"Dash for Doc's Well of Hope!"

Here it is, March 30 and our sweet grandson, Jonathan's 7th birthday.

And then. tomorrow, March 31st we will be welcoming yet another precious grandbaby into Derek & Beth's family. It is a big surprise, in that we don't know if it is a boy or girl. We'll let you know.

I am posting from sunny Florida, where I am visiting with my 89-year-old Mom (who acts like she is barely 39). She has been on hemodialysis for nearly 2 years and has now decided to switch to peritoneal dialysis which she can do by herself at home each night as she sleeps. She is presently in surgery getting her periotoneal catheter surgically placed. Prayerfully, all will go well and she will be home tonight or tomorrow and quickly recuperate. I plan to return to PA on Tues, April 5th so that I can help my awesome team with the final preparations for our 5K Walk/Run on April 30th in Mansfield at 10 a.m.

The response to our 5K has been incredible. We have received many sponsors and several participants for the race. We would love for all of our family and friends to be there, but we understand that is not possible. Those who cannot be present have sent words of great encouragement. Thank you!

If you would like to pariticpate in the race, please contact Kelly at the YMCA 570-662-2999 or email me at momdad.burleigh@gmail.com before April 1st in order to be assured a race shirt.

If you would like to donate to Doc's Well, you can do so through the Paypal link on the right of our blog.

We are getting excited as the race date approaches and support comes in for the well from so many wonderful people. Thank you in advance for your part in blessing the beautiful people of Ethiopia.

We have been in contact with Pastor Threatt who has ministered in the Menz Area north of Addis Ababa and will be directing our 2-week visit there in August. Doc will be conducting de-worming clinics for several thousand animals and I will assist Pastor Threatt's wife, Becky however she needs, as well as assist Doc with the clinics. We hope to make many contacts with people of this area and see where the well will be drilled to provide a village with clean water.

Please view the video I previously posted about Sabina to understand just how life changing a well is for a village.

Continue to pray for our ventures, both with the 5K and then our preparations to go to Ethiopia.

Loving appreciation to all our friends and family.

Sabina's Daily Trek for Water

"Just as she has done twice every day since she was a little girl,
Sabina negotiates the thorny, dry path carrying 70 pounds of water on
her back."

Please read the following story from World Vision to understand why Doc and I are so determined to provide clean water to as many villages as possible.

http://www.facebook.com/l/da1b1oLn6GAnq7uAZMKoEusJ4FQ/www.worldvisionmagazine.org/stories/in-sabina%e2%80%99s-shoes/

As God has challenged us to do our part to help the widows and orphans, so we challenge you to do so as you donate to "Doc's Well of Hope."

We are so excited to see how people are responding already to the planning for a well in Ethiopia, both by donating and by registering for the 5K Walk/Run on April 20. 

We thank you all for the role you are playing in this ministry. 

5K Walk/Run for "Doc's Well of Hope"

Excitement is brewing. Plans are under way for a great opportunity to participate in a fun activity to raise funds for "Doc's Well of Hope," a deep, clean-water well to be drilled in rural Ethiopia.

The race is April 30, 2011, with registration from 9:00-9:45 a.m. and race at 10:00 a.m.  It begins and ends at the Mansfield YMCA.  Course follows through the rural area of Mansfield with a moderate hill midway through the course.

The Walk/Run will end with an awards ceremony at the YMCA at 11:00 am for the top female and male finishers in each of the 6 age groups, as well as the overall top finishers.  T-shirts to all participants who preregister by April 1.

The registration fee is $15 before April 1 and $20 after April 1 or at the door. Shirt sizes available in children's sizes and adult sizes to 2XL.

To register, please contact Kelly at the YMCA at 4-42 Besanceney Drive, Mansfield, Pa. 16933 or call 570-662-2999.

We are still seeking sponsors for the race event, so if you are interested, please call Mara at 570-662-3311.

We are making plans to go to Ethiopia for 2 weeks in June where Doc will conduct several veterinary clinics in the rural areas of Ethiopia, paricularly de-worming clinics for the cows, goats and mules. We will also do other veterinary and agriculture acitivities to help advance their farming situations. Also, plan to work with the women and children, to help them develop products (scarves, jewelry, etc) to market in the U.S.

So, please register now and become part of this activity to help a people who are so in need. Come out for the morning and have fun with family and friends.



The Race is On!

I am finally taking the time to update our blog.

February has been a very busy month as we have tried to make all the necessary arrangements for a 5K Walk/Run that Doc and I are sponsoring to raise monies to drill a deep, clean-water well in Ethiopia.

The event will take place on April 30, 2011 at 10 AM in Mansfield, PA.  It will start and end at the YMCA behind the high school. Please feel free to register by contacting Kelli at 570-662-2999.

We are so grateful to Kelli Fanean, director of the YMCA and Mara Wilcox, Youth Pastor at Church of the New Covenant for all of their efforts to make this a great success.

As well as planning the 5K, we have been in contact with Pastor Gary and Becky Threatt from the IEC Church in Addis Ababa learning more about their ministry and discovering where we fit in to assist them.  We are hoping to go to Ethiopia with them in May or June and we will update our plans as they become more definite.

We get more excited every day about the opportunity to serve God in the beautiful land of Ehtiopia and to do all we can to help them become more independent and self sustaining. As I read the blogs of others who have gone and ministered, my heart aches to return and be with those precious people.

March is a very full month as I am traveling to be with our daughter-in-law next week and then Doc, Brieanna and I fly to Florida to be with my mom for a week and Jillane will come down at the end of the week for a few days as well. Doc will return home, but I am staying on with my mom until 3/29 when I fly back to Phila to be with Derek & Beth as they welcome their baby on 3/31.  Then, I return home to spend April preparing for the race and our upcoming trip to Ethiopia.

We covet your prayers as we pursue plans for Ethiopia and to know the best way we can be used by God to serve Him and His people.

We have added a PayPal link to the sidebar if God directs you to donate to Doc's Well of Hope.

The name "Doc's Well of Hope" was given to us by our son-in-law's mother and I so appreciate her obedience to God in hearing His voice in this and then in sharing it with us. She said she felt impressed that there is no Hope spiritually without Jesus and there is no Hope physically without water. So, a perfect name for our ministry.

We will continue to post as our plans finalize.