Julie Gumm - Author

Prayer for Travel Buddies

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UPDATED: Praise the Lord – Jen is cleared for travel. The doc gave her some beta blockers and sent her on her way!!! Our God is awesome!

I am asking for some serious prayer for our beloved friend and travel buddy Jen. They are scheduled to leave with us for Addis on Sunday morning. It has been amazing to watch God work out the timing of our journeys so that we can experience this together. The things that have happened in both of our journeys to bring us to this point together can be nothing else than God’s work. We all feel confident that God has us embarking on this journey together not just for our fun and enjoyment but for a much larger purpose that we will only know when we get there. So I can assume that today’s developments are surely an attack from Satan to try to prevent what God is doing.

About an hour ago we got a call from Dustin. Jen was at her sister’s when all her extremities started turning blue. It started in hands and feet and kept spreading up arms and legs. They called the paramedics. Her blood pressure is extremely low and they are taking her to the hospital.

Please pray that they will discover QUICKLY what is wrong and get her on the way to healing! I know that she does not want to delay her trip to get her son or worse, miss out. We serve a powerful and mighty God who can work miracles and we are asking him to do one today.

Updated 7:32 – They did an EKG. Still waiting to talk to the cardiologist. While they were waiting they did a dye injection to check for blood clots in the lungs. That came back clear (praise God). Her heart rate is still really elevated. She snuck on her phone to tweet (I love that girl 🙂 and said she may need beta blockers for wacky pulse rate. Keep praying!!!

Donations for Hope for the Hopeless

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Now that it is confirmed we are traveling soon, several have asked about donating toward goods we will purchase for the orphanage – Hope for the Hopeless.

The easiest way to do that is by following the link below, then click on the orange “ChipIn” button on the right side. So far we’ve raised $160 ($150 via check).

DONATE

We leave a week from today and we will take whatever money we have with us then and use it to meet whatever needs we see.

By the way, if you are interested in sponsoring one of the kids at Hope for the Hopeless at $20 a month, put a comment below and I will get you more info.

Updated: Got another pledge of $50 coming via check so we’re up to $235. Yeah!

Updated again: Okay, somehow my ChipIn page isn’t showing all the money. We’re up to $325 counting checks! You guys rock!

Ethiopia

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My sister in law asked me today if, besides the fact that it means we are getting the kids, I am excited about out trip to Ethiopia. My answer is a resounding YES. In fact, I yearn to travel to this beautiful land. It’s different than the excitement I felt before our trip to England our Germany. It sounds totally hokey, but it is as if part of my heart is in Africa.

And honestly, I don’t think it’s just about the kids. I think God has truly placed an incredible love for this land in the heart of both Mark and I. That is without me even having been there yet. I know it must be doubly so for Mark who got to travel there in April (other parts of Africa).

Our current plan, based on passing court and traveling at the same time as the Slonigers, give us 5 full days in Ethiopia to experience it’s beauty. Unfortunately we won’t get to see a lot of the beautiful outlying areas because of the time we plan to spend at Hope for the Hopeless. But it is my hope that this will just be the first of many trips to this beautiful country.

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