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In October 2009 I really felt like we needed to dig a water well. I wanted our family to make a big contribution and then think of a cool way to raise the rest of the money. Early this year I realized that my birthday would be 10.10.10 and it seemed like the perfect reason to throw a party and make it a water well fundrasier. We had people fly in for the event – my mom and Randy & Jessica Peterman. They were a great help to get everything ready for the party and start the celebration. Roger and Paula handled the cooking of the food. Then Tim and Emily Bates agreed to host the party at their home because they have a lot more space than we do. Thanks to everyone who helped with the party! You guys are awesome.

The weather was perfect and we had 68 people show up for the event. Then MANY other people mailed checks (which are still coming in) because they wanted to be a part of the event even though they couldn’t make it to the party.

Click the photo above to see the whole album.

It was so fun to have all the kids there too taking part in the event. Several of the elementary aged kids had questions for me since their parents had told them why we were having the party and what I was trying to accomplish. They asked such good questions and we had a good talk about kids around the world who have to go fetch water each and every day. That they can’t go to school because they are busy getting water to help their moms. This was my favorite part of the night.

Here is Nadia with her best friend Reagan.

Now for the most exciting part! It takes $2600 to dig one water well that will give water to about 150 people a day, plus their livestock and irrigation. I am thrilled at the tangible difference we are going to make in the lives of so many!

As of today 10.15.2010 we have raised $4000!!!!! WOO HOO!! I am so thankful for the generosity of our family and friends. Checks are still coming and I am still taking donations if anyone reading is interested. We are more than halfway to another well and I would like to see how close we can get. I plan on sending the money to World Vision in about 10 days, so that everyone has time to get them to me.

Thanks to everyone who poured out their love for those in need. You are a blessing to me.

Today I am thankful that I have been a World Vision Child Ambassador for 5 years! I am grateful to God for allowing me to serve the children of the world who are often forgotten because they are in places that no one in the Western world ever has cause to think of. Let me know if you have any questions about World Vision or child sponsorship – it’s one of my favorite topics

I am thankful for the 8.5 months I was able to be an Area Manager for World Vision. With our upcoming adoption time frame uncertainty, I decided to step down to have some more family time. It was a delight serving with the Child Ambassadors in my region. And I am still a Child Ambassador – so I still want people to sponsor kids

The slideshow above was put together by my friend Tiffany with the photos she took on our day trip to Mexico. Click the photo below to see all the photos I took.

A couple weeks ago I went to San Diego for a World Vision conference and on Thursday of that week we headed into Mexico to see one of the WV Area Development Projects (ADP). Mike and I have been sponsors for 15 years now and have never had the chance to see the work ourselves. When World Vision comes into a community the community has to agree to be a part of the work because WV wants to give a “hand up” not a “hand out”. Their goal is to attack the root causes of poverty on all sides to make life better for the entire community.

It was wildly rainy and we were told that Tijuana was experiencing some of it’s worst weather in 26 years. The rain was crazy and at times it was going sideways from the wind. The area that we went to didn’t have paved roads and while we were visiting the road we came in on was flooded out. Getting back to the border was half the adventure of the day and we got to see a lot more of the country.

The people that we met were wonderful. It’s absolutely amazing how many community volunteers this ADP has because the people care about the success of all the families. The women made us a WONDERFUL meal and after we all ate they showed us around the community center.

In the community center they hold classes on pinata making, marshemallow popcicle making, other arts, baking and jello molding. They have a computer center where they teach skills to adults and children. They have a place to teach women beauty shop skills – hair cutting, braiding, highlighting and nails. A great thing about this is that once the women are trained, they can work from home and take care of their children rather than having to go off to a factory all day. They have music classes and soccer teams. The moms even have a soccer team

On the same land they have a day care, cafeteria for the middle schoolers to come for lunch and a clinic. It was so cool to see that because it was clean and stocked. Doctors come in twice a week. It was mentioned that a special thing about this clinic was that it had a door that closed for the women to have their babies in privacy rather than out in the open. Oh how we take these things for granted in America – being able to have a baby in a safe, clean and private environment.

I have been trying to put into words all the stuff going through my mind about this special day. One moment keeps coming back to me from that day. Many of the women spoke to us at the end through the translator to tell us thank you and what kinds of things they do in the community. One woman said, “Thank you for helping me take care of my children.” And then I started to cry. All I could think was that these women love their kids JUST as much as I love Nadia, but they don’t have ACCESS to all the stuff I do. They have the same hopes and dreams for their children as I do for Nadia. They just don’t have access.

So when people ask me why I am so passionate about sponsorship through World Vision – that is why! For just $35 a month you or your family can make a difference to an entire community and especially to your sponsored child and their family. One person can make a difference, I have seen it with my own eyes. And what a blessing to see it with my own eyes after all these years of talking about it.

Do you want to sponsor a child? Just let me know and I will share the picture folders I have with you. Not local? I have a scanner and email Thanks for reading.