I am the Voice for the Voiceless

Many (if not all) of the orphans I advocate for don't get heard in their orphanage. Many of us advocates act as their voice. Yelling, Screaming, Shouting for these kids before they are found and Shouting and rejoicing with them and their families once they are found, once they are rescued.

I love shouting for these kids. Getting them out there. But what I love even more is watching kids come home and change immensely. Happier, fatter (in a great way :)  ) and most of all, loved. Some of these kids waited sixteen years without being loved. Remember Salome? I yelled for her for months. Up until her aging out date. Then I just stopped because I thought there was no hope left for her. Then just a few days later, she was on the My Family Found Me page on Reece's Rainbow. Now check out this blog post. This is an update on my friend Salome.

Meet Mikah.
He has been in his orphanage for twelve years. That is twelve Christmas's that he has spent alone. Twelve birthdays that went without celebration. Mr. Mikah has hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy.


This is an old picture of Mikah. Someone who met him just last month took new pictures of him. They also said he was happy and engaged when they were visiting him. That is wonderful. He looks so unhappy in the photo above. So sad and depressed. Longing for a mommy.

He looks so much happier. He is still waiting for a mommy. Longing to be loved for the rest of his life. Love that he can feel. I love him and many other advocates love him but he can't feel it. He doesn't even know we exist. He needs a mommy to hold him, to rock him to sleep, to comfort him when he has a bad dream, to hug him when he is crying.

 His orphanage has made a huge change in how they care for kids. Just by looking at sweet Mikah you can tell.

Now meet Brandon.

Brandon is in the same Region as Mikah. Brandon is 10 years old. He has spastic diplesia cerebral palsy. He lived the first eight years of his life with zero medical attention.



This picture is before he started getting proper medical help. I am so happy that he is receiving medical care, but there is always more that can be done. He has spent ten years in his crib. Rarely being taken out. He needs a momma to hold him and love him. He doesn't know what love feels like. Instead of wishing for a PS3 or an iPhone all Brandon wants for Christmas is a family.



Look at Brandon two years after receiving professional medical care for the first time. He looks so happy. Imagine how happy he would be if he was in a home with a momma and daddy and brothers and sisters. The smile I see on Brandon's face melts my heart. The agency representatives that visited took the more recent photos in fall of this year. They reported that Brandon is responsive and interactive. They watched him play with a light up toy with buttons. *imagining his face on Christmas morning playing with a new light up toy*

These boys make my heart melt. They are so much happier. BUT they could be happier in a loving home. Please pray, shout, advocate, and donate to these sweet boys. Pray for their families. If they already know that one (or both) of these boy's are theirs. And if they don't that they would realize it and start the process to bring them home.

Remember that every dollar counts. Every penny is one less penny the family has to worry about while they are working to bring their child home. Every dollar, one hundred less pennies that the family has to worry about. Even if you can't donate, pray. Pray for their families and that God would lay it on their hearts to reach out for them.

Thank you!

Merry Christmas

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes!

 

You read that right!!!

 

I am hosting a giveaway.

 

This is going to be a fundraiser for Silvia's Angel Tree Fund.

 

To be entered, you must donate at least $15 to Silvia's fund.

 

If you donate more than $50 you get 2 entries per $15 after that.

 

Forward your email me your receipt to me at elephantgirl1997 @ gmail .com to be entered

 

Well, I guess you want to know what I am giving away.......

 

I am giving away a $25 Visa gift card.

The giveaway ends at midnight my time on November 30th.

 

Thank you!!!!

 



IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is here!

 

The Angel Tree is here.

 

It is finally here!!!

 

I have been waiting for this day since September.

 

Actually since last year.

 

The Angel Tree has been up and running since midnight this morning.

 

Silvia still is at $0.00 even though I have money to donate, its just not in my bank account...

 

Tomorrow, I am doing a presentation at my church for Orphan Sunday.

 

God willing, I will bring in more money for the adoption funds of Aria and Silvia.

 

http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2014/ Those are all of the kids on the AT this year.

 

You can donate to my AT baby here: http://reecesrainbow.org/78577/silvia

 

And Aria mine and Alyssa's AT babe at http://reecesrainbow.org/82060/aria.

 

God be with us.

 

And these precious fatherless children.

 

They need your love.

 

God, please find them families during this Holiday season.

 

Thank you Lord, for giving me this opportunity to raise money to help bring these precious children home.

 

Your Love Amazes me.

 

Check out this video that one of my fellow advocates created.

