ODO Update
operation deaf orphans blog Hi, here's an update.  It's long overdue, but thanks Brooke for lighting a fire under me :)   ------------------------------I was reading Brooke Sipek's blog and was touched by what she wrote about how a chance reading of our blog, linked through Elisa (my sister)'s DIY blog, led her to have an interest in the plight of orphans and helped spark her and her husband ...
Mon, Jun 30 2014

The Last Few Days...
operation deaf orphans blog Here are some pictures from our last few days at LDO. We left the orphanage a few days earlier to spend some time in Nairobi where we visited Winston (director of LDO)'s church and his family. We left Jason, Mistie and Javier behind as they wrapped things up and spent the remaining days left playing soccer with the kids and served spaghetti.  We are all now back i...
Fri, Jul 19 2013

Loads of Fun!
operation deaf orphans blog It is now our fifth week in Africa and we are seeing so much needs and our vision and goals are becoming more real and clear. We are much more excited and motivated to return to the States to begin fundraising to support the 21 orphans (and more who are out there). We look forward to returning to the States and to begin establishing a plan to improve the orphanage and...
Mon, Jul 01 2013

Fourth Week, Camp Week!
operation deaf orphans blog Kevin enjoying the coconut that we brought from the Indian Ocean (Mombasa, Kenya) Alexa sharing a package of peanuts and cashews. There are a lot of bunnies here and these two are just two of the many babies that come every once in a while. Praying Mantis, born and raised in Kenya. Christine, the one who is drinking water, was severely sick. M...
Tue, Jun 25 2013

Sunny and Stormy Days
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone - we are now in our third week in Kenya.  We just got back from a break in Mombasa which was very nice for the team.  After this weekend, we will have a week-long camp!   Lance on his last day with us.  He stayed for 10 days and did a lot in those 10 days, including leading a building project, meeting with local government officials, giving o...
Thu, Jun 20 2013

Our Laptop Crashed...
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone! Unfortunately our laptop completely died on us over a week ago and the photos we had taken were on it. To view briefly with what's been happening the past week, go to these two links below. They are the blog site of our two teammates, Moises and Kristina. They will cover little with what we were not able to blog on.Blog Title: DC's Visit - [link] Title...
Thu, Jun 20 2013

Six New Orphans from Last Year
operation deaf orphans blog Last year, ODO went on a survey trip to villages around Kisii (where LDO is located) to see orphans who were waiting for someone, anyone to come and call them their own children.  We met seven orphans that day and six of them are now in LDO.   All 6 Orphans when they first arrived at LDO last year.  In our survey trip, we met with seven orphans, but we were...
Wed, Jun 12 2013

Back in Kenya!
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone!  We are now almost a week into our second trip to Kenya, Africa!  It was so good to be back on the red soil, to see the children again, and to just be in Kenya.  We all were worn out from the long flight and arrived in Nairobi the evening of May 31.  The following morning, June 1, we set out on a bus with 10 pieces of donated luggage along with our...
Wed, Jun 05 2013

Secured Fencing!!!
operation deaf orphans blog Good news!We were successfully able to raise enough money to support the orphanage into building a secured fencing all around and including a gate at the front. Thank you to  everyone who donated to make this possible and now the children can feel safe in their own home!!!Please take the time to look at the pictures below, you'll see the progress of building and inst...
Fri, Mar 22 2013

The Engine That Drives LDO
operation deaf orphans blog “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” –Hebrews 13:16 (NIV) It is easy to pat ourselves on the back for supporting this orphanage through donations or mission trips, but we are humbled when we think of the staff at the orphanage and their hard work.  Without the staff, the children would n...
Thu, Mar 21 2013

New Orphan!
operation deaf orphans blog Stephen Obondo, 14 Winston Omondi, Lance’s right-hand man for LDO affairs in Kenya, e-mailed us and told us about a boy he met in Nairobi named Stephen.  His mother is now a widow, and she is old and very sick.  It is not expected that she will live much longer, and Stephen is without education or any way to have food or shelter.  Winston petitioned ...
Thu, Mar 21 2013

