4th of July

Hi All,
Jessica and I will be set up at the Fourth of July Celebration in Etowah tomorrow. We will have all three t-shirt designs for sale and will be taking orders for any color you want that we do not have "in stock". We will also be distributing information on the issues affecting the Congo through www.raisehopeforcongo.org. Part of the Enough Project.

If you have purchased a shirt from us, we would love for you to send us a picture of yourself wearing it or wear it tomorrow, come by the booth, and we will take the picture for you. We hope to gather all these pictures and make a collage for Noelle to give her one day (probably when she is a little older) to show her all the people who were a part of her adoption.

Process Update: Our dossier is all but complete. We had our fingerprinting last Friday and once we receive our approval from USCIS it should be ready to send to the DR Congo for their government to review. Also, we were denied for our first grant request but we are awaiting word from two others and will be applying for a fourth this week. We appreciate everyone's prayers.  Once we receive our official referral, we will continue our last half of '90 Days for Noelle'.

90 Days for Noelle - Day 42

I have been asked a few times about an earlier post I made, so i thought i would give a little more information about it. This is a frequent question, "For a country with $24 billion dollars worth of natural resources, why are they the second poorest country in the world?" I think the following video will explain one of the factors a little better than I can. Don't worry, this is not a "cry your eyes out video", but it is very serious. Fix this problem and we could cut back on Kleenex usage from other videos I've seen about the DRC.

Our Noelle is in the Congo and we want her home as soon as possible, but when we take action to reduce the human rights violations taking place there we help to save the "Noelle's" of the future. Orphans are one of the by-products of these mineral conflicts. "No one is asking that you boycott anything, simply that you express a desire to the manufacturers of your electronic goods that you would like to buy a conflict free product when it becomes available". It is easy to do and progress is being made. If you would like more information on this subject, check out www.raisehopeforcongo.org

1 Corinthians 10:26

²⁶The Scriptures say, "The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord." 

God, we pray for the strife in the Congo. We pray that those funding and fueling the conflicts cease. That companies cleanse themselves and that the well runs dry for those that have evil intentions. We pray that ethical practices be used when conducting business in the Congo and that the people cry out to you, Father. Bless those who are taking responsibility to do what is right. In Your name we pray. Amen.