Fund Raiser Turned Fund Spender

It's happened to the best of us! You have this AMAZING idea for a fundraiser, you spend hours and hours planning and organizing. The day of the event is busy and stressful and you just about lose your mind. Then the time has come and.... no one shows up. Maybe it's an online event and no one purchases anything. It can be completely heart breaking. A "show stopper" of sorts. You think that no one is supporting you because of YOU. If there is one thing I learned in the last few months it is that: THIS. IS. NORMAL. So relax, regroup and find a different opportunity or idea to work on. We've had events that have been AMAZING (see: cornhole tournament) and some that have been so so (see: T-shirts) and some that have completely FLOPPED (see: Just Love Coffee). I am not saying these events won't work for you. I am just saying that sometimes things just don't work.

So what can you do if you can't support us financially? PRAY that someone will! It's a huge encouragement to us and it helps! Also, consider purchasing items from us that you already use (such as laundry soap or cloth diapers) so we can both benefit!

So let me say it again to all you adopting families out there. It's normal for fundraisers to fail. Don't get discouraged and ask for prayers! 

I couldn't help myself!!

We've been waiting til Spring time to get our adoption photo shoot done. I just couldn't make myself wait!!! So I snapped one of my own.... If you ignore the cobwebs in the door way it turned out pretty good :)

We are waiting and praying for YOU!

Fire Inspection!

Our fire inspection is done and... we passed! Just for future reference people, that was NOT BAD AT ALL! Just make sure your alarms work, you have a fire extinguisher, and you have clear paths in all the doorways! Your agency should give you a sample inspection form, just read through it and make sure you have everything it tells you to!

We have about 150 bucks left before we hit our goal of the Homestudy By Christmas! so hop on over to the store and buy some goodies OR you can donate via paypal at the top left of this blog! Thanks so much to all of you who have helped us out. You all have been such a blessing!

I want to write a special note to those who have partnered with us in prayer! You all have kept us moving on days when we've been discouraged. Your notes of encouragement have meant the world to us! Today it has been on my heart to pray for our birth mom. So I encourage you to add her to your prayers today!

Thanks so much!!!

Thankfulness

Howie and I were talking about things we are thankful for and I thought of something a little odd I am thankful for... Today, November 22, 2012 I am thankful for infertility. It has given me the opportunity to help heal a little heart that is breaking, it's given me the ability to encourage other women and couples in my situation, and it's given me hope for things that have seemed hopeless.

When you have been given hope you see hope in everything. I am so optimistic about our future I am just bursting with happiness! Some may say it's a "glow". But whatever it is the best part is I know God has it all in His hands. That right there is comforting. I am thankful he has given me and Howie our difficulties. We had become complacent and now we are ready to take life by the horns!

My words of wisdom to all you who are experiencing some form of infertility are: never let yourself hate the infertility, embrace it, it's who you are. God made you for a purpose, move forward in whatever way you feel you need to! Maybe you are meant to be foster parents to impact a young life that may go unnoticed/forgotten, possibly you are to go through fertility treatments or IVF to show the love of God to a doctor or nurse, maybe you are meant to do a domestic adoption that's open to impact your birth mom's life for Christ, maybe you are meant to adopt internationally, maybe you are meant to adopt older waiting children, or maybe you are meant to help others adopt. We were meant to be doing an Ethiopian adoption. We are so excited to finish out this journey and start many more! So pray about it! God will show you, sometimes it is more difficult to tell but BE OPEN! You never know what he may throw your way!

Thanks for reading our blog. It's been a great way for me to get my feelings and worries down in words. I hope in some way I have encouraged you or given you the urge to advocate for the orphan in this world. That's why I am here, to advocate for the fatherless, to try and tell every single orphan there is a hope for a future! Thank you for being awesome!

Looking for another fund raiser?

Found another great fund raiser! For more information about these necklaces go to: Rebekah Blocher's Website. She does fund raisers for adoptions and mission trips! These are really pretty necklaces and each one has a Bible verse engraved in the back! 

Be a FIG and change a life!