Tested for HIV/AIDS
operation deaf orphans blog All kids are HIV negative! When the ODO team visited LDO last summer, we learned that many of the kids were orphaned by parents who died from AIDS or other illnesses.  It was at that point that we talked with Daniel Ogembo about getting the children tested.  Kenya is very good with government assistance for this issue, and a few weeks ago, all the children g...
Thu, Mar 21 2013

ODO Spring Newsletter
operation deaf orphans blog We often try to send out newsletters to our supporters and donors and we realize that not all of our supporters get them so we wanted to try and post them here on our blog so every single person can read about our updates and such!
Mon, Mar 18 2013

Christmas Day at LDO
operation deaf orphans blog Here are some of the pictures of the orphans on Christmas day!  Lance McWilliams and ODO was able to donate money for the staff and the children to have an extra-special Christmas!  Thank you for your support which makes this possible :) --- can get an idea of African life by those pictures.  We love this country and can't wait to go back again this summer!  God ...
Fri, Feb 08 2013

NEW Website!!!
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone!We're SUPER excited to share the news of our brand new website, it is NOW launched.Be sure to check out our NEW WEBSITE!The website address remains the same.www.odeafo.comWe completely renovated it by starting from scratch so the website can be 100% focused on helping the orphans rather than our mission trip to see them.It is our goal that the website rem...
Fri, Nov 30 2012

New Website and T-Shirts
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone!!!Currently, we're working on a new website to publish for Operation Deaf Orphans and in hope that this website will be a lasting one with minor news, changes, updates, etc. Our old website contains information about our trip to Africa but this one is different, you see, we're looking to settle and focus on helping the orphans in every way possible and th...
Wed, Nov 14 2012

Meet the 6 New Orphans!!!
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone! We have great news - there are six more deaf orphans at LDO!  The work there is growing.  For pictures of our first visit to survey deaf orphans in villages around LDO, please look at this previous post: Village Survey Trip Dear Frederick and Pauline with the two new cows donated by Humura House! The man on the left is the same interpr...
Wed, Oct 24 2012

Updates from Africa
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone!  We would like to share some of the updates we have been getting from leaders at Lance's Deaf Orphans (LDO) in Kenya.  It is very encouraging to us that the children have adults who will take care of them and ensure that their needs are met.   We also met Lance McWilliams, the founder of Lance's Deaf Orphans!  We had a great weekend together in ...
Thu, Sep 20 2012

Updates from LDO
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone! We are all back in the USA, and we all are settled back in our lives, but we will never forget the summer we had and the children we met in Africa.  It was truly a wonderful experience, and we are motivated to help the ministries that we have met and the wonderful adults who serve the children daily. Being in USA has also reminded me and all of ...
Fri, Aug 17 2012

Day Camp!
operation deaf orphans blog There were no chairs for the teachers in the classrooms at BDI, so we bought new plastic chairs.  We and the teachers loved them!   Dallas teaching math. Alex's math class.  Fun to teach these kids! Kat, our carpenter, sawing away with Javier.  She has built so many awesome things for BDI.  We will take a picture of the finished products. ...
Thu, Jul 26 2012

All Work and All Play
operation deaf orphans blog Dallas posing in front of our car - Joel got this for our transportation for the month. It is a nifty little car and surprisingly can handle the 4x4 terrain all around Kampala. The steering wheel, of course, is on the right side and driving in Kampala is extremely chaotic. Alex and Javier have done most of the driving so far! Two of our favorite...
Tue, Jul 17 2012

Kenya -> Uganda
operation deaf orphans blog Sayin' goodbye to the children was probably the hardest thing that we've ever done all month. They wanted us to stay, and we did want to stay, but we had commitments to another ministry in Uganda and even Moises/Kristina had to go back to USA. We wish we had a teleporter so we can immediately go back and forth between places. Hugging the kids and tell...
Fri, Jul 06 2012

Finding Seven More Orphans
operation deaf orphans blog A few days ago we went on a survey trip to see seven deaf orphans in villages around a hour and a half drive away from Kisii, where LDO is located. It really opened our eyes on the problem of deaf orphans and parents with AIDS. It also made us realize how blessed the orphans at LDO is with a place to call home and a language to sign.The morning started wit...
Fri, Jun 29 2012

