Look at the smiling faces!(Ice cream makes me smile too :)). Samish, Salina, Shahid and Sahil came into our lives in September of 2012 when we met the family at the Denver airport upon their arrival from Nepal. The kids were all born at a refugee camp in Nepal and parents are refugees from Bhutan 20 years before. We work with refugees that arrive in the Denver area and we have Iraqi, Somali, Eritrean, and Burmese friends in the Denver Metro. This family especially needed lots of help settling in USA and learning the ways. After a year things weren't going too well with the family and the court appointed kinship custody of the children since the kids knew and trusted us. We thought at first it would be just a night or two, then two weeks. It was 300 days. It adds up to 1200 baths!! Lol... We have lots of stories of this time in our lives. Who knew I would have 4 kids under age 7 when I was 60 years old? Well, God did. We are so grateful for the prayers of family and friends--God gave us the strength and endurance to care for these amazing kids.
The kids finally went back home and we visit once a month and we all have a great time together.
What would I do now? It had been a whirlwind couple of years with all our refugee friends. Was I still needed somewhere? I believe that many times we have to take that first step and then God will lead us on an unexpected path. Our daughter, Allison, asked for essential oils for Christmas that year. I didn't know anything about essential oils and I wasn't going to give her some new age, voodoo stuff. Nope. I researched different companies and found one that had it's own farms that I could visit and they had been around the longest of all modern day essential oils. It all added up and this ole farm girl chose Young Living Essential Oil company. I saw a friend post on Facebook about Young Living. I ordered a starter oil set. After trying the products for one week---I knew this was the real thing. They worked!
But that is not the end of the story. Not only have the oils and other products set Phil and I on wellness journey that we love to share with our friends and family. We want the people we care about to benefit too. Our path of purpose happened when Phil and I were at small Young Living conference in Minnesota. The director of the Young Living Foundation told the us all about the work that YLF(Young Living Foundation) was planning to do in Nepal in a village that was near the epicenter of the April 2015 earthquake that devastated the country and killed thousands of people. Soon YLF would be sending teams to help rebuild the village. We sent our applications in as soon as it was published and we were thrilled to be chosen from hundreds of applicants. In February 2017 we were on our way to a remote village, Yarsa. Since then, I have been to Nepal four times and Phil three times. Now YLF is in a different area of Nepal, building schools and women centers. The people of Nepal have so blessed us with their love and friendship.
Phil and I are excited to be going back to Nepal with the Young Living Foundation in March 2020. We are filled with excitement and joy to be able to go back. And we are grateful for our good health and the ability to travel and do the work.
The Young Living Foundation is very unique --- when you donate to the YL Foundation EVERY penny goes to the work to empower people. ZERO admin fees are taken out. All the staff are paid by the company. We have seen it with our own eyes in Uganda and in Ecuador too, where we traveled in January and February 2019 with the Foundation.
Phil and I are so excited to represent the Young Living Foundation as Ambassadors. It is a role we are honored to be asked and as Ambassadors we strive to educate the great work that YLF is doing around the world and in USA. We will also help YLF and do fundraising to support all the projects. We believe that together we can make a difference.
Text to Donate: 91011 Subject Line: CHANGELIVES
Or:
Hello, My Friend!
Phil and I so grateful to have the wonderful opportunity to serve with the Young Living Foundation in 2019.
Have you heard that millions of people, mostly women and children, have been victims of modern day slavery? While Phil and I were in Uganda we visited two safe houses for rescued children, one for girls and one for boys. In this photo I am with a little girl who came with her older sister.
Our monetary gifts to Young Living Foundation Hope for Justice are helping to support the homes, educate and counsel the children and so much more.
Young Living Foundation works with Hope for Justice, supporting the efforts to rescue children from being victims of modern slavery to become empowered to be free and restored. Hope for Justice uses a four-tiered approach to end this disgusting thorn in our world. Read more at www.younglivingfoundation.org and click on the projects tab..
