Monday, June 15, 2009

One Body, One Hope


Last week I posted a video from Christian World Adoption, our adoption agency. Okay, might be a bit presumptuous to call it our agency... We don't own or operate CWA in any way, but they did help us bring home our son. We love the agency and are inspired by their vision to care for orphaned children around the world. We are especially excited by a new project they're spearheading called Acacia Village. I can't encourage you strongly enough to take a few minutes and check it out!

As for those of you who have read my bio in my book or on my site, you know that Aaron and I are also the founders of a non-profit that works with orphans in Monrovia, Liberia. One Body, One Hope began two and a half years ago when we were in Ethiopia picking up our son. Aaron and I stayed at the same guest house as a wonderful Liberian pastor named Robert Bimba. We became great friends and left Africa promising to support him in any way we could. Our little project has grown into a non-profit that has far exceeded our big dreams.

Robert and his congregation at Abide in the Vine (just outside of Monrovia) support an orphanage called Christ Our Hope. The 53 kids at Christ Our Hope depend on the generous monthly donations of our sponsors for their food, education, medical care, and other needs. It has been such an awesome experience to be involved in the lives of these beautiful children. There's more to the story, but I'll let you read it for yourself on some of my older posts. Or, you can just click on the One Body, One Hope icon under labels in the right hand column. Sadly, all my photos from those posts are AWOL, and though I've done everything in my power to contact Blogger and try to figure out how to get them back, I've had no luck. (Side note, Blogger is un-contactable. Did you know that? Very, very frustrating.) Anyway, happy browsing, even if it is photoless. I'll leave you with a few adorable ones from my husband's recent trip to West Africa. Aren't these kids gorgeous?





PS - We do have a website, though it is very rudimentary and in desperate need of updating. Check it out at OneBodyOneHope.org. Know any web designers who'd be willing to work with us? 100% of our funds go directly to the kids (and we're dedicated to keeping it that way) so we have no operating budget to speak of. Right now our board consists of 8 very committed people who donate their own time and resources--printing out newsletters, paying for stamps, and promoting the ministry with our own out-of-pocket funds. Thus the bare bones website.

6 comments:

  1. Nicole,
    I'd love to interview you on my blog about your vision and One Body One Hope...let me know if you are interested. I'm also going to send along the name of someone who might be able to help w/ the website (I'll send it to your email.)

    Way to shine for God!
    ~ Wendy

    ReplyDelete
  2. hey - i might be able to help with the website. i've designed two websites and i'm learning a third now, depending on who hosts your site and stuff. let me know if i can help.
    stacey

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, ladies! I'll be contacting both of you soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those kids are so beautiful. There's something about Africa. I went to Nairobi Kenya for a three week mission trip a few years ago. I used to tell my husband I wanted to move there, go live in an orphanage, and hold babies all day. After I left, it took awhile for my heart to rejoin me... it stayed back in Africa for awhile. I'd love to go back.

    I'm excited to go check out your website...even if it is photoless. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, Katie. I'm right there with you. Aaron and I would love to move our family to Liberia for a few months someday. The spiders make me nervous and I can't help worrying about my littlest one getting sick, but that doesn't lessen my excitement. Right now we're working with the university in Monrovia and the Liberian government to use our rice farm as the flagship in a new irrigation program... Yikes, I could babble on and on and on. Maybe I need to start a One Body blog once we have a fancy new website. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is amazing stuff, Nicole. Life-changing stuff. You should write a story about it! I know I would LOVE it. So cool to read about the work God's given you and your husband to do. :)

    ReplyDelete