Hey there friends! Here's a post about an awesome organization through which we sponsor a little girl in Ethiopia. They do so much work in keeping kids with their families and also helping the community out (see:goats). So read this and pray about becoming a FIG yourself or perhaps you could buy a goat or two! Let me know if you have any questions and I would be more than willing to answer what I can and defer what I can't!!!

Why Project HOPEFUL Awassa?
In working with Project HOPEFUL’s FIG (Family in the Gap) program we have begun a sponsorship style program that provides the following for sponsored children- some of which live at Ajuuja while others live alone or with family in the community near Ajuuja:

• clothing and shoes two times a year
• medical checkup twice a year and medication in the case of sickness
• basic hygiene materials three times a year
• food support (formula/milk for children in the center and wheat for children in the community)
• all the necessary school supplies twice a year with school uniform and back bag once a year
• annual recreational trip around Awassa
• annual get together at Ajuuja Center
• sporting goods like balls, soccer shoe and jerseys
• regular prayer with men of God invited from different churches at Awassa
• Christmas and Easter celebrations with staff at Ajuuja and invited guests from the community

We are thankful for the work that Project HOPEFUL does and consider it a privilege to join the effort. We know that God loves the Awassa children more than we can even comprehend and pray that our efforts will bring glory to His name as we heed His call to bring help to widows and orphans.
In your role as FIG advocate you agree to:

• commit to praying regularly for “your” child or family
• financially support for $30 per month

There are many other ways to support our Awassa Initiative:

• You can give one time donations to our general fund to help fund special needs and things that sponsorship may not cover.
• You can be a monthly giver of any amount to help fund projects and children who do not have a FIG yet. Every single dollar helps.
• A goat or sheep can be provided for a family to provide meat or income from their offspring for $45 each.

We will also have income generating projects and skill training to help them achieve independence. You could help a family start their own business (tailored to what that family could realistically do in their area and ability.) Contact us if you would like to be a business backer for a family in the community.
To donate go here: http://www.projecthopeful.org/donate?view=donation
Make sure to select FIG Awassa Ethiopia Initiative in the campaign box!
Here are a few of the children that YOU could make part of your family!




To see a complete list of children that still need a FIG (family in the gap) please email us at  awassaph@gmail.com
You can also join us at facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ProjectHOPEFULAwassa/
Thank you for your love of the orphan!
Greg and Charisa Knight

Did he just say that?

We had our first experience of racial discrimination yesterday and I can't even describe the emotions it brought up inside of me.

A man who has known Howie's family for a really long time came to our door campaigning for... Well it doesn't matter who he was campaigning for. But he asked for donations for a yard sign and we declined saying we were adopting and have cut our frivolous spending. He proceeded to give us adoption advice. When they adopted (40 some years ago) they put all the prominent well known individuals in town as references so that they could get a "good Caucasian baby you know the whole works" (<that is exactly what he said and it will be engraved in my mind for the rest of my life).

Then the part I am kind of ashamed about, we told him we were adopting internationally and that it was different. We didn't say we would be adopting an adorable Ethiopian. We didn't bring up that we are going to be parents of an African child. My heart is heavy with shame that we did not stand up for our baby (who's probably not born yet).

So in the future I will stand up for him. Because he deserves a loving family who knows how special he is. How lucky we will be to be his family.

On another note, some people from our church bought us this crib and it is absolutely PERFECT! SO BLESSED!

  

Home Study by Christmas!

We are doing a small drive in fundraising for November/December in that we need $500 for things needed for our home study. So our challenge to you is to donate $10 or more to our Home Study by Christmas drive and we'll send you one of these:

Have you ever given or received a "gift in your honor" kind of gift where someone donated to a fund under your name as a gift to you? Well we are thinking this would make a perfect gift for that! There will be a tag on it explaining what the ornament is and how you got it etc... Also a HUGE thank you!

So here's how it works, you click the button below and donate more than $10 and I'll get you one of these in the mail! That simple! If you're local let me know you want one and I will get it to you personally, skip the paypal!

Thank you so much in advance for all your help and support over that last few months. We are making a dent in the paperwork pretty quickly and hope to have this finished ASAP so we can get on the waitlist!

Melkam Gena! (Merry Christmas in Amharic!)