Caroline's Promise News

Is your group looking for a special project for Christmas? We’re collecting Christmas Gift Packs for our kids at Casita Adonai in Guatemala City. Your gallon sized zip lock bag or school supplies will give the kids a great start to the school year in January. Deadline is December 10. Our Guatemala Team will deliver them the week after Christmas! Click here for instructions and a flyer you can print.

For the past five years our family has sponsored two children from Guatemala. At first it seemed like such a small thing. How could our $35 a month really make a difference for these kids? Then we met our Daniel. He is the same age as our oldest son, Kendall and they have similar gifts and personalities. I was amazed at how much they are alike! The first time we met I immediately felt like he was one of ours. After that visit we decided to sponsor another child and were quickly matched with Melany. She is more like our middle child, Cameron. They hit it off instantly! Each year when we go to Guatemala we make every effort to spend time with our sponsored children. We've been able to meet their mothers and encourage them. We've seen how the support has allowed them to stay in school and learn how much God loves them. Mostly, the prayers and letters that we exchange have helped our children focus on someone other than themselves. Our family can spend $35 on one meal out. Why woul...

Katherine Kirshberger is one of our wonderful volunteers. She has a huge heart for orphans and has been on several trips with Caroline's Promise. Katherine shared with us that she is hosting her own Orphan Sunday event in her home. Her ideas are still forming but she hopes to serve a meal that many orphans may eat. She'll show a video from the www.orphansunday.org website, and share practical ways that her friends can make a difference in the life of an orphan. " There are so many reasons I want to raise awareness about orphans around the world, but I'll share some of the most important. God tells us that genuine religion looks after, visits, and cares for widows and orphans in their distress (Jam. 1:27). It is the miracle of adoption that has given us our salvation and relationship with God. We are all adopted into God's own family! ( Eph . 1:5) We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). I have seen the wonder of adoption affect my entire family through th...

We're thankful for two of our volunteers, Erin Jones and Sara Toney, who helped us get our latest fair trade gift items posted on the Caroline's Promise website. Erin is a photography student and has her own business. You can see her work at http://selahphotobyerin.com/ Erin took time out of her busy schedule to photograph our newest items. Sara Toney volunteered to post the items on our Caroline's Promise store. Together they made it possible for you to "shop smarter!" When thinking about gifts for Christmas, make sure you stop by our store and give a gift that will make a difference. All items are purchased from widows and single moms in our partner projects around the world. Your purchase allows them to support their families us to continue supporting orphans. https://app.etapestry.com/cart/CarolinesPromise/default/index.php

The IRS has issued new information on the adoption tax credit for 2010. An encouraging change is that "The Affordable Care Act raises the maximum adoption credit to $13,170 per child, up from $12,150 in 2009. It also makes the credit refundable, meaning that eligible taxpayers can get it even if they owe no tax for that year. In general, the credit is based on the reasonable and necessary expenses related to a legal adoption, including adoption fees, court costs, attorney’s fees and travel expenses. Income limits and other special rules apply." We are so thankful for this change. You can learn more at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228301,00.html

One of our NC Board Members, Tim Wall, learned of a coffee company in South Carolina that gives 100% of their profits after taxes to ministry. This amazing business is Liquid Highway and we are excited to partner with them! There are several ways you can reclaim hope for orphans through your purchase of coffee, tea and hot cocoa. * Visit our website , place your order and have it delivered to your home * Purchase at one of our events or Parties with a Purpose * Your group can host a coffee fundraiser. We provide all you need to collect orders with profits going back to Caroline's Promise * Your church can purchase our coffee to serve during morning services and events. So start shopping smarter for coffee today!

In the Spring of 2010 we learned that our first Director of CP South Carolina, Martha Marie Smith and her family were moving to plant a church. We had no idea what God had in store for this chapter of the ministry. It’s not easy to find someone who is qualified and willing to take on this position on a volunteer basis. Martha Marie had done such a great job of getting the chapter started and building a support base. We were willing to close the chapter if that was what God wanted, but everyone involved hoped that wasn ’t His plan. After months of prayer and holding the ministry with an open hand, the Lord brought us Kelley Tegen . Kelley and her husband, Jason had supported CP South Carolina from the beginning and the timing was perfect for her to take on this role. You can read Kelley's story of accepting this position at http://www.carolinespromise4u.org/about-us/who-we-are/ 　 　 We are especially thankful to Martha Marie Smith and her husband, Eddie for their commitment to Car...

We were thrilled to be able to award this precious family a $3000 grant to help bring their son, Bereket home from Ethiopia! Their story.... In the fall of 2009, the Lord began to grow His love story of our family through a little boy halfway around the world. After finding Bereket ’s photograph on a waiting child list in Ethiopia, my husband and I were deeply moved and began asking God what we were supposed to do. Were we supposed to pray for this child, support this child, or make a way for him to be a part of our family? Removing finances from the equation, we both felt strongly after two weeks of prayer that he was our son and that God would make a way. Basically, since our Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He would just need to sell a few cows! All our paperwork was complete and in Ethiopia within only two months, however, we faced many delays and challenges on the other end slowing our process. Throughout these delays, the Lord brought several people into our path to enc...

The Treasures Ministry of Osborne Baptist Church in Eden, NC is hosting the 7% Conference, Saturday, November 6th 2010. The purpose of the conference is to inform churches of the needs of neglected, abused, fatherless, and orphan children in our area, and around the world, and to equip people with the tools and training to become leaders and meet the crisis level needs of our society. The event is free and offers breakoutsessions and keynote, "Your Church and DSS: In Partnership for the Children." Caroline's Promise will be there, providing a breakout entitled "Your Church and Orphan Care". We'll have our fair trade items for purchase and would love to visit with you! You can register at www.osbornebaptist.com

Our friend and supporter, Pamela Baker is passionate about her family's ministry, Each Child Counts. Pam's sister and brother in law who is Liberian, have ministered to orphans in this war torn country for years. They have identified a group of 1200 children who, because of a 15 year civil war, have never attended school. Each Child Counts has been able to purchase land, clear it and build a foundation. They're raising funds this Fall to complete the school and have invited us to participate in a 5K walk in Oak Ridge, NC. We're looking for people to join our Caroline's Promise Team of 10. The 5K is actually three times around the Oak Ridge Town Park. The Walk begins at 9am on Saturday, October 16 and cost is $17.00 per person. If you are interested, please call Lisa at 336-669-7340 or LisaHolbrook@CarolinesPromise.Net You can learn more about this project at www.eachchildcounts.com