Remember Last Year?

 Hey,
Do you guys remember the great wedding feast last year?
The one where tons of you sent gazillions of things to dress the street boys.
Well…
here’s another real life opportunity that you won’t want to miss!
Many of you are helping with the Front Lines street feeding program 
In fact every single purchase made on Orphan Wares goes directly to 
the feeding of orphaned and vulnerable street children 
that are part of the Front Lines program.  
Anyway, we received a request this morning from those on the ground in Uganda
 running the Front Lines program.  They asked if the June GO Team could 
possibly bring backpacks with them for the kids?
The June GO Team {which is huge!} already has a list of things they are 
going to be collecting…so, I said, “I know!   My bloggy friends would 
love, love, love, love 
to send backpacks to the orphans living on the streets!”
Am I right?
Am I right?
Am I right?
eeeeeeeek.
I know I am!
You guys were so stinkin’ generous last year and I just know 
that this is right up your alley.
So here’s what we’re looking for:
Extra good quality backpacks!
Friends, this is all the kids have – soooo let’s gather really excellent quality ones – 
the kind that will last awhile!
It would be better to send ONE extra good quality one than a few not-so-good.
And here’s the best part…
please, please, please, would you be willing to write a personal letter 
to stick inside and even a picture of you, your family, your kids…
something that they can stare at and think,
 “Wow, people way over there, care about me.”
When writing a personal letter, tell them about yourself.  Tell them that 
you were praying for them as you shopped for that backpack.
  Tell them that you will keep praying for them as the Lord brings them to mind. 
 Tell them that you love them {seriously, God’s word says we MUST
 love one another and don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you want to marry them!} 
 God’s love is pure and tenderhearted to all.   
Remind them of how much God loves them too.  Tell them that you are their friend forever.  
Honest, sweet friends, it will make their world.
A few years back when I was in Africa with Emma and Graham bringing 
home Elijah and Elizabeth we were serving at a feeding program.  
But prior to going we had gone with a missionary to the Owino a market 
and bought a few used tee-shirts for some of the street kids 
who were in desperate need a new shirt. 
That afternoon as we helped in the program we watched as the missionary
 very discreetly handed a shirt to a few of the kids.  I will never, 
ever forget one young street boy {probably about 12 years old}
 as he received the used tee-shirt.  He started jumping up and down. 
 He was whooping and hollering.  I will never forget though what he said,
 “I am saving it. I am not gonna’ wear it until Christmas.
 I can’t believe it, I have something new to wear on Christmas!  I am so excited!” 
 He was still jumping up and down.  My eyes well with tears. 
 A used tee-shirt.
And he was jumping up and down!
And he was saving it for Christmas!
Ever jumped up and down about a used tee-shirt?
Yea, me neither.
So how about it friends?
Can you get your kids involved?
They can make pictures to put in the bag.
A small pack of candy {nothing that would melt, more like Skittles or something} inside.
Even a pack of gum.
You will never believe the difference your generosity will make. 
Ship your backpack by May 15th to:
International Voice of the Orphan
3655 W. Anthem Way, Suite A-109-305
Phoenix, AZ 85086-2599

On behalf of the street children in the slums of Uganda

THANK YOU!

Oh, yes, indeed, this is gonna’ be way fun!

26 thoughts on “Remember Last Year?

  1. Thank you for posting this. I was hoping for something tangible and actually life-improving that my daughters could participate in beyond the Joseph Kony video. I've posted this on my daughter's facebook page challenging her friends who weeks ago were on that bandwagon to do something direct. I pray/know some of them will answer the challenge.

  2. The backpacks at LL Bean.com are 1/2 price right now 🙂 List price $39.95, currently 19.95. I know folks swear by their quality! Search for deluxe book pack 🙂 Great idea!
    lauren

  3. I have been thinking of your Easter candy post the last few days and what we could do as a family. In lieu of candy (which my little ones don't need anyway), I am going to take them to the store and let them each pick out a backpack to send. They are 2 and 1, it will be interesting to see what they pick out!

  4. Can't wait!!!!!! (Should we just limit what we put IN the backpack to small little things like candy, or is it okay to put other things in there too?)

  5. Oy! I was just at the store looking at backpacks today! My daughter was begging me to buy her a new one! Now I wish I had because I know she would have gladly donated it. Guess we'll be headed back there next weekend.

    Thanks for the opportunity to serve!

  6. Thanks Lauren for the L.L.Bean sale tip! If you click sale and then backpacks on the sale page you will find it!

    Linny – I ordered the backpacks and had them shipped directly to IVO – free shipping 🙂

    I will send our letters, pictures, etc to IVO too.

    Praying that many children will know the love of our Heavenly Father.

  7. how exciting! are we allowed to put more than just candy in them? and i know last year mostly you needed boy clothes. is that true for the backpacks or do you need girl backpacks also?

  8. Well, whaddayouknow… it just so happens that one of the things I put aside to bring over to you was a backpack. But now I will prep it with love (and candy) first. 😉

  9. Love the idea! I too would like to have the backpack shipped directly to IVO, but wondering if would be confusing to send the pic/letters/candy separately. Pls let us know if ok!

    Happy Easter!
    Jen

  10. we'd shipped direct and saved some money, that way we could afgford another backpack……great luck with all your effort. Prayers from Colorado, chantal

  11. I have an empty backpack that has been just sitting in my closet!! Can we put other things in them besides candy? Maybe a pair of sandals and some socks? Stuffed animals?

  12. Linny,
    I posted a prayer request over a month ago about our adoption of a little girl in China with CP. I wanted to give you an update. I just NOW saw your response on our blog. I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier. On my birthday, February 26 we got a call from our agency that China denied our PA. Our agency went to bat for us a appealed to a higher up. They also said no. Our agency is surprised, baffled, shocked. Our agency told us that when the president of the agency gets back from out of the country on an adoption business trip they were going to have her draft a letter and send a formal appeal to a much higher up in the CCCWA. They said it could be awhile before we hear anything. We so far have heard nothing. In the meantime, I've avoided every type of adoption website, blog etc…my heart just cant take it. I'm heart broken and our girl is no longer on our agency's list so I have no idea if she is being adopted by someone else, pulled from list or what. Anyway, I don't know if we should keep on hoping that the CCCWA will change their minds or give up. It's a long story what happened and I don't want to post it here. Thanks for your prayers!
    Lesa

  13. We'll be heading to the LL Bean Outlet store where we can get backpacks for about $6 or so with misprinted monograms. I'm assuming that it is OK to have names/misprints – correct? They are GREAT backpacks, will last forever, and we can buy more for less.

    OK?

  14. We signed up to pray for an orphan on International Voice. Would there be any way possible that if we sent you a backpack, that you would get it to the child we are signed up to pray for? It won't stop us from doing the backpack if you can't, I was just curious. Because that would be really cool!

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