Viewer Discretion Advised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOs9UZ9Lpw

Growing Up

Growing up, all I wanted to be was mom or a preschool teacher, or both! Right now I am living the dream of working at a preschool. And I absolutely LOVE it. So glad that I'm getting to experience it at such a young age.

I grew up with my cousin who has cerebral palsy. We would go to her school for plays. But I never thought I would have such a heart for kids with special needs.

As I am nearing that age where I am going to have to start deciding what I want to be when I grow up, not that being a preschool teacher for the rest of my life is bad. I am exploring other careers.

I follow a lot of Facebook pages on kids with special needs. I see how they transform through physical therapy. I started thinking about doing that. Even though I always told myself that I NEVER wanted to work in the medical field.

I don't know if this is God's path for me or not. So I will pray about it until He shows me.

My Angel Tree Baby

I almost didn't do the Angel Tree this year. I struggled to raise all the money for my AT babe last year and I didn't want to fail to provide for another orphan. I know every amount helps. I ended up raising the whole $1000 dollars for Leilani and sadly, not much more has been raised for her since then. I saw that there was a little baby on the tree this year. She was born in March. God showed me that she was the one who needed me this year.

I hadn't even been checking the kids on RR lately because I was so overwhelmed with school. I was looking at the newly listed kids last night and saw another baby, or at least that's what she looked like. I felt my heart melt. I had already committed to raising $1000 for my AT baby and she wasn't on the angel tree but I had to help her. It wasn't an option to not help her.

The baby that I committed to for the Angel Tree is





























 Silvia. Silvia is a name that means a lot to me. Silvia is the name of one of my supervisors at work whom I look up to in many ways. Since the first time I saw baby Silvia on RR she has had a special place in my heart.

Silvia, I will not let you down.



Silvia, Baby girl, I love you so much. You and Aria both. We are all in this together. I will do everything I can to get you girls home with a great family with a loving mama and daddy who will hug you when your scared and take you to the doctor when your sick. They are out there. I will SHOUT and YELL for you until they see you. Baby girls, my heart breaks for you and I will be praying for your mamas and dadas to see you.

Aria Plus 1

Aria is not on the Angel Tree this year but Alyssa and I have decided to put her on our own Angel Tree. Not only am I going to raise $1000 for my AT baby who I have yet to reveal, I am also going to raise $1000 for Aria.

In order to reach these two goals before the end of the year, I started two tee shirt/ sweatshirt campaigns.


The Philippians 4:13 campaign is located here: http://teespring.com/dlphilippians



The I Can't Keep calm campaign is located here: http://www.tfund.com/dlangeltree

Alyssa also has a shirt campaign going on.


The Every child deserves a family is locate here: http://teespring.com/Every_Child

The Every Child campaign is benefiting Aria and Alyssa's AT child Charlie.

Both the I Can't Keep Calm and the Philippians 4:13 shirts are benefiting Aria and my AT baby.

Aria

This little princess has spent most of her short life in the hospital receiving medical care for her many disabilities. Even though she is 5/6 years old she looks like she is an infant/toddler.



Aria has Spina bifida with hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, deep mental delay, congenital deformity of the hip, congenital ptosis, optic nerve atrophy, iron and protein deficiency.

Even though miss Aria is dressed in little boy clothes, she is a girl. She needs a momma to dress her up! Every girl deserves to get dolled up, especially when they are so CUTE!!!



It appears that she gets fed through a nasal G-tube.

I absolutely adore sleeping babies. I just want to pick up Princess Aria and cover her with kisses.

If you are feeling led please donate and/or pray for this princess and her family. She definitely deserves a momma and daddy just like every other kid in the world.

Aria's Profile  << click there



P.S.
Stay tuned to find out who my Angel Tree baby is this year!!! Guess below. Last year it was Leilani, this year its a new baby. Leilani hasn't had very many donations since last Angel Tree so please consider donating to her long with Aria.

With a Heavy Heart

I hope you have Kleenex near by for this post.

 

A year ago in June, a 16 year old boy was brought home from an awful orphanage in Bulgaria.

 

 His name is Tommy.

 

(all pictures are from The Blessing of Verity blog)

 

He is also known as the boy with the million dollar smile.

 

 

He was loved for the first time in 16 years.

 

 

Now he will be loved for eternity in heaven with Jesus.

 

Yesterday Tommy died in a tragic drowning accident.

 

He can now RUN and JUMP and TALK.

