Ethiopia or Bust - Update #1

9 weeks and counting!

I blogged the other day about my upcoming trip to Ethiopia. To read that follow this link.

UPDATE: One of my teammates, Linda, finally received her passport. I literally booked the plane tickets the next day! Praise God! Originally, I thought my son and I would need around $6,000 for the trip but our plane tickets came in at $1,300 each, that is an amazing price, again, praise God! I have adjusted our goal to $5,500.

If you feel led to contribute to our trip you can make a tax deductible donation by mailing in a check to Children's HopeChest or making an online payment.

Donate by check: Make it out to Children's HopeChest, attached a note that says,
ET150303T Ingrid & Colin Olson/Shanto Trip, otherwise they won't know to credit our account.

Mail it to:
Children's HopeChest
P.O. Box 63842
Colorado Spring, CO 80962

OR

Make on online payment by following this link: Children's HopeChest Donation Page
Scroll down to, "Trip Payment: One Time Gifts"
In the box put, "ET150303T Ingrid & Colin Olson/Shanto Trip"
The above code is crucial otherwise it will not be added to our trip account.

Thanks for the prayers, interest and encouragement! It means a lot!

Provided byFund-Raising-Ideas-Center.com

Ethiopia or Bust

I am SO excited to head back to Ethiopia for the 3rd time. I am bringing along my oldest son. I cannot wait for him to meet all the wonderful staff and children at FOVC. We will be delivering sponsor gifts, doing crafts with the kids, home visits, project planning for the next year, and encouraging our brothers and sisters in Christ as they continue to work every single day to help 172 precious orphaned and vulnerable children.

We would love prayer for this trip. Pray for the planning process, fundraising, travel safety, health, and productivity of the trip. Please pray for the FOVC staff, children, and widows, for their daily strength and God's continued provision in their lives.

The total cost of the trip will be close to $6,000. Colin and I are fundraising. If you feel led to contribute to our trip you can make a tax deductible donation by mailing in a check to Children's HopeChest or making an online payment.

Donate by check: Make it out to Children's HopeChest, attached a note that says,
ET150303T Ingrid & Colin Olson/Shanto Trip, otherwise they won't know to credit our account.

Mail it to:
Children's HopeChest
P.O. Box 63842
Colorado Spring, CO 80962

OR

Make on online payment by following this link: Children's HopeChest Donation Page
Scroll down to, "Trip Payment: One Time Gifts"
In the box put, "ET150303T Ingrid & Colin Olson/Shanto Trip"
The above code is crucial otherwise it will not be added to our trip account.

If you donate please let me know, I'd LOVE to say THANK YOU!

Provided byFund-Raising-Ideas-Center.com

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2015. Back in high school I remember watching Back to the Future II, shouldn't we be in flying cars by now? LOL!

The past few years have been hard, especially the end of 2013 and most of 2014. It was definitely reflected in the fact that I only wrote six blog posts last year. I am hoping to do more writing in 2015. I enjoy writing, not that I am amazing at it but it's fulfilling. Plus, I really want to write more about Jesus, Ethiopia, being obedient, and making a difference in this world.

This past year we moved. It was a long, drawn-out process that was definitely stressful, full of hard work, and miraculous all at the same time. I LOVE our new home and everyday as I pull into the driveway I smile and say thank you to God. Here are a few pictures of our house and yard taken this fall. By the way, we had the most amazing fall, the colors were insane and we found out we have four sugar maples.

We found a house on a wooded lot yet not out in the country. We are in a suburb, right up against a park, it is wonderful! The house was originally $90,000 over what we could afford. We decided to look at the house anyway and because of the work it needed, we got the price down to what we could afford. I also became an expert at mold remediation, more on that in a future blog post.

Our backyard is all wooded so we use our front yard. We LOVE all our trees. In Minneapolis we only had 2 trees, this was definitely a change for us. Raking was fun, especially since we were able to dump leaves in the woods versus bagging them. 

We have many long-term projects for this house. I want to turn this space into an outdoor patio.

I hope to write more about last year. Even though it was hard, I saw God at work in our lives and I learned a great deal. I am glad 2014 is over and hope that 2015 brings more money, yes, I said money. The needs in Ethiopia are great and I am focusing on fundraising. The end of 2014 brought in over $16,000 that will be used for an animal husbandry project which will provide 20 widows with a cow and sheep. Also, funds will help provide school uniforms for the 150 Shanto children. I am thankful for a successful fundraiser but FOVC is underfunded and has wonderful plans to expand if funding can be found. I am praying! 

Thanks to everyone who donated to this fundraiser! I had fun raising money on Facebook, making fun pictures to grab people's attention.

                         

Lots more to come in 2015 including a trip to Ethiopia. I can't wait!