Twenty-one Days of Hope! Meet Lynda.

http://reecesrainbow.org/64331/lynda

This is Lynda. Lynda currently spends her days in the same orphanage my niece and nephew once called home. . Lynda's hair has been cut very short and she often was put in boy's clothing. My sister-in-law and her husband met this little girl and even though they were there adopting Sam and Ruby. (So they were only a little busy!). . . Maranda knew that she needed to help "Lynda" find a Mama and Papa of her very own. So, I'm going to use Maranda's words instead of my own. . .

"We met Lynda when we were at Sam & Ruby’s orphanage this summer.  She was in the same groupa (the group of children who basically share life together…they eat, sleep and play together all day, every day). Lynda needs a family badly.  She was one of the least favored children in the groupa.  As you can see, her hair is cropped short.  Thankfully, they put a cute dress on her for this photo, but for several weeks at the orphanage we thought Lynda was a boy.  Most of the other girls in the groupa wore girls’ clothes and always had pretty bows in their long hair, but not Lynda or another little girl with mental delays.  These two girls were dressed as boys all of the time.  Lynda seemed to receive the least attention and was often found playing by herself.

She has a quiet, noble nature about her.  She was always very kind even though she received little attention.  She is in a “good” orphanage in that she is well fed and kept clean, but she so desperately needs a family.  On one occasion she wandered over to the play shelter where we were playing and was trying to eat Ruby’s cookie.  We didn’t have any extra (we brought treats for the groupa every three days or so) so Ed just picked her up to distract her and as soon as he did, she threw her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder just soaking in the attention.  It was the most precious yet sad thing I’ve ever seen.  She just wants to love and be loved…to be a Daddy’s girl.  I wish you could have seen the smile on her face as she hugged Ed.  It was priceless.  For that brief moment, she was in heaven.

She has hydrocephalus and is globally delayed in her development but she is still very bright and has so much potential in a family.  Judging by the size and shape of her head, it seems that either her shunt isn’t working or she has never been shunted.  A shunt is crucial for people with hydrocephalus to keep the fluid from building up around their brain.  She needs medical attention, but most of all she needs a family.  Lynda will turn five in December.  Just like Sam, she will face the threat of being transferred to an adult insane asylum where she would likely die."

 Right now Reece's Rainbow is doing a campaign entitled, "21 Days of Hope." From February 24th- February 28th you can vote for a child daily (And yes. . . you can vote for the same child each day.) . The "Top 21" children will be featured between March 1st-21st, wouldn't you love to see Lynda featured?! So. . . starting today, once a day you can vote for Lynda! A free way to help a precious little girl get one step closer to a family of her very own. If you click on the Image below it will take you directly to the page where you can vote, so select Lynda's name and you can VOTE HERE for Lynda once every 24 hours! A free and easy way to help an orphan! Pretty cool, right?

Edit: Lynda is one of the 21 featured kiddos, THANK YOU for your votes! Now she could use your (tax-deductible donations! When the Voice of Hope fund hits $7000, $2100 will be added to Lynda's fund!  
DONATE HERE!

Lastly if you're interested in learning more about Lynda, email me and I'll connect you with the right folks.

Family Warrior!

So most of you know I spend some time hanging out over at Reece's Rainbow. I've been a "Prayer Warrior" and "Angel Tree Warrior" and now I get the pleasure of being a "Family Warrior". At first I kind of pushed it aside and decided to not commit to it. . . Mostly because I have so much fundraising of my own to do for my missions trip to Eastern Europe. But all day something tugged at me to read through some family profiles and make a decision. I knew that I needed choose a family and stand with them.

So after a ton of reading I chose The Williams Family, I had read their story before. But after reading it last night I knew that these were the people that I needed to commit to helping. This is an excerpt from their Reece's Rainbow FSP (Family sponsorship Program)  . . .

"After the adoption of their two youngest domestically Crystal kept being drawn back to the beautiful faces on Reece’s Rainbow. In the summer of 2012 another Reece’s Rainbow family posted on Facebook about a girl from Eastern Europe needing a host family for the summer, they thought this would be a great opportunity and excitedly agreed to host her. They fell in love with this thirteen year old girl and started making plans to make her their daughter; up until this point Jared had not really been on board about going overseas for adoption. God had even bigger plans for them; they both felt someone would still be missing from their family. After much prayer they found Grayson and knew he was meant to be theirs as well. God still was not done in his plans for this family. The 13 year old girl was not able to be adopted by Jared and Crystal due to some extended family that she still had, and even though this devastated them they believed it was in God’s hands even if they could not see the plan yet. Just as God had led them to Eastern Europe he had then led them to Callen who was in the same orphanage as Grayson. They lost a daughter on that trip but gained another son."

Reading that broke me, I realized that as much as my trip to serve in Ukraine matters to me . . . Berkeley matters and so do her parents and siblings. So I'm looking forward to praying with and praying for the Williams family, I'm excited to get to know them! I can't wait to see the photos of Berkeley with her family, as soon as I saw her photo I couldn't help but smile. As most of you know I ordered bracelets in bulk for  Angel Tree. Well, I'm bringing them back! This time for the Williams family!

When you donate to the Williams' family (http://reecesrainbow.org/61131/sponsorwilliams) forward me your receipt at emmyxjoy@gmail.com. I'll send you some bracelets and you'll help this family get one step closer to bringing their sweet girl home. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/familywarriorprogram

Learn more about the "Family Warrior" program by visiting the link above. 

My big adventure!

Beloved friends, family, and readers:

I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity God has presented for me to take part in. During all of June, I will be going to Ukraine with a team of people from all over the United States. We will be working directly with orphaned and abandoned and I couldn't be more excited to invest time and love into these precious children.

The orphan epidemic in Eastern Europe is a huge issue that is often overlooked and not talked about. The ministry that I will be going to Ukraine with is well-aware of this epidemic and has been running Christ-centered camps for orphans for 20 years. I will be working alongside Ukrainian nationals to provide a Christ-centered program for these children. The presence of American Volunteers has encouraged Ukrainian locals to consider assisting at the camps and it helps boost overall morale. This is life-changing experience for everyone involved and I couldn't be more excited to serve in Ukraine.

Everyday we will be teaching Bible lessons, doing crafts, playing games, and doing skits. By combining both Ukrainian and American cultures, a unique community is formed. By combining all of our attributes we will become an unshakable team and we can speak life and hope into children that have a very bleak future. I believe that through Jesus these children will not be a statistic and will come back from camp forever changed. Our time with these children is vital and valuable, they deserve to spend a few fun-filled weeks surrounded by love and acceptance.

I need to raise $3,000 by May 30th. If you can support me in a financial way, I would be

forever grateful. Every dollar gets me one step closer to my goal, no donation is too small. And, most importantly, I also need your prayers. Your prayers mean more to me than I could ever being to describe to you. . . pray that the lives of these children are forever changed. Pray that I'm able be a light in the darkness and a source of strength for the children that I come in contact with.

Thank you and I can't wait to share this journey with all of you.

-Emily Joy

http://www.youcaring.com/bringingjoytoukraine