Are we excited - or what?

We pack our bags this past week - all 6 of them! We will be weighing them tomorrow to make sure that we use every pound that United/Lufthansa allows us to take. I am overwhelmed not only by the amount of donations that you all have contributed, but also the cash donations. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! You will definitely touch the lives of people who truly need help.

Many of you have asked if I am getting excited about our trip. It has been such a hard question for me to answer, so I have answered you all honestly. Simply, that it wouldn't be the word that I would describe my feelings about this adventure. You see at our team meeting, we heard stories of veteran team members finding new born babies in sewage and a mother was going to throw her twins into the river because she couldn't feed them. This made the reality of what this team of incredible doctors, nurses, and lay people do real and that I am now a part of this group that will help people in situations that I could have never imagined existed.

At this meeting, we not only briefly met the other 20 team members, but also found out our assignments for our trip. Anna and I will be interviewing the people, including children, who will present their needs to us. We will do this every evening of our stay and then we will have to determine who will get their needs addressed. For some of them, we are their last and/or their only hope. The veterans on our team chuckled not because it is a funny, but because they told us that this is the hardest job that faces our team. In fact, the gal who was in charge of this last year asked to be reassigned after the third day because it was to emotionally difficult. So, I ask that you all will have both of us in your prayers. We will need God's guidance, wisdom, and strength to be able to make the right decisions. Again, why I hesitated to answer "yes" to your question.

I am excited to do the work that God has called me to do. I could not do this without all of your support and love, so I thank you again.

Talk with you all from Ethiopia! Lori