exciting stuff... and how you can help!

Hey folks! What an exciting week it's been here! We are just 6 weeks away from our next trip to Ethiopia, and we are so excited about what is happening.

This week we were able to meet with the folks at Edge Outreach in Louisville KY to be retrained on the water purification stuff. They have an incredible new system that is smaller, simpler, more cost efficient (aka, cheaper!). We were so excited that Caleb David from One Child Campaign could join us to learn all about Edge and so that we could talk about how this partnership could grow and impact more people in Ethiopia.

I love visionary people. There's such excitement in sitting with a group of people who are ready to act, not just talk. And that's what we met on Monday in Louisville. WOW! Here's the skinny on what's happening:

We have an incredible opportunity to take with us a professional videographer to Ethiopia who will get raw footage of us installing water purification systems, interviews with the Ethiopians on how this is affecting them, etc etc. This footage will then be used by Edge Outreach to increase awareness for the need for clean water in Ethiopia. This is a win/win, y'all!!

I'm not in the professional videography field, but I know it's not cheap. However, this guy has agreed to come for peanuts and the cost of his travel! Seriously, for about $3000, we can do this and make an incredible impact on getting clean water to Ethiopia.

So...it boils down to this. We need 300 people to give $10. Come on, that's 2 drinks at Starbucks for the gift of clean water. I'm counting on my adoption community friends here because I know y'all "get" this. I've seen what can happen when this group of people get behind something. This is huge people.

WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE FOR GOOD IN ETHIOPIA!

We are beginning to plan for a time to bring Ethiopian adoptive families together to educate, plan and celebrate what is happening. Look for that in the coming months.

This is our passion. Seeing the difference in Ellie's life before and after clean water changed us.(pics below are before clean water and then 18 months home. Stunning difference!!) We know too much to just stand back and do nothing. Please join us.

You can give at http://onechildcampaign.showitsite.com/ Please note: Ethiopia water. You can give there by check or credit card. Everything we raise above what we need for the videographer will go directly to the water projects themselves, so the more we raise, the better.

Thank you for partnering with us again. We can't wait to show you what your giving has done.

Ethiopia 2012

One of the greatest blessings of my life has been God allowing me to be a part of something that is so much bigger than myself. When we brought Ellie home from Ethiopia, we were face to face with the reality of the damage that unclean water can do to a body and a life. We knew that we couldn't just give her meds and forget it had ever happened. We knew God was calling us to do more. Through a great friend (thank you Mitch Holbrook), we were introduced to Edge Outreach in Louisville KY, a group of people with a vision to see everyone in the world with clean water. We got in touch, were trained, and then waited. We knew how to make clean water, but we didn't know how to get it into Ethiopia.

I don't believe in coincidence. So, it was by DIVINE intervention that I happened to be googling "mission work in Ethiopia" and came across One Child Campaign. I read their blog with tears in my eyes. These people were the hands and feet of Jesus in a land that we love so much. I contacted them and learned they had a vision to put clean water in Ethiopia, and we had the means to do so.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Last summer, most of you will recall that we were blessed to travel back to Ethiopia to place our very first water purification system in Korah. To say that it was a blessing just doesn't cut it.

God blew my mind.

Now, we are here on the cusp of traveling again. If someone had told me a few years back that we would be traveling to Ethiopia for the 3rd time now, I'd have laughed. But my heart is so full of excitement and joy. I love these people. I love being there with them, hugging their necks and holding their hands and just knowing that God made me for this work. It's humbling, and it's life-shattering. I come home completely broken and transformed and yearning for more of Him, more of His presence. And it sticks. Like I said, it's just amazing...

We will be going May 17-27, and at this time the plans are already set for one water system to be installed. We are VERY close to having things set for two systems. I can't even begin to think of how many people that is who will be drinking in clean water for the first time ever! Someone asked me recently "Why are you doing water stuff? I thought you were going to tell them about God.". My response is that "I have no business telling someone about Jesus if I can't (or won't) be the hands and feet of Him". Giving clean water meets a physical need, and when we do that, we begin to gain the right to be heard. But what I love about the work of One Child Campaign is that it's not about us at all. We are going and giving tools to the local church to meet the needs of their communities. When that happens, the people in the communities come to the church to get their physical needs met, and they hear Truth. It's beautiful!

I could talk for hours about this (seriously, I could. Do you have time? Call me!) But here's the thing... it's expensive to go to Ethiopia. So, we are doing some good, old-fashioned fund raising. We are selling t-shirts to tell the story of why we are going, and in the process, hopefully bringing in some money to help us get there.

We would GREATLY appreciate you buying one of these shirts. They're pretty sweet looking too! (thank so much Devon and the Surge team!!)
Cost is $25 for each shirt. Payment is due at time of order. We will collect orders through February, then order and ship them out to ya! When you buy this, you too are being the hands and feet of Jesus because we couldn't do this without the support (prayerful and financial!) of so many of you. So, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much!!

Checks can be made to Jeff or Holly Prosser and sent to us directly at 1809 Jacks Creek Road, Richmond KY 40475

please let us know in the comments if you are sending an order so we can be on the lookout for it!

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good,
in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

Titus 3:14