on them. And I was truly blessed.
I gave her all my clothes, my shoes, and she turned around and gave most of it to her friends.

This is her wearing my favorite shirt.


braiding my hair.



As we drove away, my heart was broken, not for the children we left behind, but for what most people never see, never grasp.

I grappled with this for the last few months. Why? Why does God allow children to live in the dump, to dig for food, to be orphaned, scared and hungry?

And again, and again, I come back to these thoughts.

Because HE is SOVEREIGN.

I am becoming more content to rest in the mystery of it. But the mystery of it, how God is working in all this...I am learning to trust Him in it.

The utter depravity of it all, the sheer poverty and sickness, death, and sadness...it can weigh down your soul and render you weak and useless, or it can stir your soul to life in a way that changes you. And other people as a result.

It can make you become a diver!

I believe this is God's way. His heart is broken; he is grieved. But we are God's feet. We are racing to these children's aid. We are his hands. We are feeding these children, and their families. We are feeding HIS sheep.

Some of the sponsored children of Korah. Kids are just kids, anywhere!


There are more opportunities to sponsor children. Email me or call me if you are interested. Or if you want to help feed them for the summer before school starts. There are so many opportunities.

Just DIVE in!