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| Tyler and the widows on the Island of Mfangano... |
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| The slums in Kenya where Tyler is spending time with the orphans that live there... |
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| When he was home in August... |
On an ordinary day, in an ordinary place, in an ordinary way...the not so ordinary happened...our Savior was born. How can we comprehend fully what happened on that day?! How can we best celebrate something so profound and eternally significant? Everything seems so ordinary...
This year, we have lived on the edge of life and death along with Elijah...we have contemplated what it means to live for our Savior who was born in a stable so long ago...
This year, Tyler is spending his Christmas in the slums of Nairobi. He is spending his Christmas with the kids who are orphaned in the slums...so many of them with disabilities....all of them are facing challenges that we can only imagine.
We have spend this year helping Elijah to fight for his life. Yet, children around the world are dieing everyday...not because they have a rare, life threatening disease..but because they had no food, no shelter, no vaccine for malaria...a preventable disease. Kids are suffering with no family by their side and facing death because of preventable causes.
Today, we sent money to cover malaria shots for all of the kids at the school on the island. $40 covered all of those vaccines for 60+ kids. The next check will go to pay for Christmas dinner for them (including a bottle of soda for each of the kids...a very special treat.) We can touch kids around the world with the love of the gospel while not even feeling a much of a pinch...a reflection on life here in the United States...and it is our desire that our family give sacrificially beyond just skimming from the top of our excess...we have been given so much..we own nothing...it is all God's and holding tight to something that is not ours to begin with reflects our hearts more than it does our financial status.
We have so much here..even though this year has been a rough one for us, our struggles are nothing compared to what the children around the world living in poverty are dealing with each day. Nothing.
So, next, we are working on collecting money to care for some of the orphans living and attending a school in the slums that Tyler has connected with through one of his professors at Daystar University. He was planning on going to Rwanda to visit a friend but instead he has decided to use the money it would have cost to travel and use it for the kids. Many of the children have down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other disabilities. The shelter they are living in is falling down around us. They have little clean water and the conditions they live in are horrific. The shelter needs to be replaced. The needs are so great, Tyler is having a hard time knowing where to begin...but we are going to help him serve by beginning with the basics...
So, our kids are working to collect money to start meeting some of the basic needs. Food, shelter and medicine seem to be the immediate needs. Can you help? If you are able to share even a little bit, we promise 100% of your donation will go directly to these kids. They really need you. You can donate any amount thorugh paypal on the side of the blog. The message of the hope of the gospel will be shared one need met at a time...
Tyler has promised to share some pictures with us of the kids...coming soon.
