Hi Bevie,

Wow, God is really moving this along. When I went to my women's Bible study yesterday, they have decided to put the $1 they give each week to this little boy, instead of the clean water ministry. That ministry has a lot of funding at this time, and this boy has captured their hearts as well. It won't be a lot, but it will be on going, and they are going to present it to you when you come in May. Tom and I will be sending you money through PayPal tonight or tomorrow. Also, I am going to my first Missions committee meeting Tuesday, and of course I will present this ministry to them, and hopefully we can get something going through my whole church.

God is great!!!

Love you,

Lori

"It was an honor to serve and do life alongside of Bevie while we were in South Africa. Her sense of humor about life and willingness to go and hike all over a rugged terrain was not limited by her inability to see. And her desire to connect with others in the communities who were blind demonstrated a tender and compassionate heart. One of the highlights from the trip for me involved her and a little blind boy we met on our second day of ministry. At the fourth home we visited that day, we met a grandmother who was raising 18 children in a dilapidated collection of mud houses. One of the children was a little boy with clouded eyes. On top of having eye problems, he was running a fever that day. He was also very sad. Our translator told us he was sad because he wished he could see so that he did not have to miss school. Currently, he cannot attend school because of not being able to see. This little child sat there crying as we prayed for him, and several people on the team found it to be a heart wrenching experience. Before we left however, our translator introduced Bevie to the boy. She wanted to say hello and reach out to him because she too was blind. The minute the boy heard she was blind he jumped up and ran into her arms and said he loved her. It was such a privilege to watch this moment unfold! Later, in sharing about our highlights for the day, I recounted how this moment filled me with joy. I shared that I was struck by the intentionality of this moment that God had orchestrated; for this little boy to no longer believe that he was the only blind person in the world.    Julie Shapland 04/02/2014