August 2018 - The Sparrow Fund

Since the start, we’ve had speakers for our annual marriage retreat Together Called who God has used in remarkably ways that only He can do to speak the words we really need to hear. I’m not sure why we still feel surprised by it 7 years into this thing.

Not this time.

Together Called may still be 7 months away, but our team is filled with great expectation. We trust you will be too when you hear about who is joining as this time as our keynote speaker and our worship leader.

We have been longtime fans of our keynote speaker Peter Greer. Peter is President and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered organization strengthening families through job creation throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally as a microfinance advisor in Cambodia and Zimbabwe, and managing director of Urwego Community Bank in Rwanda. Pretty neat, right? He is a graduate of Messiah College and received a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, is a well known speaker, and has coauthored over 10 books, including Mission Drift which was been widely acclaimed and selected for an award from Christianity Today. More important than his professional role is his role as husband to Laurel and dad to Keith, Lilianna, and Myles as well as a foster parent.

We’ve also been fans of our worship leaders Ross and Staci King since they joined us at Together Called 2016. Since 1995, Ross has been a full-time working musician. For most of that time, his primary work has been writing music, leading worship, and recording/performing. He currently writes for a publisher called Simpleville Music out of Nashville, TN and is working on a new record that we can’t wait to come out (though we admit that our King favorite is an oldie called Hallelujah for the Cross). He and Staci are parents via adoption to two boys and two girls who we’re hoping inherent the music making biz.

Now aren’t you filled with great expectation too?

Registration for Together Called 2019 will open in early October. Make sure you join our mailing list to be reminded of it. But, we need corporate and/or personal sponsors in place to make it happen. If you own a business and are interested in caring for caregivers with us or want to be a part of supporting foster care and adoption by supporting the moms and dads in it, email us. We’d love to tell you more about why we need you and what sponsoring looks like.

And, I love that they’ve come to expect it.
I love that they know I’m never going to come and forget them.
-Kelly Raudenbush

Caring for caregivers. It’s more that just a tagline or our favorite hashtag. It’s literally the heartbeat of our mission. Everyday, it’s what we seek to do stateside or on the other side of the world. One of my favorite ways we tangibly do this is through gifts, something special intentionally chosen for the orphanage ayis. It’s one way we say, “we see you, you are valuable, and you are treasured.” Every time we go, we take joy in deciding what we will take for our friends who work long hours with little recognition. On our last trip, we took handmade aprons that each had a unique pattern so that every ayi could pick one to fit her own style.

My Mom has become permanently recruited as a resource when our gift idea is something handmade. It’s her way of being a part of our mission, of playing a role in caring for these women, the caregivers. When we hatched the creative idea of making totes as our next gift, she got busy sewing right away. We loved this idea of two-of-a-kind tote bags and are filled with anticipation to tell the nannies about it. We hope that it makes them feel extra special to know that for each bag they pick out for themselves, there is a sister on the other side of the world carrying the same bag. We want them to know that it’s not just us who think they are worthy of these gifts but that those who bought a matching tote remember them too.

But my Mom knows our heart and our intention behind our gifts. She knows that we use the gifts to connect with the nannies. She has learned that our gift giving is more than just giving a gift but speaks love. With that in mind, she made an extra special gift for Kelly and I.

These two totes have a square from all 30 patterns of bags made. She made these unbeknownst to us and slipped them in with the last shipment of totes. Beyond making us our very own beautiful tote bag, she gave us a very tangible gift of caring, and we can’t wait to show the nannies this bag. We love that this bag will express in ways that words cannot that we carry a piece of each of them with us.

With every gift we’ve given, the nannies always gush on about how they can never forget us. Now we’ll be able to show that we won’t forget them either.

Want to be a part of this? Click HERE to see the few remaining two-of-a-kind tote bag packages we have available to help us raise a portion of the funds needed to keep our efforts going.

Erin Garrison has been a pediatric physical therapist since 2010 and was first introduced to The Sparrow Fund through serving on an orphanage trip in October of 2016. It was during this trip that her heart was stirred, and she was drawn to a big move and career change in order to serve children living in orphanages and their caregivers both for a season and forever. Her passion is to help equip and train the orphanage staff on developmental and handling techniques to assist in reducing delays. As Family Services Coordinator with The Sparrow Fund, she seeks to be a resource for families as they transition children to home and get connected to the services needed. You can contact Erin directly at eringarrison@sparrowfund.org.

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Month: August 2018

Looks who is coming to Together Called 2019

We never forget them