 

Just like Adam whom is also in Heaven and from the same orphanage as Tommy.

 

Not only will he be with Adam but also all the other kids who were in their orphanage.

 

They can do things typical kids take for granted for the first time in their lives.

 

Yesterday Tommy woke up with his family, this morning he was with Jesus.

 

I have no doubts that he will one day see his family again.

 

And when he does I am sure he will RUN into their arms.

 

We do not know why Jesus only let Tommy be here for a short time.

 

We probably won't until we are with Him in heaven.

 

 

He came so far in the year that he was with the Musser family.

 

Tommy, even though I never met you, you will always hold a special place in my heart. I cannot wait to meet you in heaven sweet boy.

 

Please join me to pray for the Musser family as they are grieving the loss of their beloved son and brother.

 

If you feel led to donate to help them provide the money for the funeral cost you can do so here:

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/tommy-s-funeral-costs/212871

 

In just one day over $2000 dollars has been raised for Tommy.

 

God's people are good.

 

Keep them in your prayers please.

 

Tommy, you will be missed immensely.

 

 

 

Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2014

This year I went to the Family Retreat in Murieta, CA instead of the one in Overgaard, AZ.
The camp in Murieta was a lot bigger than the one in AZ. This year I was blessed to have our camp's Pastor's family. They adopted us into their family instantly. Their son is currently battling cancer for the 3rd time in his 8 years alive (Today is his birthday. Happy birthday buddy!!!!!!!) He was first diagnosed with a hereditary type of cancer at 13 days old. This cancer caused him to go blind in one eye so they removed it and now he has a glass eye (but you'd never be able to tell when you're looking at him). I enjoyed spending the week with him and his family. It overflowed me with hope. You would never guess that he is battling cancer right now. He is so strong. He inspired me a whole lot that week.

Now for some pictures.

 

My camper for the week. I love him.

 

Reptile Show!!!!

 

Fun in the pool. My camper and his little sister.

 

Magic Show/ balloon animals

 

Hot air balloon ride. (yes I went up in it)

 

I just loved this picture

 

We had a wonderful talent show.

 

 

I had a wonderful time at camp this year. I am overflowing with hope until next year.  

URGENT!!!! Prayers for Adam

UPDATE: Jesus took Adam home last night. 5/31/14

Adam has been home from his orphanage in Pleven Bulgaria for almost a year. He has not been doing well lately and they expect he will be meeting Jesus very soon. He suffered so much damage while in the baby house that there is not even enough medical care to help him in America. This is what someone posted on the Help the Mitchel Family Prepare for Adam to Meet Jesus event facebook page.
"Adam has been home almost a year from Pleven Orphanage, but the damage done by the years of neglect was too much for even US medical care to repair. So after so little time with him, his parents are already having to say goodbye. He has had surgery after surgery and I hate watching them try to figure out how to pay for his burial while trying to keep his pain under control during his last few days left on earth. He will meet Jesus soon and His pain will be gone, but their broken hearts are going to remain. I will update with how much has been raised and what is still needed regularly. Money will go directly to their PayPal to be used for the funeral. $6,000 will cover the cost of the Funeral, Burial, and a Headstone for this precious angel. Donations can be made to their PayPal address, which is: grumpyjax@yahoo.com"

and this was posted 4 hours before 10:00 PM Pacific Time

"Adam is probably going to meet Jesus in just a few hours. . . Everyone's hearts are breaking watching him suffer and my heart breaks watching my friend lose her baby boy. . . For him that will be the relief of his suffering, but his family is going to be left grieving and trying to pick up the pieces. Can we help them tonight to get this funeral ready? We are nearing $1,000, let's ease the only burden we can for them right now."

Please go to this event page on Facebook and do what you can to help. Please. Please help them out. Prayers, donations anything helps.


 Help this poor child and his family.

All I Wanted For Mother's Day was a Mommy

This is my really late mother's day post. It is a week after Mother's day and I am finally getting around to this post. Between school, work, family, church and prom I finally have time. 

Not only are the orphans wanting a mommy for mothers day but the foster kids or the orphans that have a mommy coming for them but don't know it. 

Rita. All Rita knows is her crib. For seven years, she only has known that crib. Rita doesn't even know the meaning of having a mommy. We need to show her what mommies do for tummy aches and stinky diapers, nightmares and bad days. There is someone out there that can show Rita just that. 

Rita has a family!!!!!

 

Her smile brightens the room! The dark room filled with cribs of other kids just like her.

