Mother's Day 2 days later - Ode to Moms

Friends - I'm so excited about my mom, Valerie. :) She brings joy to the lives of all who meet her.  This past Sunday, I really enjoyed taking my mom out to eat fresh seafood in Boston and celebrating her lifetime of love for my 2 sisters and I. This year, was especially great, as my wife, Katie, and I await our daughter's arrival sometime in the next month or so. June 4 is our due date. Celebrating Katie's new role as a mom made this Mothers Day even more personal for me.

Two days ago, we all had a chance to celebrate our moms, grandmothers, wives, sisters, and friends who are moms. You may have also taken time to remember a lost loved one - a mom who is no longer with us. Whether it was a great day of laughing with your mom or remembering the happy memories, I love Mother's Day.

My mom joked about funny things that happened when I was a kid, like when she ran over my foot by accident, told me to stop crying and sent me to school. :-) I was really ok, but my memory gives me incredible sway still to this day. :-) But we also talked about the serious times, when she was doing things without me even knowing it. Being a mom is often a thankless job, but a vital one in the life of a child.

With the ministry of Forgotten Voices, we have the opportunity to equip brave men and women in local churches across Zimbabwe and Zambia, who are faithfully sharing the love of Christ like a mom to children who are not their own, but loving them as if they are. At Forgotten Voices, we see LOTS and lots of stories of people taking in children who show up on the doorsteps or churches because the kids have no where to go after losing their moms. We see aunts and sisters or grandmothers caring for the children of a deceased family member.

I remember walking into a homestead and meeting a 73 year old grandmother to 24 children, 15 of them school aged. The woman had lost all 6 of her children to HIV/AIDS related illnesses, leaving all the kids under her care. We met during my first trip to Zimbabwe and Forgotten Voices started providing funds to the local church to send some of the children to school, as well as provide seed for the family. You can hear an interview I did about this story here.

Over the next 2 years, as I got to know her, GoGo (grandmother) told me that she did it because "it is the right thing to do and these children need me." The woman was confident and stable in her declaration. She felt that God would provide because He would want her to care for the kids.

You and I, as we celebrate our own moms, have the opportunity to equip women like my friend GoGo, who dares to believe like a mother -- that God will provide for our needs.

Please consider making a monthly gift to help us take care of GoGo's grandchildren (9 of which are still in school) and thousands like them all over Zimbabwe and Zambia. Without your motherly love and equipping local churches to play the role of mother to thousands of children orphaned by AIDS, our mission to equip them would not be possible.

Thanks for loving kids, loving moms, and helping local churches in Africa do the same!

-Ryan