A Big, Big World

Somedays I sit at home all day. Sometimes in my pajamas. We cook, we learn, we play, we eat, we enjoy each other. Our lives are pretty centered HERE. Right where we are. London, Ontario.

Today is a very different day.
Our tv and computer screens are filled with devastating pictures of Haiti. Our hearts break. We stop to pray. We pull out our geography book Window to the World. We read about Haiti. We stop to pray. We talk about our compassion child Limita who lives in Haiti. We hold her picture and we pray some more.

Last night I received a call from a man who spoke very broken English. He needed diapers for his two babies (19months and 7 months). As I heard his story it became clear to me. His family is a refuge family. New to Canada. No snow clothes. No money. I made some phone calls. I gathered some basic supplies. I got the diapers he needed from our paper product ministry (through church). Since I was a little uncomfortable with the unknowns of the situation I asked my dad to make the delivery for me. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to be a blessing to this family. A flag on their door indicated that they were from PWO Karen. PWO Karen - never heard of it. So we did what we always do when we don't know something, we googled it. It turns out Karen is a tribal group in Thailand. Again - our world became bigger. So much bigger. And again today - we stopped to pray.

And then I followed up on an email from my neighbor Jenn. An email in which she requested my help with a project in Africa. A woman she knows started Emmanuel's Wish and is partnering with people in South Africa to start a AIDS Hospice. Here is a part of the email:

Help us FILL our shipping container!!! We are collecting items to fill a 40 foot shipping container to send to Richmond, South Africa. We are opening an AIDS hospice for those in the end stages of life as well as a children's home to accommodate the children whose parents have died in our care.

And as it turns out they have a need for S/M Adult size diapers. Wouldn't you know that the only thing left from our last shipment of paper products (donated to us to distribute through London) was S/M Adult size diapers? We had donated to every agency in London and Strathroy - and still we had these left. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get rid of them. I guess I should have trusted that God had a place for them! So again our eyes were opened to how big our world is but how possible it is for us to make a difference in it. We stopped. We prayed for Africa.

If you want to help with this AIDS Hospice here is the list of what they need. Get it to me before January 21 (in the next week!).

Items that we NEED:

Babies
Baby formula, bottles, disposable diapers, cribs and crib mattresses, cloth diapers for babies, strollers, car seats (not expired please), blankets, crib sheets, linens, clothing, toys for infants and toddlers, high chairs, play pens, baby baths, baby soap/lotions and other toiletries, potties, bibs, booster seats, wipes, play mats, laundry soap.

Children
Bunk beds, clothing (all ages), shoes, books, school supplies, non violent toys, bicycles, soccer balls and other sports equipment, linens for single beds, laundry soap.

Hospice
Uplifting books and other reading material, pain medication, vitamins and dietary supplements, linens, hospital gowns, nursing uniforms, cleaning supplies, toiletries, rubber Gloves, adult diapers, sanitizers, clothes hangers, laundry soap.

Community Ministry:
-books of all genres but kids especially children’s books and those that focus achievement of black individuals and culturally significant books for the book mobile project
-bibles
-adult bicycles
-educational supplies for local schools
-computer and photocopy paper, pens and pencils, white out and other office supplies for the local ministry offices

I am so thankful for days like today.
We are reminded of the need for prayer.
We are reminded that it's NOT all about me.
We are reminded that we can make a difference.