Week Two in Kenya
operation deaf orphans blog Sunday morning - the team led church for the orphans!Alexa writing the ingredients of the fruit of the Spirit as said in Galatians 5:22-23Veronica and Christine leading a song. V is a cook, while C is a teacher.Alexa signing "Patience" - a quality that we want to instill in the children as they often beg for candy!Moises and Kristina, a terrific married couple, ...
Sun, Jun 17 2012

Short Update!
operation deaf orphans blog Short blog! Internet is SOOOO slow here and we were in the middle of uploading 78 pictures when it stopped halfway. We couldn't wait another hour and a half so we can only share 10 pictures. Hope you enjoy them, and we will post the remaining when we come back to town! Japheth likes to saw!Mike, Japheth, and Kevin singing a song. They are...
Thu, Jun 14 2012

Typical day at LDO. It gets very hot during the day! &...
operation deaf orphans blog Typical day at LDO. It gets very hot during the day! There is no shade except for near the gate or inside of the buildings.We saw that the mattresses that the orphans slept on were very old and dirty. We went to a nice local department store - it was kind of like a small Wal-Mart. We saw that the orphans had MANY needs and since we brough...
Fri, Jun 08 2012

In Kenya!!!
operation deaf orphans blog Hi everyone! We are in Kisii, Kenya, Africa right now! We are having a great time with the orphans and the staff here! God has truly blessed this place. Pictures below are of our road trip to New York City, our flight to JFK, and the travel from Nairobi to Kisii, and finally meeting the orphans! We are still taking pictures every day and ...
Tue, Jun 05 2012

Locked and Loaded
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone!UPDATE: We have reached the $5,000 mark for the fund that is specifically set aside for the children's needs at LDO and BDI!!! Praise God for providing the money through faithful donors like you! We will blog about how this money is going to be used.UPDATE #2 - Two of our team members, Jason and Mistie Suhr - had to drop out of the team....
Mon, May 28 2012

All Work and All Play!
operation deaf orphans blog For the past few months and weeks, we've been having our meetings to prepare ourselves for Africa this summer. The meetings have been nothing but very productive and beneficial for us! We're very proud of our teammates for their initiative, commitment, motivation and leadership. We are definitely not a quantity but a quality team :) Most of our meetings include prepar...
Tue, Apr 17 2012

Spring Update
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone!We've been meeting quite a few times to plan for our summer camp. We also made a few trips where we were able to share news about ODO and fundraise for the summer camp. We wanted to share some pictures, so enjoy! The first group is our trip to Cincinnati the first weekend of March with IBTC students for a deaf children's fair and the s...
Fri, Apr 06 2012

ODO February Update
operation deaf orphans blog Romania Update!When we were in Romania last year, we visited a city named Cluj Napoca. It is one of our favorite cities, very beautiful with an excellent deaf church/community. We met a man named Costea Sandor there - and he took us to a deaf school where we met three older deaf orphans. All three of them had some issues with their eyesight, and ther...
Sat, Feb 25 2012

Lance's Deaf Orphans in Kenya
operation deaf orphans blog Hello, everyone!We hope you like our new website! We are very excited about going to Africa this summer, and it has consumed our thoughts lately (in a good way!) One of the programs that we will visit this summer with the team is Lance's Deaf Orphans. It is sponsored by Lance McWilliams, a deaf man who lives in Colorado. We've met him a few time...
Fri, Feb 10 2012

Updated Website!
operation deaf orphans blog Check out our updated website! to view, please click on this link: www.odeafo.comGod bless!
Tue, Jan 31 2012

ODO December 2011 Update
operation deaf orphans blog Video is captioned and all the information is on the video. We are excited about our new direction, and will be updating more as we get more information! We are BACK! :) If you want the video to be bigger, click on the "ODODecember Update" link at the top of the video box. God bless!
Wed, Dec 14 2011

Thanks to Our Supporters!
operation deaf orphans blog Remember when we visited a family with 5 deaf children from a small town named Iam in Romania??? We've posted several pictures from the previous blog in February to help you remember.Because of your support and donations, we were able to help them again. Your donation gave them food, plenty of them to last them a long time and without this donation, they would have a ...
Thu, Jul 07 2011

