Musings from Graceland

YOU WON'T FIND THESE AT CLAIRE'S OR WAL-MART

You won't find these earrings at your local chain store. These hand-crafted items are our last offering from our favorite Ecuadorian missionary, Jake Bickham.

Here's what Jake has to say about these:

"[The] earrings are made of the Ecuadorian Ivory Palm. The "C" shaped, goes over the bottom of the ear, and is held in place by a thorn from the same tree. Very cute, a lot of people wear this style down here. The nut that is harvested is 100% natural and it provides around 30,000 jobs for the locals who pick these seeds that fall from the trees. It also helps to prevent deforestation since the trees become a job, not just another stick in the forest."

The earrings are all about the size of my thumbnail or about 1/2 an inch in diameter.

To read more about the Ecuadorian Ivory Palm, you can visit this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytelephas

As with all the previous items listed this month, all proceeds from the auction of these earrings will go towards funding my three teenagers' mission trips to Thailand and Peru. We will sell all four of them as one set so you can keep them all for yourself (especially helpful if you have multiple piercings) or share a pair with a friend.

The bidding on the set will begin at $5. To bid on these unique accessories, leave me a comment with your name, contact information, and the amount of your bid. The auction will end on the evening of April 8.

And listen, would you please pray about something? Jake Bickham has been sick and they've finally determined that he has Dengue Fever. Never heard of it? Yeah, it isn't something that we get here in America. It is a bit like malaria. It is usually spread by mosquitoes. The symptoms include fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, and a skin rash. There are also some severe complications that can result in rare cases. If you've read SUNFLOWER by Richard Paul Evans, the main female character suffered from Dengue Fever.



So please pray for Jake. He needs healing, strength, and encouragement. Also, pray for his family. It is hard on loved ones, especially the mama, to know that their family is hurting and can't be there to help.