Becoming Aware: Knitting for Orphans

So maybe you don't feel called to adopt. That's fine. I know that not everyone was meant to adopt.

But as Christians, we're ALL called to help orphans (and widows!), according to James 1:27.

And as I've mentioned as the theme of this series, once we're aware of the issue, we can't pretend we don't know, and we need to act (Proverbs 24:11-12).

So if not adoption, then what?


Melissa in Moldova

Melissa Brown has a heart burdened for orphans. She also has a knack for being quite crafty. When I first learned about Melissa, I knew her as the "Nifty Knitter" - a girl in the singles group at our church that taught school and likes to knit.

I then met her at a cookout. And I found out just how small the world really is!

As it turns out, I graduated from high school with Melissa's twin uncles. In fact, I was friends with them and hung out at their house from time to time. And in college, Zack and I cleaned their parent's house (Melissa's grandparents) as a side job. I probably dusted baby pictures of Melissa, not knowing that someday we'd be friends, she'd been my all-time favorite babysitter, my sons would be among her biggest fans (they L.O.V.E. Ms. Melissa!), and we'd be spending a lot of time together working on orphan care ministry!

EEROP member delivers hats in Romania


Melissa combined 2 passions - orphan care and knitting - and created a non-profit organization called EEROP (Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project). EEROP "is designed for people who want to knit, crochet, or craft for children living in some of the coldest and most desolate places on earth."

EEROP gathers donations from more than 135 knitters, crocheters, seamstresses, and other handcrafters, and provides them to orphan organizations throughout Eastern Europe.

The current EEROP project, "The Next Big Thing", is a project to collect 154 blankets by the end of this year for (read details HERE).

Many of the blankets will be for children over the age of 6, so they'll need to be big. What types of blankets can be donated? EEROP shares on their site: "You can send in blanket squares or start an odd ball blanket. You can make a blanket from two pieces of fleece by hand tying the edges together. You could quilt one. You could crochet one. Use your imagination!"


So how you can you help?

• Pray: pray for the ministry to continue to flourish, and pray for the children who receive the blankets and other items from EEROP
• Give: Maybe you don't sew. That's okay! They also accept donations to help cover shipping and operating costs. http://www.eerop.org/EEROP/Donations.html
• Go: But I'll bet there are some readers out there that are quite handy with a needle! I'm also pretty sure I know some of my blog readers that have put together those no-sew fleece blankets - you know the ones like you see HERE that are held together with knots. EEROP can use all of those items! http://www.eerop.org/EEROP/Donations.html And you can particularly help with EEROP's "The Next Big Thing"

Visit Vivid Creations' site: http://www.vividcreationfibers.com/

Check out the EEROP website: http://www.eerop.org/EEROP/Home.html
And the EEROP blog: http://www.eerop.org/EEROP/Blog/Blog.html