Just One Person

She's so petite--not much over 5 feet tall in her tank top, flowing skirt and sparkly flip flops--but she eminates energy.  She's an artist, a professional rider in dressage , a dance teacher for little girls and an activist in her own small way.  Oh she's not the sort who lobbies legislators or gets petitions signed, but she's the kind who sees a problem and acts. 

It started with a CD from a mission organization telling about orphans in the far off city of Mozambique, Africa.  It seems that years of brutal civil war have left thousands of children homeless and Christian couple have taken in hundreds of the orphaned street children to feed, clothe and educate.  Gina's heart was touched.  An idea began to form although maybe it was more of an inspiration.  She wanted each of those children to know that he or she matters to God so she dreamed up a series of designs for shirts with blessings and promises of God painted or printed on them. She wanted people to buy the shirts for the kids and write a small blessing for a personal touch.  That idea expanded to include a coloring book for each child with all 16 blessing designs included.  Then she heard of some children in similar situations in Tanzania and South Africa.  You guessed it--they had to be included too. 

At last count 200 shirts were being painted or printed and packed to be taken to Africa.  Through Gina's efforts, a local Caribbean organization is interested in putting the children's photos on a website so that people from other countries can sponser them and help pay for their food, clothing and education.  There have been many bumps along the road, but as Gina said, "Giving birth is never easy whether it's giving birth to a child or a new idea."

 Last night as we stood in an empty t-shirt shop packaging some of the shirts, I was reminded of a story that I heard once.  It seems there was a man walking along a beach that was covered with starfish which had washed up on shore.  The man would bend down and pick one up and then toss it back into the waves.  Another man cam up to him and said, "There are thousands of them.  Why are you doing that? You can't hope to make a real difference."  The man reached down and picked up another starfish and hurled it into the surf and then smiled, "It made a difference for that one."

Thank you, Gina.  In a time when so many of us throw up our hands and say, "What can I do? " I admire you so much for asking instead, "What CAN I do?" and then doing it to the best of your ability.

For details regarding the "Kisses From Heaven" project click here.