To our dear Awake and Alive readers: This is the letter that Darin and Jolene sent to their friends and families this spring. Please read and become Alive.
Awake and Alive: Bright Future Academy
Dear
Friends and Family,
Darin and I are writing you
to be a part of something we believe has the potential to be life changing! We
would like to invite you to partner with us & Awake and Alive to build a
school for young children in Kechene, Ethiopia. Our prayers are that this
school can be the beginning of hope and change in this slum community. Will you
partner with us to bring hope to those who need it most?
As you know, last March
Darin and I traveled to Ethiopia to bring home Stella and Ben, who have blessed
our lives beyond measure. But what you might not know is that while we were in
Ethiopia we visited one of the poorest areas a slum called Kechene.
While we were there we
noticed the population was very young.
We found out that this was because of the living conditions that come
with living in an extremely crowded, poor and disease stricken area. We went into homes of orphans and
widows; homes that are, at best, an 8X8 shack with dirt floors, no running
water, no electricity, and a tattered roof.
We heard stories of extreme hard ship, loss
and pain.
We hugged and kissed
children who know loss and feel the pain that comes from HIV/AIDS. We spent time getting
to know the widows who have to leave their young children at home to go make a
living. We found out the children are left with no one to protect them. They
are at risk for dangerous situations, abuse, child trafficking, or who knows
what else! Most of the mothers can
barely afford to provide enough food for their families yet alone an education.
So this cycle of poverty will continue for these children and their families.
Since that experience, we have not been the
same.
Upon returning home the
God-given opportunity to start a school for these vulnerable children showed
itself!
My dear friend, Danielle
Black and I have founded a Nonprofit Organization called Awake and Alive and
our 1st project is to open a school in Kechene, Ethiopia! The cost
is $44,000 to start a school that will remove 30 of the most vulnerable
children from the streets of Kechene!
Darin and I are
wholeheartedly committed to this project so we are giving 10% of the school
cost. We are asking you to come along side us in supporting this wonderful
cause - giving children a brighter future. All money given is tax deductible
and 100% of your gift will go to the school.
This
fall I will take a trip to Ethiopia to help the project and see the opening of
the school. I will come home with amazing stories of hope and redemption from
the children who will have a safe place to learn and grow because of your
generosity!
Our
children have turned our lives upside down. Bringing them home from a
third-world country has blessed our lives beyond explanation. It’s impossible
for us to look at the young children in Kechene and not think of our own
children. If our children were
on the streets we would stop at nothing to change their situation! It is very
real to us! Let it be very real to you as well. And PLEASE – Go beyond wishing
it was different and let’s DO something about it!
Thank you for giving a life
changing gift!
Darin and Jolene Shrock
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to
do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know,
and holds us responsible to act." Prov. 24:12
We are praying for 44 partners to come alongside us
and make a onetime gift of $440.00, which would enable us to have enough
upfront funding to open the doors to our school in Kechene for the first year. This level of partnership is not for everyone, and
there are many ways to help. Thank you.
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