Thoughts by Emily Walter

It was a modern day of fishes and loaves.

Our group from the recent vision trip met to discuss how we were going to raise money and get the remaining kids sponsored.

After about an hour of brainstorming, Birnie suggested a lemonade stand. What if we go grassroots? We loved the idea and made plans to have it that weekend.

Everyone helped- we painted signs, invited friends, and printed photos of kids that needed to be sponsored. Then we simply showed up and waited for the Lord to surprise us. We set up our little booth in a hot Tom Thumb parking lot and prayed for each child as we hung up their picture with a closepin on a burlap string.

Truthfully, I had doubts, wondering: what if only my mom comes?

But the Lord took what we had to give: a little faith from me, a lot of faith from Cynthia, a few pitchers of lemonade and chick-fil-a tea, homemade cookies, a folding table, and multiplied it into more than we could ever have imagined.

The Lord moved in family, friends, strangers passing by, clients, old acquaintances. People gave generously and with joy. The digital donations through Venmo continued to roll in for hours. The response left us speechless, tearful, and squealing.

It was a day that I will carry with me and never cease to marvel at. The Lord built up my faith and laid the foundation to build a school for headmistress Catherine and little Drake and all the children and teachers at Ebenezer school. They will now have physical shelter from the elements, a safe place to keep materials, a place to learn and grow and play in, a floor that does not turn into mud when it rains.

All thanks to the kind hearts and open hands who made this possible and a God who is faithful to provide.

Altogether 22 children were sponsored and over $36,000 was raised at the lemonade stand. A huge thank you to Collins Interiors for generously matching every gift.