We're Still Alive!
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone! This is to let you all know that we are STILL ALIVE!Right now, we are enjoying our time with our family in Iowa and visiting with Deaf Missions. So far, we've had two very good meetings with them. The first meeting was informal - more of us getting "up to speed" with them. The second meeting included us giving a PowerPoint present...
Fri, Jun 24 2011

??????? ??? ?????
operation deaf orphans blog Since we can't find a chance to get the rest of the team together and also have our camera ready, we decided to get this picture from their website at www.kharkovmissions.com! Here are the four married couples and their adorable children. The couple on the far left is Mike and Lucy McDougle with their boys, Canaan and Max. The woman in the beige jack...
Sat, Jun 04 2011

Kharkov, Ukraine
operation deaf orphans blog Anytime you see a picture with bad quality, you'll know that we took it with our iPod :) This is the central train station in Kiev, Ukraine. We are experienced travelers and we are usually confident when we need to buy tickets, etc, but this was the first time we've ever felt "overwhelmed" because of the language. Russian is impossible to read and un...
Wed, May 25 2011

Romania Notes and Farmin' in Poland
operation deaf orphans blog Hey everyone! We are sorry that we haven't updated our blog in 20 days! We have a lot to share, though! Hope you are able to view the video above and enjoy what we want to share with you. If for some reason it does not work, here is the link to the video [link] are now officially "banished" from Romania! At least for another three months, whic...
Wed, Apr 27 2011

Cluj Napoca, Romania
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone!When we were in Timisoara, we thought that it would be a smooth process to get a visa. Because it is our first time as missionaries for more than five weeks, we had no experience with this concept. We found out that especially in Romania, getting a visa is a LONG process where you have to visit many different offices and fill out many differ...
Tue, Apr 05 2011

Bucharest and Family
operation deaf orphans blog On the train between Timisoara and BucharestFinally in Bucharest - and guess who was waiting for us? Ryan and Allison, our family! Alex's sister is Allison, so Ryan is Alex's brother-in-law while Alexa is Allison's sister-in-law and you can connect the rest of the dots :) Allison is cold! They flew from Texas, where it was around 70 degrees. &n...
Sat, Mar 05 2011

Arad, Romania
operation deaf orphans blog Hello everyone!We haven't updated our blog in over a week! That's because it was an uneventful week for us - we didn't have the chance to go to Oradea like we wanted to because the trip would require us to go over our budget, something that we didn't want to do. We were, however, able to go to a closer city, Arad, and visit a program there where a lot of o...
Fri, Feb 25 2011

La Revedere, Timisoara
operation deaf orphans blog Bible study on Thursday night! The blonde woman on the right is Nicole Condra, a hearing missionary that we bumped into on the bus. She is fluent in ASL! She is very interested in the deaf and was happy that we could help her to meet deaf Romanian Christians. She is also on a research/survey trip, and she's going to be traveling across Romania ...
Sun, Feb 13 2011

It's Sunny in Romania
operation deaf orphans blog Us at the front of the church where we meet with deaf members. Beautiful church!Our backyard view. Our reading. Alex just finished Wizard of Oz, and Alexa is halfway through "IKTMIT"Outside our apartment, we found this horse-drawn buggy! There's a few around here. Romania!Visiting the deaf church leader, Szaby Mate. He's the key to o...
Sun, Feb 06 2011

Alex the sous chef, cooking away a delicate dish of...
operation deaf orphans blog Alex the sous chef, cooking away a delicate dish of sausage, red pepper and pasta!The recipe was inspired by Alex's mom, Kathi. Alexa is gobbling up this dish. Nice to have a homemade dish in another country. The ingredients here in the stores carry a lot of the same food that you would find in the U.S. or Canada, so it's not as frustrating as it was...
Mon, Jan 31 2011

Eastern Europe!
operation deaf orphans blog We found a McDonald's here in Timisoara, Romania and finally was able to upload pictures using our lapotp! Here are the pictures of our flight and the travel to Romania. Some of the pictures were taken with our iPod touch, and some with our normal camera! The plane wing of our plane from from Buffalo. Europe-Bound! One of the last bits of ...
Thu, Jan 27 2011