...for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.

Matthew 19:14.  Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  I have been so humbled by the children God has placed in my path.  Oh, to have the faith of these little creatures.  They give so generously, follow Jesus with no inhibition and love with every thing they have.

Oh, to be like the children.

I want to share with you about another very special young friend God has placed in my life.  Her name is Ella and she is 7.  Her sweet mama is an awesome customer & friend of Funky Fish.  When she placed an order a few months back for a Project HOPEFUL necklace, Ella got so excited because she thought it was hers.  She had told her Mom that she wanted some Funky Fish jewelry for her birthday.  Reason #1 I fell in love with this kid ;o)   Seriously....could she be any cute?

A few months later, I get a message from her Mom asking if I could send some Funky Fish business cards.  Ella's heart had been broken for the orphans of the world and she thought if she told people about Funky Fish (specifically the Tesfa jewelry collection) then she could help.  I assured Mama that I would.

Time escaped me and when I remembered that I hadn't sent the cards, my heart sank.  So I prepared a package for Ella with business cards and several Tesfa bracelets.  I had no idea what would happen and it wasn't about the money.  It was about encouraging a little girl to follow her passion to care for the orphans.

Her Mama messaged me and said that their church was giving Ella the opportunity to share about Funky Fish & the Tesfa jewelry.  Here are the messages I received after Ella had her opportunity to share with her church:

I just wanted to let you know that Ella told our church about Funky Fish and the Tesfa Collection today...she sold all of the bracelets after the first of two services! Many more people stopped and took a card from her and were interested in buying from you online...I hope that they really do!  Thanks again for letting her help!

Our pastors LOVED the idea of Ella promoting the Tesfa collection (and Funky Fish in general) and were wondering if you'd be willing to send Ella jewelry again next month.  I asked Ella if that's something that she would like to do since they brought it up to me and my husband and she said that she would love to and that she had so much fun today.

I really can't put into words what my heart felt when I read that.

The Tesfa jewelry collection supports Hope in Ethiopia....a partnership between our church, Grace Covenant in Austin, Food for the Hungry and 12 Evangelical churches in Zeway, Ethiopia. 

Community Transformation through Orphan Care.  That is what Hope in Ethiopia is about.  One little village in Zeway, Ethiopia is transforming communities in Ethiopia...in Austin...in Arizona...and wherever the Lord leads.

Thank you sweet Ella for your gift of compassion.  God is going to use you in big, big ways.  In fact, He already has.  Thank you for being such a beautiful example to all the "grown-ups" out there.

To learn more about any of the ministries mentioned, please click on the links below.

Tesfa jewelry
Hope in Ethiopia
Food for the Hungry
Grace Covenant Church
Project HOPEFUL

To God be the Glory.....always,
Dawn