Ruslan. Ruslan as been waiting for over eleven years. He doesn't know what it is like to get a good night kiss from a mommy or have her tuck him into bed and pray with him. He doesn't know what yummy food a mommy can make. Ruslan has a mommy out there somewhere that can do all those things and more. We just need to help him find her!!!

  

This is what he will do when he finds out he has a mommy coming for him.

Nevaeh. Nevaeh is a four year old girl. She has probably never experienced a mother's love.  This is what her RR profile says from someone who met her earlier this year "She needs out! She is skeletal and looks to be in very poor condition. Neveah just cries and cries if you get near her. Also, she appeared to be heavily sedated. She had a toy tied to her wrist/hand, and her hands were bound to not scratch herself." This is heart breaking. A mommy needs to break her out ASAP. And give her the love she deserves!!!

 

  

Collier. Collier is a fourteen year old boy who is in many ways like a toddler or a preschooler. Imagine what a loving mommy could do for him. He ages out in October of 2015. I, an almost seventeen year old, am having a hard time trying to imagine being like a toddler in many ways. Collier is only 2 years younger than me! A mommy needs to break him out before it is too late!!!

Collier has a family!!!

 

I hope and pray that each of these kiddos will at least have a mama on the way by next Mother's day!

Foster kids here in America (everywhere actually) probably have a hard time with this holiday too. They may get to see their mom or dad every once in a while but they may not get to spend time with them on these holidays. All the classrooms do crafts for mothers day but what if they don't have a mommy to give it to? I think older foster kids who knew their parents longer have a much harder time with things like this. 

If you are blessed like me to work with foster kids, give them extra love as they are going though tougher things than many of us have ever experienced. Show them that they really do matter. That they really are loved. That they mean a lot to you. Hug them this week. You may not realize how much they really need it.

Happy Resurrection Day!!!!

Roughly 2000 years ago, a man died on a cross along with 2 thieves. And then three days later he rose from the dead. I'm sure you all know this story, but for some reason this one affected me differently than the past 16 Easter's. I don't know why and I may not ever know why.

Throughout this Holy day, God gave me many reminders of what today was. It's almost like the whole day was opening Resurrection eggs (well we did do that in Children's church but that's be sides the point).

This morning on our way to church driving up the same road we drive up several times a week, we saw a car with the license plate that said "3 NAILS". I have lived in this state for my whole life. Lived in this city for 10+ years and I have never seen that license plate before.

Tonight at dinner, we did a toast and my grandpa raised his wine glass and I raised what I had in my hand which was bread. That reminded me of communion, the blood and the body, the bread and the wine.

Tonight as we drove home from my grandparents house and I watched the sun set. It was so beautiful. I thought "what a beautiful ending to such a beautiful Easter day." It reminded me that Jesus was now in heaven and painted the sky beautifully tonight. He ascended into heaven to be with His father.

I love that God showed me all of these meaningful things on such a meaningful day. This year I saw and felt the real meaning of this Easter Sunday.

Luke 24

I will leave you with this link and some song  lyrics.

Glorious Day by Casting Crowns (with lyrics but I'm also posting the lyrics in case you don't wanna listen to it)
http://m.youtube.com/results?q=glorious%20day%20casting%20crowns&sm=1

This morning I had this song stuck in my head. I was hoping we would sing it in church this morning and we did! I was so happy!

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

[Chorus:]
Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

[Chorus]

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

[Chorus]

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

[Chorus]

Glorious day, Oh, Glorious day

Hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Day!!!!!

Happy National Siblings Day!!!!

In honor of National Siblings day I figured it would be  appropriate to share one set of Siblings from RR. But why only share one when I can share them all!!!! Tonight I'm going to share all the siblings in the Other Angel Siblings category. Maybe you or someone you know will adopt a set of siblings!!!

Lord, Please give all of these wonderful blessings families to love them!

Please scroll all the way to the bottom!!!

 Clayton and Caleb
Twin boys. August 2010








William and Tommy




Brody and Auggie
Brody

Auggie

Bert and Ernie






Twins: Nadia and Nancy  HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED!!!




Sawyer and Finn 



Jasper and Jasmin  Boy/Girl Twins
(No Photos available)

Trisha and Tyler


Molly and Marcey






Lucy and Linus


Mason and Madison






Hunter, Forest, and Ridge
 





Eva and Ella
(no photos avalaible)

Jack and Jill
(No photos avalaible)

Gracie and George




George and Martha




Samantha and Kristina  HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED!!!