Mother Daughter Tea

One of our most memorable fundraisers was the Mother/Daughter Missions Tea at Grace Community Church. We were privileged to be the guest speakers at the event and addressed more than 40 girls, ages two years-old through fifth grade, plus their mothers and grandmothers, about the orphan crisis in Ethiopia and the work we will be doing on our trip.

Several of our team members spoke to the group about some of the statistics of Ethiopia and the orphan crisis, why it is important to be the hands and feet of God, and also about some of the urgent needs of the orphanages in Addis Ababa. There even was a little African dancing! The portion that seemed to affect the girls the most was when we asked each of them to look under their chairs for pictures of items on the orphanage's urgent needs list. The preschool and elementary aged girls were really struck by how some of the items that are easily accessible to them every day, such as vitamins, socks, underwear, games, puzzles, Band-Aids and medicines, are not available to the sweet children we will meet at the orphanages.

At the conclusion of the tea, team member Keri Bosch shared final thoughts with the group on how there is a God that knows and loves each and every one of those orphans we will meet, and if these children have no one in the world to love them except for Jesus Christ, they have enough. That's why it is imperative that Christians bring the good news of Jesus Christ all over the world.

After our presentation, the girls were invited to the church's atrium to do a mission project. Each girl filled two 1 lb coffee bags with delicious smelling Ethiopian coffee. Each girl also decorated coffee filters and made them into flowers, packaging the coffee bags quite beautifully! All the participants at the tea were invited to the church service on Sunday to sell the coffee to the congregation. All proceeds from the selling of the Ethiopian coffee went directly to our trip and the work we will be doing in Addis Ababa.

The tea was such a fun night of fellowship and such a blessing to our team. A special thank you goes out to Grace Community Church for partnering with our team on many different levels. We truly appreciate your support and encouragement.

Psalm 82:3- "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed."

Written by Suzanne Ward