Where to begin?

Because Every Mother Matters.  Isn't that a great name for an organization?  It's a great response to the question "Why?"  Why help women on the other side of the globe?  Because Every Mother Matters.  Why send money and supplies?  Because Every Mother Matters.  Why make little sacrifices here and there to squeeze a few extra dollars from the budget to send sponsorship funds to women we've never met? Because Every Mother Matters.  Why pray daily over these women?  Why cry over updates and pictures as they're posted?  Because Every Mother Matters.

Every.

Mother.

Matters.

I can't remember how I heard about Because Every Mother Matters.  Some Facebook friend must have shared a link to their page, and I was immediately drawn to them.  I love the work that BEMM is doing to help mothers, children, and dads, too.  I didn't know how much I would be drawn to what they're doing until the day in August when I read this post:

Because Every Mother Matters

I'm hoping someone feels that unmistakable feeling in their gut, you know the feeling...like someone is sitting on you. That feeling is the call to action, the emotional response that I'm talking to YOU. We were given 2 profiles of women over 70 today. One is blind. One is barren. Both are beggars and in need of a sponsor. Since, we typically work w/ young moms w/ kids our strategy will be different with these women..the monthly commitment is $20. message me for more info

That post was meant for me.  There was no question in my mind that I was meant to sponsor at least one of these women.  We lost my mom to cancer in 2009.  She would have been 70.  I couldn't even begin to imagine what her life and final days would have been like if she hadn't been surrounded by loved ones and by the comforts that money provide.  I contacted Steffany at BEMM and began my sponsorship of the barren 70yr old woman.  I posted about and tried to find a sponsor for the other lady, but it soon became clear to me that my family was supposed to sponsor both of these women.  I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing this has been for us!  Lifting them up in prayer has lifted us.  Seeing the change in their appearance, and reading the updates on the changes in their circumstances has had a profound affect on me.  My kids lost their beloved grandma two years ago, and they never met their other grandma. (She died of diabetes complications before their daddy and I started dating, so I never met her, either.)  But now, they have two beautiful grannies whose pictures hang on our wall, and whose hearts are connected to our hearts.  Sponsorship is such a beautiful, beautiful gift!  We thought it was a gift we were giving to our grannies, but we very quickly realized it was a huge gift to our family.

When BEMM started to post about their October trip, I felt such a yearning to go.  I wanted to meet our grannies and all the other mommas that I'd been praying for.  I wanted to see the village of Mareya and visit the people who were going to be blessed by an ambulance.  I longed to go so much that it was painful that it didn't work out.  As it happened, while the BEMM team was in Ethiopia in October, I was home miscarrying a little boy.  I was thankful to be in Nebraska where I have access to wonderful care.  It really underscored for me how desperate the situation is for women who don't have the same luxuries of trained medical professionals, sanitary conditions, widely available medicine.  As difficult as losing our little Chad Isaac was for me, I had wonderful medical personnel looking out for me.  I had the blessing of a sister to come and stay with me, cook for my kids, distract them with games, pray with me, help me heal.  So many women don't have access to basic care.  

When I read about the lack of midwife training, sterile birthing conditions, an ambulance to transport women to larger clinics, it broke my heart.  When I learned how Because Every Mother Matters is addressing these issues, it gave me hope.  I can only imagine the hope that is spreading in Mareya and the surrounding villages because they now have sterile birthing kits and training on how to use them.  They now have an ambulance so that no laboring momma will again need to be tied to a pole and carried eight hours down the mountain.  I praise God for every person who helped make these things happen!

I encourage you to go and check out the wonderful things that BEMM is doing.  You can find out about sponsoring mommas, items you can purchase that help mommas overseas AND help refugee mommas right here in America, and you can find about an amazing opportunity to travel to Ethiopia in March.  I'm so thrilled to be able to write that I AM GOING!  I can't wait to meet our grannies face-to-face and wrap them in huge hugs.  There will be so much going on during this trip, and I'm so excited for all of it.  Because Every Mother Matters.  

Here are our beautiful grannies, Teyitu and Yeshi (with Steffany from BEMM):